Arthur Machen | Fantasy Literature: Fantasy and Science Fiction Book and Audiobook Reviews

SFF Author: Arthur Machen

(1863-1947)
Arthur Machen was born in Wales in 1863. His Celtic heritage left an indelible impression on him, for his writings are an elaborate and rich tapestry of ancient, yet timeless themes. He believed that the superficialiity of the modern world offered little in exchange for the colorful customs and imagery of the past. You can read some of Arthur Marchen’s work at this website devoted to him.

The Great God Pan: A horror classic

The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen

Written in 1894, Arthur Machen’s The Great God Pan is a short novel which was highly influential to H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King. King, in fact, said The Great God Pan is “…one of the best horror stories ever written. Maybe the best in the English language. Mine isn’t anywhere near that good…” The Great God Pan used to be hard to find, but is now available free on the Kindle (and at other public domain e-book outlets) and is easily read in one dark and rainy evening.

The House of Souls: The Best of Arthur Machen

The House of Souls: The Best of Arthur Machen by Arthur Machen

I had been wanting to check out Arthur Machen’s 1906 collection of short stories, entitled The House of Souls, for quite some time; ever since I had read two highly laudatory pieces written about this work and its author. The first was H.P. Lovecraft‘s comments in his widely referred to essay “Supernatural Horror in Literature,” in which he claims “Of living creators of cosmic fear raised to its most artistic pitch, few if any can hope to equal the versatile Arthur Machen.”

SHORTS: Cho, Machen, Rambo, Scalzi, Andrews

SHORTS: Our column exploring free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. Here are a few stories we’ve recently read that we wanted you to know about.

“Head of a Snake, Tail of a Dragon” by Zen Cho (2018, free on the author’s website)

This short story is a delightful sequel to Zen Cho’s Hugo award-winning novelette, “If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again.” And both are free online, so win-win!

Jin-Dae is an imugi, a magical serpent that can — if it learns and grows in the right way — turn into a dragon.

Weird Tales: The Magazine That Never Dies

Weird Tales: The Magazine that Never Dies edited by Marvin Kaye

Marvin Kaye’s Weird Tales: The Magazine That Never Dies anthology from 1988 takes a slightly different tack than its earlier sister volume, Weird Tales: 32 Unearthed Terrors. Whereas the editors of that earlier collection chose to select one story from each year of the magazine’s celebrated 32-year run (1923-1954), Kaye has decided here to not just limit himself to the periodical’s classic era of 279 issues, but to also include tales from each of the four latter-day incarnations of “The Unique Magazine”

Sandy Ferber´s rating: 5 | Arthur Machen, Clark Ashton Smith, Fritz Leiber, H.G. Wells, H.P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Robert Bloch, Robert E. Howard, Tanith Lee, Theodore Sturgeon, William Hope Hodgson | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |

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SFF Author: Arthur Machen

The Great God Pan: A horror classic

The House of Souls: The Best of Arthur Machen

SHORTS: Cho, Machen, Rambo, Scalzi, Andrews

Weird Tales: The Magazine That Never Dies

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