"The Horror at Martin's Beach" is a short story by American writers H. P. Lovecraft and Sonia H. Greene. It was written in June 1922 and first published (as "The Invisible Monster") in November 1923 in ''

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, pri ...

'' (Vol. 2, No. 4, pages 75–76, 83).

Plot

Sailors kill a 50-foot creature at sea after a lengthy battle. The creature bears strange anatomical irregularities such as a single large eye and rudimentary forelegs and six-toed feet in place of pectoral fins. After inspection by marine biologists, it is revealed to be just a juvenile. The captain who captured the creature tours the coast and profits from the corpse of the deceased creature. Some month's later, the vessel with the creature, breaks free from its moorings in a storm and disappears. A few weeks later, as the captain attempts to finish his business at Martin's Beach, two lifeguards and other on the beach attempt to rescue something at sea, but are pulled in. The captain and others attempt to rescue the victims but it is too late. The rescuers and the captain are seemingly hypnotized and pulled into the water by the creature's apparently vengeful mother, to the horror of an onlooking crowd.

Reprints

The story has been included in at least four collections of Lovecraft's works: * ''

Something About Cats and Other Pieces ''Something About Cats and Other Pieces'' is a collection of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories, poetry and essays by American author H. P. Lovecraft. 2,995 copies were released in 1949 and was the fourth collection of 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 ...

, 1949. Facsimile reprint by Books for Libraries Press, 1971. * '' The Horror in the Museum and Other Revisions''. Sauk City, WI:

, 1970 as "The Invisible Monster" by Sonia Greene * '' The Horror in the Museum and Other Revisions''. Edited by S. T. Joshi. Sauk City, WI:

, 1989, , 325-30. As "The Horror at Martin’s Beach" by Sonia H. Greene * ''The Loved Dead and Other Revisions''. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1997, , 125-30.

References

External links

* * 1923 short stories Collaborative short stories Fantasy short stories Pulp stories Short stories by H. P. Lovecraft Works originally published in Weird Tales {{1920s-horror-story-stub