![]() The women kidnap young white men to serve their wicked will. The titular Beetle is “an oriental” from a “cult of Isis.” This cult is an amalgam of any and all “ancient” cults Marsh can think of or invent. ![]() Let’s get one thing out of the way before I continue: Richard Marsh is not even remotely interested in studying other cultures or in doing more than name-checking ancient gods. The first part is particularly atmospheric and sometimes deeply creepy. It has come to London to avenge itself on a rising politician by destroying him and his fiancée. It can, and does, change its form from human to beetle with apparent ease. ![]() The Beetle of the title is an elderly individual capable of subjecting others to its nightmare will. It slows after that, and develops some distinct tics. There is some serious atmosphere at the beginning, likely to interest anyone who wants to study horror. I just finished listening to the audio of The Beetle written by Richard Marsh and read by Nigel Patterson, and it is definitely something for a niche audience–people like me who like looking at early horror and nineteenth century literature. ![]()
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![]() That said, how can anyone resist watching how DeSantis claws his way to the top of the wailing wall over the remains of Humpty Trumpty below who is celebrating Christmas this year by singing “Oh, Come All ‘Ye’ Hateful” to dine on antisemitic and racist porridge? Onward … ![]() I will attempt to be more upbeat in this year’s rewording of this classic poem. It has been my intention for the past 10 years to inject a little light humor into the increasingly dark times we find ourselves living in. ![]() In any case, my anniversary special always manages to elicit (provoke?) heavy duty responses from both sides of the Red/Blue spectrum. And a housekeeper found it and liked it so much that she sent it to the newspaper - without Moore’s knowledge. The story goes that Moore had written the poem for his children. It remained unattributed for 13 years until the professor/poet Clement Clarke Moore stepped forward to claim the work. ![]() ![]() There was no author’s name attached to it. Nicholas” (aka “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”), a poem that first appeared in the Troy (New York) Sentinel on Dec. Today’s column marks the tenth anniversary on which I have “reinterpreted” the classic “A Visit from St. ![]() ![]() Instead of a scolding, she dangles before him a story she’s never even told her son, about a valuable necklace that disappeared during the Nazi occupation of France.Īnd so a madcap adventure is set into motion, one that leads Kezia, Nathaniel, and Victor from Miami to New York and LA to Paris and across France until they converge at the estate of Guy de Maupassant, author of the classic short story “The Necklace.” He wakes to her jovially slapping him across the face. ![]() In the midst of all this semi-merriment, Victor passes out in the mother-of-the-groom’s bedroom. ![]() They soon slip back into old roles: Victor loves Kezia. Now at the tail end of their twenties, they arrive completely absorbed in their own lives-Kezia the second-in-command to a madwoman jewelry designer in Manhattan Nathaniel the former literary cool kid, selling his wares in Hollywood and the Eeyore-esque Victor, just fired from a middling search engine. Kezia, Nathaniel, and Victor are reunited for the extravagant wedding of a college friend. ![]() Part comedy of manners, part treasure hunt, the much-anticipated first novel from the writer David Sedaris calls “perfectly, relentlessly funny.” ![]() National Bestseller and a New York Times editor's choice. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The process is slow, and the actual time between infection and full vampirism varies greatly from host to host. The only other means of infection are direct transmission or bodily fluids from a vampire usually through sex or bite, or by absorbing a leech egg, or being born as a blood child of a vampire. The transformation is slow, as the spores must first adapt the body to accommodate the growth of a leech. When a suitable host is detected, as the fungi appear to have some sort of sentience, they burst open, releasing a cloud of spores that are inhaled by the victim. The leeches begins its original life cycle as a fungus, formed from the rotting flesh and fats of a deceased vampire. Leeches can leave hosts in dire situations and seek out new hosts, including animals, but these can only be vampirized before death. If fed, a leech can survive without a host, but lacks high-level intelligence. The Wamphyri leeches in their true forms are small snake-like creatures, resembling worms with fangs and no eyes. ![]() ![]() ![]() Unable to lift the nation’s spirits, Carter’s “Scrooge” was no match for Reagan’s “Santa Claus. His telegenic charisma, unapologetic patriotism (“Make America great again” became a campaign slogan) and sanguine vision overwhelmed an incumbent prone to scolding the public for its profligate ways. ![]() Critics pounced on his gaffes questioning evolution and asserting that vegetation caused pollution, but, as with Trump, Reagan’s backers cared little about these blunders or his nescience over public affairs. Its now been 20 years since an insurgent has won the. He was followed by other insurgents: McGovern in 1972, Carter in 1976, Reagan in 1980. Reagan’s biggest handicap was his tendency to blurt mistakes and falsehoods - one commentator said he had a “very loose hold on the real world around him” - when going off-script. Goldwater beat his partys establishment in 1964. Though he, too, strove to steer the party away from the “country club big business image” epitomized by Nelson Rockefeller, Reagan never projected a cutthroat persona, earning the public’s affection over Carter, who came off as increasingly coldhearted. Conservatives were fortunate to have Reagan serve as the prophet delivering their radical message. At the heart of the story is Barry Goldwater, the renegade Republican from Arizona who loathed federal government, despised liberals, and mocked peaceful. ![]() |