Richard Marsh

Gebundenes Buch

The Beetle

A Mystery

Beschreibung

Classic horror in the form of a supernatural thriller: London is haunted by mysterious cases of death, stalkings and burglary. A prominent member of parliament seems to be the focus of the incidents. Behind the events is a hostile and powerful entity called "the Arab," which takes the shape of a man or a sexually seductive woman depending on circumstances and intentions. It is a thing born of neither God nor human, but connected with the Egyptian cult of Isis. The Englishman Richard Marsh (pseudonym for Richard Bernard Heldmann, 1857-1915) was a major best-selling author during the late Victorian era, though now largely forgotten except among scholars and connoisseurs of horror fiction. Especially The Beetle (1897) was reprinted numerous times and translated into languages all over the world, with a popularity that lasted decades into the 20th century, adapted to the screen in a British movie 1919 and several times for the stage, most notably in a big production for Strand Theatre 1928. Today the novel has been reinstated by scholars as a great Victorian classic, similar in themes and mood to Bram Stoker's Dracula which was published the same year, a prime example of fin de siècle literature. Richard Marsh was specialized in horror, suspense and the supernatural, with strong elements of crime and detective fiction; he also wrote clear-cut detective stories, for example with the character Judith Lee, an early female detective. One of his recurring characters is the Hon. Augustus Champnell, an aristocratic detective with an interest in the occult, who is also the main protagonist in this novel.

Autor

Richard Marsh, a pseudonym used by English author Richard Bernard Heldmann, was born on October 12, 1857, and died on August 9, 1915. Author of numerous best-selling books during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Marsh is most known today for his supernatural thriller The Beetle, which came out the same year as Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) and was initially sold six times more than the latter book. The Beetle was published until 1960. In addition to writing many short tales, Marsh authored about 80 volumes of fiction in the horror, crime, romance, and humor genres. Starting with The Beetle in 2004, many of these have been reissued in the last few years. Robert Aickman was a well-known author of short "strange stories" and the grandson of Marsh. On October 12, 1857, Richard Bernard Heldmann was born in North London, the son of lace manufacturer Emma Marsh (1830-1911) and trader Joseph Heldmann (1827-96). In 1880, Heldmann started releasing fiction in the style of adventure and boys' school tales for magazine publications. The most significant of these was Union Jack, a prestigious weekly journal for boys published in association with writers W.H.G. Kingston (1814-80) and G. A. Henty (1832-1902).

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Timaios Press
• 2nd ed.
• Seitenzahl: 216
• Erscheinungstermin: 14. Dezember 2019
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 235mm x 157mm x 17mm
• Gewicht: 468g
• ISBN-13: 9789187611223
• ISBN-10: 9187611228
• Artikelnr.: 58431350