Arthur Machen

Stories woven together with the devious threads of dark magic create the ultimate in horror fiction by the gruesome Arthur Machen. When two men set about as amateur sleuths they are unaware of the depths of conspiracy or the malign forces dwelling in the shadows they will uncover. Encountering stories of several bizarre and nightmarish mysteries within a seemingly peaceful suburb, the duo’s investigations eventually lead them to London’s occult underworld. The short stories contained within all stand alone as thrilling horror fiction, however connected together here through their theme of imposture, Machen skilfully intertwines the tales with mounting suspense. FLAME TREE 451: From mystery to crime, supernatural to horror and fantasy to science fiction, Flame Tree 451 offers a healthy diet of werewolves and mechanical men, blood-lusty vampires, dastardly villains, mad scientists, secret worlds, lost civilizations and escapist fantasies. Discover a storehouse of tales gathered specifically for the reader of the fantastic. Each book features a brand new biography and glossary of Literary, Gothic and Victorian terms.

The Great God Pan is a novella by Welsh writer Arthur Machen. Machen's story was only one of many at the time to focus on the Greek God Pan as a useful symbol for the power of nature and paganism.

The Angels of Mons: The Bowmen and Other Legends of the War by Arthur Machen The Angels of Mons The Bowmen and Other Legends of the War Arthur Machen Though the story itself is nothing, it has yet had such odd and unforeseen consequences and adventures that the tale of them may possess some interest. And then, again, there are certain psychological morals to be drawn from the whole matter of the tale and its sequel of rumours and discussions that are not, I think, devoid of consequence; and so to begin at the beginning We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.

Excerpt s golden with the light of the leaping flames. And those within can hear the rain dashing upon shutter and upon closed door, and the fire hisses now and again as stray drops fall down the chimney; and the great wind shakes the trees and goes roaring down the hillside to the valley and moans and mutters about the housetop. A man will leave his place, snug in shelter, in the deepest glow of the fire, and go out for a moment and open but a little of the door in the porch and see all the world black and wild and wet, and then come back to the light and heat and thank God for his home, wondering whether any are still abroad on such a night of tempest. Looking back on my native country as I first remember it, I have often regretted that I was not born say twenty or thirty years earlier. I should then have seen more of a singular social process, which I can only call the Passing of the Gentry. In my father's parish this had taken place very long before my day, or his either. Indeed, I am not quite sure

He would sometimes, whimsically, compare himself to Coleridge, and I think that he often deliberately talked in S. T. C.'s manner with delight in the joke. For, I need hardly say that the comparison was not in any way a serious one; he had a veneration for Coleridge's achievement, with a still greater veneration for that which Coleridge might have achieved, which would have caused him to regard any such comparison, seriously entertained, as unspeakably ludicrous. Still, he liked to regard himself as a very humble disciple in Coleridge's school, he was fond, as I have said, of imitating his master's manner as well as he could, and I think that he cherished, in the fashion of S. T. C., the notion that he had a "system," an esoteric philosophy of things; he sought for a key that would open, and a lamp that would enlighten all the dark treasure-houses of the Universe, and sometimes he believed that he held both the Key and the Lamp in his hands.

"We owe a great deal to you," said Mr. Davies politely; "the doctor said so before he left. But have we not all three some farewells to make? I, for my part, propose to say good-by, here, before this picturesque but mouldy residence, to my friend Mr. Burton, dealer in the antique and curious," and the man lifted his hat with an exaggerated bow. "And I," said Richmond, "bid adieu to Mr. Wilkins, the private secretary, whose company has, I confess, become a little tedious." "Farewell to Miss Lally, and to Miss Leicester also," said the girl, making as she spoke a delicious courtesy. "Farewell to all occult adventure; the farce is played." Mr. Davies and the lady seemed full of grim enjoyment, but Richmond tugged at his whiskers nervously.

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Of all the memorable tales to emerge from World War I, the most remarkable one is untrue. The Angels of Mons is a legend that evolved from one writer's skillful ability to weave ghostly stories. This particularly tale gripped a nation badly in need of hope. For some, fiction became reality. In September 1914, two months after the outbreak of the Great War, Welsh journalist and author Arthur Machen published a short story called The Bowmen in the London Evening News. It describes how phantom archers from the Battle of Agincourt had come to the rescue of British soldiers fighting against the Germans in the Battle of Mons a month earlier. The story was not labeled as fiction and the author soon became to receive enquiries from readers asking for verification of these ghostly archers, who had apparently been summoned by Saint George, the patron saint of England. It appears Machen had no desire to create a hoax, but that the British public, just starting to grasp the full horrors of World War One's mechanized warfare and its heavy death toll, was ready to believe that a ghostly miracle had occurred in France.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Today, H. P. Lovecraft is regarded as one of the luminaries of the horror genre-but who were his literary influences? The often-overlooked work of nineteenth-century author Arthur Machen is said to have been very important to the formation of Lovecraft's inimitable style. This collection brings together four of Machen's weird, wonderful tales.

The Angels of Mons-The Bowmen and Other Legends of the War is a classic World War One short story collection by Arthur Machen. The Angels of Mons is a popular legend about a group of angels who supposedly protected members of the British Army in the Battle of Mons at the outset of the First World War. Though the story itself is nothing, it has yet had such odd and unforeseen consequences and adventures that the tale of them may possess some interest. And then, again, there are certain psychological morals to be drawn from the whole matter of the tale and its sequel of rumours and discussions that are not, I think, devoid of consequence; and so to begin at the beginning.

The only illustrated, annotated edition of Machen's supernatural fiction on the market, this collector's volume includes the very best of his weird tales and fantasy. A tremendous influence on H. P. Lovecraft, and widely considered one of the most important contributors to the weird fiction genre, Arthur Machen specialized in a highly intuitive horror that was more suggestive and upsetting because of what it implied rather than what it showed. His stories investigate themes studied by Edgar Allan Poe and Robert Louis Stevenson: corruption of innocence, the power of the will, social hypocrisy, vestigial evil, and hidden sin. Heavily influenced by those writers and by a mystical blend of Celtic Paganism and gnostic Christianity, Machen wrote stories that plumbed the dark unconscious of humanity, seeking and discovering subterranean monstrosities. The tales here include stories of murderous Pagan cults, dark eldritch gods, human sacrifices, witches' Sabbaths, crossbreeding between humans and evil deities, unevolved races of brutal troglodytes, demonic possession, putrefying zombies, animals declaring war on all humanity, ghostly wartime visions, murder mysteries, and occult detectives. Machen's works study the Platonic duality of human nature - the good and the evil, the flesh and the spirit - and beckon us to peer behind the veil of daily life at the horrible reality we rarely stop to notice. TALES INCLUDED IN THIS ANNOTATED EDITION: The Great God Pan The Inmost Light The White People The Novel of the White Powder The Novel of the Black Seal The Red Hand The Shining Pyramid Out of the Earth The Bowmen The Monstrance The Soldier's Rest The Great Return The Terror