Episode 501 - The Drone

I fell behind in my listening so I'm late commenting on this installment. The last section of "The Drone" reminded me a bit of Granny Weatherwax from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, who keeps bees and occasionally performs a kind of astral projection, called "borrowing," where her consciousness leaves her body and travels as a bee swarm. I'm also glad that I wasn't the only commenter to be reminded of Roald Dahl's "Royal Jelly". (Have you considered covering Dahl's works? Many of his stories are macabre, and some may fall into the category of "weird.") Finally, I'm a little surprised no one brought up the subject of episode 475, Edgar Allan Poe's "Metzengerstein", in which a dead man apparently either possesses a horse or is transmogrified into a horse to take vengeance on the family responsible for the fire that killed him. Ghost werehorse?

Thanks to this Podcast, I can legitimately state that the idea of bees using human bodies as condoms has crossed my mind ... that, or as some kind of “Buffalo Bill” skin-suit. Buffalo Bee? Okay, that’s enough.

If anyone is looking for the text of "Sticks", it's in the collection Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, which has a digital edition. I bought it at some point for something else the boys covered ("The Hounds of Tindalos" maybe?).

Richard Horsman

Ya'll just need to beehave...

Do you think at any stage he thought to himself "to bee or not to bee?"

This is up there with that tweet that pointed out that Smashing Pumpkins' 1979 would be the equivalent of band writing a song about 2005 today.

You know, Ferguson's description of his powers of inhabiting the consciousness of animals made me think of the classic 80's fantasy movie "The Beastmaster". Though in Ferguson's case, I suppose it would be more appropriate to call him "The Beestmaster." This was one of the funniest episodes in a long time. Great job, guys.

Ethan Cordray

What do you find ”terrible” about it? I'm currently re-reading the Dream Cycle and quite liked “Iranon”. It does not get bogged down in page long descriptions of cities as some of the other Dream Cycle tales do and instead is rather plot driven. And the ending is powerful and sad.

Moritz Schubert

I wish I could isolate that whole descriptor section and post it in The Sexy Times.

This whole episode I was thinking about The Bee Girl - https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/the-grown-up-version-of-blind-melons-bee-girl-will-make-you-feel-old-5158

Tintin in the Congo came in a sealed cover the last time I saw it in a bookshop. While I understand the motivation from the publisher, I cant help hbut feel sorry for any unassuming reader or parent who might be unaware of the contents.

Was this episode sponsored by werebee Parker?

So if all bees die after ejaculation, does that mean Buzz-Off from He-Man is still a virgin??...

Wulf Mungus

The idea that everyone is always dancing, unless specificly stated otherwise really put a whole new spin on "War and Peace"

Wulf Mungus

My takeaway from the story was “Change into the bee you want to be seen being in this world.” A lesson for us all.

Peter Larsen

Hello! Long time listener (episode 3!), But rarely comment. I happen to also be a hobbyist beekeeper. I have no words to describe the total and complete amusement of you're discussing this story...

I want to know what Merritt took when he’d finished with the werehyena and started on the werebee. In some sort of altered state of mind, he obviously thought, ‘this story needs something a bit more exotic’. Whatever it is, I want to try it.

The mood music playing behind Chris' description of bee sex was hilarious! I wish I could isolate that whole descriptor section and put it on my sexy times playlist.

Nathan Adam

You can also find the 1980 ITV adaption from ‘Tales of the Unexpected’ here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6JtvjQ_1zE

I had to smile when you mentioned how on-the-nose Merritt is with the bee-ness. I wonder what other bee clues may have been lost in the edit? “Would you care for some music?” Ferguson gestured to the phonograph that sat on the sideboard. I flicked through the small collection of records sitting beside it. “Ah! I see you have the latest from Duke Ellington. What do you think of it?” Ferguson shook his head as he took the record from me and flipped it over. “I wouldn’t know,” he said. “I only listen to the ‘bee’ sides.”

No mentions yet of Roald Dahl's excellent story "Royal Jelly"?! I was gonna link out to the wikipedia page for it, but this blog post from a beekeeper is funnier and more informative: https://adventuresinbeeland.com/2015/12/05/royal-jelly-a-story-by-roald-dahl/

HorrorBabble is amazing! Give them a follow for sure

Levi Horne

The sinister Leopard Men turn up in the otherwise difficult to stomach 'Tintin in the Congo' . Check it here. https://bleedingcool.com/comics/single-page-from-tintin-in-the-congo-page-sells-for-820000/

Joseph Bromley

If you want a werehyena the misleadingly named 'The Werewolf' by CA Kincaid features one. Unfortunately I've only seen it in the Penguin Book of Indian Ghost Stories which is about 13 bucks on Kindle. I've read the collection before and it's interesting, if a mixed bag.

And why couldn't this story have been about the hyena guy! That dude was a missed opportunity, Merritt.

Kelley Frank

I don't know why, but y'all know this must be someone's kink 😬

Kelley Frank

Normally I draw the line at apicological furries. And you, gents, have blurred that line. *sigh* Time to dust off my VHS Invasion of the Bee Girls.

Also, Chad, was that woman a furry? 'Cause guessing what fursona is appropriate for people isn't that unusual.

Mandy Reznor (She_It)

Dam it guys ,you should have taken my advice and do a look back on “He” by Lovecraft.It would have been so epic to imagine Lovecraft’s visions of the future of NYC now.

Here is a documentary that practically features a werebee. It’s about 7 minutes, and a little old but the last half explains the ecstasy of the drone bee. https://youtu.be/vgS0Zen_w0c

Joe Webb

Chad, I am so sorry to be the bearer of bad news here man. But your cheetah fetish basically dooms you to the pangs of unrequited big cat lust. You see, cheetahs have an elaborate mating ritual. The male has to “chase” the female cheetah for days on end, in what amounts to a precoital display of strength and dominance. After a few days of these wild “catch me if you can” antics, the female will finally roll over and give up the goods if the male has kept pace with her the entire time. It’s for this reason that the ancient Egyptians couldn’t domesticate cheetahs for hunting purposes when they tried to. (Source: “Guns, Germs & Steel”, the section on animal domestication.) But hey, don’t give up yet. Bionic legs are right around the corner....female cheetahs, there’s about to be a new bionic lover in town. And his name’s Chad Fifer.

Devin Trim

Haven't listened to the episode yet but just read the story. This really was about the ghost of a were-bee! Also on the internet about five years back there were plenty of bros with the souls of ponies.

The idea of shapechanging animals abounds across cultures. I'm particularly fond of the forms the idea takes across Mesoamerica--it has some long roots, too, because statues of were-jaguar men were often created by the Olmecs. This is gonna mainly consist of lore from the Mexica ("Aztecs"), even if there are cognates among nearby cultures. A common variety of shifter was the Nahual, who could adopt the animal form of their spirit--or else summon their spirit out of them like a Stand, as Quetzalcoatl did with His dog-like nahual. Nahualli mortals were generally regarded as sorcerors, and while not inherently malevolent they were regarded with a certain anxiety. Particularly the jaguar nahual, who were especially potent, since their soul took the form of the greatest predator on land or in water. An expressly malevolent shifter, though, were sorcerors who became owls--the Tlacatecolotl. These fellows were mischievous servants of the Black Tezcatlipoca, and if an owl lands upon your home it portends death. How do you ward them off? By telling them to take a dick! The lovely author David Bowles has made a lengthy Twitter thread explaining the still very much alive tradition of warding off owl witches with (now Spanish) vulgarity, and its roots in the Nahua cultures. You can read it here: https://twitter.com/DavidOBowles/status/1215292344582451205?s=19 (Also I highly recommend David's narrativized version of Mexica myth, Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky.)

Mandy Reznor (She_It)

Haven't listened yet but super excited you guys are covering "Sticks" next, it's got quite a vibe going on

Boy Grahm Eberhardt brought me right back to his readings for Iranon. Terrible story? Yes. But Grahm’s haunting readings almost allowed me to buy into the bittersweet nostalgia for a world that never existed. Good to hear him on the podcast again.

Kit Ainslie