Whatever be your favourite Arthur Machen work(s)?

[nihilsum]

I haven't read everything by Machen yet but I do consider him my favorite weird fiction writer, though his work isn't always consistent.

My favorites:

"The White People" - This story blew me away like none other ever had. Has any other story ever created the same sublime sense of wonder and mysticism?

"The Shining Pyramid" - When it comes to Machen I am very fascinated by his stories about the "little people". And this story in particular may be my very favorite of those "mythos" stories. The ending is a very terrifying glimpse of the little people's magic. I'm also very fond of "Out of the Earth" and "The Novel of the Black Seal".

I also like "The Great God Pan" and "The Inmost Light". Very decadent supernatural stories.

I think Machen's prose poems of Ornaments in Jade are not talked about enough. "The Ceremony" is incredibly evocative and mysterious. In theme it is very similar to "The White People", but has its own mystery about a certain stone in the forest. I consider this prose poem to be a summation of all that I like about Arthur Machen in 12 paragraphs. "The Turanians" is about a more realistic encounter with the atavistic people who Machen bases his "little people" mythos upon, but this tale is no less mystifying. Also, "Nature" is a prose poem that contains some of his most breathtaking description of nature, in such a way that all the world seems divine.

I still need to read The Three Impostors in its entirety, as well as The Secret Glory (is it worth reading without the last couple of chapters as in the Tartarus press edition?).