Episode 14: 'Man Size in Marble' by E. Nesbit


Not for the first time on EnCrypted: The Classic Horror Podcast we find an author primarily known for one thing moonlighting in the realm of horror.  E. Nesbit is, of course, most remembered for her enduring, and hugely influential, writing for children; The Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet, The Treasure Seekers, and The Railway Children being among her best-loved works.

She wrote for adults too and, in her short fiction particularly, indulged a predilection for the supernatural. Man Size in Marble was compiled in her first collection of such (1893's Grim Tales) although she wrote many more*.

As our series of podcasts continues we begin to identify recurring themes, and it is possible to speculate on what they reveal about the (very different, but in some ways the same) times in which they were written. In the next episode, for example, we return to the subgenre I would like to call "The Terrible Aunt" (part of a broader category of vintage horror fiction that features terrible guardians and governesses in general). This story suggests another familiar theme; that of belief.

At the time this, and the other stories we have covered, were written, religious faith (and the supernatural more generally) was being openly challenged by scientific discovery. In Man Size in Marble the urbane, somewhat bohemian married couple move from the city to the countryside where superstitions still carry weight and folklore may be cultural memory rather than mere fantasy. The husband - Jack - is typically pragmatic and dismissive of these old traditions. It is his unwillingness to believe that precipitates tragedy.

I am not sure whether E. Nesbit actually believed in ghosts (someone in the comments may be able to elucidate), but it seems to me her stories are often vehicles for philosophy. The subtext of Man Size in Marble - namely, men's failure to take women seriously - will be even more stark in an upcoming episode: Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper.

Anyway...that's enough of my pontificating. Listen to the story, and believe...

Yours manfully,

Jasper

 

*Another positively brusque short story from Grim Tales will appear very soon as part of the One Past Midnight podcast episodes - watch out for it!


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About the episode

"Man Size in Marble" by E. Nesbit was first printed in Home Chimes magazine (December 1887). It was later published in the anthology Grim Tales (A.D. Innes & Co., 1893).

Main theme music:

The Black Waltz by Scott Buckley | www.scottbuckley.com.au Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 

Incidental music:

Dark Walk by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3612-dark-walk
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

I Was Always Right Here by Darren Curtis | https://www.darrencurtismusic.com/
Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"HORROR THEME " composed and produced by "Vivek Abhishek" Music link : https://youtu.be/LwjzmdiRFpc SUBSCRIBE us on YOUTUBE: https://bit.ly/3qumnPH Follow on Facebook: https://bit.ly/33RWRtP Follow on Instagram: https://bit.ly/2ImU2JV

Sound effect attributions: 

https://freesound.org/people/mmiron/sounds/546982/*

*All used with the following licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

All other sound effects sourced at Freesound.org

The recording was created using Audacity and BandLab. Podcast hosted by Anchor.

COMING SOON: a special EnCrypted episode - "An Edwardian EVIL DEAD II"

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