Richard Marsh

Born Richard Bernard Heldmann in 1857, he became widely known by his pen name Richard Marsh. He was a prolific British writer of novels and short stories, and his work ranged across horror, thrillers, crime fiction, and popular magazine entertainment.

Marsh is remembered above all for The Beetle (1897), a supernatural thriller published in the same year as Dracula. For a time it was even more popular than Bram Stoker's novel, and it remains the book most closely associated with his name.

He continued publishing successfully into the Edwardian period before his death in 1915. Although much of his writing was once overshadowed by other gothic and sensation writers, readers still return to his fiction for its pace, atmosphere, and knack for unsettling ideas.