Arthur Machen

[Michael]

Quote Originally Posted by Frater_Tsalal

Yeah, I really need to read more of his work today. So far all I've read is his The Hill of Dreams novel (which I rank as one of my favorite novels ever) and the Tartarus Press edition of Tales of the Horror and the Supernatural. I found that latter one hit or miss... always thought that "The Great God Pan" was a little overrated for some reason (I had previously read Kenneth Grant describing it as one of the most horrific stories ever written, so maybe there was a bit too much hype going into it for me). I agree that when he's on, he's on, though. I found it amusing that Mark Samuels told me he loved all of Machen's work, even The Anatomy of Tobacco!

I think I had an advantage in that I heard nothing about Machen before running into The Great God Pan in Wagner and Wise's anthology (one of my top 10 best birthday presents of all time). I think it was precisely because I hadn't heard anything about Machen (not a lot of Machen fans in West Texas) that it blew me away. I think if it had been hyped up I would have thought it was okay (that's what happened to me when I finally read Robert E Howard; it had been so hyped up I thought it was okay at best). Agree with James on his list. Think he got the definitive Machen list spot on. Gotta part company with Mark Samuels; some of the stuff Machen wrote missed for me but when he connected, he hit like hell.