Tales of Horror and the Supernatural

by Arthur Machen

Paperback, 1983

Status

Available

Call number

813

Collection

Publication

Pinnacle Books (Mm) (1983), Paperback, 432 pages

Description

"Tales of Horror and the Supernatural" is a collection of some of Welsh author and mystic Arthur Machan's best horror and mystery fiction. Throughout his life, Machan espoused the existence of the mystical and supernatural, a belief reinforced by numerous inexplicable and, he would argue, preternatural experience that he himself was witness to. His life and work revolved around this idea, and in time he became one of the masters of modern supernatural horror fiction. The stories of this collection include: "The Novel Of The Black Seal", "The Novel Of The White Powder", "The Great God Pan", "The White People", "The Inmost Light", "The Shining Pyramid", "The Happy Children", "The Bright Boy", "Out Of The Earth", "Children Of The Pool", and "The Terror". Arthur Machen (1863 - 1947) was a Welsh author and renowned mystic during the 1890s and early 20th century who garnered literary acclaim for his contributions to the supernatural, horror, and fantasy fiction genres. His seminal novella "The Great God Pan" (1890) has become a classic of horror fiction, with Stephen King describing it as one of the best horror stories ever written in the English language. Other notable fans of his gruesome tales include William Butler Yeats and Arthur Conan Doyle; and his work has been compared to that of Robert Louis Stevenson, Bram Stoker, and Oscar Wilde. This chilling tale of inexplicable circumstances in London's borough of Islington is highly recommended for fans of the macabre and is not to be missed by collectors of vintage supernatural fiction. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member antiquary
Machen is considered one of the great early horror writers, but he is usually too grim for my taste. I own this collection simply because I inherited it from my father. One curiosity in it is the story "the Bowmen" which is usually credited with inspiring the legend of the "Angels of Mons" in World
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War I --Machen wrote a fictional story about St George leading the bowmen of Agincourt to support the beleaguered British Expeditionary Force and eventually some people claimed they really had seen the bowmen in the sky. That is about the only cheerful story in the book.Another one may have contributed to Howard's vision of the Picts as small dark creatures surviving underground and taking terrible vengeance on their enemies.
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Original publication date

1948

Physical description

432 p.; 7.9 inches

ISBN

0523421117 / 9780523421117
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