The Monster of Lake LaMetrie is a 1899 short story by Wardon Allan Curtis.
It tells the story of Dr. James McLennegan and his sickly companion Edward Framingham who travel to a lake high up in the Wyoming mountains. When they reach the lake, McLennegan discovers it is home to an Elasmosaurus which attacks him, but he manages to kill it and removes the brain. Shortly afterwards Framingham seemingly commits suicide and McLennegan decides to place Framingham’s brain into the body of the Elasmosaur, as one does.
Compare The Monster of Partridge Creek, another story about prehistoric life turning up in the Weird West.
This work provides examples of:
- Artistic License – Biology: McLennegan slices off the top of the Elasmosaur's head and removes its brain. Not only is said brain described as "similar to a human's", the creature is still able to move around and live without it. In-Universe, it's treated as a case of Bizarre Alien Biology, portraying the Elasmosaur as a more outlandish creature than the real deal would be.
- Artistic License – Medicine: The idea of a brain transplant is itself not possible with our current understanding of medicine and biology, a cross-species brain transplant between a human and a recently discovered thought-to-be-extinct prehistoric marine reptile is even more ridiculous.
- Apocalyptic Log: The story is told through a series of journal entries between 1896-97.
- Brain Transplant: McLennegan transplants the brain of Framingham into the body of the Elasmosaur.
- Death of Personality: Framingham's ultimate fate, as his humanity is overtaken by the body of the monster.
- Downer Ending: Framingham's mind slowly deteriorates until he becomes a full-on sea monster and kills McLennegan, then is shot to death by a group of soldiers.
- Driven to Suicide: Framinghim kills himself to escape the pain of his illness. Shortly before, he and McLennegan idly discuss how amazing it would be if his intellect could somehow be combined with the physical fortitude of the Elasmosaur, so it's very ambiguous whether he is trying to invite the Brain Transplant or not.
- Evil Laugh: Framingham utters one when Captain Fairchild finds him eating McLennegan, though it's implied that by this point, "Framingham" is well and truly dead.
- Fantasy Americana: The idea that America still has unexplored pockets where secrets wait to be explored comes from this.
- Hollow World: McLennegan speculates that there is a tunnel at the bottom of the lake that the Elasmosaur came through that leads to a prehistoric world within the earth. This theory was actually in-vogue at the time, at least among the general public.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: A strong case can be made that McLennegan is the true monster of the story. His friendship with Framingham falls apart when he transfers his friend's brain into the Elasmosaur out of scientific curiosity and continues to use his friend to satisfy his perversion of nature while his mind is slowly overtaken by the beast's body. Predictably, the rabid Framingham murders McLennegan and is killed by the Army after, which may as well have been a Mercy Kill.
- Laughing Mad: After his mind is lost to the monster's body, Framingham can only cackle incessantly as he devours the corpse of McLennegan.
- Mad Scientist: It could be argued that McLennegan is one what with the fact that he tries to play god in the vein of Frankenstein by splicing the brain of a human with the body of a prehistoric monster.
- The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: It appears that Framingham’s mind devolves the longer it is in the body of the Elasmosaur and he loses the ability to speak and murders McLennegan.
- Stock Ness Monster: An Unbuilt example given the idea of an Elasmosaur that lives in the lake predates the "discovery" of Nessie by over three decades!
- Uplifted Animal: After McLennegan removes the creature’s brain and transplants Framingham’s into the body, the result is Elasmosaurus-Framingham who retained his human intelligence and memories, allowing for the sight of a sea monster singing Gregorian chant lyrics to the tune of "Where did you get that hat?", at least until the body eventually takes control of his mind.
- Weird West: A foundational example, with a plesiosaurid lurking in a lake on the Wisconsin frontier.
