Mother of Toads

Mother of Toads is a short story by Clark Ashton Smith. It takes place in his Averoigne continuity but features a toad-like antagonist akin in some respects to a Deep One related human.
==Synopsis==
A young apothecary's apprentice, sent to the abode of a witch in a swamp, is ensorceled, seduced and ultimately killed by a giant toad that can take the form of a human woman, or a human witch with an atavistic spirit of a gigantic toad. The toad-witch-woman seduces the young man then unleashes a horde of toads upon him which force him down into the muck of the swamp and carpet him as he drowns.
==Publication History==
"Mother of Toads" was first published in the July 1938 edition of pulp magazine Weird Tales. It has since been reprinted many times, and has been translated into Dutch, Italian, French, German, and Spanish.
==Behind the Mythos==
Unlike H. P. Lovecraft who emphasized heredity, miscegenation and his horror of racemixing, Smith in this short story emphasizes the seductive power of the glamour and illusion magic at the witch's command, opposed to the horrifying reality of her physical form. The sexual aspect of the story is much more mature and balanced than the Lovecraft coldness or the Robert E. Howard adolescent adventurousness of his compatriots and it stands quite apart and unique among the Lovecraft Circle as a whole.
==Gallery==
Mother of toads.jpg
Category:Clark Ashton Smith works
Category:Averoigne Cycle
Category:Mythos-Adjacent Works
Category:Lovecraft Circle Works