Medusa's Coil

"Medusa's Coil" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft and Zealia Bishop. It was first published in Weird Tales magazine in January 1939, two years after Lovecraft's death. The story concerns the son of an American plantation owner who brings back from Paris a new wife. It mixes elements of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos with the ancient Greek myth of Medusa, but it has also been noted for its racist aspects.

The unnamed narrator of the story is driving to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, but gets lost in the unfamiliar countryside. He comes across a rundown plantation house, and finds the only inhabitant is an emaciated old man called Antoine de Russy. The narrator asks if he can spend the night in the house. The old man agrees, and begins to tell the tale of the place. He explains that he inherited the estate from his grandfather, and married in 1885. He had a son Dennis who, as a young man, was sent to the Sorbonne in Paris. There Dennis met an artist, Frank Marsh, from New Orleans, and the two men became involved in a mystical cult. Dennis became infatuated with the head of the cult, a woman called Marceline, and married her. Around 1916, Dennis returned to Missouri with his new wife, but Antoine and his servants found her strangely repulsive. Frank Marsh came to stay, developed a friendship with Marceline and insisted on painting her portrait:

"I must paint her, Denny—must paint that hair—and you won't regret. There's something more than mortal about that hair—something more than beautiful—"

Aware that his son may become jealous, Antoine arranged for Dennis to be called away on business, while Frank Marsh set about painting Marceline. However, Dennis came home unexpectedly, entered the studio where Marsh was painting Marceline, and a fight took place. It was then that the painting was first revealed, showing the truth as to what Marceline really was. In his terror, Dennis killed Marceline, but her "blasphemous braid of coarse black hair" struck and killed Marsh "coiling around him as a python would". Dennis confessed all to his father, but then killed himself. Antoine buried the bodies in the cellar, including the coil of hair around Marsh. Antoine comes to the end of his story, but offers to show his guest the horrific painting:

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