The Beetle (1897)

A most outstanding Victorian horror story. I must dig up more of Richard Marsh's work. ( )

Apparently, this novel once outsold Bram Stoker's Dracula, and it is easy to see why. It tells the strange tale of the creature called The Beetle that plays tricks on and catch with London's polite society, a secret and ancient Egyptian cult, human sacrifice of innocent maidens, mesmerism, a nobody rising to political power who might be hiding a mysterious secret in his past, and you can see why it may have intrigued and fascinated its readership. It does have its faults: its language and settings feel quite old-fashioned today and some of the plot developments are full of melodrama and incredible coincidences. That said, it is still a cracking good read, with the plot gathering pace after the first third of the book, and the passages where the heroine, Marjorie Lindon, is left alone with the creature in her room are truly terrifying. ( )

This victorian thriller is quite dated, but it has all the elements of an entretaining novel: a mysterious, dangerous villain who can change form but who is identified with a beetle; action; mystery; exotic locations; some frightening episodes... It also has slightly boring 'good' characters, some racist characterizations, and it contains many stereotypes. However, it is more interesting than many contemporary thrillers and the narrative is quick and at times quite surprising. ( )

A rollicking read, complete with creepy chills and a good story - in fact, the story moved along so quickly that I wouldn't have been surprised if I'd been told it was a modern pastiche of the Victorian sensational novel. Also very much of its time with the evil Oriental villain and the terrible fear that a young white woman is going to be robbed of her virtue... Truly brilliant. ( )

Forgotten horror story as good as any ( )