THE BEETLE (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Supernatural Horror ThrillerBy Richard Marsh
Length13h 14m
About this audiobook
Published in 1897, Richard Marsh's The Beetle is a sensational Gothic romance of invasion, mesmerism, and bodily metamorphosis, set amid the nervous modernity of fin-de-siècle London. Through a shifting sequence of narrators, Marsh combines detective fiction, imperial nightmare, occult melodrama, and urban thriller, producing a text that stands beside Dracula as a key expression of late-Victorian anxieties about empire, sexuality, race, and unstable identity. Richard Marsh was the pseudonym of Richard Bernard Heldmann, a prolific and commercially astute writer whose career ranged across journalism, popular fiction, mystery, humour, and the supernatural. His intimate knowledge of the periodical marketplace helped shape the novel's brisk pacing, cliff-hanging structure, and theatrical effects. Marsh's own experience of social precarity and reinvention may also have sharpened his fascination with disguise, vulnerability, and the collapse of respectable surfaces. The Beetle is recommended to readers interested in Victorian Gothic, early horror, and the cultural imagination of empire. Its lurid energy and troubling symbolism make it both an absorbing popular entertainment and a rewarding object of critical study. Those who know Dracula will find here a stranger, more disquieting companion-piece, one whose ambiguities continue to provoke debate.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes.
- The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists.
- A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing.
- A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings.
- Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Audiobook details
GenreHorror, Mystery and Thriller
Length13 hrs 14 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateJul 18, 2018
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
2Introduction
3Synopsis
4Historical Context
5BOOK I
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6CHAPTER I. OUTSIDE
7CHAPTER II. INSIDE
8CHAPTER III. THE MAN IN THE BED
9CHAPTER IV. A LONELY VIGIL
10CHAPTER V. AN INSTRUCTION TO COMMIT BURGLARY
11CHAPTER VI. A SINGULAR FELONY
12CHAPTER VII. THE GREAT PAUL LESSINGHAM
13CHAPTER VIII. THE MAN IN THE STREET
14CHAPTER IX. THE CONTENTS OF THE PACKET
15BOOK II
16CHAPTER X. REJECTED
17CHAPTER XI. A MIDNIGHT EPISODE
18CHAPTER XII. A MORNING VISITOR
19CHAPTER XIII. THE PICTURE
20CHAPTER XIV. THE DUCHESS’ BALL
21CHAPTER XV. MR LESSINGHAM SPEAKS
22CHAPTER XVI. ATHERTON’S MAGIC VAPOUR
23CHAPTER XVII. MAGIC?—OR MIRACLE?
24CHAPTER XVIII. THE APOTHEOSIS OF THE BEETLE
25CHAPTER XIX. THE LADY RAGES
26CHAPTER XX. A HEAVY FATHER
27CHAPTER XXI. THE TERROR IN THE NIGHT
28CHAPTER XXII. THE HAUNTED MAN
29BOOK III
30CHAPTER XXIII. THE WAY HE TOLD HER
31CHAPTER XXIV. A WOMAN’S VIEW
32CHAPTER XXV. THE MAN IN THE STREET
33CHAPTER XXVI. A FATHER’S NO
34CHAPTER XXVII. THE TERROR BY NIGHT
35CHAPTER XXVIII. THE STRANGE STORY OF THE MAN IN THE STREET
36CHAPTER XXIX. THE HOUSE ON THE ROAD FROM THE WORKHOUSE
37CHAPTER XXX. THE SINGULAR BEHAVIOUR OF MR HOLT
38CHAPTER XXXI. THE TERROR BY DAY
39BOOK IV
40CHAPTER XXXII. A NEW CLIENT
41CHAPTER XXXIII. WHAT CAME OF LOOKING THROUGH A LATTICE
42CHAPTER XXXIV. AFTER TWENTY YEARS
43CHAPTER XXXV. A BRINGER OF TIDINGS
44CHAPTER XXXVI. WHAT THE TIDINGS WERE
45CHAPTER XXXVII. WHAT WAS HIDDEN UNDER THE FLOOR
46CHAPTER XXXVIII. THE REST OF THE FIND
47CHAPTER XXXIX. MISS LOUISA COLEMAN
48CHAPTER XL. WHAT MISS COLEMAN SAW THROUGH THE WINDOW
49CHAPTER XLI. THE CONSTABLE,—HIS CLUE,—AND THE CAB
50CHAPTER XLII. THE QUARRY DOUBLES
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