By now it is no secret that H.P. Lovecraft was a voracious reader. There was a select group of writers that helped forge his craft and focus on the cosmic. Perhaps none had a greater impact than Arthur Machen. Machen was the Welsh Wizard: he dove deep into the folklore of the region and turned the myths into abject horror. In fact Lovecraft quantifies Machen as one of the “Modern Masters” of horror in his piece “Supernatural Horror in Literature.”
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The Great God Pan
Likely the most well known novella by Arthur Machen, this piece opens immediately with hints of folk horror and makes you squirm with draconian medical procedure with an aim to make the reader’s skin crawl. Dr. Raymond’s surgery to open Mary’s mind in order to “See the Great God Pan” is not just one that evokes the supernatural, it obliterates the social and ethical norms of both Machen’s era as well as our own.
Throughout this work, Machen has us come across horrifying deaths, sightings of a woman–who by all accounts should no longer be alive–and the psychic toll the god Pan has on those that come in contact with him. He pulls us through scenario after scenario in a mystery that makes us wonder what is reality, and changes the face of horror in the process. Utilizing Pan as his backdrop, while showing us that humanity can be equally terrifying.
In this manner, Machen masterfully crafts a piece that marries the cruelty of humanity with the ancient lore of Welsh mythology. Not only that, there is a moment of body horror that absolutely makes the reader want to stand up out of their seat in order to get the nerves out.
Read Machen’s Seminal Classic
“The Great God Pan: by Arthur Machen”
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