Welcome to our second annual Halloween spooktacular! We begin our frightfest with W. W. Jacobs’s 1902 short story “The Monkey’s Paw.” We talk about the historical and political implications of this story, from the racist legacy of imperialism and the insurance industry to hazardous labor conditions and mortgages. On a lighter note, we get into the overvaluation of Herberts and learn a very important lesson: the only thing scarier than wishing on a cursed monkey's paw is what bonobos do with theirs.
For more on slavery, empire, and insurance, we highly recommend Ian Baucom’s tremendous Specters of the Atlantic: Finance Capital, Slavery, and the Philosophy of History. If one of your three wishes is to read more W. W. Jacobs, we recommend The Lady of the Barge (1902), an anthology of short stories including other terrifying tales like "A Golden Venture," which may or may not be about what you think it's about, and "Cupboard Love," which is about exactly what you think it's about.
Find us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @betterreadpod, and email us nice things at betterreadpodcast@gmail.com. Find Tristan on Twitter @tjschweiger, Katie @katiekrywo, and Megan @tuslersaurus.