Welcome to Part Six of the latest audio entertainment in our series Tales for Our Time: The Island of Dr Moreau. H G Wells' horrific exploration of man's repudiation of biology speaks to us still a century-and-a-quarter on. Last night's episode, for example, completely shattered the safe space of a First Day Founding Member of The Mark Steyn Club, Marc Swerdloff:
The desperate scramble back to the pseudo safety of the scream filled hut in part 5 of the Island of Dr. Moreau had me as terrified as any Hitchcock shower scene. Well done Mr.Steyn. I need to catch my breath and steady my nerves before I dare turn off my bedroom lights.
Well, we'll try not to trigger you too often as our story proceeds, Marc. In tonight's episode Prendick determines to see for himself just what's going on in the House of Pain:
I rose, and in three steps had crossed the room, seized the handle of the door into the yard, and flung it open before me.
"Prendick, man! Stop!" cried Montgomery, intervening.
A startled deerhound yelped and snarled. There was blood, I saw, in the sink,—brown, and some scarlet—and I smelt the peculiar smell of carbolic acid. Then through an open doorway beyond, in the dim light of the shadow, I saw something bound painfully upon a framework, scarred, red, and bandaged; and then blotting this out appeared the face of old Moreau, white and terrible. In a moment he had gripped me by the shoulder with a hand that was smeared red, had twisted me off my feet, and flung me headlong back into my own room. He lifted me as though I was a little child. I fell at full length upon the floor, and the door slammed and shut out the passionate intensity of his face. Then I heard the key turn in the lock, and Montgomery's voice in expostulation.
"Ruin the work of a lifetime," I heard Moreau say.
"He does not understand," said Montgomery.
But he will, soon enough. Members of The Mark Steyn Club can hear Part Six of our tale simply by clicking here and logging-in. Earlier episodes can be found here.
If you're one of that brave band who prefer me in vision, I'll be back with Tucker Carlson tomorrow evening, Thursday, coast to coast across America at 8pm Eastern/5pm Pacific. Hope you'll tune in. And, of course, an hour or so before that we'll be right here with Part Seven of The Island of Dr Moreau.
If you're minded to join us in The Mark Steyn Club as we approach next week's second anniversary, you're more than welcome. You can find more information here. And, if you have a chum you think might enjoy Tales for Our Time (so far, we've covered Conan Doyle, Baroness Orczy, Dickens, Conrad, Kipling, Kafka, Gogol, Jack London, Scott Fitzgerald, Robert Louis Stevenson and more), we've introduced a special Gift Membership that lets you sign up a pal for the Steyn Club. You'll find more details here. Oh, and don't forget, over at the Steyn store, our Steynamite Special Offers on books, CDs, and much more.
Following last year's sold-out inaugural Mark Steyn Club Cruise and this September's near sold-out second cruise, we're now planning the third. Details to come.
