Look, my portrait in rats!
When you think of maritime horror, your mind is often drawn to the same few things: sea monsters, sharks, ghostly sailors, abandoned ships and isolation.
One of my favourite oceanic tales of terror features an unlikely adversary from the sea: rats. Lots of rats. A flood of rats. This week's recommendation is Three Skeleton Key.
Three Skeleton Key was written by French author Georges-Gustave Toudouze, first published in French in 1927 and in English in 1937.
It tells the story of a trio of keepers at the Three Skeleton Key lighthouse. The three are trapped when a derelict ship runs aground, releasing thousands of rats that encircle and climb the building. What ensues is a struggle for survival as the characters try not only to avoid the ravenous swarm, but to also stay sane while doing so.
In 1949, the story was adapted into a radio play by James Poe for Escape, renaming the characters, fleshing out some of the scenes and giving it a darker ending. There are a few different recordings of this adaptation, three of which star Vincent Price.
Neither the original story, nor the radio adaptation is overly explicit in the depiction of violence, with a lot of the terror coming from the reactions of the characters to the situation and the implications of what would happen if you were overtaken by a swarm of starving rats.
The narrator, named Jean in the radio version, is the voice of reason and main character in the story.
Itchoua/Louis is the head keeper, older and more serious than the other two.
Le Gleo/Auguste is my personal favourite character, a hunchbacked former actor whose mental state wasn't exactly stable before the incident. Many of the story's more quotable lines and memorable moments come from him.
The English translation of the written version can be found in the Esquire archive, in the January 1937 issue where it was first published.
You can find recordings of the radio version on Archive.org.