Arthur Machen (1863-1947) was born on this day, March 3. He is widely regarded as one of the most significant authors of weird fiction from the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. The name Machen is actually a penname. His real name was Arthur Llewellyn Jones.
He was influential on Robert E. Howad, Frank Belknanp Long, Stephen King, and Karl Edward Wagner. H. P. Lovecraft, in his essay “supernatural Horror in Literature”, considered him to be one of four “modern masters” of supernatural horror. (The others were M. R. James, Lord Dunsay, and Algernon Blackwood.)
While I have a limited knowledge of his work because I’ve read about it, I’ve never actually read any of it. (Don’t judge me. There is only so much time in a day.) I’ve been intending to correct that for some time.
So, question for this post, where should I start? I’m leaning towards The Great God Pan, but I’m open to other suggestions. I’ve had some things going on that have made reading on a consistent basis a challenge lately, and I don’t think that will change for a while. (It’s dayjobbery and trying to get a house ready to sell. Nothing bad such as health issues or anything like that.) I’d prefer shorter works to novels.
What are your thoughts?
The Great God Pan would be a fine place to start. It is however what people read typically when they want to read Machen. His novel The Three Imposters is also a good starting place. Actually, it is a story collection with a mystery plot framing device. The framing device is not the best since it involves basically just his characters wandering around London being told various stories by people, but the individual stories are quite good and there is a real horror atmosphere. (It also may have been written as a subversion of the Sherlock Holmes stories.)
The White People is also a good creepy novella.
I haven’t read it but a lot of people think highly of Hill of Dreams by him. I don’t think it is properly a horror novel, but it may have supernatural overtones. As I said I haven’t read it.
Machen is a big hole in S.T. Joshi’s belief that only atheists can right good cosmic horror. Machen rejected materialism and had spiritual beliefs. He investigated the occult but eventually turned to mystical Christianity. (Though he would probably have always considered himself a Christian.)
Hi, Matthew.
I replied to your comment, but it disappeared.
Those are good suggestions and are the stories I was thinking about. I’ll probably start with The Great God Pan or The White People.
I disagree with Joshi on this point. I’m definitely interested in learning more about Machen’s beliefs.
Machen’s belief’s seem to be complex. He had fascination with the occult but also found it sinister. This informs his writing. He joined the Order of the Golden Dawn to find out what it is about for example. He left after being disgusted at Aleister Crowly.
He was however definitely not a rational materialist.
I’m intrigued by how he balanced his Christian faith with his interest in the occult, especially joining the Order of the Golden Dawn.
From what I understand, Machen came from a long line of clergymen. His interest in the Golden Dawn was not long lasting and from I understand probably just out of curiosity. He was, unlike Arthur Conan Doyle, a skeptic of Spiritualism. I am just going by what I’ve read and remember so I am just going on vague impressions. His Christianity was of a fairly mystical kind from what I understand. He just had a natural bent to the mystic whether Christian or occult though I think for all his interest in the later he saw it as somewhat sinister.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Machen
Thanks, Matthew. I’d seen the Wikipedia article. I’m going to have to read some of his nonfiction to see if he goes into hsi beliefs in any detail.
Hi
I have read Machen for close to 50 years however I always avoided The Great God Pan, something in the plot synopsis I read turned me off. I read it about a year ago and I wish i had read it earlier. It has a bit of a different vibe than some of his other work but I think it was one of the best things he wrote. I would think it was great place to start.
Happy reading
Guy
Thanks, Guy. I’ll give it a try.
I have to agree with The Three Imposters as a great place to start. It’s a tangled narrative, doubles back on itself and then goes off on mysterious tangents. I have read it three or four times and always find it intriguing.
I also recommend Far Off Things, an autobiographical gem about how he grew up in Wales and got into the writers life. An evocative look at the Welsh countryside.
Thanks, Doug. Far Off Things sounds really interesting.
Deuce Richardson tried to post this twice and got error messages, so I’m posting it for him:
THE GREAT GOD PAN is a good place to start, as long as you realize that the ‘horror’ isn’t kinky sex. The female antagonist keeps revealing SOMETHING to grown (and sometimes jaded) men that drives them to suicide.
For a Howard fan like you, Keith, I would start with THE DYSON CHRONICLES. Very readable and the origins of the ‘Worms of the Earth’ can be found therein.
THE THREE IMPOSTORS is great, maybe Machen’s masterwork. While it can be read on the surface level, it is intensely layered with multiple unreliable narrators and a sinister thread running through it. Gene Wolfe was a big Machen fan due to this novel.
My thoughts: https://dmrbooks.com/test-blog/2018/3/4/i-dream-in-fire-but-work-in-clay-arthur-machen
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