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Episode 501 - The Drone (Patreon)

Published:
2020-05-29 17:24:16
Edited:
2024-12-12 19:02:12
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

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Content

We're joined by guest Joe Carroll to discuss Abraham Merritt's werebee classic The Drone!

Special thanks to reader and werebee enthusiast Grahm Eberhardt!

Next up: Sticks by Karl Edward Wagner

Comments

Moonflight Dancer

Merrit's description of the "ecstasy of a drone" reminded me of Melissophilia, a particular kind of masochism involving bee stings. Of course, animals have been used as symbols of fertility and virility in every culture on Earth, so the notion of beast people always comes with the allure of the taboo.

Ko-Wahi Kit

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.

Drix

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

Mandy Reznor (She/It)

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.)

Sanjay Mathew

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.

Devin Trim

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.

Joe Webb

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

H P Lovecraft's Cat

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.

Sweatin' to the Great Oldies

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.

Morbid Smile Art

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

Morbid Smile Art

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

Levi Horne

HorrorBabble is amazing! Give them a follow for sure

Rafe Ball

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.”

Nathan Adam

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.

Philip Cowan

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.

Mouldy Squid

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...

Peter Larsen

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

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

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

Pete Williams

Was this episode sponsored by werebee Parker?

Ethan Cordray

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.

Pete Williams

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

Richard Horsman

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?).

Kenneth R. Gerety

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.

Shana Carter

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?