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A review by qalminator
Medusa's Coil by H.P. Lovecraft
2.0
I think I'm only giving this two stars because I've read Gemma Files' response to it (Hairwork), and that makes it interesting as a backdrop to finally make sense of that story. Without that, it would be one star (and only because negative stars are not an option).
We have the standard framing for a ghost story: traveler lost at night, stumbles across an old mansion, and seeks shelter. There he hears an incredible story (with racist over-, under-, and middle-tones), stumbles out of the shelter, and finds out the house was destroyed years ago. Pretty standard stuff, except for the tale of what happened within.
I think the real topper on this one was how much more horrific it was to these characters that the wife had African ancestry than that she was a priestess of Cthulhu et al. Rather nasty bit of work, and now I want to go read Hairwork again to cleanse my palate.
We have the standard framing for a ghost story: traveler lost at night, stumbles across an old mansion, and seeks shelter. There he hears an incredible story (with racist over-, under-, and middle-tones), stumbles out of the shelter, and finds out the house was destroyed years ago. Pretty standard stuff, except for the tale of what happened within.
I think the real topper on this one was how much more horrific it was to these characters that the wife had African ancestry than that she was a priestess of Cthulhu et al. Rather nasty bit of work, and now I want to go read Hairwork again to cleanse my palate.