The Will of Stanley Brooke

The Will of Stanley Brooke is a short story written by noted British horror author and Mythos contributor Ramsey Campbell.
==Synopsis==
After elderly Stanley Brooke is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he turns to ancient books of lore in an attempt to find a cure, before summoning his lawyer, Ernest Bond, in order to dictate a new will. This terms of this will state that his four siblings and niece will no longer be beneficiaries of his substantial estate, and that William Collier, a man whom they have never before met, is to inherit his entire fortune. The will further lays out that Collier is the exact double of Brooke, and that he will have as identification a letter handwritten by Brooke in a sealed envelope.
When Collier arrives at Brooke’s house for the reading of the will, the family and Bond all remark on the uncanny resemblance Collier bears to the dead man. During the course of their meal and the reading of the will, some strange reactions by Collier to remarks such as "you are what you eat" and "You worm!" by the siblings cause the penny to drop for Bond. Under the pretext that the family is in a foul temper after discovering their disinheritance, Bond takes Collier away in his car, stopping at a disused quarry. Collier is never seen again.
When Terence Brooke, Stanley's brother, calls at Bond's house two weeks later, he finds him shovelling in his garden, and the lawyer remarks on how he cannot stand worms. When Terence asks Bond for the loan of a spanner to fix his disabled car, he claims to have lost it some time ago.
==Characters==
*Stanley Brooke/William Collier, an old man dying of cancer who resurrects himself, the manner of which is hinted to be through the consumption of worms.
*Ernest Bond, Stanley's lawyer.
*Emily, Stanley's sister.
*Terence Brooke, Stanley's brother.
*Joyce, Stanley's sister.
*Barbara, Stanley's sister.
*Pamela James, Stanley's niece and former housekeeper.
==Publication History==
First printed in the Ramsey Campbell collection The Inhabitant of the Lake and Less Welcome Tenants, The Will of Stanley Brooke was later reprinted in Cold Print, another collection of Campbell's.
==Trivia==
*Both Brooke's house on King Edward's Way and Bond's on Almshouse Gardens are located in Brichester, a town in the Severn Valley which forms the setting for many of Ramsey Campbell's Mythos stories.
Category:Ramsey Campbell works
Category:Expanded Mythos Works