"The Curse of Yig" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft and

Zealia Bishop Zealia Brown-Reed Bishop (1897–1968) was an American writer of short stories. Her name is sometimes spelled "Zelia". Although she mostly wrote romantic fiction, she is remembered for three short horror stories she wrote in collaboration with H. ...

in which Yig, "The Father of Serpents", is first introduced.

Plot

In 1889, upon arriving in

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, a couple learn about local legends surrounding a "snake god" called Yig, which takes vengeance on anyone who kills a serpent by either killing them or turning them into a half-snake monster. The husband has an intense

fear of snakes Ophidiophobia (or ophiophobia) is a particular type of specific phobia, the irrational fear of snakes. It is sometimes called by a more general term, herpetophobia, fear of reptiles. The word comes from the Greek words "ophis" (), snake, and "phobi ...

, and his wife kills a nest of rattlesnakes at one of their campsites. The husband is horrified by the thought that Yig will take vengeance. After building their cabin, the husband is insistent on practicing various rituals from the native tribes to keep Yig away, grating heavily on his wife's nerves. In fear, the woman kills her own husband in the dark, thinking he is Yig. She is taken to an asylum, and dies there... but not before giving birth to four half-snake creatures.

Background

Bishop supplied the story idea and some notes, paying Lovecraft to flesh it out in 1928. Bishop then sold the story under her own name to ''

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, prin ...

'' magazine. It was published first in the November 1929 issue (volume 14, number 5) on pages 625-36. It was the first of three tales Lovecraft wrote with Bishop, the others being ''

The Mound The Mound is an artificial slope in central Edinburgh, Scotland, which connects Edinburgh's New and Old Towns. It was formed by dumping around 1,501,000 cartloads of earth excavated from the foundations of the New Town into Nor Loch which wa ...

'' and '' Medusa's Coil''.

Republication

The story has appeared in a number of horror anthologies, including: *''A Treasury of American Horror Stories'', ed. Frank D. McSherry, Jr., Charles G. Waugh & Martin H. Greenberg, Bonanza/

Crown Books Crown Books was a bookseller headquartered in Prince George's County, Maryland, with a Largo post office address. It was founded in the Washington, D.C., metro area by Robert Haft in 1977. Crown Books (retail) is of no relation to Crown Bo ...

1985, *''Tales of the Dark #3'', ed.

Lincoln Child Lincoln Child (13 October 1957) is an American author of techno-thriller and horror novels. Though he is most well known for his collaborations with Douglas Preston (including the Agent Pendergast series and the Gideon Crew series, among other ...

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

1988 *''

The Horror in the Museum and Other Revisions ''The Horror in the Museum and Other Revisions'' is a collection of stories revised or ghostwritten by American author H. P. Lovecraft. It was originally published in 1970 by Arkham House in an edition of 4,058 copies. The dustjacket of the firs ...

'', H. P. Lovecraft,

Arkham House Arkham House is an American publishing house specializing in weird fiction. It was founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish hardcover collections of H. P. Lovecraft's best works, which had pr ...

1989

References

External links

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Online text
1929 short stories Cthulhu Mythos short stories Fantasy short stories Collaborative short stories Mariticide in fiction Oklahoma in fiction Short stories by H. P. Lovecraft Works originally published in Weird Tales Native Americans in popular culture {{1920s-fantasy-story-stub