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The Black Seal and Other Stories
Machen's weird tales of the creepy and fantastic have fascinated readers for generations.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1895
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About the author
Arthur Machen
1,108 books1,002 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 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 8, 2023
4.5 stars
I got this book on a whim when I came across it on Amazon; the cover gave me Lovecraft vibes and I thought it sounded interesting from the synopsis. I've never heard of Arthur Machen before so I was extremely surprised to eventually find out that he was one of the authors that inspired Lovecraft.
The stories mostly started off slow, some remained slow all the way through, but there were always these little creepy crumbs thrown here and there to keep you interested and curious enough. A couple of the stories surprisingly made my skin crawl and had me seeing and hearing things at night.. and I'm not one who's usually affected by horror books or even movies, but somehow these eerie stories managed to sneak into my head and stick there after dark.
The Great God Pan and The White People are probably my favourites, and what stuck with me most.
A couple of stories in, I started noticing some similarities in the horrors that Machen wrote about. He would subtly reference something from one of the other stories which was really interesting to see.
At times it was a little frustrating how subtle the horror elements were; how very quickly you'd get introduced to whatever ancient evil was present. You get a vague idea about it, and then the rest is left to your wild imagination and interpretation.. which can be both good and bad I guess.
Overall I can see why this might not be everyone's cup of tea, but for me it was a great read. I'd highly recommend this if you're into subtle eerie horror stories, with hints of the occult and eldritch elements.
I got this book on a whim when I came across it on Amazon; the cover gave me Lovecraft vibes and I thought it sounded interesting from the synopsis. I've never heard of Arthur Machen before so I was extremely surprised to eventually find out that he was one of the authors that inspired Lovecraft.
The stories mostly started off slow, some remained slow all the way through, but there were always these little creepy crumbs thrown here and there to keep you interested and curious enough. A couple of the stories surprisingly made my skin crawl and had me seeing and hearing things at night.. and I'm not one who's usually affected by horror books or even movies, but somehow these eerie stories managed to sneak into my head and stick there after dark.
The Great God Pan and The White People are probably my favourites, and what stuck with me most.
A couple of stories in, I started noticing some similarities in the horrors that Machen wrote about. He would subtly reference something from one of the other stories which was really interesting to see.
At times it was a little frustrating how subtle the horror elements were; how very quickly you'd get introduced to whatever ancient evil was present. You get a vague idea about it, and then the rest is left to your wild imagination and interpretation.. which can be both good and bad I guess.
Overall I can see why this might not be everyone's cup of tea, but for me it was a great read. I'd highly recommend this if you're into subtle eerie horror stories, with hints of the occult and eldritch elements.
October 24, 2022
This is a difficult one for me to really say what I think of it. This mainly comes down to the fact that I don’t have any particularly strong feelings one way or another; none of the stories in here are bad, nor do I think they’re all that great. Everything is on a similar level of “okay” in my opinion.
I don’t think there’s any story here (of which there are seven) that I didn’t enjoy to some degree. If I were to pick a favorite it would probably be The White People (a story name that I honestly find kind of amusing), or perhaps The Great God Pan. But even those two I only liked a little more than the others. All the stories are pretty good but I didn’t find myself particularly drawn into any of them in a significant way.
Overall this is a decent collection of short stories. It’s nothing incredible but it’s also nothing I wouldn’t recommend. While it doesn’t reach the heights of other horror short fiction collections I’ve read, it’s still a pretty solid collection that I did at least enjoy.
Rating: 7/10
I don’t think there’s any story here (of which there are seven) that I didn’t enjoy to some degree. If I were to pick a favorite it would probably be The White People (a story name that I honestly find kind of amusing), or perhaps The Great God Pan. But even those two I only liked a little more than the others. All the stories are pretty good but I didn’t find myself particularly drawn into any of them in a significant way.
Overall this is a decent collection of short stories. It’s nothing incredible but it’s also nothing I wouldn’t recommend. While it doesn’t reach the heights of other horror short fiction collections I’ve read, it’s still a pretty solid collection that I did at least enjoy.
Rating: 7/10
January 23, 2023
Tedious. Repetitive. Wordy.
May 8, 2025
Arthur Machen!!!! what an absolute GOAT!!! it's crazy to think that he wrote these stories around the turn of the 1800s, as they feel SO inventive, so fresh, and expertly written. Machen truly was innovative, doing what no one did before him, and it's so clear now why Lovecraft was influenced so much by him.
these stories were brilliant: The Black Seal and The Great God Pan are genuinely some of the very best horror short stories I've ever read, up there in my all time favorites now. the reason that I give this collection 4 stars and not 5 is cuz I was actually a bit disappointed by some of the other stories. while I loved the aforementioned two stories, as well as The White Powder and The Red Hand, the remaining three stories: The White People, The Shining Pyramid, and Out of the Earth/The Bowman felt really flat in comparison. which is really disappointing, as I had really high hopes for The White People specifically, as it's one of the more well known and highly praised of Machen's stories. what the three stories have in common is that they're told in a much more folklore-ish and open-ended style, relying heavily on implied horror/atmosphere that are interesting but not particularly enjoyable to read. it does help however that there's an overarching mythos being formed in most of the stories (including the ones I didn't like), and they all serve a purpose for contributing certain aspects of the mythos.
the collection as a whole overall, if only for the first two stories, is worth it though. highly recommend for fans of horror. 9/10
these stories were brilliant: The Black Seal and The Great God Pan are genuinely some of the very best horror short stories I've ever read, up there in my all time favorites now. the reason that I give this collection 4 stars and not 5 is cuz I was actually a bit disappointed by some of the other stories. while I loved the aforementioned two stories, as well as The White Powder and The Red Hand, the remaining three stories: The White People, The Shining Pyramid, and Out of the Earth/The Bowman felt really flat in comparison. which is really disappointing, as I had really high hopes for The White People specifically, as it's one of the more well known and highly praised of Machen's stories. what the three stories have in common is that they're told in a much more folklore-ish and open-ended style, relying heavily on implied horror/atmosphere that are interesting but not particularly enjoyable to read. it does help however that there's an overarching mythos being formed in most of the stories (including the ones I didn't like), and they all serve a purpose for contributing certain aspects of the mythos.
the collection as a whole overall, if only for the first two stories, is worth it though. highly recommend for fans of horror. 9/10
August 7, 2025
A few years back, I read Machen’s The Great God Pan and found it genuinely disturbing, so when I stumbled onto this old copy in a Vancouver bookstore, I figured it was worth picking up. Turns out I was right. Lovecraft was known to be a huge fan of Machen, and honestly, having read all of Lovecraft’s stuff, I think Machen actually beats him in terms of storytelling and leaving you with a lingering sense of dread.
There are four stories in this collection, and The Novel of the Black Seal is probably the strongest. It’s narrated by a housemaid who notices her employer acting increasingly strange, obsessed with uncovering an ancient, underground civilization hidden beneath the countryside. The slow reveals are genuinely creepy and well done.
The White People has a similar vibe, told through journal entries of a young girl who describes her unsettling experiences with eerie, otherworldly beings. You’re never sure if these encounters are real or just the feverish imagination of a child, which makes it even more haunting.
The Inmost Light is another memorable one, featuring a doctor who pushes science a bit too far and ends up with some horrifying consequences. The Red Hand is probably the weakest story here, reading more like a detective mystery involving secret societies and occult clues. It’s still fun, just not quite as strong as the others.
If you’re into Victorian and Edwardian horror told through letters, journals, or stories swapped late at night between friends, then this collection is definitely your kind of read.
There are four stories in this collection, and The Novel of the Black Seal is probably the strongest. It’s narrated by a housemaid who notices her employer acting increasingly strange, obsessed with uncovering an ancient, underground civilization hidden beneath the countryside. The slow reveals are genuinely creepy and well done.
The White People has a similar vibe, told through journal entries of a young girl who describes her unsettling experiences with eerie, otherworldly beings. You’re never sure if these encounters are real or just the feverish imagination of a child, which makes it even more haunting.
The Inmost Light is another memorable one, featuring a doctor who pushes science a bit too far and ends up with some horrifying consequences. The Red Hand is probably the weakest story here, reading more like a detective mystery involving secret societies and occult clues. It’s still fun, just not quite as strong as the others.
If you’re into Victorian and Edwardian horror told through letters, journals, or stories swapped late at night between friends, then this collection is definitely your kind of read.
June 9, 2023
I admit I expected pulp fiction, but I also hoped that there would be more substance to the stories. Beside The Great God Pan I found other stories poorly and messily constructed.
However, it is clear to see that Lovecraft took inspiration from Machen so The Black Seal is still an interesting read from a historical perspective.
However, it is clear to see that Lovecraft took inspiration from Machen so The Black Seal is still an interesting read from a historical perspective.
July 1, 2024
A collection of very creepy stories -- not the kind to make you jump out of your seat, but the kind to get under your skin. My favorite was "The White Powder," which is the stuff of nightmares. A doctor writes a prescription for a patient, but the pharmacist gives him something different -- with horrifying results.
April 28, 2025
Overall, it is very good. It's weird, unique, and gruesome. 6/10
However, I have to say that it is a bit harder to read and more confusing compared to Lovecraft. I also feel like it’s slower in terms of pacing. Also, I’m not sure if I’m alone in this, but the climaxes in the stories from this book aren’t that "fun." When I read Lovecraft or other eldritch-themed works, they are slow too, but they usually have great and chilling climaxes. The climaxes in this book, on the other hand, feel kind of flat.
My two least favorite stories are "The Red Hand" and "The Black Seal."
My two favorites are "The White People" and "The Great God Pan."
However, I have to say that it is a bit harder to read and more confusing compared to Lovecraft. I also feel like it’s slower in terms of pacing. Also, I’m not sure if I’m alone in this, but the climaxes in the stories from this book aren’t that "fun." When I read Lovecraft or other eldritch-themed works, they are slow too, but they usually have great and chilling climaxes. The climaxes in this book, on the other hand, feel kind of flat.
My two least favorite stories are "The Red Hand" and "The Black Seal."
My two favorites are "The White People" and "The Great God Pan."
October 6, 2023
I must admit I have enjoyed reading these short stories by the same author, but it felt like a different one with different styles for each. My favourite is The Red Hand, which felt like a Sherlock Holmes story.
November 6, 2024
Pretty much what you'd expect from an early weird fiction writer whose work greatly influenced Lovecraft's. Extra star though for the unexpected and pretty effective body horror elements that show up in a couple of the lesser known stories.
May 27, 2024
The deep creepiness compensates for the prose for the most part.
September 1, 2025
You can certainly tell it was written in 1895. The language was kind of hard to follow and you can tell how most of the paranormal came via interaction of the mind.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews