Great God Pan

The Great God Pan (1894) is a novella by Arthur Machen. Condemned as decadent and obscene upon publication, The Great God Pan earned praise from Oscar Wilde and H. P. Lovecraft, and is now regarded as one of Victorian literature’s finest―and most unsettling―stories of horror and the occult. Throughout the years, it has influenced such figures as Stephen King, Guillermo del Toro, and Josh Malerman with its depiction of the god Pan and unsettling blend of science, myth, and magic. Clarke has always taken an interest in occult matters, so when a friend offers him a chance to witness an experimental procedure intended to access the spirit realm, he cannot refuse. When the young patient Mary awakens, she shows signs of terror and soon succumbs to a catatonic state. Convinced of their success in discovering the world of “the great god Pan,” Clarke and Raymond agree to keep their discovery a secret. Years later, a nearby town begins reporting the mysterious disappearances of young children, all of whom have been seen in the forest with a young woman named Helen Vaughn. Before they can solve the case, however, Vaughn disappears, leaving Clarke and the townspeople traumatized. As their secret grows too terrible to bear, Raymond and Clarke must steel themselves in order to solve the connection between Mary and Helen, and to close the portal to the spirit realm for good. This edition of Arthur Machen’s The Great God Pan is a classic of British horror fiction reimagined for modern readers.

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Arthur Machen (1863-1947) was a Welsh mystic and author. Born Arthur Llewellyn Jones, he was raised in Monmouthshire in a prominent family of clergymen. He developed an early interest in alchemy and other occult matters, and obtained a classical education at Hereford Cathedral School. He moved to London, where he failed to gain admittance to medical school and soon focused on his literary interests. Working as a tutor, he wrote in the evening and published his first poem, “Eleusinia,” in 1881. A novel, The Anatomy of Tobacco (1884), soon followed, launching his career as a professional writer. Machen made a name for himself as a frequent contributor to London literary magazines and achieved his first major success with the 1894 novella The Great God Pan. Following his wife’s death from cancer in 1899, he briefly joined the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and began conducting research on Celtic Christianity, the legend of the Holy Grail, and the stories of King Arthur. In 1922, after a decade of working as a journalist for the Evening News, he published The Secret Glory―a story of the Grail―to popular and critical acclaim. This marked the highpoint of his career as a pioneering author of fantasy, horror, and supernatural fiction whose work has been admired and praised by William Butler Yeats, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Stephen King.