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The Arthur Machen megapack: 25 Classic Works
To anyone interested in supernatural fiction, the work of Welsh master Arthur Machen (1863-1947) is a fundamental starting point. In 2008, Stephen King called Machen's "The Great God Pan" (included here) "Maybe the best [horror story] in the English language" in an interview. And H.P. Lovecraft "Of living creators of cosmic fear raised to its most artistic pitch, few if any can hope to equal the versatile Arthur Machen, author of some dozen tales long and short, in which the elements of hidden horror and brooding fright attain an almost incomparable substance and realistic acuteness."
"The Arthur Machen Megapack" presents 25 Classic Works by Arthur Machen, ranging from supernatural to war stories, including 3 poems and a critical essay by Vincent Starrett.
"The Arthur Machen Megapack" presents 25 Classic Works by Arthur Machen, ranging from supernatural to war stories, including 3 poems and a critical essay by Vincent Starrett.
835 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
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About the author
Arthur Machen
1,107 books1,001 followersArthur Machen was a leading Welsh author of the 1890s. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His long story The Great God Pan made him famous and controversial in his lifetime, but The Hill of Dreams is generally considered his masterpiece. He also is well known for his leading role in creating the legend of the Angels of Mons.
At the age of eleven, Machen boarded at Hereford Cathedral School, where he received an excellent classical education. Family poverty ruled out attendance at university, and Machen was sent to London, where he sat exams to attend medical school but failed to get in. Machen, however, showed literary promise, publishing in 1881 a long poem "Eleusinia" on the subject of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Returning to London, he lived in relative poverty, attempting to work as a journalist, as a publisher's clerk, and as a children's tutor while writing in the evening and going on long rambling walks across London.
In 1884 he published his second work, the pastiche The Anatomy of Tobacco, and secured work with the publisher and bookseller George Redway as a cataloguer and magazine editor. This led to further work as a translator from French, translating the Heptameron of Marguerite de Navarre, Le Moyen de Parvenir (Fantastic Tales) of Béroalde de Verville, and the Memoirs of Casanova. Machen's translations in a spirited English style became standard ones for many years.
Around 1890 Machen began to publish in literary magazines, writing stories influenced by the works of Robert Louis Stevenson, some of which used gothic or fantastic themes. This led to his first major success, The Great God Pan. It was published in 1894 by John Lane in the noted Keynotes Series, which was part of the growing aesthetic movement of the time. Machen's story was widely denounced for its sexual and horrific content and subsequently sold well, going into a second edition.
Machen next produced The Three Impostors, a novel composed of a number of interwoven tales, in 1895. The novel and the stories within it were eventually to be regarded as among Machen's best works. However, following the scandal surrounding Oscar Wilde later that year, Machen's association with works of decadent horror made it difficult for him to find a publisher for new works. Thus, though he would write some of his greatest works over the next few years, some were published much later. These included The Hill of Dreams, Hieroglyphics, A Fragment of Life, the story The White People, and the stories which make up Ornaments in Jade.
At the age of eleven, Machen boarded at Hereford Cathedral School, where he received an excellent classical education. Family poverty ruled out attendance at university, and Machen was sent to London, where he sat exams to attend medical school but failed to get in. Machen, however, showed literary promise, publishing in 1881 a long poem "Eleusinia" on the subject of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Returning to London, he lived in relative poverty, attempting to work as a journalist, as a publisher's clerk, and as a children's tutor while writing in the evening and going on long rambling walks across London.
In 1884 he published his second work, the pastiche The Anatomy of Tobacco, and secured work with the publisher and bookseller George Redway as a cataloguer and magazine editor. This led to further work as a translator from French, translating the Heptameron of Marguerite de Navarre, Le Moyen de Parvenir (Fantastic Tales) of Béroalde de Verville, and the Memoirs of Casanova. Machen's translations in a spirited English style became standard ones for many years.
Around 1890 Machen began to publish in literary magazines, writing stories influenced by the works of Robert Louis Stevenson, some of which used gothic or fantastic themes. This led to his first major success, The Great God Pan. It was published in 1894 by John Lane in the noted Keynotes Series, which was part of the growing aesthetic movement of the time. Machen's story was widely denounced for its sexual and horrific content and subsequently sold well, going into a second edition.
Machen next produced The Three Impostors, a novel composed of a number of interwoven tales, in 1895. The novel and the stories within it were eventually to be regarded as among Machen's best works. However, following the scandal surrounding Oscar Wilde later that year, Machen's association with works of decadent horror made it difficult for him to find a publisher for new works. Thus, though he would write some of his greatest works over the next few years, some were published much later. These included The Hill of Dreams, Hieroglyphics, A Fragment of Life, the story The White People, and the stories which make up Ornaments in Jade.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 20, 2018
There may be three general schools of horror: gore-and-evisceration, so-evil-it-can't-be-named-or-described, and gut psychological terror. Machen's range of styles and approaches is huge. He pretty much invented the second category in its modern incarnation and excelled in the third. But I like him best in unique tales that flow with ambivalence, presenting real life as a shadowed side entrance to an uncertain "other" which is simultaneously wonderful and hideous. These latter go beyond horror to examine the uneasy core of existence.
Whatever their tone, his stories and novels reflect and repeat his Welsh childhood: recurring character names, descriptions and incidents; repetition of plot elements; even reappearance of specific houses, hills and streams. The main male character is usually from a poor, country background, bright but unable to afford a university education.
Machen interweaves history, landscape, ancient religions and personal obsessions, often creating an indefinite dreamland heightened by his apparent synesthesia.
He merges character, author and scene.
He loves and hates London, especially its turn-of-the-20th-century suburban blankness.
He loves and fears the Welsh hills of home.
He is torn between the internal and the external, the imagined and the real, reason and intuition, solidity and the ephemeral. Every aspect of life is simultaneously good and bad, incorporating the beauty of ugliness and the ugliness of beauty.
Writing (especially literature) he extols and condemns as sublime and smothering, with words heard as sounds beyond meaning, leading to ecstasy.
In the indescribable-horror category, especially "The Great God Pan," he is considered the godfather of H.P. Lovecraft and his jolly crew.
The Hill of Dreams, generally considered his best work, swirls with the escalating madness of a collapsing young mind.
Whichever of his pieces hit you hardest may depend on whether you prefer mucus-filled adjectives to unhinged internal visions. Personally, I like him best when his (and his characters') assumptions are understated, almost unstated. For this, read "A Fragment of Life," just what its title states – the slow disjointing (or is it rejointing?) of a London couple who encounter very little yet find their life reformed by that very smallness.
Whatever their tone, his stories and novels reflect and repeat his Welsh childhood: recurring character names, descriptions and incidents; repetition of plot elements; even reappearance of specific houses, hills and streams. The main male character is usually from a poor, country background, bright but unable to afford a university education.
Machen interweaves history, landscape, ancient religions and personal obsessions, often creating an indefinite dreamland heightened by his apparent synesthesia.
He merges character, author and scene.
He loves and hates London, especially its turn-of-the-20th-century suburban blankness.
He loves and fears the Welsh hills of home.
He is torn between the internal and the external, the imagined and the real, reason and intuition, solidity and the ephemeral. Every aspect of life is simultaneously good and bad, incorporating the beauty of ugliness and the ugliness of beauty.
Writing (especially literature) he extols and condemns as sublime and smothering, with words heard as sounds beyond meaning, leading to ecstasy.
In the indescribable-horror category, especially "The Great God Pan," he is considered the godfather of H.P. Lovecraft and his jolly crew.
The Hill of Dreams, generally considered his best work, swirls with the escalating madness of a collapsing young mind.
Whichever of his pieces hit you hardest may depend on whether you prefer mucus-filled adjectives to unhinged internal visions. Personally, I like him best when his (and his characters') assumptions are understated, almost unstated. For this, read "A Fragment of Life," just what its title states – the slow disjointing (or is it rejointing?) of a London couple who encounter very little yet find their life reformed by that very smallness.
July 17, 2017
Want to know what the best part of reading H.P. Lovecraft is? Discovering Arthur Machen. Born the son of a Welsh clergyman, he solidifies what I have been saying about the Roman Catholic Church for years. It is the haven for all that is creepy, arcane, and downright horrifying when it comes to movies, weird tales, and stunning horror fiction that stays with you all night and doesn’t necessarily disappear with daybreak. If you don’t believe me, just watch THE OMEN with Gregory Peck and THE SINEATER with Heath Ledger back to back and see if you understand. Machen brings you weird tales from seemingly innocent hills of Gwent through stories like “The Hill of Dreams”, The White People" and “The Great God Pan”. He shows us that when the order of hierarchy of creation is up-heaved, even for a short season, man can be at the mercy of the beasts very easily in his tale “The Terror”. Unveiling arcane horror is what Machen does best in some of his tales such as “The Red Hand” and “The Pyramid”. Just as Lovecraft writes of the “horror for which there are no words” Machen paints even creepier pictures. If you ever considered yourself a Stephen King or H.P. Lovecraft fan, you need to read this man’s work. Personally, I would totally recommend the megapack, it gives you everything imaginable in one volume, no matter how extensive the reading is.
January 10, 2018
Arthur Machen was a Welsh horror writer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His tale "The Great God Pan", originally released in 1894, is considered by many to be the greatest horror story ever written.
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Unfortunately, I did not really take to this collection like I had hoped. The style is very formal, understandably, considering the time it was written. The stories themselves, even with the supernatural elements involved, seemed slow and plodding. I may have been spoiled by modern-day horror writers, but this book did not succeed in maintaining my interest, and I could only read one tale at a time before I put it down to read something else. I am glad to say I have read "the greatest horror tale ever written", but I respectfully don't agree. This book may be fine for the antiquarians of horror, but for me, I'll take King, Cutter or Newman.
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My Rating: 2.25/5 stars
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.
Unfortunately, I did not really take to this collection like I had hoped. The style is very formal, understandably, considering the time it was written. The stories themselves, even with the supernatural elements involved, seemed slow and plodding. I may have been spoiled by modern-day horror writers, but this book did not succeed in maintaining my interest, and I could only read one tale at a time before I put it down to read something else. I am glad to say I have read "the greatest horror tale ever written", but I respectfully don't agree. This book may be fine for the antiquarians of horror, but for me, I'll take King, Cutter or Newman.
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My Rating: 2.25/5 stars
May 9, 2023
3.57⭐
ARTHUR MACHEN: A NOVELIST OF ECSTASY AND SIN by Vincent Starrett 4⭐
THE REMEMBRANCE OF THE BARD 4⭐
THE PRAISE OF MYFANWY 3⭐
THE HOUSE OF SOULS: AN INTRODUCTION 3.5⭐
A FRAGMENT OF LIFE 3.5⭐
THE WHITE PEOPLE 3.5⭐
THE GREAT GOD PAN 5⭐
THE SHINING PYRAMID 3.5⭐
THE INMOST LIGHT 3.75⭐
THE HILL OF DREAMS 4⭐
THE THREE IMPOSTORS 5⭐
THE RED HAND 3.5⭐
THE SECRET GLORY 3⭐
THE HAPPY CHILDREN 4⭐
MUNITIONS OF WAR 2.5⭐
THE BOWMEN 3⭐
THE SOLDIERS’ REST 2⭐
MONSTRANCE 4⭐
THE ROSE GARDEN 3.5⭐
THE CEREMONY 4⭐
A DOUBLE RETURN 3.5⭐
THE TERROR 3.5⭐
FAR OFF THINGS 4⭐
THE GREAT RETURN 4⭐
HIEROGLYPHICS 3.25⭐
A NEW CHRISTMAS CAROL 3⭐
ELEUSINIA 3⭐
ARTHUR MACHEN: A NOVELIST OF ECSTASY AND SIN by Vincent Starrett 4⭐
THE REMEMBRANCE OF THE BARD 4⭐
THE PRAISE OF MYFANWY 3⭐
THE HOUSE OF SOULS: AN INTRODUCTION 3.5⭐
A FRAGMENT OF LIFE 3.5⭐
THE WHITE PEOPLE 3.5⭐
THE GREAT GOD PAN 5⭐
THE SHINING PYRAMID 3.5⭐
THE INMOST LIGHT 3.75⭐
THE HILL OF DREAMS 4⭐
THE THREE IMPOSTORS 5⭐
THE RED HAND 3.5⭐
THE SECRET GLORY 3⭐
THE HAPPY CHILDREN 4⭐
MUNITIONS OF WAR 2.5⭐
THE BOWMEN 3⭐
THE SOLDIERS’ REST 2⭐
MONSTRANCE 4⭐
THE ROSE GARDEN 3.5⭐
THE CEREMONY 4⭐
A DOUBLE RETURN 3.5⭐
THE TERROR 3.5⭐
FAR OFF THINGS 4⭐
THE GREAT RETURN 4⭐
HIEROGLYPHICS 3.25⭐
A NEW CHRISTMAS CAROL 3⭐
ELEUSINIA 3⭐
August 31, 2019
An absolute gem of supernatural intrigue
January 14, 2025
Long time fan of Machen ... this is a must collection for me
May 24, 2020
Arthur Machen really deserves a bigger presence in the culture. Sure, weird fiction enthusiasts know and revere him (Lovecraft for example), but he never really trickled down to the pop culture masses via a movie or TV show. "The Great God Pan" and "The White People" would make compelling adaptations whether for a full length movie, streaming series, or episode of Night Gallery. Robert Eggers or Ari Asters could direct. What the hell, throw Nic Cage in there. Even his less cinematic tales are satisfying meditations on cosmic horror, the uncanny, and existential dread interlaced with the mundane. Machen is closer to Robert Aickman than HPL on the weird fiction spectrum. The introduction connects Machen to Baudelaire, Poe and Huysman in disparate ways, but they are all relatable. Some commentaries I've read critique Machen as misogynistic. I don't buy that, because although Machen sets up bad situations for female characters, it's for dramatic effect, its not like he's trying to promote negative impressions of/outcomes for women. His female characters, even the wo-monster antagonist of the Great God Pan, are more sympathetic than the male ones, who tend to be clueless or sinister.
May 18, 2015
Too old a style of prose for me to finish. No opinion one way or the other.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews