THE BEETLE
Supernatural Horror Thriller
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- $1.99
Publisher Description
This carefully crafted ebook: "THE BEETLE" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents.
The Beetle is supernatural thriller in which a polymorphous Ancient Egyptian entity seeks revenge on a British Member of Parliament. Robert Holt, a clerk who has been looking all day for a place to work, which he hasn't had for a long time, seeks shelter and food at a workhouse in Fulham. He is, however, denied, and in the dark and rain walks on looking for another place to stay. Holt comes upon a house in terrible state, with opened window, and invites himself in. This proves to be a mistake, as he comes face to face with what the beetle, and gets hypnotized into paralysis. The beetle takes human form as an Arab, and starts making a use of Holt.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Ripe with melodrama and purple prose, this ripping horror classic from Marsh, first published in 1897, epitomizes the style of the Victorian penny dreadful. Four sections, each narrated by a different character, interlock to relate the tale of an ancient Egyptian entity known as the child of Isis, who has traveled to London to torment Paul Lessingham, a member of Parliament, and his fianc e, Marjorie Lindon, as revenge for an indiscretion Paul committed during his travels in Egypt two decades earlier. Marsh creates an eerie atmosphere by keeping his story's supernaturalism tantalizingly ambiguous; it's never clear whether the occasional transformations of the child of Isis into the insect of the title are genuine or illusory. An overly chatty cast slows the tale's pace to a crawl and their penchant for conveniently fainting or falling into gibbering incoherence during dramatic moments reduces the novel to a clump of sensational set pieces. Though some readers will enjoy this novel's maximalist gothic flourishes, others will find the tale a bit over the top.
