Fantastic and Horrific Stories is a collection of short fiction by Arthur Machen. Condemned as decadent and obscene upon publication, Machen’s writing earned praise from Oscar Wilde and H. P. Lovecraft.
Throughout the years, Machen’s work has been referenced and adapted by such figures as Stephen King, Guillermo del Toro, and Josh Malerman for its masterfully unsettling blend of science, myth, and magic. The Great God Pan, perhaps Machen’s most celebrated work, is the story of an occult experiment gone horribly wrong. Clarke has always taken an interest in occult matters, so when a friend offers him a chance to witness an experimental procedure intended to access the spirit realm, he cannot refuse. When the young patient Mary awakens, she shows signs of terror and soon falls into a catatonic state. Convinced of their success in discovering the world of “the great god Pan,” Clarke and Raymond agree to keep their discovery a secret. Years later, a nearby town begins reporting the mysterious disappearances of young children, all of whom have been seen in the forest with a young woman named Helen Vaughn.
In “The White People,” originally published in Horlick’s Magazine in 1904, a Welshman receives the diary of a young girl introduced to witchcraft. Surprisingly well-kept for its age, the green book accompanies Cotgrave on a journey through the lush countryside. Its pages contain the diary of a young girl who, encouraged by her nurse, immerses herself in the world of magic. As she grows adept in the ways of witchcraft, the girl begins referring to strange beings and unknown places, all while doing her best to conceal her secret life from friends and family.
The Hill of Dreams is a semi-autobiographical novel about a young man who begins having strange visions after visiting an ancient Roman fort near his rural Welsh home. Published alongside “The Inmost Light,” “The Shining Pyramid,” The Terror, “Out of the Earth,” and Ornaments in Jade, these tales by Arthur Machen showcase his gift for illuminating the presence of the supernatural in everyday life.
With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Arthur Machen’s Fantastic and Horrific Stories is a classic of British horror fiction reimagined for modern readers.
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The Great God Pan
I. The Experiments
II. Mr. Clarkes 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 Inmost Light
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
The Shining Pyramid
I. The Arrow-head Cheater
II. The Eyes on the Wall
III. The Search for the Bowl
IV. The Search for the Pyramid
V. The Little People
The Hill of Dreams
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
The White People
Prologue
The Green Book
Epilogue
The Terror
I. The Coming of the Terror
II. Death in the Village
III. The Doctors Theory
IV. The Spread of the Terror
V. The Incident of the Unknown Tree
VI. Mr. Remnants Z Ray
VII. The Case of the Hidden Germans
VIII. What Mr. Merritt Found
IX. The Light on the Water
X. The Child and the Moth
XI. At Treff Loyne Farm
XII. The Letter of Wrath
XIII. The Last Words of Mr. Secretan
XIV. The End of the Terror
Out of Earth
Ornaments of Jade
The Rose Garden
The Turanians
The Idealist
Witchcraft
The Ceremony
Psychology
Torture
Midsummer
Nature
The Holy Things
Arthur Machen (1863-1947) was a Welsh mystic and author. Born Arthur Llewellyn Jones, he was raised in Monmouthshire in a prominent family of clergymen. He developed an early interest in alchemy and other occult matters, and obtained a classical education at Hereford Cathedral School. He moved to London, where he failed to gain admittance to medical school and soon focused on his literary interests. Working as a tutor, he wrote in the evening and published his first poem, Eleusinia, in 1881. A novel, The Anatomy of Tobacco (1884), soon followed, launching his career as a professional writer. Machen made a name for himself as a frequent contributor to London literary magazines and achieved his first major success with the 1894 novella The Great God Pan. Following his wifes death from cancer in 1899, he briefly joined the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and began conducting research on Celtic Christianity, the legend of the Holy Grail, and the stories of King Arthur. In 1922, after a decade of working as a journalist for the Evening News, he published The Secret Glorya story of the Grailto popular and critical acclaim. This marked the highpoint of his career as a pioneering author of fantasy, horror, and supernatural fiction whose work has been admired and praised by William Butler Yeats, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Stephen King.
