Synopses & Reviews
"Of creators of cosmic fear raised to its most artistic pitch, few can hope to equal Arthur Machen."--H. P. Lovecraft
Arthur Machen (1863-1947), Welsh novelist and essayist, is considered one of the most important and influential writers of his time. While displaying a preoccupation with pagan themes and matters of the occult (an interest he shared with his close friend, the distinguished scholar A. E. Waite), his writing transcends the genre of supernatural horror. Oscar Wilde, W. B. Yeats, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as Paul Bowles and Jorge Luis Borges are just a few of the literary notables who are counted among his admirers. Machen is also a key figure in the development of pulp magazine fiction (e.g, Weird Tales), a line of ancestry that leads directly to today's popular graphic novels. Further, Machen's name often crops up in the writings of theorists and practitioners of psychogeography, a school of thought and literature which explores the hidden links between the landscape and the mind.
In The Great God Pan, Arthur Machen delivers a tense atmospheric story about a string of mysterious suicides. With its suggestive visions of decadent sexuality, the work scandalized Victorian London. Lyrical and introspective, The Hill of Dreams established Machen as one of the great prose masters of the language. As a penetrating portrayal of the accursed artist, redolent with soulful longing and genteel decay, it ranks as a landmark work in English literature.
Synopsis
Two works one of imaginative and decadent horror, the other lyrical and introspective comprise these books by one of the pioneers of supernatural fiction.
The Great God Pan scandalized Victorian London with its suggestive visions of sexuality and paganism.
The Hill of Dreams is a semi-autobiographical work about Machen's battles with his inner demons.
Synopsis
Two works one of imaginative and decadent horror, the other lyrical and introspective comprise these books by one of the pioneers of supernatural fiction.
The Great God Pan scandalized Victorian London with its suggestive visions of sexuality and paganism.
The Hill of Dreams is a semi-autobiographical work about Machen's battles with his inner demons.
Table of Contents
The Great God Pan
Introduction by the Author
I. The Experiment
II. Mr. Clarke's Memoirs
III. The City of Resurrections
IV. The Discovery in Paul Street
V. The Letter of Advice
VI. The Suicides
VII. The Encounter in Soho
VIII. The Fragments
The Hill of Dreams
Introduction by the Author
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII