EPISODE · Jan 12, 2026 · 1H 6M
A Meal of Thorns 41- THE BEETLE with Marisa Mercurio
from A Meal of Thorns · host mealofthorns
If you read Dracula and thought: “I like the ancient shapeshifting nemesis and the homoerotic subtext, but I don’t like how subtle the sexual and national anxieties are,” you’re in luck! Editor, reviewer, and scholar Marisa Mercurio is here to talk about not-so-subtle horrors in Richard Marsh’s 1897 novel The Beetle. Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books. Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon! Guest: Marisa Mercurio Title: The Beetle by Richard Marsh Host:Jake Casella Brookins Music byGiselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork byRob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough Chopin's "Minute Waltz" performed by Alfred Cortot Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique" performed by the Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by Artur Rodzinski References: Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca & Don't Look Now Alex Woodroe's The Night Ship Tenebrous Press Bram Stoker's Dracula Mary Shelley, Jane Austen, Ann Radcliffe, Charles Dickens, George Eliot E.R. Eddison's Zimianvian trilogy Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes Kate Beaton’s “The Horror Of The New Woman” H.G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis The Fly films (Kurt Neumann 1958; David Cronenberg 1986) Phase IV directed by Saul Bass Robert Repino's Mort(e) The Nest by Gregory A. Douglas, and the “Valancourt Paperbacks from Hell” Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey The Female Detective by Andrew Forrester Wilkie Collins The However Improbable podcast Marisa’s bluesky
What this episode covers
If you read Dracula and thought: “I like the ancient shapeshifting nemesis and the homoerotic subtext, but I don’t like how subtle the sexual and national anxieties are,” you’re in luck! Editor, reviewer, and scholar Marisa Mercurio is here to talk about not-so-subtle horrors in Richard Marsh’s 1897 novel The Beetle. Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books. Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon! Guest: Marisa Mercurio Title: The Beetle by Richard Marsh Host:Jake Casella Brookins Music byGiselle Gabrielle Garcia Artwork byRob Patterson Opening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John Brough Chopin's "Minute Waltz" performed by Alfred Cortot Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique" performed by the Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by Artur Rodzinski References: Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca & Don't Look Now Alex Woodroe's The Night Ship Tenebrous Press Bram Stoker's Dracula Mary Shelley, Jane Austen, Ann Radcliffe, Charles Dickens, George Eliot E.R. Eddison's Zimianvian trilogy Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes Kate Beaton’s “The Horror Of The New Woman” H.G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis The Fly films (Kurt Neumann 1958; David Cronenberg 1986) Phase IV directed by Saul Bass Robert Repino's Mort(e) The Nest by Gregory A. Douglas, and the “Valancourt Paperbacks from Hell” Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey The Female Detective by Andrew Forrester Wilkie Collins The However Improbable podcast Marisa’s bluesky
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A Meal of Thorns 41- THE BEETLE with Marisa Mercurio
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