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The House of Souls
Four of Machen's classic novellas (A Fragment of Life, The White People, The Great God Pan, and The Inmost Light) collected in one volume.
292 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1906
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About the author
Arthur Machen
1,106 books996 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 - 30 of 75 reviews
February 14, 2022
A lot of how one "feels" about a book and what one "thinks" about a book goes back to taste. I have stated elsewhere that I like H.P. Lovecraft. Machen is considered an influence on and a precursor of Lovecraft. I was already familiar (slightly) with The White People and The Great God Pan before finding this volume. I was never really taken with Machen, but picked this up from the library as part of a reading group (here).
The largest part of the book is taken up with or by the first novella A Fragment of Life. Personally I found the story to drag and be a huge lead up to little payoff. That being said I think I should note here that I am not and have never been what might be called a fan of the "coming of age" tale, or "storie of self discovery". That is in the end what A Fragment of Life is.
The rest of the book I found similarly slow as the stories somehow failed to bring the since of terror I think they were supposed to. In the White People I think/feel that the long discussion in the opening tends to bog the story down (though I would like to have participated in it). The "story in the book" itself, is definitely told as if recorded by a young woman or older girl. the breathless run on sentence feel with most told in what seems to be almost run on paragraph (only broken up when she stops to actually address what "Nurse" said or did) drove me crazy.
On and on, The Great God Pan another don't meddle tale...with the addition that it's an "Old pagan gods show up in modern world" tale also failed to reach me.
Maybe I've just read too many books and am slightly jaded, I don't know.
The stories tend to follow individuals (though in the TGGP we lose one and pick up another.....following the trail of developing events) and so all tend to be the same type of tale in general (or seem related so to me).
While I can see where many will like this volume (The first story in a way put me in mind of the much longer novel by Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. It is a long story portraying the characters lives and development. i liked it I suppose mainly because I got involved in the lives. Here in Machen's tale, I didn't). It wasn't one I hated, but I did find myself skimming and ready for it to be over. Probably won't track down any more by the author.
The largest part of the book is taken up with or by the first novella A Fragment of Life. Personally I found the story to drag and be a huge lead up to little payoff. That being said I think I should note here that I am not and have never been what might be called a fan of the "coming of age" tale, or "storie of self discovery". That is in the end what A Fragment of Life is.
The rest of the book I found similarly slow as the stories somehow failed to bring the since of terror I think they were supposed to. In the White People I think/feel that the long discussion in the opening tends to bog the story down (though I would like to have participated in it). The "story in the book" itself, is definitely told as if recorded by a young woman or older girl. the breathless run on sentence feel with most told in what seems to be almost run on paragraph (only broken up when she stops to actually address what "Nurse" said or did) drove me crazy.
On and on, The Great God Pan another don't meddle tale...with the addition that it's an "Old pagan gods show up in modern world" tale also failed to reach me.
Maybe I've just read too many books and am slightly jaded, I don't know.
The stories tend to follow individuals (though in the TGGP we lose one and pick up another.....following the trail of developing events) and so all tend to be the same type of tale in general (or seem related so to me).
While I can see where many will like this volume (The first story in a way put me in mind of the much longer novel by Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. It is a long story portraying the characters lives and development. i liked it I suppose mainly because I got involved in the lives. Here in Machen's tale, I didn't). It wasn't one I hated, but I did find myself skimming and ready for it to be over. Probably won't track down any more by the author.
July 8, 2019
The Great God Pan and 'The White People' are classics of the horror genre, while The Inmost Light is more conventional, but still a damn good piece. A Fragment of Life, the only non-horror tale in the collection, has its tedious sections, but this proves to be intentional as a rendering of the ephemera of life drowning out the beauty.
Machen's career, though rarely less than entertaining, eventually descended into lesser material going over the same ideas, but The House of Souls is one of his essential books along with The Hill of Dreams, Ornaments in Jade and The Three Impostors. Uniquely powerful literature from a veritable visionary.
Machen's career, though rarely less than entertaining, eventually descended into lesser material going over the same ideas, but The House of Souls is one of his essential books along with The Hill of Dreams, Ornaments in Jade and The Three Impostors. Uniquely powerful literature from a veritable visionary.
February 13, 2022
Hey, look! A book that's out of copyright and available on Project Gutenberg! Yay!
"The House of Souls" contains four stories that may or may not take place in the same universe; the atmosphere and details sound very much like they might, but it's never explicitly stated.
"A Fragment of Life" (1904) is the first one, but I think I'd have preferred it to be the last. It's a long story about a young, newly wedded couple that receives a sum of money, invests nine tenths of it and debates how to spend the remainder.
As they go back and forth on the decision, we find out more about their lives and the lives of those they know: the mysterious actions of an uncle, the oddness of an old woman, the husband's past explorations of London and discovering it as if it were a new and magical place.
It's a slow story, and it has a certain magic to it. It's almost a sort of magical realism before the genre came into being. But it ends like this:
It would be impossible to carry on the history of Edward Darnell and of Mary his wife to a greater length, since from this point their legend is full of impossible events, and seems to put on the semblance of the stories of the Graal. It is certain, indeed, that in this world they changed their lives, like King Arthur, but this is a work which no chronicler has cared to describe with any amplitude of detail.
So, after a normal, vaguely magical story, we're told it becomes a fantasy novel we'll never read. OH WELL.
The next three stories, however, are deeply mystical and filled with to the brim with the supernatural.
The White People (1904) is a story-within-a-story. The story is a dialogue between men about sainthood and pure evil, which is... eh. But the story-within is the deranged journal of a teenage girl who gets involved in magic and abominations that are never quite described on page, but are always hinted at.
It's quite brilliant, splendidly conveying unpleasantness and evil, as well as hinting at a larger world of eldritch magic.
The Great God Pan (1894) is told in multiple parts, some of which don't seem connected at first. A scientist does an experiment on a woman who is rendered mad for the rest of her life. In London and abroad, a mysterious woman causes the ruin and suicide of a number of men.
The Inmost Light (1894) is a story about a doctor's wife who dies under mysterious circumstances. A passer-by who saw her at the window was shocked by the evil in her figure and determines to find out what happened to her.
----
Machen's style is beautiful and his atmosphere is mysterious and horrifying, really conveying the feeling of abomination and supernatural terror.
At a more careful look, however, his plots tend to rely on coincidence, which isn't great, although I'll allow it.
The women are the oddest thing. When they aren't a manifestation of evil incarnate, they're strangely passive. Both "The Great God Pan" and "The Inmost Light" have them willingly lay down their lives and sanity for the sake of the experiment of the most important man in their lives (like lambs to the slaughter). One thinks that the question "Can I drill into your skull and probably drive you insane?" would be answered with a resounding "No", but here we are, with two replies of "Yes" that are never explained in-universe (one is "Yes, but you need to kill me afterwards."). What the heck?
"The House of Souls" contains four stories that may or may not take place in the same universe; the atmosphere and details sound very much like they might, but it's never explicitly stated.
"A Fragment of Life" (1904) is the first one, but I think I'd have preferred it to be the last. It's a long story about a young, newly wedded couple that receives a sum of money, invests nine tenths of it and debates how to spend the remainder.
As they go back and forth on the decision, we find out more about their lives and the lives of those they know: the mysterious actions of an uncle, the oddness of an old woman, the husband's past explorations of London and discovering it as if it were a new and magical place.
It's a slow story, and it has a certain magic to it. It's almost a sort of magical realism before the genre came into being. But it ends like this:
It would be impossible to carry on the history of Edward Darnell and of Mary his wife to a greater length, since from this point their legend is full of impossible events, and seems to put on the semblance of the stories of the Graal. It is certain, indeed, that in this world they changed their lives, like King Arthur, but this is a work which no chronicler has cared to describe with any amplitude of detail.
So, after a normal, vaguely magical story, we're told it becomes a fantasy novel we'll never read. OH WELL.
The next three stories, however, are deeply mystical and filled with to the brim with the supernatural.
The White People (1904) is a story-within-a-story. The story is a dialogue between men about sainthood and pure evil, which is... eh. But the story-within is the deranged journal of a teenage girl who gets involved in magic and abominations that are never quite described on page, but are always hinted at.
It's quite brilliant, splendidly conveying unpleasantness and evil, as well as hinting at a larger world of eldritch magic.
The Great God Pan (1894) is told in multiple parts, some of which don't seem connected at first. A scientist does an experiment on a woman who is rendered mad for the rest of her life. In London and abroad, a mysterious woman causes the ruin and suicide of a number of men.
The Inmost Light (1894) is a story about a doctor's wife who dies under mysterious circumstances. A passer-by who saw her at the window was shocked by the evil in her figure and determines to find out what happened to her.
----
Machen's style is beautiful and his atmosphere is mysterious and horrifying, really conveying the feeling of abomination and supernatural terror.
At a more careful look, however, his plots tend to rely on coincidence, which isn't great, although I'll allow it.
The women are the oddest thing. When they aren't a manifestation of evil incarnate, they're strangely passive. Both "The Great God Pan" and "The Inmost Light" have them willingly lay down their lives and sanity for the sake of the experiment of the most important man in their lives (like lambs to the slaughter). One thinks that the question "Can I drill into your skull and probably drive you insane?" would be answered with a resounding "No", but here we are, with two replies of "Yes" that are never explained in-universe (one is "Yes, but you need to kill me afterwards."). What the heck?
September 16, 2023
According to Machen's introduction to this collection, he assembled these four of his novellas to prove that he could actually write "modern." Well, at least modern for the turn of the 20th Century. He admits to having had a tendency to be so in love with antiquated English that he trained himself to write in it by thinking and speaking in it. He must have been one charming neckbeard to know back in the day. So, did "The House of Souls" successfully save Machen from archaic obscurity by rebranding him a modern man of the industrial age?
You bet it did! At least some of the time...
First of all, this collection features "The Great God Pan," considered by Stephen King to be one of the best horror stories in the English language. Yes, I know--King doesn't have the best history of demonstrating good taste, but he did occasionally get things right, such as when he instinctively saw the potential in Sam Raimi's original Evil Dead. And in this case, he was right again. When I first read it in my twenties, I just didn't get it. I found it quite chilling, but overall disjointed and overrated. Revisiting it years later, I discovered new things I enjoyed about it. A mixture of Frankenstein, Jekyll and Hyde, and cosmic horror, this is essential reading for horror fans.
Now, I will say that if I had read the first novella in this collection, "A Fragment of Life," when I was younger, I would definitely have not been a fan. And I still say it is a bit of a bold move to have this one kick off the omnibus. That's because this is a non-genre piece that literally is what it says in the title. In fact, one might be tempted to say that this is hardly a story at all. It is an early example of modernist writing, with very natural and realistic portrayal of a young middle-class married couple, following a stream-of-consciousness dialogue between the two as they try to figure out what they really want in life.
They are finally adults having to face the reality of limits to their income. When the husband was a bachelor, his immature youthful mind considered time to be endless and that the world was his oyster--he never thought about needing to save, so he now looks back with some regret on the money he wasted on elaborate repasts at expensive restaurants, or buying exotic tobaccos. When he got married, he had to throw away all of his girlie mags and gave away his prized meerschaum pipe with a naked lady carved into it, because he was afraid it would offend his bride. I chuckled at this, remembering how I had a fancy pipe with a naked lady on it as well, which I would proudly pull out during Jazz Fest and Phish concerts to the envy of all my hipster friends, but which I felt embarrassed to pull out in front of my wife.
This novella is full of little moments like that which really humanizes the characters. At the beginning of the story, all they seem to talk about is the prices of various things and whether or not they could afford to kit out a spare room they have in their new home. But over time, their talks become more relaxed. They just start reminiscing about things and telling stories. This brings them closer together. My own wife always complains we don't spend enough time planning our budget and expenses, but when we do this, we tend to be tense and bicker. It is when we kick back without a television or a smart phone, enjoying the smells of a spring evening, listen to some music on our vinyl record player, and just enjoy each other that we grow closer. The best things in life are free. And eventually Machen's couple comes to the realization that spiritual matters are more priceless than keeping up with the Joneses. The journey of this young couple from the early 1900s feels no different than that of families today. That's the power of timeless literature.
So it was a surprise to me that "A Fragment of Life" actually was a fantastic opener, despite it being rather mundane on the surface. Okay, so we are two for two!
Unfortunately, I was not at all pleased with the next entry, "The White People." No, this is not a story about living in a suburban HOA where everyone mows their lawn eight times a day and yells at each other for not dragging their cans off the curb immediately after the garbage truck finishes its rounds. It's a story about Machen's favorite subject--the occult.
Lovecraft said this was his favorite, yet unlike King's assessment of "The Great God Pan," I found this one to be an unbearable slog. It begins with an interesting conversation between Ambrose and a gentleman who seems to know a thing or two about the occult, who argues that a true sinner is harder to find than a true saint in this materialistic world. Where a saint tries to recreate Man before the Fall, the sinner tries to recreate the Fall. But to illustrate his point, the man brings out a journal called "The Green Book" written by a young girl who eventually poisoned herself. She seems to have the gift of seeing hidden worlds and interdimensional beings she calls "The White People."
I couldn't stand the way Machen writes the girl. She rambles on like an hysteric with run-on sentences ("...and then this happened, and I saw this and this and this, and then, this one time, this happened to me, and then..."). Why do writers do that when they portray female characters? This practice continues up to the present day. I'm looking at you, Jac Jemc! I guess it's supposed to represent a bubbly, innocent personality, or perhaps that she is manic, as she spends the entire "narrative" dancing around the Welsh woods like a hippie on LSD, and being generally annoying. None of it makes much sense, just her yammering about princes and princesses, and singing to rocks, and doing all kinds of cutesy, Blackmore's Night, granola nonsense.
The story gets some criticism for the tacked on bit at the beginning with the two stodgy men, but at least it gives a bit of philosophical context to what seems otherwise like a pointless fever dream. Yet to use the girl's manuscript as an example of "true evil" doesn't gel. The girl never seems to do anything particularly evil, and seems to be a passive witness to the Fairy world, and she's so vague in her descriptions that she simply sounds mentally ill. The implication is that she unwittingly killed herself while confused from hallucinations. So how is she exactly the embodiment of true Evil rather than a tragic innocent?
The final story is "Inmost Light," which tells of the autopsy of a doctor's wife which reveals that the brain of the deceased is not human. It has a lot of the themes of "The Great God Pan," a very similar feeling of darkness and dread, and the same kind of amateur sleuthing that Sherlock Holmes made so popular in Victorian and Edwardian times. Overall, those two stories did a much better job than "The White People" in capturing the mystery of the unknowable world just beyond our perception of reality. Perfect reading for the spooky season.
So what we have here is a collection of inspired genius mixed in with the sad products of Machen's desperate struggle to find magic in the world. Overall, these stories are beautifully written and give us a peak at awesome secrets under the greasy flicker of a gas street lamp on a foggy London street.
SCORE:
A Fragment of Life: 4/5
The White People: 2/5
The Great God Pan: 4.5/5
Inmost Light: 4/5
WORD OF THE DAY: Photogravures
You bet it did! At least some of the time...
First of all, this collection features "The Great God Pan," considered by Stephen King to be one of the best horror stories in the English language. Yes, I know--King doesn't have the best history of demonstrating good taste, but he did occasionally get things right, such as when he instinctively saw the potential in Sam Raimi's original Evil Dead. And in this case, he was right again. When I first read it in my twenties, I just didn't get it. I found it quite chilling, but overall disjointed and overrated. Revisiting it years later, I discovered new things I enjoyed about it. A mixture of Frankenstein, Jekyll and Hyde, and cosmic horror, this is essential reading for horror fans.
Now, I will say that if I had read the first novella in this collection, "A Fragment of Life," when I was younger, I would definitely have not been a fan. And I still say it is a bit of a bold move to have this one kick off the omnibus. That's because this is a non-genre piece that literally is what it says in the title. In fact, one might be tempted to say that this is hardly a story at all. It is an early example of modernist writing, with very natural and realistic portrayal of a young middle-class married couple, following a stream-of-consciousness dialogue between the two as they try to figure out what they really want in life.
They are finally adults having to face the reality of limits to their income. When the husband was a bachelor, his immature youthful mind considered time to be endless and that the world was his oyster--he never thought about needing to save, so he now looks back with some regret on the money he wasted on elaborate repasts at expensive restaurants, or buying exotic tobaccos. When he got married, he had to throw away all of his girlie mags and gave away his prized meerschaum pipe with a naked lady carved into it, because he was afraid it would offend his bride. I chuckled at this, remembering how I had a fancy pipe with a naked lady on it as well, which I would proudly pull out during Jazz Fest and Phish concerts to the envy of all my hipster friends, but which I felt embarrassed to pull out in front of my wife.
This novella is full of little moments like that which really humanizes the characters. At the beginning of the story, all they seem to talk about is the prices of various things and whether or not they could afford to kit out a spare room they have in their new home. But over time, their talks become more relaxed. They just start reminiscing about things and telling stories. This brings them closer together. My own wife always complains we don't spend enough time planning our budget and expenses, but when we do this, we tend to be tense and bicker. It is when we kick back without a television or a smart phone, enjoying the smells of a spring evening, listen to some music on our vinyl record player, and just enjoy each other that we grow closer. The best things in life are free. And eventually Machen's couple comes to the realization that spiritual matters are more priceless than keeping up with the Joneses. The journey of this young couple from the early 1900s feels no different than that of families today. That's the power of timeless literature.
So it was a surprise to me that "A Fragment of Life" actually was a fantastic opener, despite it being rather mundane on the surface. Okay, so we are two for two!
Unfortunately, I was not at all pleased with the next entry, "The White People." No, this is not a story about living in a suburban HOA where everyone mows their lawn eight times a day and yells at each other for not dragging their cans off the curb immediately after the garbage truck finishes its rounds. It's a story about Machen's favorite subject--the occult.
Lovecraft said this was his favorite, yet unlike King's assessment of "The Great God Pan," I found this one to be an unbearable slog. It begins with an interesting conversation between Ambrose and a gentleman who seems to know a thing or two about the occult, who argues that a true sinner is harder to find than a true saint in this materialistic world. Where a saint tries to recreate Man before the Fall, the sinner tries to recreate the Fall. But to illustrate his point, the man brings out a journal called "The Green Book" written by a young girl who eventually poisoned herself. She seems to have the gift of seeing hidden worlds and interdimensional beings she calls "The White People."
I couldn't stand the way Machen writes the girl. She rambles on like an hysteric with run-on sentences ("...and then this happened, and I saw this and this and this, and then, this one time, this happened to me, and then..."). Why do writers do that when they portray female characters? This practice continues up to the present day. I'm looking at you, Jac Jemc! I guess it's supposed to represent a bubbly, innocent personality, or perhaps that she is manic, as she spends the entire "narrative" dancing around the Welsh woods like a hippie on LSD, and being generally annoying. None of it makes much sense, just her yammering about princes and princesses, and singing to rocks, and doing all kinds of cutesy, Blackmore's Night, granola nonsense.
The story gets some criticism for the tacked on bit at the beginning with the two stodgy men, but at least it gives a bit of philosophical context to what seems otherwise like a pointless fever dream. Yet to use the girl's manuscript as an example of "true evil" doesn't gel. The girl never seems to do anything particularly evil, and seems to be a passive witness to the Fairy world, and she's so vague in her descriptions that she simply sounds mentally ill. The implication is that she unwittingly killed herself while confused from hallucinations. So how is she exactly the embodiment of true Evil rather than a tragic innocent?
The final story is "Inmost Light," which tells of the autopsy of a doctor's wife which reveals that the brain of the deceased is not human. It has a lot of the themes of "The Great God Pan," a very similar feeling of darkness and dread, and the same kind of amateur sleuthing that Sherlock Holmes made so popular in Victorian and Edwardian times. Overall, those two stories did a much better job than "The White People" in capturing the mystery of the unknowable world just beyond our perception of reality. Perfect reading for the spooky season.
So what we have here is a collection of inspired genius mixed in with the sad products of Machen's desperate struggle to find magic in the world. Overall, these stories are beautifully written and give us a peak at awesome secrets under the greasy flicker of a gas street lamp on a foggy London street.
SCORE:
A Fragment of Life: 4/5
The White People: 2/5
The Great God Pan: 4.5/5
Inmost Light: 4/5
WORD OF THE DAY: Photogravures
April 26, 2021
No puedo decir nada de Arthur Machen que no se haya dicho antes. Lo que sí puedo decir es que disfruté mucho con sus relatos. El libro está compuesto por "Un fragmento de vida", "La gente blanca", "El gran dios Pan" y "La luz más recóndita".
A través de sus historias permea el horror antiguo, ese que se esconde en los bosques y las piedras, ese que todavía nos hace sentir inquietud en la oscuridad. De los cuatro relatos que vienen en el libro me quedo con "El gran dios Pan", aunque "La luz más recóndita" no se queda muy atrás.
A través de sus historias permea el horror antiguo, ese que se esconde en los bosques y las piedras, ese que todavía nos hace sentir inquietud en la oscuridad. De los cuatro relatos que vienen en el libro me quedo con "El gran dios Pan", aunque "La luz más recóndita" no se queda muy atrás.
March 22, 2012
I had been wanting to check out Arthur Machen's 1906 collection of short stories, entitled "The House of Souls," for quite some time; ever since I had read two highly laudatory pieces written about this work and its author. The first was H.P. Lovecraft's comments in his widely referred to essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature," in which he claims "Of living creators of cosmic fear raised to its most artistic pitch, few if any can hope to equal the versatile Arthur Machen." And, in Jones & Newman's excellent overview volume "Horror: 100 Best Books," T.E.D. Klein, in his essay on "The House of Souls," refers to Machen as "fantasy's pre-eminent stylist." Well, after years of looking, I finally managed to lay hands on a somewhat beaten-up copy of the 1928 Borzoi edition of this collection, and can now see what all the fuss has been about. My edition only contains four of the book's original stories; "The Novel of the Black Seal," "The Novel of the White Powder" and "The Red Hand" have been omitted. (Apparently, the book has had a complicated publishing history.) What remains, however, has served as a very fine introduction to Machen ("rhymes with 'blacken,'" Klein reveals) in my own case.
The Borzoi edition kicks off with the novella-length piece "A Fragment of Life," which tells of a newlywed couple, the Darnells, living in a London suburb. Machen piles on an enormous amount of fine detail to illustrate the Darnells' life; thus, we learn of their plans to redecorate a bedroom, how much they pay for groceries, the social life of their maid, the problems that Mrs. Darnell's aunt is having, and on and on. It only gradually dawns on the reader, and on Mr. Darnell, that this is, literally, just a fragment of life, indeed; that all this mundane nonsense is just a masklike covering that hides a greater reality. Like many of the characters of Algernon Blackwood and, much later, P.K. Dick, Mr. Darnell seeks to pierce the illusion of our so-called reality, and this initially prosaic story winds up being quite an eerie and mystical ride as a result. The next tale in this collection, "The White People," was Lovecraft's second-favorite horror story of all time, after Blackwood's "The Willows." In this one, a man is given the diary of a young girl by another man who wishes to demonstrate what the real nature of evil is all about. The bulk of the story consists of the girl's seemingly naive and rambling notes in her journal, and we learn that she is a sorceress of sorts, being trained by her nurse is some kind of dark arts. Nothing is really spelled out for the reader in this piece; rather, through the use of narrated fairy tales, strange incidents and almost hallucinatory journeys, a very unsettling aura is engendered. It is all very allusive and suggestive, demanding of the reader a great exercise of the imagination. I suppose that Lovecraft had a greater imagination than mine (no great surprise there, though!), because I was left wanting a bit more from this tale. Still, some pretty eerie stuff. The oft-anthologized "The Great God Pan" is up next, to my mind the strongest story of the bunch. In this one, a scientist performs a brain operation on a young woman to (again) pierce the veil that obscures an ultimate reality. Seventeen years later, a mysterious, debauched woman causes a rash of suicides in London high society, as a small group of men tries to figure out just what is going on. Reading like a late 19th century detective story crossed with the supernatural, this is one bravura piece of work from Mr. Machen, and concludes in a suitably gruesome and gooey manner. The story is a bit too dependent on coincidence in its telling, but remains most impressive. Finally, in my Borzoi edition, is "The Inmost Light," still another tale of a scientist trying to peer behind the curtain to behold a truer reality. Here, another woman is the subject of an experiment that produces horrifying results. The described image of Mrs. Black's hideous face in an upstairs window, as seen by our narrator from some distance away, is one that lingers in the memory. As in "The White People" and "The Great God Pan," most of the horrors are suggested rather than spelled out in this tale, which may be a disappointment to a modern reader steeped in the current tradition of gore and grue, but there is no denying the chilling mood that these stories can evoke.
I should perhaps mention here that "The House of Souls" was NOT that easy a read for me. There are dozens of references to English life of a century or more ago that may mean little to the 21st century reader (just what IS an "A.B.C. girl," anyway?), not to mention much British slang, Latin expressions and so on. A detailed street map of London proved invaluable to me as I read this book. Still, a little effort in these matters always results in a deeper appreciation, and there surely is much to appreciate in "The House of Souls." It is certainly well worth any reader's time. Thanks, T.E.D., and thanks, H.P.!
The Borzoi edition kicks off with the novella-length piece "A Fragment of Life," which tells of a newlywed couple, the Darnells, living in a London suburb. Machen piles on an enormous amount of fine detail to illustrate the Darnells' life; thus, we learn of their plans to redecorate a bedroom, how much they pay for groceries, the social life of their maid, the problems that Mrs. Darnell's aunt is having, and on and on. It only gradually dawns on the reader, and on Mr. Darnell, that this is, literally, just a fragment of life, indeed; that all this mundane nonsense is just a masklike covering that hides a greater reality. Like many of the characters of Algernon Blackwood and, much later, P.K. Dick, Mr. Darnell seeks to pierce the illusion of our so-called reality, and this initially prosaic story winds up being quite an eerie and mystical ride as a result. The next tale in this collection, "The White People," was Lovecraft's second-favorite horror story of all time, after Blackwood's "The Willows." In this one, a man is given the diary of a young girl by another man who wishes to demonstrate what the real nature of evil is all about. The bulk of the story consists of the girl's seemingly naive and rambling notes in her journal, and we learn that she is a sorceress of sorts, being trained by her nurse is some kind of dark arts. Nothing is really spelled out for the reader in this piece; rather, through the use of narrated fairy tales, strange incidents and almost hallucinatory journeys, a very unsettling aura is engendered. It is all very allusive and suggestive, demanding of the reader a great exercise of the imagination. I suppose that Lovecraft had a greater imagination than mine (no great surprise there, though!), because I was left wanting a bit more from this tale. Still, some pretty eerie stuff. The oft-anthologized "The Great God Pan" is up next, to my mind the strongest story of the bunch. In this one, a scientist performs a brain operation on a young woman to (again) pierce the veil that obscures an ultimate reality. Seventeen years later, a mysterious, debauched woman causes a rash of suicides in London high society, as a small group of men tries to figure out just what is going on. Reading like a late 19th century detective story crossed with the supernatural, this is one bravura piece of work from Mr. Machen, and concludes in a suitably gruesome and gooey manner. The story is a bit too dependent on coincidence in its telling, but remains most impressive. Finally, in my Borzoi edition, is "The Inmost Light," still another tale of a scientist trying to peer behind the curtain to behold a truer reality. Here, another woman is the subject of an experiment that produces horrifying results. The described image of Mrs. Black's hideous face in an upstairs window, as seen by our narrator from some distance away, is one that lingers in the memory. As in "The White People" and "The Great God Pan," most of the horrors are suggested rather than spelled out in this tale, which may be a disappointment to a modern reader steeped in the current tradition of gore and grue, but there is no denying the chilling mood that these stories can evoke.
I should perhaps mention here that "The House of Souls" was NOT that easy a read for me. There are dozens of references to English life of a century or more ago that may mean little to the 21st century reader (just what IS an "A.B.C. girl," anyway?), not to mention much British slang, Latin expressions and so on. A detailed street map of London proved invaluable to me as I read this book. Still, a little effort in these matters always results in a deeper appreciation, and there surely is much to appreciate in "The House of Souls." It is certainly well worth any reader's time. Thanks, T.E.D., and thanks, H.P.!
December 4, 2021
Puede que muchos no estén de acuerdo con mi opinión de “La casa de las almas”, puede que mi mayor error fuera crearme expectativas respecto a Machen y al momento de leerlo cayó corto en los primeros dos relatos.
Para mí, lo que fue “Un fragmento de vida”, me pareció desarticulado entre si, la parte mundana la disfruté, pero al comenzar a entrelazar estos toques que evocan el lado más mágico de la vida de los protagonistas me perdió, no sentí que correspondieran al relato que venía leyendo y no disfruté de esta parte de la historia.
En cuanto a “La gente blanca”, entiendo porque está relatado de una forma tan particular, se supone que son las palabras de una joven de 16 años, pero aún así se siente como un hilo de ideas frenéticas y a la vez las descripciones son sosas.
“El gran Dios Pan” y “La luz más recóndita”, gracias a estos relatos entiendo por qué del reconocimiento que se le da a Machen. Son historias excelentes en todos los aspectos.
Para mí, lo que fue “Un fragmento de vida”, me pareció desarticulado entre si, la parte mundana la disfruté, pero al comenzar a entrelazar estos toques que evocan el lado más mágico de la vida de los protagonistas me perdió, no sentí que correspondieran al relato que venía leyendo y no disfruté de esta parte de la historia.
En cuanto a “La gente blanca”, entiendo porque está relatado de una forma tan particular, se supone que son las palabras de una joven de 16 años, pero aún así se siente como un hilo de ideas frenéticas y a la vez las descripciones son sosas.
“El gran Dios Pan” y “La luz más recóndita”, gracias a estos relatos entiendo por qué del reconocimiento que se le da a Machen. Son historias excelentes en todos los aspectos.
November 13, 2022
Author's Note ✔
A FRAGMENT OF LIFE 3.5⭐
THE WHITE PEOPLE 3.5⭐
THE GREAT GOD PAN 5⭐
THE INMOST LIGHT 3.75⭐
THE THREE IMPOSTORS: 5⭐
Contains 7 of the 14 episodic chapters of a story which should be read as a complete arch to be truly appreciated
.
Prologue ✔
Adventure of the Gold Tiberius ✔
The Encounter of the Pavement ✔
Adventure of the Missig Brother ✔
Incident of the Private Bar ✔
The Recluse of Bays Water ✔
Strange Occurrence in Clerkenwell ✔
Adventure of the Deserted Residence ✔
THE RED HAND 3.5⭐
A FRAGMENT OF LIFE 3.5⭐
THE WHITE PEOPLE 3.5⭐
THE GREAT GOD PAN 5⭐
THE INMOST LIGHT 3.75⭐
THE THREE IMPOSTORS: 5⭐
Contains 7 of the 14 episodic chapters of a story which should be read as a complete arch to be truly appreciated
.
Prologue ✔
Adventure of the Gold Tiberius ✔
The Encounter of the Pavement ✔
Adventure of the Missig Brother ✔
Incident of the Private Bar ✔
The Recluse of Bays Water ✔
Strange Occurrence in Clerkenwell ✔
Adventure of the Deserted Residence ✔
THE RED HAND 3.5⭐
November 19, 2020
"A Fragment of Life." Although the other tales are more famous, it was this one--its images and idea--that's stuck with me clearest since I first read this collection, a few years ago. The world beneath the world, the reality beneath convention and formula...If only I could find a way back to it too. I would take it no questions asked. (Was interested, then, to read in the introduction that Machen was told by more than one person that this was his best work.)
"The White People." Interesting form: a story nested within a story. Funny that witches are feared for doing what men commonly do: getting around on a broom like men did on horses, and now do in cars and airplanes. Ignoring consent with love potions, which men do through rape and arranges marriage. Killing your foes with voodoo, which men do in uniforms with guns, drones, and other long-distance weapons.
"The Great God Pan." An all-time Gothic classic. Fragmented, multi-voiced form reminds of "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll..." The Gothic fear seems to be nature itself--everything that wasn't rational, uptight, chaste, bureaucratic and bourgeois, Victorian England. Interesting the return of a repressed Roman past--a similarly brutal empire (as England was in 1906) but with a latent worship of nature...
"The Inmost Light." In form another Chinese box story, which begins with a drab man going to dinner and ends with a shocking revelation of the materiality of a woman's soul replaced by a demon and imprisoned in an opal. Perfect.
Read the author's introduction at the end and love his Victorian tone. I, too, often feel an author outside of his own time. Thus I declare Machen my own doppelgänger. Time for a re-read of Hieroglyphs as well I suppose, in these darkly troubling times.
"The White People." Interesting form: a story nested within a story. Funny that witches are feared for doing what men commonly do: getting around on a broom like men did on horses, and now do in cars and airplanes. Ignoring consent with love potions, which men do through rape and arranges marriage. Killing your foes with voodoo, which men do in uniforms with guns, drones, and other long-distance weapons.
"The Great God Pan." An all-time Gothic classic. Fragmented, multi-voiced form reminds of "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll..." The Gothic fear seems to be nature itself--everything that wasn't rational, uptight, chaste, bureaucratic and bourgeois, Victorian England. Interesting the return of a repressed Roman past--a similarly brutal empire (as England was in 1906) but with a latent worship of nature...
"The Inmost Light." In form another Chinese box story, which begins with a drab man going to dinner and ends with a shocking revelation of the materiality of a woman's soul replaced by a demon and imprisoned in an opal. Perfect.
Read the author's introduction at the end and love his Victorian tone. I, too, often feel an author outside of his own time. Thus I declare Machen my own doppelgänger. Time for a re-read of Hieroglyphs as well I suppose, in these darkly troubling times.
August 4, 2022
Creo que la obra que más destaca es: El gran Dios Pan, las demás son buenas pero no puedo decir que me llevará bien con al estilo del autor, no lo recomendaría, talvez necesite una relectura más adelante.
August 1, 2018
I can understand why Stephen King thought Machen was the best Writer of Horror.
October 17, 2020
#spookyseason. 🎃👹
A veces olvido un poco que el terror es uno de mis subgéneros narrativos favoritos; por suerte, en estas fechas encuentro el ánimo para volver a él.
Machen es uno de los escritores más representativos del terror, Lovecraft se inspiró en él para crear sus propias historias de horror cósmico. Así que, mis expectativas iban obvio por el cielo.
Guillermo del Toro se encarga de inaugurar el libro con un breve prólogo de la influencia del autor. Y aunque el primer relato habla sobre la cotidianidad, me aburrió un poco justo por eso.
Peeero, el segundo (La gente blanca) es lo mejor que he leído en mucho tiempo porque me encantan las historias donde se menciona el bien/el mal, la bondad/el pecado y lo sobrenatural que existe en el mundo sin que nosotros lo sepamos. Recomendaría el libro sólo por ese relato, incluso.
El gran Dios Pan es el tercero y, al igual que el anterior, refleja completamente cómo debe ser una excelente historia de terror, también un 10/10. Ahora entiendo mejor la manera en que Machen influyó en Lovecraft (y totalmente justificada).
El último, La luz más recóndita, tiene una curiosa/fantástica revelación final, aunque lo he disfrutado ligeramente menos que los anteriores.
Así que, en definitiva este libro ha sido una sorpresa. Mi anterior experiencia con Machen no había sido tan buena; pero, con ésta se redimió por completo. Lectura perfecta para esta temporada de terror (aunque no se lleva las cinco estrellitas porque el sexismo y desfase es más obvio de lo que quisiera).
A veces olvido un poco que el terror es uno de mis subgéneros narrativos favoritos; por suerte, en estas fechas encuentro el ánimo para volver a él.
Machen es uno de los escritores más representativos del terror, Lovecraft se inspiró en él para crear sus propias historias de horror cósmico. Así que, mis expectativas iban obvio por el cielo.
Guillermo del Toro se encarga de inaugurar el libro con un breve prólogo de la influencia del autor. Y aunque el primer relato habla sobre la cotidianidad, me aburrió un poco justo por eso.
Peeero, el segundo (La gente blanca) es lo mejor que he leído en mucho tiempo porque me encantan las historias donde se menciona el bien/el mal, la bondad/el pecado y lo sobrenatural que existe en el mundo sin que nosotros lo sepamos. Recomendaría el libro sólo por ese relato, incluso.
El gran Dios Pan es el tercero y, al igual que el anterior, refleja completamente cómo debe ser una excelente historia de terror, también un 10/10. Ahora entiendo mejor la manera en que Machen influyó en Lovecraft (y totalmente justificada).
El último, La luz más recóndita, tiene una curiosa/fantástica revelación final, aunque lo he disfrutado ligeramente menos que los anteriores.
Así que, en definitiva este libro ha sido una sorpresa. Mi anterior experiencia con Machen no había sido tan buena; pero, con ésta se redimió por completo. Lectura perfecta para esta temporada de terror (aunque no se lleva las cinco estrellitas porque el sexismo y desfase es más obvio de lo que quisiera).
Y olvidé, como acabo de decir, que cuando la casa de la vida se abre de esa manera, puede meterse aquello para lo que no tenemos nombre y la carne humana puede volverse el velo de un horror que uno no se atreve a expresar. Me puse a jugar con energías que no comprendía y ya viste en qué terminó todo.
March 9, 2021
"La casa de las almas" de Arthur Machen es un muy buen libro. Contiene cuatro relatos, entre los cuales está "El gran dios Pan". El autor galés plantea la existencias de fuerzas y presencias anteriores a la modernidad las cuales dan a sus escritos un aura malsana y oscura. Las cuatro historias están muy bien, sin embargo, a gusto personal destacan "El Gran Dios Pan", "La luz más recóndita" y "La gente blanca". "Un fragmento de vida" que es la narración que inicia el libro tiene un planteamiento muy interesante pero se hace un poco lenta y pesada, si bien la construcción de un entorno cada vez más opresivo y enrarecido está muy bien, el relato se extiende demasiado. El libro tiene un prólogo corto pero muy interesante de Guillermo del Toro. Es mí primer contacto con el autor y la verdad vale mucho la pena su lectura.
August 17, 2023
Ah, que revigorizante es leer tan fina y buena literatura. Y además es de horror. El único de los 4 relatos que había leído con anterioridad fue el de "La gente blanca" y en su momento me pareció interesante pero no entendí el motivo por el cual Machen es tan respetado en este género. Ahora lo entiendo.
Esta colección funciona de maravilla. Ya que al iniciar con una lectura tan rara y de paso lento como "Un fragmento de vida" va dando paso página a página a las terribles visiones de mundos ocultos, angustiantes enseños e ideas estimulantes. "El gran dios pan" es una genuina maravilla.
Fabuloso formato el de perla ediciones. Normalmente no comento sobre el aspecto físico de los libros pero la calidad del mismo me dejó encantado. Materiales de primera.
Un libro que no puedo dejar de recomendar para todos los amantes del horror y lo sobrenatural.
Esta colección funciona de maravilla. Ya que al iniciar con una lectura tan rara y de paso lento como "Un fragmento de vida" va dando paso página a página a las terribles visiones de mundos ocultos, angustiantes enseños e ideas estimulantes. "El gran dios pan" es una genuina maravilla.
Fabuloso formato el de perla ediciones. Normalmente no comento sobre el aspecto físico de los libros pero la calidad del mismo me dejó encantado. Materiales de primera.
Un libro que no puedo dejar de recomendar para todos los amantes del horror y lo sobrenatural.
March 14, 2012
Amazing book. The stories stayed with me for days, especially "The Inmost Light" and "The White People." The voice of the young girl from the latter story was masterfully crafted, and her haunting exploration of dark, ancient ceremonies left a real mark on me. Highly recommended for fans of the macabre.
January 17, 2017
A must for fans of classic horror.
A little hard to follow at times with the changing characters but worth the effort. I recommend this to writers of the horror genre as a staple in their pursuit of mastering the darker side of fiction.
A little hard to follow at times with the changing characters but worth the effort. I recommend this to writers of the horror genre as a staple in their pursuit of mastering the darker side of fiction.
November 2, 2021
Una perdida de tiempo, cada cuento empezaba "bien" y seguía zzz 😴 para terminar decepcionádome
July 2, 2023
The major part of this is The Great God Pan, which I’ve read before, but enjoyed reading again. The other stories collected here are A Fragment of Life, The White People, and The Inmost Light. They all appear to be somewhat related, or at least similar, involving discovering the secret and sinister world behind mundane reality. Often, this involves two friends or acquaintances who haven’t seen each other for a while meeting by chance in London.
The Inmost Light is very similar in what it exposes about the supernatural to The Great God Pan. There are ways of scientifically accessing the mystical knowledge of the ancients, but without the illusions that let the ancients survive such encounters.
There are occasional mysterious books, such as “Hidden Songs of Iolo Sant”. It’s easy to see how Lovecraft was influenced by Machen.
“I have played with energies which I did not understand, and you have seen the ending of it.”
Much of this would make a great adventure for Carl Kolchak.
And while much of Machen’s writing is people talking to each other, at times the narration becomes beautiful, and pre-echoes much later fantasy writings.
The Inmost Light is very similar in what it exposes about the supernatural to The Great God Pan. There are ways of scientifically accessing the mystical knowledge of the ancients, but without the illusions that let the ancients survive such encounters.
“You may think all this strange nonsense; it may be strange, but it is true, and the ancients knew what lifting the veil means. They called it seeing the god Pan… We know what happened to those who chanced to meet the Great God Pan, and those who are wise know that all symbols are symbols of something, not of nothing.”
There are occasional mysterious books, such as “Hidden Songs of Iolo Sant”. It’s easy to see how Lovecraft was influenced by Machen.
Though horror and revolting nausea rose up within me, and an odour of corruption choked my breath, I remained firm. I was then privileged or accursed, I dare not say which, to see that which was on the bed, lying there black like ink, transformed before my eyes. The skin, and the flesh, and the muscles, and the bones, and the firm structure of the human body that I had thought to be unchangeable, and permanent as adamant, began to melt and dissolve.
“I have played with energies which I did not understand, and you have seen the ending of it.”
Much of this would make a great adventure for Carl Kolchak.
And while much of Machen’s writing is people talking to each other, at times the narration becomes beautiful, and pre-echoes much later fantasy writings.
This was ever the inner music of his dreams, and to it he added on these still and sacred nights the far-off memory of that time long ago when, a child, before the world had overwhelmed him, he journeyed down to the old grey house in the west, and for a whole month heard the murmur of the forest through his bedroom window, and when the wind was hushed, the washing of the tides about the reeds; and sometimes awaking very early he had heard the strange cry of a bird as it rose from its nest among the reeds, and had looked out and had seen the valley whiten to the dawn, and the winding river whiten as it swam down to the sea. The memory of all this had faded and become shadowy as he grew older and the chains of common life were riveted firmly about his soul; all the atmosphere by which he was surrounded was well-nigh fatal to such thoughts, and only now and again in half-conscious moments or in sleep he had revisited that valley in the far-off west, where the breath of the wind was an incantation, and every leaf and stream and hill spoke of great and ineffable mysteries.
February 19, 2021
A collection of highs and lows, at least for me. Here are my impressions of the four short stories:
A Fragment of Life - Dear me, I've rarely been so bored reading a story. It's got a dash of interesting hints of the fantastical peppered throughout, but it's 90% a story about a married couple considering what to do with a sum of money the wife got for a birthday a while back and other such domestic troubles. Sure, the husband of the pair has strange "vibes" now and then, but Not worth the struggle getting through it. Skip it, is my advice.
The White People - My favorite of this collection, as well as of Machen's work in general. It's full of unanswered questions in the best way of eerie horror. The framing device of the two middle-aged men discussing the contents of the actual story I can take or leave, but the Green Book is wonderfully creepy. You can of course go the "witches worshiping the devil" route if you want to be pragmatic, but to me this reads as a young girl who's gotten involved with the fae (and not in the Young Adult romance way, as much fun as such stories can be) or even better, involved with powers or creatures utterly unknown and unknowable to humans. Excellent mood throughout, loved how the rambling storytelling style was used. This story also inspired one of my favorite horror novels, The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher, which is an extra plus in its favor! I'd recommend reading this short story first and then digging into Kingfisher's book.
The Great God Pan - An interesting enough read. The ending left me a little wanting for a better reasoning behind how it all came to go down like that, but there's plenty of excellent "too horrible to be mentioned" situations. It's also about a medical professional who happens to be a well-off man tricking a much less well-off and much younger woman to participate in brain surgery that is extremely harmful to her. Bit too real there, Machen, wish you'd gone the route of the results of said horrific experiment doing more to the messed-up doctor who performed the surgery. All in all, pretty creepy! Though fair warning, a lot of children are victims in this story. If that ruins your enjoyment of a horror tale do not read this one.
The Inmost Light - More medical men doing terrible things to the women in their lives. Doctor Black got what he deserved, in my opinion, but not soon enough. Poor Mrs Black. Not as intriguing or complex as the "medical mystery" in The Great God Pan, but it still has its moments.
A Fragment of Life - Dear me, I've rarely been so bored reading a story. It's got a dash of interesting hints of the fantastical peppered throughout, but it's 90% a story about a married couple considering what to do with a sum of money the wife got for a birthday a while back and other such domestic troubles. Sure, the husband of the pair has strange "vibes" now and then, but Not worth the struggle getting through it. Skip it, is my advice.
The White People - My favorite of this collection, as well as of Machen's work in general. It's full of unanswered questions in the best way of eerie horror. The framing device of the two middle-aged men discussing the contents of the actual story I can take or leave, but the Green Book is wonderfully creepy. You can of course go the "witches worshiping the devil" route if you want to be pragmatic, but to me this reads as a young girl who's gotten involved with the fae (and not in the Young Adult romance way, as much fun as such stories can be) or even better, involved with powers or creatures utterly unknown and unknowable to humans. Excellent mood throughout, loved how the rambling storytelling style was used. This story also inspired one of my favorite horror novels, The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher, which is an extra plus in its favor! I'd recommend reading this short story first and then digging into Kingfisher's book.
The Great God Pan - An interesting enough read. The ending left me a little wanting for a better reasoning behind how it all came to go down like that, but there's plenty of excellent "too horrible to be mentioned" situations. It's also about a medical professional who happens to be a well-off man tricking a much less well-off and much younger woman to participate in brain surgery that is extremely harmful to her. Bit too real there, Machen, wish you'd gone the route of the results of said horrific experiment doing more to the messed-up doctor who performed the surgery. All in all, pretty creepy! Though fair warning, a lot of children are victims in this story. If that ruins your enjoyment of a horror tale do not read this one.
The Inmost Light - More medical men doing terrible things to the women in their lives. Doctor Black got what he deserved, in my opinion, but not soon enough. Poor Mrs Black. Not as intriguing or complex as the "medical mystery" in The Great God Pan, but it still has its moments.
July 12, 2024
Сборник Дом душ Артура Мэкена составлен странно. После надписи "легенды хоррора" на обложке прочтение Фрагмента жизни вызывает недоумение, ведь никаких ужасов там нет. Хотя... как насчет повседневного быта женщины Викторианской эпохи, которая выходит из дома либо в церковь, либо за продуктами? Пока муж вовсю наслаждается умиротворенными прогулками по Лондону, преисполняясь духовностью и грезя о своем тайном волшебном королевстве (bruh).
Рецепт рассказов прост и, в какой-то степени, вечен. Сексуально раскрепощенная (не обязательно добровольно) девушка (не обязательно совершеннолетнего возраста), намеки на педофилию, оргии и возможное рождение дьявола. Женская сексуальность - очень сложная тема для мужчин, и неудивительно, что они посвятили целый жанр этим страхам. А вы что хотели? Тут либо про это, либо про кукиш.
Особенно позабавил Великий бог Пан. Безумный ученый промывает юной девушке мозги, не забыв поцеловать взасос напоследок, и с превеликим энтузиазмом проводит лоботомию. Результат очевиден: девушка прикована к постели и, через пару месяцев, рожает ребенка. Все же знают, главное негативное последствие лоботомии - беременность.
Осуждаются ли действия ученого? Ну, жаль конечно, что его грандиозный план не удался! Но к потерям он был готов. А все остальное учудил бог Пан, кстати, с ученого все взятки гладки!
И так далее в том же духе. Очень интересно читать. Зато концовка смешная - дьяволицу напугалиголой жопой культурой отмены, и она пару раз гендерфлюиднулась, пока помирала.
Остальные повести неплохи, однако по структуре изложения похожи на мою речь. Бывает, хочется удачно пошутить, вот только нужно предварительно ввести собеседницу в контекст, поэтому миллионы лет назад, когда небо было голубое, а первичный бульон только заваривался... Из-за этого вся зловещая атмосфера, если она и была, пролетает мимо. И вот дочитать бы уже про этот золотой тиберий, но тут в бар заходит лощеный, гладко выбритый джентльмен и начинает рассказывать, как его надул подчиненный.
Что в итоге: Белые люди, если отбросить банальный сюжет, - самое атмосферное произведение. Повесть о белом порошке тоже ничего.
Рецепт рассказов прост и, в какой-то степени, вечен. Сексуально раскрепощенная (не обязательно добровольно) девушка (не обязательно совершеннолетнего возраста), намеки на педофилию, оргии и возможное рождение дьявола. Женская сексуальность - очень сложная тема для мужчин, и неудивительно, что они посвятили целый жанр этим страхам. А вы что хотели? Тут либо про это, либо про кукиш.
Особенно позабавил Великий бог Пан. Безумный ученый промывает юной девушке мозги, не забыв поцеловать взасос напоследок, и с превеликим энтузиазмом проводит лоботомию. Результат очевиден: девушка прикована к постели и, через пару месяцев, рожает ребенка. Все же знают, главное негативное последствие лоботомии - беременность.
Осуждаются ли действия ученого? Ну, жаль конечно, что его грандиозный план не удался! Но к потерям он был готов. А все остальное учудил бог Пан, кстати, с ученого все взятки гладки!
И так далее в том же духе. Очень интересно читать. Зато концовка смешная - дьяволицу напугали
Остальные повести неплохи, однако по структуре изложения похожи на мою речь. Бывает, хочется удачно пошутить, вот только нужно предварительно ввести собеседницу в контекст, поэтому миллионы лет назад, когда небо было голубое, а первичный бульон только заваривался... Из-за этого вся зловещая атмосфера, если она и была, пролетает мимо. И вот дочитать бы уже про этот золотой тиберий, но тут в бар заходит лощеный, гладко выбритый джентльмен и начинает рассказывать, как его надул подчиненный.
Что в итоге: Белые люди, если отбросить банальный сюжет, - самое атмосферное произведение. Повесть о белом порошке тоже ничего.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 1, 2025
Esta antología fue para mí la revelación absoluta en cuanto a lo asociado con la literatura de lo extraño (weird fiction), a la cual llevo años rindiendo cierto culto y peregrinaje.
La casa de las almas me resultó un buen libro. Quizá su primer relato puede parecer un tanto ajeno a lo que uno puede expectar si se es neófito a la obra de Machen, y en cierto punto, resulta ser hasta tedioso, los siguientes trabajos aquí compilados no hacen más que ejercer en el lector la presión constante de lo sobrenatural oculto entre lo cotidiano de la vida.
En lo personal, mis dos relatos preferidos fueron "La gente blanca" y el tan aclamado "Gran Dios Pan". ¡Pero qué chuladas de textos! No podía quitar los ojos de esas páginas.
Los simbolismos y el extraño conocimiento de Machen en cuanto a los aspectos alquímicos y esotéricos están más que presentes debido al haber sido miembro de la Orden hermética del alba dorada, un aspecto que para mí añade mucho más misterio e interés en su obra, y que sin duda me resulta enriquecedor.
Las referencias a culturas antiguas, a ruinas inquietantes y al aspecto más violento, lujubre y decadente del Londres victoriano son una firma indeleble en el estilo del autor. Los escenarios planteados en sus textos no hacen más que introducirnos en parajes inquietantes y situaciones extrañas, todos sumido en un velo que se siente ajeno a nuestra civilización y costumbres. Lo exótico y feérico escondido entre la muchedumbre de lo cotidiano y que, sin embargo, persiste con el pasar de las eras. Un conocimiento olvidado por la mayoría, pero solo salvado por unos pocos.
Se aprecia en esta edición la introducción del propio autor en cuanto a las obras aquí presentadas y también el epílogo de la eminencia como es S.T. Joshi, este último ahondando más en el entorno deprimente y pobre al cual Machen tuvo que adaptarse y sobrevivir, así como el contexto literario en el que el autor vivió.
La casa de las almas, a mí ver, se convierte en un texto imprescindible para los amantes de la ficción extraña, y sobre todo en el crisol del cual los escritores asiduos a tal subgénero deberán echar mano con el cuidado de no ser envueltos por el calor de la extrañeza.
La casa de las almas me resultó un buen libro. Quizá su primer relato puede parecer un tanto ajeno a lo que uno puede expectar si se es neófito a la obra de Machen, y en cierto punto, resulta ser hasta tedioso, los siguientes trabajos aquí compilados no hacen más que ejercer en el lector la presión constante de lo sobrenatural oculto entre lo cotidiano de la vida.
En lo personal, mis dos relatos preferidos fueron "La gente blanca" y el tan aclamado "Gran Dios Pan". ¡Pero qué chuladas de textos! No podía quitar los ojos de esas páginas.
Los simbolismos y el extraño conocimiento de Machen en cuanto a los aspectos alquímicos y esotéricos están más que presentes debido al haber sido miembro de la Orden hermética del alba dorada, un aspecto que para mí añade mucho más misterio e interés en su obra, y que sin duda me resulta enriquecedor.
Las referencias a culturas antiguas, a ruinas inquietantes y al aspecto más violento, lujubre y decadente del Londres victoriano son una firma indeleble en el estilo del autor. Los escenarios planteados en sus textos no hacen más que introducirnos en parajes inquietantes y situaciones extrañas, todos sumido en un velo que se siente ajeno a nuestra civilización y costumbres. Lo exótico y feérico escondido entre la muchedumbre de lo cotidiano y que, sin embargo, persiste con el pasar de las eras. Un conocimiento olvidado por la mayoría, pero solo salvado por unos pocos.
Se aprecia en esta edición la introducción del propio autor en cuanto a las obras aquí presentadas y también el epílogo de la eminencia como es S.T. Joshi, este último ahondando más en el entorno deprimente y pobre al cual Machen tuvo que adaptarse y sobrevivir, así como el contexto literario en el que el autor vivió.
La casa de las almas, a mí ver, se convierte en un texto imprescindible para los amantes de la ficción extraña, y sobre todo en el crisol del cual los escritores asiduos a tal subgénero deberán echar mano con el cuidado de no ser envueltos por el calor de la extrañeza.
October 29, 2019
While this is not a collection of thrilling or fascinating studies in the macabre, Machen's subtle examination of his time and place as they co-existed within the realm of fantasy he fashioned around it certainly makes for interesting reading. While each story in a way decries man's growing fascination with science and psychiatry, they mostly turn out pretty badly for those that pursue the lost connection with the ancient forces from which the horror stuff is spun out of. In the first story a man slowly comes to realize that modern life is a pitiable life indeed and searches out lost and secret places in turn of the century London. The second story (and the best) begins with some philosophical ruminations on the nature of pure good and evil and how modern man fails at every turn to grasp their true meaning before switching to a tale told via a journal by a young girl learning witchcraft from her nurse who may be a fae creature. The third story tells of an experiment that brings into this world via unnatural birth a force that compels men to suicidal madness, and the last mirrors the previous closely, but with a bit more hubris thrown in for good measure.
Overall this is not an out and out spook fest nor does it really go too heavily into the whole cosmic horror aspect that later authors would elaborate upon. I recommend this only if you are well acquainted with modern/weird horror in general and want to read something a little droll but still plenty fascinating for its era.
Overall this is not an out and out spook fest nor does it really go too heavily into the whole cosmic horror aspect that later authors would elaborate upon. I recommend this only if you are well acquainted with modern/weird horror in general and want to read something a little droll but still plenty fascinating for its era.
July 7, 2024
Siempre hay un reto al leer terror de otra época: dejarse llevar por otras formas de entender el miedo en el mundo.
El ritmo, la narrativa, los detalles en que se centra el autor para provocarnos, todo es distinto a lo que acostumbramos hoy. Y entonces el terror se encuentra más en la forma que leemos, en la predisposición a lo fantástico.
"La casa de las almas", de Arthur Machen, es un libro de terror ancestral, fundado en la certeza de que las creencias ancestrales sobreviven y siguen siendo parte de la vida, aunque escondidas de la cotidianeidad por su poder y su oscuridad, siendo utilizadas por diversas personas, existiendo en rincones olvidados o de difícil acceso, custodiadas por el miedo y la superstición.
"Un fragmento de vida", relato que abre el libro, es pausado, con el terror como una corriente de aire imperceptible, in crescendo, hasta que los personajes se dejan llevar (llenar) por la naturaleza que siempre ha sido parte de ellos. En los otros tres relatos "La gente blanca", "El gran Dios Pan" y "La luz más recóndita", el terror está personificado y sus consecuencias son palpables: en el alma, la mente... y la vida.
Una forma de terror que me encanta, ligada a lo ancestral, a lo primigenio, a lo desconocido, al crudo recordatorio, como dice Guillermo del Toro, "de que compartimos el mundo con seres endemoniados, poseedores de apetitos y deseos sin freno, los cuales observan con desconcierto nuestras vidas y ridículas preocupaciones."
El ritmo, la narrativa, los detalles en que se centra el autor para provocarnos, todo es distinto a lo que acostumbramos hoy. Y entonces el terror se encuentra más en la forma que leemos, en la predisposición a lo fantástico.
"La casa de las almas", de Arthur Machen, es un libro de terror ancestral, fundado en la certeza de que las creencias ancestrales sobreviven y siguen siendo parte de la vida, aunque escondidas de la cotidianeidad por su poder y su oscuridad, siendo utilizadas por diversas personas, existiendo en rincones olvidados o de difícil acceso, custodiadas por el miedo y la superstición.
"Un fragmento de vida", relato que abre el libro, es pausado, con el terror como una corriente de aire imperceptible, in crescendo, hasta que los personajes se dejan llevar (llenar) por la naturaleza que siempre ha sido parte de ellos. En los otros tres relatos "La gente blanca", "El gran Dios Pan" y "La luz más recóndita", el terror está personificado y sus consecuencias son palpables: en el alma, la mente... y la vida.
Una forma de terror que me encanta, ligada a lo ancestral, a lo primigenio, a lo desconocido, al crudo recordatorio, como dice Guillermo del Toro, "de que compartimos el mundo con seres endemoniados, poseedores de apetitos y deseos sin freno, los cuales observan con desconcierto nuestras vidas y ridículas preocupaciones."
April 22, 2025
The House of Souls by Arthur Machen was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I went in expecting something solidly in the horror genre, especially with how often Machen’s name comes up in classic horror circles, but most of the stories just didn’t land the way I hoped they would.
There were definitely moments where a story started to build tension or intrigue, and I’d get excited thinking it was about to take off, but then it would just kind of fizzle out without any real resolution. A lot of the narratives felt like someone telling you a secondhand story they once heard from their aunt or a guy they met at a club. It made the pacing feel oddly passive, and I never felt fully pulled in.
To be honest, the book put me to sleep more than once, which almost never happens to me. The writing itself is undeniably strong and atmospheric, and the ideas behind some of these novellas were genuinely cool. I just struggled with how the stories were told and how little they seemed to pay off by the end.
If you’re a fan of older, more philosophical or allegorical horror, you might get more out of this than I did. For me, the tone and structure made it hard to stay engaged, even though I appreciated the quality of the prose and the ambition of the concepts. I’m glad I read it for the context it provides in horror history, but it’s not a collection I’d revisit.
There were definitely moments where a story started to build tension or intrigue, and I’d get excited thinking it was about to take off, but then it would just kind of fizzle out without any real resolution. A lot of the narratives felt like someone telling you a secondhand story they once heard from their aunt or a guy they met at a club. It made the pacing feel oddly passive, and I never felt fully pulled in.
To be honest, the book put me to sleep more than once, which almost never happens to me. The writing itself is undeniably strong and atmospheric, and the ideas behind some of these novellas were genuinely cool. I just struggled with how the stories were told and how little they seemed to pay off by the end.
If you’re a fan of older, more philosophical or allegorical horror, you might get more out of this than I did. For me, the tone and structure made it hard to stay engaged, even though I appreciated the quality of the prose and the ambition of the concepts. I’m glad I read it for the context it provides in horror history, but it’s not a collection I’d revisit.
May 13, 2022
I finally got around to reading some Machen! He's considered a classic of the genre, and I can say that I understand why, now. The low point of this collection -- not that any stories are bad, just less effective or to my taste than others -- is "A Fragment of Life", which switches between three different tracks (domestic life, the real world beyond the one we live in, and a very creepy interlude about what we would now call gaslighting), but it's still beautifully written, and so evocative.
"The Inmost Light" succeeds mainly on implication (and YIKES, what an implication it is! I want to kick that doctor's ass from here to the next universe), and "The Great God Pan" is just as rich and sensual a nightmare as everyone says it is. But for me, "The White People" was the clear winner -- the addictive rush of the young girl's journal about her delving into magic, how naive she was about the horrors around her, the implied terror behind her breathless descriptions -- all of it wonderful. I can see why T. Kingfisher was inspired to write The Twisted Ones after reading this short story.
A great collection!
"The Inmost Light" succeeds mainly on implication (and YIKES, what an implication it is! I want to kick that doctor's ass from here to the next universe), and "The Great God Pan" is just as rich and sensual a nightmare as everyone says it is. But for me, "The White People" was the clear winner -- the addictive rush of the young girl's journal about her delving into magic, how naive she was about the horrors around her, the implied terror behind her breathless descriptions -- all of it wonderful. I can see why T. Kingfisher was inspired to write The Twisted Ones after reading this short story.
A great collection!
July 22, 2021
Justo he leído la edición de la editorial Perla y debo decir que para ser una editorial nueva la forma en la que hacen libros es muy buena y profesional, en definitiva comenzaron con el pie derecho. Ahora, respecto a la presente obra, me siento perdido con el autor ya que no encontré quizá su sentido del humor, bien refiere muchas figuras discursivas, pero no me hace sentir un miedo real y creo que tampoco inconsciente.
Muy seguramente es un autor de su época y quizá yo no fui muy receptivo, así le doy una calificación media. Además de que note que en varios de los relatos que conforman el libro tienen muchas divergencias, pero también un hilo argumental respecto a una fuerza oculta (PAN) que es macabra y que controla las personas, es por ello que (error) mi cabeza intentó ver a los relatos como una sucesión concatenada, cosa que resultó en un tremendo fiasco por que si bien se repite la idea en los relatos, no se puede suponer una unidad argumentativa entre ellos.
Muy seguramente es un autor de su época y quizá yo no fui muy receptivo, así le doy una calificación media. Además de que note que en varios de los relatos que conforman el libro tienen muchas divergencias, pero también un hilo argumental respecto a una fuerza oculta (PAN) que es macabra y que controla las personas, es por ello que (error) mi cabeza intentó ver a los relatos como una sucesión concatenada, cosa que resultó en un tremendo fiasco por que si bien se repite la idea en los relatos, no se puede suponer una unidad argumentativa entre ellos.
April 20, 2025
He descubierto que Machen es uno de los autores que se me hacen más difíciles de interpretar. Por alguna razón, su literatura y la de Goethe (salvando las distancias) son las dos que tengo que releer varias veces para no perderme ningún detalle.
Superada la dificultad, me pareció un narrador impecable. "La gente blanca" y "El gran dios Pan" fueron mis favoritos por mucho, pero "Un fragmento de vida" también tiene su encanto por rayar lo extraño. "La luz más recóndita" fue el relato que más me costó procesar.
Aunque los cuatro relatos se hacen un poco densos por momentos, creo que la monotonía es intencional y funciona casi siempre.
Me encanta el trabajo de Perla Ediciones de publicar traducciones al castellano de clásicos de la fantasía. Estas obras y estos autores son los pilares del género que conocemos hoy y que se hace viral cada dos por tres. Es interesante leer cómo empezó todo.
Superada la dificultad, me pareció un narrador impecable. "La gente blanca" y "El gran dios Pan" fueron mis favoritos por mucho, pero "Un fragmento de vida" también tiene su encanto por rayar lo extraño. "La luz más recóndita" fue el relato que más me costó procesar.
Aunque los cuatro relatos se hacen un poco densos por momentos, creo que la monotonía es intencional y funciona casi siempre.
Me encanta el trabajo de Perla Ediciones de publicar traducciones al castellano de clásicos de la fantasía. Estas obras y estos autores son los pilares del género que conocemos hoy y que se hace viral cada dos por tres. Es interesante leer cómo empezó todo.
February 6, 2024
A Fragment of Life ***/5
This starts as a slice-of-life with a suburban couple. Then, the monotonous minutiae of daily-life starts to be eroded by strangeness. The so-called real world being shown to be an illusion. Then it all ends suddenly, as Machen seems to suddenly give up! 😩
The White People ****/5
This was my favourite! Really fun, and intriguing! Machen takes various inspiration from fairylore, and we have some hallucinatory journeying. Yup, there are woods involved!
The Red Hand **/5
Amateur detective Dyson, and his friend, continue their investigations of occult happenings in London. Not that great. But quite fun, mostly due to Dyson's odd investigative methods! Kinda related to 'Novel of the Black Seal'.
This starts as a slice-of-life with a suburban couple. Then, the monotonous minutiae of daily-life starts to be eroded by strangeness. The so-called real world being shown to be an illusion. Then it all ends suddenly, as Machen seems to suddenly give up! 😩
The White People ****/5
This was my favourite! Really fun, and intriguing! Machen takes various inspiration from fairylore, and we have some hallucinatory journeying. Yup, there are woods involved!
The Red Hand **/5
Amateur detective Dyson, and his friend, continue their investigations of occult happenings in London. Not that great. But quite fun, mostly due to Dyson's odd investigative methods! Kinda related to 'Novel of the Black Seal'.
November 4, 2022
I had read about this book but it wasn't what I expected. After plowing through A Fragment of Life, parts I through IV, until the prologue of the second part, The White People, I decided to take break. There were intimations of a greater story evolving of occult practices and slipping into another world, but the entire first part of the book was about a young married couple's managing the household expenses and their irritating (to me as well as to them) interactions with older relations.
If it is continuing as I expect, I believe it's still influencing books by others which I've read recently. It's worth returning to for the history, but I'm stuck for the moment.
If it is continuing as I expect, I believe it's still influencing books by others which I've read recently. It's worth returning to for the history, but I'm stuck for the moment.
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