Vernon Lee was the pseudonym of Violet Paget (1856-1935), a British writer most famous for her supernatural short stories. She was a leading figure in the aesthetic movement.

'Marsyas in Flanders' is a strange tale of an ancient carving of the crucified Christ - minus its arms and cross - which washes up in the 12th century on a beach in Flanders. Once ownership of the relic is established, it is hung in the local church at Dunes...and before long strange miracles begin to take place, which rapidly turns the minor fishing village into a place of pilgrimage and worship. But the miracles become stranger and more threatening - demonic, even - in nature...and the church authorities are forced to step in and investigate. What they find causes them to take very drastic action.