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The Beetle
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
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The Beetle
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Summary
The Beetle is the celebrated Victorian horror story by Richard Marsh, originally published in serialized form in 1897, which at first enjoyed even greater popularity than Bram Stoker’s Dracula, published in the same year.
The Beetle tells the tale of an evil, ancient Egyptian spirit seeking revenge on an up-and-coming British politician, Paul Lessingham. The shape-shifting creature that pursues Lessingham is possessed of hypnotic powers and takes different forms, both male and female, as well as morphing into a beetle - a figure that induces terror in its victims.
This creepy gothic tale is told by a series of protagonists, whose accounts are collected by a detective who assists in tracking the creature to its final mysterious end.
“A face looked into mine, and, in front of me, were those dreadful eyes. Then, whether I was dead or living, I said to myself that this could be nothing human - nothing fashioned in God’s image - could wear such a shape as that. Fingers were pressed into my cheeks, they were thrust into my mouth, they touched my staring eyes, shut my eyelids, then opened them again, and - horror of horrors! - the blubber lips were pressed to mine. The soul of something evil entered into me in the guise of a kiss.”
Warning: The Beetle has been viewed by some as a critique of British imperial attitudes in the late Victorian era. The story includes racial stereotypes which may cause offense to some listeners.
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What listeners say about The Beetle
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- J S Prall
- 16-05-24
A slowburn tale into a lost world
I loved the different use of language, how the meaning of words has altered, and some have been forgotten. The story is far more slow paced than any 21st century tale, but I liked the way it developed. Some attitudes are a bit uncomfortable to hear, but it's true to that time I suppose. The female characters did hold their own, especially the older women. And some circumstances, such as the section dealing with road and train travel, I found fascinating.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- A.Elliot
- 02-11-24
Victorian melodramatic
Enjoyed listening to this book. Can understand why it was more popular than Dracula in its day. There's a touch of humour with the characters, not as dark.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Julie Adkins
- 02-11-22
The Beetle
Even though this was written in the late 1890s, and has sometimes the associated unusual grammar, it’s story line remained strong.
The main characters were well rounded and detail within the book described a time within the history of the country and world in general.
The reason for not awarding it 5*, was the rather abrupt conclusion, which I feel did not reflect the story as a whole.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- BlakWulf
- 24-09-22
Takes a while but it's a great story
Victorian, mysterious and strange. I had no knowledge of this story until I found it on here. It's a great reflection of Victorian society. A better story than Dracula but not as sexy and it's more complex. I can see why it's in danger of being lost. Give it a go.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- JOD
- 25-09-23
ok
this one took a while to get going but it did, glad I listened to it.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- moira s.
- 29-03-22
too long
it was ok but not riveting. The narrator was good but just found this audio full.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Hugh
- 02-06-22
Written in 1897.
Well worth a listen. Nigel certainly ain't a nae mates with all these characters in his head. This narrator brought this book to life, even if one them did sound like a Dalek and listen out for the gumsy old lady.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Bryony J Cook
- 14-05-23
Engaging
A good tale with good characters and excellent narration, enjoyable colourful turns of phrase and the use of forgotten words
Highly recommend
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jacki Clark
- 13-03-22
a really good listen!
Well narrated at a good pace. Great story, difficult to put down! definitely recommend
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Nerdycat
- 23-01-22
Hasn`t Aged Well
You can just imagine people, at the time of this story`s release in instalments, scaring each other witless by whispering "The Beee-tle" at odd inopportune moments. However, by today`s standards, the content is somewhat underwhelming. The description of the fine, manly Member of Parliament, and moreover his dialogue, are so awfully dated as to be laughable. This is a curiosity piece only. Sorry to say I didn`t stick with it. The narrator does his best with the torrid, florid and over-egged descriptions but the idea of an otherwise naked man, hypnotised, dressed only in a cloak and with bare feet, breaking and entering by means of a trellis in the middle of a storm in the dead of night does require a huge stretch of the imagination. There is a good reason nobody has ever heard of this sorry tale. It`s not a patch on Dracula.
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