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'What a terrible calamity, what a stupefying circumstance, if mosquitoes were the size of camels, and a herd of wild slugs the size of elephants invaded our gardens and had to be shot with rifles...' A blue scarab which makes the sound of a terrifying death-tick. A moth with the markings of a dead man's face. An empire of intelligent, aggressive, and colossal ants. The insect kingdom has finally come to seek retribution for humankind's negligence. Never has a creature been so topical - with headlines warning of the mosquito-bearing viruses, fire ants destroying power sources, invasive yellow ladybirds, or an ecological insect apocalypse that threatens the very balance of our natural world. With growing concerns about global warming, pesticides, and genetically modified crops, Eco-Gothic is moving to the fore in modern scholarship, and this collection allows readers to be a fly on the wall to some of the creepiest and crawliest accounts of insectoid horror from the likes of Edgar Allan Poe, E.F. Benson, and Jane G. Austin. Fear indeed walks on many legs.… (meer)
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So this was sixty-odd years ago…. I’m seven or eight, walking home from elementary school, and something flies straight into my ear. And a split second later, something else flies into my other ear. I collapse in panic, equilibrium unsettled, writhing on the sidewalk, scratching and clawing, desperately trying to free myself from the hideous buzzing. After a few seconds, it’s over. They’re gone. Weevil? Mantis? Katydid? Cicada? I can’t be sure. But they were big. And they were loud. And they’re all still actively under suspicion…. Since then I think of insects, whether of the flying or crawling variety, with equal part fear and fascination. Those two competing forces tend to allow the maintenance of a safe equilibrium, as I suspect even a moderate tipping to one side or the other could pose harrowing psychological consequences. So I’ve been able to toe that delicate line. At least until now… And thus we come upon Crawling Horror: Creeping Tales of the Insect Weird, edited by Daisy Butcher and Janette Leaf, another in the British Library Tales of the Weird series. As usual in this series, virtually all the stories in the anthology are entertaining and of interest. The editors do tend to reveal a bit too much in their intros to each story, so one may wish to save them for the end to avoid spoilers both large and small.
The Sphinx - Edgar Allan Poe…. In the midst of a deadly cholera epidemic a man sees a monstrous creature which he believes to be a frightening omen. A tale from the master Poe which teaches the importance of proper perspective in the face of gloom and runaway fear. Indeed an apt parable for our uncertain Covid times.
The Blue Beetle: A Confession - A.G. Gray, Jun. …. A scientist, in conducting experiments to discover the secret spark which produces living beings, creates a strange beetle. The reason for his rather breathless narration soon becomes apparent in this effective (albeit melodramatic) tale.
The Mummy’s Soul - Anonymous…. While exploring an Egyptian mummy’s tomb, an archaeologist is fascinated by the remains of an embalmed insect he discovers. Serious consequences ensue after he takes it home as one of his mementoes to exhibit to his wife and friends.
After Three Thousand Years - Jane G. Austin…. Yet a third successive story in the anthology wherein an artifact plundered from a mummy’s tomb proves, as always, to ultimately wreak havoc. With an annoying drizzle of adverbs and a decidedly old-fashioned style and tone, this one’s as dusty and creaky as the tomb itself. Given the preceding two far better stories of the same ilk, its inclusion here is a clear misstep.
A Dream of Wild Bees - Olive Schreiner…. A little parable in which magical bees each offer a special gift to an unborn child. A rare case of the weird bestowing beneficence.
The Moth - H.G. Wells…. An entomological feud between W.T. Hapley and Professor Parkinson’s escalates with unexpected consequences. This taut psychological study, with a hint of sly humor, could well be Wells’s variation on Poe’s classic The Tell-Tale Heart.
The Captivity of the Professor - A. Lincoln Green…. An entomologist on an expedition along the Amazon River is held captive by a species of highly intelligent ants. The exotic locale, lush flora, colorful wildlife, and strange insects give the author abundant opportunity to shine in this elegantly written tale. But the story is a bit too long, and well over-the-top with some bizarre cartoonish antics of the commanding “cavalier” ants and the assorted species of underling ants, animals, and birds under their command. That said, the narrative still is indeed wildly imaginative, and certainly one of the more memorable stories in this or any other weird anthology.
(1) The Dream of Akinosuke and (2) Butterflies - Lafcadio Hearn…. Two selections from Hearn’s Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, a collection of Japanese ghost stories, very similar to folk tales in tone and style. In the first story, whilst taking a short nap Akinosuke, a soldier-farmer, dreams he is wedded into royalty, sires seven children, and after 24 years his bride dies. This dream prefigures a strange event which occurred while he was asleep, and an even stranger discovery shortly after he awakens. The second selection is a very short but touching love story. These two stories are nicely paired, with each offering the belief that the butterfly is representative of the human soul.
Caterpillars - E.F. Benson…. During a stay at an Italian villa, a man experiences a ghostly presence of a different sort - nightly visions of a swarm of terrifying caterpillars. A chilling tale with an abrupt and haunting ending.
An Egyptian Hornet - Algernon Blackwood…. The Reverend James Milligan encounters a frightening Egyptian hornet in a bathroom. It’s a lighthearted sparring match between the two, with the moral of the story a fitting subject for a Sunday sermon.
The Blue Cockroach - Christopher Blayre…. The Professor, upon purchasing a bunch of bananas, finds that a blue cockroach has fallen from the fruit onto the counter. It bites his hand, and the the Professor experiences a strange, though ultimately fleeting, psychological effect, a brief awakening of sorts. The open-ended coda hints at some medicinal properties that the unusual cockroach may possess.
The Wicked Flea - J.U. Giesy…. Professor Xenophon Xerxes Zapt, the eminent investigator of the unknown in science, conducts an experiment in which a series of ever larger fleas are created. This annoying attempt at humor misses the mark by a mile. The story was first published in the October 1925 issue of Weird Tales, and was even somehow featured as the cover story, depicting a giant flea chasing a dog. A complete misfire for me.
The Miracle of the Lily - Clare Winger Harris…. This 1928 science fiction story imagines a future where man’s dominance and ultimate survival on earth is challenged by a proliferation of outsized insects which threaten our food supply. The Twilight Zone twist at the end reveals that insect pests truly are in the eye of the beholder.
Warning Wings - Arlton Eadie…. A ship captain relates a tale that explains his eternal fondness for moths.
Beyond the Star Curtain - Garth Bentley…. Space travelers return to earth and find a completely different planet than they left - now a world teeming with giant insects. A fun sci-fi adventure.
Leiningen Versus the Ants - Carl Stephenson…. The opening perfectly sets up the epic battle to come between the cool, calculating, and supremely confident plantation owner and the immense army of ants on the march and heading towards his property. A classic tale, brilliantly told in a stunning cinematic style. ( )
'What a terrible calamity, what a stupefying circumstance, if mosquitoes were the size of camels, and a herd of wild slugs the size of elephants invaded our gardens and had to be shot with rifles...' A blue scarab which makes the sound of a terrifying death-tick. A moth with the markings of a dead man's face. An empire of intelligent, aggressive, and colossal ants. The insect kingdom has finally come to seek retribution for humankind's negligence. Never has a creature been so topical - with headlines warning of the mosquito-bearing viruses, fire ants destroying power sources, invasive yellow ladybirds, or an ecological insect apocalypse that threatens the very balance of our natural world. With growing concerns about global warming, pesticides, and genetically modified crops, Eco-Gothic is moving to the fore in modern scholarship, and this collection allows readers to be a fly on the wall to some of the creepiest and crawliest accounts of insectoid horror from the likes of Edgar Allan Poe, E.F. Benson, and Jane G. Austin. Fear indeed walks on many legs.
Google Books — Bezig met laden...
(4.5)
1
And thus we come upon Crawling Horror: Creeping Tales of the Insect Weird, edited by Daisy Butcher and Janette Leaf, another in the British Library Tales of the Weird series. As usual in this series, virtually all the stories in the anthology are entertaining and of interest. The editors do tend to reveal a bit too much in their intros to each story, so one may wish to save them for the end to avoid spoilers both large and small.
The Sphinx - Edgar Allan Poe…. In the midst of a deadly cholera epidemic a man sees a monstrous creature which he believes to be a frightening omen. A tale from the master Poe which teaches the importance of proper perspective in the face of gloom and runaway fear. Indeed an apt parable for our uncertain Covid times.
The Blue Beetle: A Confession - A.G. Gray, Jun. …. A scientist, in conducting experiments to discover the secret spark which produces living beings, creates a strange beetle. The reason for his rather breathless narration soon becomes apparent in this effective (albeit melodramatic) tale.
The Mummy’s Soul - Anonymous…. While exploring an Egyptian mummy’s tomb, an archaeologist is fascinated by the remains of an embalmed insect he discovers. Serious consequences ensue after he takes it home as one of his mementoes to exhibit to his wife and friends.
After Three Thousand Years - Jane G. Austin…. Yet a third successive story in the anthology wherein an artifact plundered from a mummy’s tomb proves, as always, to ultimately wreak havoc. With an annoying drizzle of adverbs and a decidedly old-fashioned style and tone, this one’s as dusty and creaky as the tomb itself. Given the preceding two far better stories of the same ilk, its inclusion here is a clear misstep.
A Dream of Wild Bees - Olive Schreiner…. A little parable in which magical bees each offer a special gift to an unborn child. A rare case of the weird bestowing beneficence.
The Moth - H.G. Wells…. An entomological feud between W.T. Hapley and Professor Parkinson’s escalates with unexpected consequences. This taut psychological study, with a hint of sly humor, could well be Wells’s variation on Poe’s classic The Tell-Tale Heart.
The Captivity of the Professor - A. Lincoln Green…. An entomologist on an expedition along the Amazon River is held captive by a species of highly intelligent ants. The exotic locale, lush flora, colorful wildlife, and strange insects give the author abundant opportunity to shine in this elegantly written tale. But the story is a bit too long, and well over-the-top with some bizarre cartoonish antics of the commanding “cavalier” ants and the assorted species of underling ants, animals, and birds under their command. That said, the narrative still is indeed wildly imaginative, and certainly one of the more memorable stories in this or any other weird anthology.
(1) The Dream of Akinosuke and (2) Butterflies - Lafcadio Hearn…. Two selections from Hearn’s Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, a collection of Japanese ghost stories, very similar to folk tales in tone and style. In the first story, whilst taking a short nap Akinosuke, a soldier-farmer, dreams he is wedded into royalty, sires seven children, and after 24 years his bride dies. This dream prefigures a strange event which occurred while he was asleep, and an even stranger discovery shortly after he awakens. The second selection is a very short but touching love story. These two stories are nicely paired, with each offering the belief that the butterfly is representative of the human soul.
Caterpillars - E.F. Benson…. During a stay at an Italian villa, a man experiences a ghostly presence of a different sort - nightly visions of a swarm of terrifying caterpillars. A chilling tale with an abrupt and haunting ending.
An Egyptian Hornet - Algernon Blackwood…. The Reverend James Milligan encounters a frightening Egyptian hornet in a bathroom. It’s a lighthearted sparring match between the two, with the moral of the story a fitting subject for a Sunday sermon.
The Blue Cockroach - Christopher Blayre…. The Professor, upon purchasing a bunch of bananas, finds that a blue cockroach has fallen from the fruit onto the counter. It bites his hand, and the the Professor experiences a strange, though ultimately fleeting, psychological effect, a brief awakening of sorts. The open-ended coda hints at some medicinal properties that the unusual cockroach may possess.
The Wicked Flea - J.U. Giesy…. Professor Xenophon Xerxes Zapt, the eminent investigator of the unknown in science, conducts an experiment in which a series of ever larger fleas are created. This annoying attempt at humor misses the mark by a mile. The story was first published in the October 1925 issue of Weird Tales, and was even somehow featured as the cover story, depicting a giant flea chasing a dog. A complete misfire for me.
The Miracle of the Lily - Clare Winger Harris…. This 1928 science fiction story imagines a future where man’s dominance and ultimate survival on earth is challenged by a proliferation of outsized insects which threaten our food supply. The Twilight Zone twist at the end reveals that insect pests truly are in the eye of the beholder.
Warning Wings - Arlton Eadie…. A ship captain relates a tale that explains his eternal fondness for moths.
Beyond the Star Curtain - Garth Bentley…. Space travelers return to earth and find a completely different planet than they left - now a world teeming with giant insects. A fun sci-fi adventure.
Leiningen Versus the Ants - Carl Stephenson…. The opening perfectly sets up the epic battle to come between the cool, calculating, and supremely confident plantation owner and the immense army of ants on the march and heading towards his property. A classic tale, brilliantly told in a stunning cinematic style. (