A Spoiler of Men. Dieser Artikel ist nicht verfügbar.A Spoiler of Men

"It was a book called A Spoiler of Men, by Richard Marsh, and there was a repulsive crime on almost every page. It was Hot Stuff." - P. G. Wodehouse

"A Spoiler of Men is as good as The Beetle, and when one has said so much, it is difficult to find higher praise. . . . We may express the hope that this really excellent and thrilling novel will have the success it deserves." - Morning Post

Cyril Wentworth seems to have it all. A wealthy and handsome socialite with political ambitions and a fiancée who is a famous novelist, Wentworth is the envy of London society. But he also has a dark side. Years ago, as a student under the eminent chemist Professor Ehrenberg, Wentworth discovered a drug that with the prick of a needle could turn men into mindless zombies. Now he has a plan to use his secret weapon to secure a fortune, but a mysterious young woman knows his secret and is determined to stop him at all costs. Who is she? What is she after? And can she prevent Wentworth's evil designs, or will she become another one of his victims?

First published in 1905, A Spoiler of Men is, as Johan Höglund writes in his introduction, a roller coaster ride that blends horror, crime, and humour, and will keep readers guessing until its surprising conclusion. It is also, Höglund argues, quite possibly the first occurrence of zombies in English fiction. This new edition, the first since the 1920s, features the unabridged text of the first edition, a new introduction and notes, and a reproduction of the cover of the Victorian "shilling shocker" edition.

Richard Marsh, a pseudonym used by English author Richard Bernard Heldmann, was born on October 12, 1857, and died on August 9, 1915. Author of numerous best-selling books during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Marsh is most known today for his supernatural thriller The Beetle, which came out the same year as Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) and was initially sold six times more than the latter book. The Beetle was published until 1960. In addition to writing many short tales, Marsh authored about 80 volumes of fiction in the horror, crime, romance, and humor genres. Starting with The Beetle in 2004, many of these have been reissued in the last few years. Robert Aickman was a well-known author of short "strange stories" and the grandson of Marsh. On October 12, 1857, Richard Bernard Heldmann was born in North London, the son of lace manufacturer Emma Marsh (1830-1911) and trader Joseph Heldmann (1827-96). In 1880, Heldmann started releasing fiction in the style of adventure and boys' school tales for magazine publications. The most significant of these was Union Jack, a prestigious weekly journal for boys published in association with writers W.H.G. Kingston (1814-80) and G. A. Henty (1832-1902).