Robert Holt, affamato e senza soldi, sotto una pioggia battente, trova una casa vuota con una finestra aperta. Entra, per ripararsi, ma la casa non è vuota, e il misterioso occupante costringe il malcapitato a rubare in casa di Paul Lessingham, un noto politico.Da qui inizia una vicenda in bilico tra incubo e follia, raccontata da quattro punti di vista diversi.Lo scarabeo è un cult recuperato dal dimenticatoio: uscito nel 1897 in contemporanea con Dracula, fu il best seller di quell'anno superando il romanzo di Stoker.

Mr. Bidder was the senior partner in the firm of Bidder, Tuxwell, and Harris, of Birkenhead. A confidential clerk – one Raymond Hastie – had been discovered in an extensive system of embezzlement. Mr. Hastie had disappeared, and with him some necessary books and a considerable sum in cash as well. The affair was in the hands of the police, and the above curt telegram had been just received from that well-known officer, George Stone, of Scotland Yard.

The Haunted Pipe The Puzzle Lady Wishaw’s Hand Pugh’s Poisoned Ring The Kit-Bag A First Night The Burglary at Berkeley Square The Lost Duchess On the Film Capturing a Convict

Sir Philip Ford is intrigued by a beautiful girl in Monte Carlo — until she nearly stabs him, mistaking him for someone else. He returns to England to discover his friend Alan has married this wicked character with the extremely shady past. Eveleen initiates a conspiracy to murder her new husband, planning to throw the blame on the innocent Doris (Sir Philip’s love interest). A suspenseful story, with an under-current of romance.

As the story opens in Canterstone Jail, George Edney, a dying convict, leaves all his ill-gotten goods to Andrew Bruce, a “good-conduct” man whose term of two years is nearly at an end. After Bruce obtains his freedom, he locates the “buried treasure” Edney had hidden, and tries to find answers to the questions it raises. A story with a bit of something for everyone: a handsome hero, a beautiful heroine, many dastardly villains. Crime, mystery, romance, a touch of weird science, a taste of the supernatural too. A bit over the top, but great fun.

I was sure that I had seen Edwin Lawrence juggle with the pack. As I lay there wide awake in bed it all came back to me. I wondered how I could have been such an unspeakable idiot. We had dined together at the Trocadero; then we had gone on to the Empire. The big music hall was packed with people, the heat was insufferable. “Let’s get out of this,” suggested Lawrence, almost as soon as we were in. “This crush, in this atmosphere, is not to be borne.” I agreed with him. We left. “Come into my place for an hour,” he said. We both lived in Imperial Mansions, on the same floor. His number was 64, mine was 79. You went out of his door, along the passage, round the corner to the right—the second door on the right was mine. I went in with him. “What do you say to a little gamble?” he asked. “It will be better than nothing.” I agreed. We had a little gamble—at first for trivial stakes. I am an abstemious man. I had already drunk more than I was accustomed to. At his invitation I drank still more. We increased the stakes. I really do not know from whom the suggestion came, I know that I did not object. I had lost all my ready money. I kept on losing. He was dotting down, on a piece of paper, the extent of my indebtedness. Presently, when he announced the sum total, I was amazed to learn that it was very much more than I imagined—actually nearly a thousand pounds. On the instant I was wide awake.

Richard Marsh (12 October 1857 – 9 August 1915) was the pseudonym of the English author born Richard Bernard Heldmann. A best-selling and prolific author of the late 19th century and the Edwardian period, Marsh is best known now for his supernatural thriller novel The Beetle, which was published the same year as Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897), and was initially even more popular, outselling Dracula six times over. The Beetle remained in print until 1960. Marsh produced nearly 80 volumes of fiction and numerous short stories, in genres including horror, crime, romance and humour. Many of these have been republished recently, beginning with The Beetle in 2004. Marsh's grandson Robert Aickman was a notable writer of short "strange stories".