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N
"For a moment, my heart stood still, and I gasped for breath. Before me, in place of the familiar structures, there was disclosed a panorama of unearthly, of astounding beauty. In deep dells, bowered by overhanging trees, there bloomed flowers such as only dreams can show; such deep purples that yet seemed to glow like precious stones with a hidden but ever-present radiance, roses whose hues outshone any that are to be seen in our gardens, tall lilies alive with light, and blossoms that were as beaten gold." Written in December, 1935, when Arthur Machen was his early 70s, N reveals itself as one of the finest of his pieces: a strange, mystical tale about a possible hidden paradise in the London suburb of Stoke Newington.
66 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1936
158 people want to read
About the author
Arthur Machen
1,112 books1,006 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 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 8, 2018
Old Men, sitting by a fire with cups in hand, telling tales of Old Days, before the changes. London is a mysterious town, full of strange places, and Northern England even more so. Machen encapsulates his entire raison d'être as a writer: sometimes worlds may overlap. The universe is a fluid place, and may at times allow visions of before and of elsewhere to appear now, and here.
Gentrification is a topic in this short story; the pulling down of the archaic, to be replaced with the prosaic. As I am also an Old Man (or soon to be), I found much that resonated in the sentiments expressed. Ah, the San Francisco I first moved to, in 1994. Strange, full of mysterious nooks and crannies, odd shops, odder people; now a shiny tech paradise full of tall bright buildings and tall uninteresting people. Alas!
But back to the story: "perichoresis" is most usually defined as a way of describing the relationship between the Holy Trinity: a blending, an overlap of sorts, but most of all a rotation. It may be used in other ways as well... to describe an interpenetration between the world we know and a world - or a person - that has passed, or that exists elsewhere, now only to be seen in fleeting visions.
Gentrification is a topic in this short story; the pulling down of the archaic, to be replaced with the prosaic. As I am also an Old Man (or soon to be), I found much that resonated in the sentiments expressed. Ah, the San Francisco I first moved to, in 1994. Strange, full of mysterious nooks and crannies, odd shops, odder people; now a shiny tech paradise full of tall bright buildings and tall uninteresting people. Alas!
But back to the story: "perichoresis" is most usually defined as a way of describing the relationship between the Holy Trinity: a blending, an overlap of sorts, but most of all a rotation. It may be used in other ways as well... to describe an interpenetration between the world we know and a world - or a person - that has passed, or that exists elsewhere, now only to be seen in fleeting visions.
April 21, 2018
Arthur Machen (1863-1947)
An earlier paperback edition was produced by Tartarus Press in 2010 clocking in at 39 pages. This was published on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of "N". The book was written in December, 1935, when Arthur Machen was in his early 70s.
"N" is a strange tale for Machen concerning the unearthing of some kind of an alternate reality in Stoke Newington in North London.
An earlier paperback edition was produced by Tartarus Press in 2010 clocking in at 39 pages. This was published on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of "N". The book was written in December, 1935, when Arthur Machen was in his early 70s.
"N" is a strange tale for Machen concerning the unearthing of some kind of an alternate reality in Stoke Newington in North London.
May 21, 2023
Three friends gather to sip spiced rum in front of a warm fireplace to discuss London of yesteryear, of places fondly remembered and of a time sadly passed by, when one of them recounts the tale of a park outside London than almost no-one seems to have seen. The three friends slowly venture into a discussion of things that may or may not be, of places hinted at and of weird occurrences. When later, one of them finds a book with the musings of an old reverend recounting the wonderful hidden place, the search for the beautiful and ethereal park outside of London becomes a journey into the shadowy realm of the past.
As with many of Machen’s other tales, N deals with the unseen world, an opening of the veil that some people are susceptible to, and able to view extraordinary wonders in our modern, mundane world. Anyone familiar with Machen’s autobiographies will find recurring themes here of the walks around unknown parts of London, the lament of seeing old neighborhoods were torn down and new architecture spring up in old haunts one once considered special. The anti-materialism is as evident here as with most of Machen’s tales.
The tale reminded me most of A Fragment of Life, and as with that story, Machen tries to outline some peculiar, hidden mysticism, and a longing to behold something magical, wonderful and otherworldly. I enjoyed Machen’s poorly disguised nod to himself and his biographical book; The London Adventure or the Art of Wandering, or as he chose to call it here: A London Walk: Meditations in the Streets of the Metropolis by Reverend Thomas Hampole. The atmosphere and mood in the tale are just superb and goes to show that he certainly hadn’t lost his keen sense of the uncanny and beauty even at the age of 70. N is one of Machen’s finer strange tales.
As with many of Machen’s other tales, N deals with the unseen world, an opening of the veil that some people are susceptible to, and able to view extraordinary wonders in our modern, mundane world. Anyone familiar with Machen’s autobiographies will find recurring themes here of the walks around unknown parts of London, the lament of seeing old neighborhoods were torn down and new architecture spring up in old haunts one once considered special. The anti-materialism is as evident here as with most of Machen’s tales.
The tale reminded me most of A Fragment of Life, and as with that story, Machen tries to outline some peculiar, hidden mysticism, and a longing to behold something magical, wonderful and otherworldly. I enjoyed Machen’s poorly disguised nod to himself and his biographical book; The London Adventure or the Art of Wandering, or as he chose to call it here: A London Walk: Meditations in the Streets of the Metropolis by Reverend Thomas Hampole. The atmosphere and mood in the tale are just superb and goes to show that he certainly hadn’t lost his keen sense of the uncanny and beauty even at the age of 70. N is one of Machen’s finer strange tales.
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February 14, 2022Documenting my first little bookbinding project: a stitched booklet of Arthur Machen's short story N.
It has a light card cover and heavy, ivory paper stock. I made it a bit smaller than a standard paperback, initially inspired by the New Adelphi Library editions of Machen's work (although I also tried to pinch some design elements from various modern small-format paperbacks). Below are pictures of a few spreads that show the layout.
I found that typesetting and printing the pages took the longest time (and a lot of trial and error). Trimming, folding, and stitching the pages was easier but required care and patience (and a little trial and error). Next I plan to experiment with glue and softcover flaps before trying to bind multiple signatures (I'd like to do Machen's Ornaments in Jade at some point) or a hardback project.
It has a light card cover and heavy, ivory paper stock. I made it a bit smaller than a standard paperback, initially inspired by the New Adelphi Library editions of Machen's work (although I also tried to pinch some design elements from various modern small-format paperbacks). Below are pictures of a few spreads that show the layout.
I found that typesetting and printing the pages took the longest time (and a lot of trial and error). Trimming, folding, and stitching the pages was easier but required care and patience (and a little trial and error). Next I plan to experiment with glue and softcover flaps before trying to bind multiple signatures (I'd like to do Machen's Ornaments in Jade at some point) or a hardback project.
December 28, 2024
Some have declared that it lies within our own choice to gaze continually upon a world of equal or even greater wonder or beauty. It is said by these that the experiments of the alchemists of the Dark Ages are, in fact, related not to the transmutation of metals, but to the transmutation of the entire Universe.
December 25, 2020
Second read through, this time via the Snuggly Books standalone release. This has to be one of Machen's best stories, right? Up there with The White People and The Great God Pan.
November 10, 2022
3.5⭐
I am a sucker for old men sitting around reminiscing about the old days' stories.
I am a sucker for old men sitting around reminiscing about the old days' stories.
May 9, 2020
Three old man sitting together recounting the events of London before the past of the town. They found a book named London Walk: Meditations in the Streets of the Metropolis. And thus the story going on. There's discussion of mysterious place, also discussing the thing there's maybe exist or not. Didn't find it much horror but an OK story for me...
April 17, 2024
The innocuous enigma of living matter is offered the chance to see through — beneath? or aside? — the veil of banal reality with the help of near-watered-down spirits, discarded oddities of text, spotty memory, and moments of ‘he-said, she-said’.
August 26, 2020
There are some interesting ideas here but nothing ever came of them.
December 26, 2020
"N" is the first indication that Machen was starting to get old. In this short story, Machen constructs a loose narrative surrounding a conversation between three old gentlemen who share their experiences and life when they were young and as they are now. This book feels like it was written by my grandfather, reminiscing about his rural childhood at a time when urbanization has completely overtaken his beloved countryside. Machen goes a step further and adds some mystical elements to it, but it is the same basic feature.
This story will likely resonate with readers who are climbing in their years, but other readers, like myself, have immense amount of difficulty getting into. The three men and the discussion of their childhood homes was intensely uninteresting. It brought up unsettling memories of Lovecraft when he would drone on and on about the history and specifications of his beloved hometown, Providence. It's only when Machen divulges the mystical remnants of the forest that once existed in this new cityscape that it becomes interesting.
The ending almost completely pivots this story into being an acceptable reading. Most of the story is a slough to get through, but the final statement implies a great deal is going on within this tale, and it is all the better for it. If you have the patience to read until the end, you may find that this short story was worth it. If you need a little more than a few old farts talking about their favorite street for fifteen or so pages, then perhaps you should read poems by W.B. Yeats after World War II.
This story will likely resonate with readers who are climbing in their years, but other readers, like myself, have immense amount of difficulty getting into. The three men and the discussion of their childhood homes was intensely uninteresting. It brought up unsettling memories of Lovecraft when he would drone on and on about the history and specifications of his beloved hometown, Providence. It's only when Machen divulges the mystical remnants of the forest that once existed in this new cityscape that it becomes interesting.
The ending almost completely pivots this story into being an acceptable reading. Most of the story is a slough to get through, but the final statement implies a great deal is going on within this tale, and it is all the better for it. If you have the patience to read until the end, you may find that this short story was worth it. If you need a little more than a few old farts talking about their favorite street for fifteen or so pages, then perhaps you should read poems by W.B. Yeats after World War II.
December 21, 2025
Having just read Alan Moore's 'The Great When' I was curious to read the short story that was the inspiration for the alternate London storyline.
It's an atmospheric piece that hints at strange goings-on in Stoke Newington. I loved the discussion between the old friends as they think of all the changes happening in London. As the city grows, once distinct communities get subsumed into it and change beyond all recognition.
The idea of an unseen world harks back to ancient tales of fairy. The story is too short to really sink into but it evokes a strangeness that lingers long after the story finishes.
It's an atmospheric piece that hints at strange goings-on in Stoke Newington. I loved the discussion between the old friends as they think of all the changes happening in London. As the city grows, once distinct communities get subsumed into it and change beyond all recognition.
The idea of an unseen world harks back to ancient tales of fairy. The story is too short to really sink into but it evokes a strangeness that lingers long after the story finishes.
February 11, 2022
I don't know what's going on with Arthur Machen because so many esteemed writers of horror and the macabre just love his shit to death and this is the second piece of his I've read where I've thought at the end "And?" It just feels like there's all atmosphere and no pay off.
January 26, 2025
A diversion. Currently reading Alan Moor’s ‘The Great When’, in which this short and odd story plays a prominent part. It pays dividends to go down rabbit holes, you never know ow where you will emerge.
July 24, 2024
Alan Moore's book the Great When, references this story quite heavily. So when the character in the novel went and read this I had to track it down and a read a copy too. It was delightful.
February 25, 2025
A wonderful tale from Machen a possible ancestor to the psycogeography movement and writers such as Iain Sinclair.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews