The mark of the monster by Jack Williamson
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"The mark of the monster by Jack Williamson" is a pulp horror short story written in the early 20th century. Set in a decaying Appalachian town steeped in occult lore, it follows a young man’s return to a place of brooding superstition, where whispered talk of a monstrous twin, a blood-smeared cellar, and a hilltop altar entwine love, fear, and the suggestion of inhuman inheritance. Claiborne Coe comes back to Creston to
marry Valyne, despite a dire warning from his foster father, Doctor Kyle. After a brutish encounter with Jud Geer and glimpses of a chained “creature” in the cellar, Kyle convinces Clay he is half-demon with a monstrous twin. When the “monster” escapes and abducts Valyne to the forest altar, Clay fights it; Kyle’s rifle shot fells the beast. Valyne then reveals the ticking of Jud’s watch, exposing the “monster” as Jud in a mask. Kyle confesses a plot—abetted by his household—to terrorize Clay into suicide and seize his fortune, and when he turns his gun on them, Clay kills him in self-defense. Clay and Valyne leave Creston for good. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Williamson, Jack, 1908-2006 |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Brundage, Margaret, 1900-1976 |
| Illustrator | De Lay, H. S. (Harold Saylor), 1876-1950 |
| Title | The mark of the monster |
| Original Publication | Indianapolis, IN: Popular Fiction Publishing Company, 1937. |
| Series Title | Produced from Weird Tales May 1937. |
| Credits | Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net |
| Reading Level | Reading ease score: 84.5 (6th grade). Easy to read. |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Horror tales |
| Subject | Villages -- Fiction |
| Subject | Man-woman relationships -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 76131 |
| Release Date | May 20, 2025 |
| Last Update | Sep 18, 2025 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 6225 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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