The plot of “The Beast in the Thicket” is an ironic rethinking of both “Gothic” prose and adventure literature. In James' story, instead of a traditional ghost or exotic beast, there appears a phantom of consciousness. It seems to him that a certain Beast is waiting for John Marcher - a symbolic monster preparing for a crushing jump from the jungle.

The story was included in the collection “The Turn of the Screw”, published in the series “ABC Classics (pocket-book)” .

Translation: Elga Feldman-Linetskaya