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Study 064 - August Heat and Berenice (Patreon)

Published:
2023-10-25 19:28:53
Edited:
2024-09-20 23:27:58
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

It's a Halloween double feature of August Heat by William F. Harvey and Berenice by our old friend Edgar Allan Poe!

Special thanks to our reader Greig Johnson! Check out his Etsy shop and his awesome werewolf film The Wilds!

Outro Track: Gettin' Spooky on the Dance Floor

Next up: Extra Credit on various movies such as The Fly ('86), Sator, Mandy and more!

Comments

Mark Saunders

Not a comment on the story, but I felt like I had to thank you guys. In the last few days I’ve been having some sleep problems, which has caused sleep anxiety. Basically, I wake up in the middle of the night for no reason and have panic attacks when I try to fall back asleep. One of the things that has eased the anxiety has been listening to this show. Despite the subject matter, I find listening to you talk very comforting. I’ve been listening for years and even had the chance to hang out with you guys at the 10th anniversary party in Providence, so it almost feels like having a conversation (albeit one sided) with friends. I just wanted to thank you for helping through a time that I’m finding very difficult and stressful. Keep up the good work!

Steve

I was in Clapham just this morning. Fortunately I met no corpulent balding men who had written my name on a gravestone. But the way that I dance is through no fault of my own.

Chris Vinny

Love the show guys! Back when your membership tiers allowed it, I toyed with upgrading to pick a story or even guest on the show but ultimately could never decide between these two stories, so I feel like this episode was made specifically for me. As a aside I reread Berenice for this in my annotated Poe and was surprised to see the claim that at the time the name would be pronounced in a way that rhymed with “very spicy” or in the Italian “bere-nee-chay”. For the former, I kind of don’t believe it. It sounds so silly and I cannot find any modern source corroborating that pronunciation.

Joshua Alan Doetsch

Berenice! Some years ago, I got 4th place in a Poe haiku contest with my haiku version of this story: Thirty-two pearly I-love-you-nots. So in love, I can’t hear the screams

It's a Ghost.

I would agree Berenice is probably the most disturbing story you've ever covered on the show! Also, with that in mind, I'm somewhat amused that I first read this story in a collection of "Great American Ghost Stories" that I picked up at a school book fair when I was 15.

REO Jackwagon

The Autumn Heat was such a great sting! With Bernice, did anybody else start being able to "feel" their teeth and began to compulsively touch them with your tongue?

It's a Ghost.

When you mentioned that in the original version Egæus knew that Berenice wasn’t actually dead before she was buried, I thought, “Yikes, I don’t like that.” But then I got to be thinking how if he did know that she wasn’t actually dead and let her be buried anyway so that he could get her teeth, that would only emphasize his monomania that much more, which I think might have been what Poe was going for in the first place. His monomania really was that great! Egæus loved Berenice, but his monomania was even greater.

Devin Morse

Ohhh, THIS is the Poe tooth story! It’s referenced in the Netflix House of Usher miniseries and the movie Two Evil Eyes.

Briar Ripley Page

I think it might be a more effective *story* if we saw the guy's slow descent into madness, his justifications for pulling the teeth, how he perceives the situation-- if he was aware of what was going on the entire time, just with a twisted point of view. But in terms of which situation I *personally* find more horrifying, it's definitely the one Poe presents, where he just blacks out, comes to, and finds out that he's done something appalling. The idea that you could wake up all of a sudden and find you've done the worst thing you can imagine to someone you love, even though you never consciously wanted to and don't remember doing it or deciding to do it, fills me with dread. It makes me think about times I blacked out drinking when I was younger, and would wake up the next day to discover I'd hooked up with someone I really didn't want to, or I'd gotten into a fight with a friend...except obviously way worse! I know Poe had some issues of his own, possibly including seizures (which can cause memory loss and problems with memory formation), and I wonder if he wrote it like that because that was also kind of a relatable situation to him, in the sense of feeling more personally plausible (and therefore scary) than some "muahahaha! and now...THE TEETH!" stuff

Steven Vincent

Darth Flava, Rapping Sith Lord. I like it 👍

Ravewolf

Oddly, the comedian playing the "Brother Theodore" character referenced this story while appearing on the David Letterman show back in the day during one of his rants, essentially quoting the beginning of the plot from the MC's point of view, no doubt knowing most would not recognize it. From a historical point of view, this story is an interesting break from the strictly gothic tale as it relies so much on psychology and obsession. A Poe character often has the unsettling sense of not being in full control of themselves, and not even being able to reliably narrate their own tale.

Falconhoof

Fantastic episode. But the sound of Chad's terrified screams will haunt me to the grave

Jason Thompson

August Heat is so awesome. I read it first when I was a kid. What are the rest of this guy’s stories like? Are they great like August Heat or ridiculous like Beast With Five Fingers?

Thom Scullion

August Heat brought to mind that terrifying scene in Mulholland Drive where the guy re-experiences his nightmare in real life, evoking a similar feeling of dread and inevitability.

Karsa Torvald

Yay that's me! I didn't think anything could top a ghost cat, but the pure unadulterated horror of a long held human scream? Even more perfect. BTW, I listen at 1.5 speed, and every Pitch Black Manor song is now a dance track. Incredible.

Aaron La Vene

My take immediately is that this man has been stalking the other, maybe he got slighted by him in court or in some other way (people do lie) and due to the stalking he had seen this man on multiple occasions but only amongst the crowds or in passing. Not remember where he had seen the man but possibly this is why he drew him. And the rest goes down to a sharpened chisel…. Just before midnight

Jim Cannon

Had an 80 degree day here in New England, so a hot August day is not far from my mind even with the fall foliage on display. Which reminds me of the true horror: global climate change.

Jim Cannon

I have had recourse to remove a few teeth in my life, and I have to say, even with all the advantages of 21st century medicine, the experience was deeply uncomfortable each and every time. Which is to say, "Berenice" was viscerally horrifying in a way few stories you have covered have ever been. Just... ugh. No thank you.

KateSherrod

Chad's ululations freaking MADE this episode. The Wilhelm Scream is old hat. Let's replace it with the Fifer!

Jim Cannon

Apropos of nothing, as it concerns a running joke not mentioned in this episode BUT there is a young adult novel series based on Murder She Wrote, where the main character is Jessica Fletcher's grand-niece, a young teenager out solving crimes. I don't think its been optioned by Netflix yet, but there is clearly somebody out there thinking along the same lines as Chad.

Alan Ricks

If you did four double Poe episodes this month you could of called it Oct-POE-ber. I’m sorry, I’ll see myself out.

David Halstead

In relation to August Heat, I can't help thinking of this line from the 1953 sci-fi film It Came From Outer Space. Sheriff Matt Warren: Did you know, Putnam, more people are murdered at ninety-two degrees Fahrenheit than any other temperature? I read an article once - lower temperatures, people are easy-going. Over ninety two, it's too hot to move. But just ninety-two, people get irritable. The line really stands out, despite having nothing to really do with the story, but it adds character to the Sheriff. Great movie. Directed by Jack Arnold, who also did The Incredible Shrinking Man and The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

ESTY

DANDELO!

The Spider Incident

Chad you should know by now--don't just read out Latin phrases that you don't know the meaning of! Who knows what kind of eldritch abomination you could have summoned!

Aaron La Vene

The Dentist was inspired and is essentially a retelling of this story. You should definitely watch it because it’s amazing. The influences from Poe are really well presented -Lying Vincent Price

Cacodaemoniacal

Thank you for covering Berenice! And, I'm sorry for you covering Berenice. It's a perfect little horror story that breaks through my reader's armor, but boy howdy does it bring the squinchy-ick. I think part of my love of the story is that Poe went "there," but also his ability and willingness to alter the tone and style of the story so completely. New ideas though this time. Before I'd always imagined Poe interviewing someone and fudging the details to make a story. Because, Egaeus is a spot on portrayal of a Schizophrenic. I mean you could diagnosis him from this account. So, I always saw it as a straightforward confession. But this time I thought, perhaps this person isn't just recounting the horror of his realization, he might be stuck in one of his obsessive states, continuously re-living it. That's some fresh hell to consider. Chad and Chris, I know you hated the florid language, but for me it works as contrast to the staccato of the reveal at the end. The somewhat immature writing fits the character's narcissism.

Rasmus Juul

It must have been weird to be the mason in August Heat. An unknown man enters his workshop while he works and claims he has the same name and birth date as the headstone he is working on. After that he pulls forth a drawing he further claims he had made the same morning without knowing the mason. It so much sounds like a scam. Like it all was planned beforehand to make a connection. But a little overreaction to kill him, though.

Eric S. Vallone, M.D.

The distinction between the terms “physician” and “surgeon” in 19th century British literature and history always confused me. The best explanation I ever found was in Steven Johnson’s 2006 book, The Ghost Map, which detailed the investigation and discovery of the causes of a major cholera outbreak in 1849 London. He writes, “A young Englishman interested in the medical life during the first half of the nineteenth century had three primary career paths open to him. He could apprentice with an apothecary and then eventually land a license from the Society of Apothecaries, which would grant him the right to concoct medicines prescribed by physicians. After some training, he would be free to embark on his own practice, treating patients with the woeful remedies of the day, probably dabbling in minor surgery or dentistry on the side. The more ambitious individual would go on to study at a medical school, and later join the Royal College of Surgeons of England, becoming a bona fide general practitioner and surgeon, performing a host of different tasks: everything from treating minor colds to excising bunions to amputating limbs. Beyond that lay the university degree Doctor of Medicine, whose recipients were conventionally called physicians, as opposed to the lower orders of surgeons and apothecaries. A university degree opened doors to the private hospitals, where one could rub shoulders with the wealthy benefactors who endowed them.”

Robert Curtin

Ah Berenice, what a great tale to "Sink your teeth into!" Eh? Eh? Anyway, great stories this week! Really incredible that the author of the Beast With Five Fingers was able to crank out a really creepy tale that touched me! I think it goes as an encouragement to starting writers to just keep writing and keep going, parody yourself, and keep writing ideas, even ones that are stupid. That's how you grow! Now where is that chisel, I swear I had it a second ago...

Beccameriel

Chad screaming in terror is my new most favourite thing. This is why I’ve been listening for all these years. This is the Good Stuff.

Mochi needs Catnip

Poevember is only worth living for! But thank you for doing Berenice! Love you guys

Sweatin' to the Great Oldies

I think the Poe story works better if he is very much aware of what he is doing and cannot stop himself. The blackout is, for me, too much magic. Now our fine artist drawing his own fate? Brilliant.

Joshua Weiss

1) The poe-iness of the prose made me give up on this story three times before I finally forced myself to finish it. I'm glad-- for certain values of glad-- that I did, because the box full of teeth was so amazingly over the top. 2) Chad's long, ululating shrieks reminded me of the old MST3K bit "Earth vs. Soup." I grinned like a maniac every time.

Nic Wassell

I always liked August Heat since first coming across it in an anthology. I didn't actually recognise the title when I started listening to the episode so had the nice realisation of "oh I know this one!" when the reading got to the drawing. What it reminds me of is a variation on the oracle idea whereby if you know the future you are beholden to enact it. Perhaps an odd reference, but it reminded me of the film Timecrimes where the mere construction of a time machine causes a series of events that wouldn't have happened but for the time machine being switched on.