Arthur Machen

The Willows / Algernon Blackwood The Shadows on the Wall / Mary E. Wilkins Freeman The Messenger / Robert W. Chambers Lazarus / Leonid Andreyev The Beast with Five Fingers / W.f. Harvey The Mass of Shadows / Anatole France What Was It? / Fitz James O'brien The Middle Toe of the Right Foot / Ambrose Bierce The Shell of Sense / Olivia Howard Dunbar The Woman At Seven Brothers / Wilbur Daniel Steele At the Gate / Myla Jo Closser Ligeia / Edgar Allan Poe The Haunted Orchard / Richard le Gallienne The Bowmen / Arthur Machen A Ghost / Guy de Maupassant

Arthur Machen (1863-1947), who achieved significant fame in the 1920s, was a general man of letters with echoes of Samuel Johnson, an important influence on later fantasy writers from H. P. Lovecraft to Ray Bradbury, and a great adventurer of the spirit. Montgomery Evans II, a wealthy book collector and one of a small circle of Machen's friends and benefactors, carefully collected and mounted in two notebooks nearly 200 letters he had received from the Welsh writer. Sue Strong Hassler and Donald M. Hassler have arranged and edited material from the notebooks to reveal the wonderful story of a literary friendship between an old master, who knew he was a "master" and who continually valued what he called the "ecstasy" of fine writing, and a would-be writer and believer. From the 1920s on, literary materials by Machen had been popular with book collectors. Machen wrote an enormous number of letters, like these to Evans, in which he commented on literature, history (he was fascinated with the 18th century), cultural and political events in England and America, publishing, bookselling and booksellers, his own writing, travel, and food. Machen discusses many literary figures, including Robert Hillyer, Dorothy Parker, Gilbert Seldes, H. L. Mencken, Sylvia Townsend Warner, James Branch Cabell, Holbrook Jackson, George Lacy, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sinclair Lewis, Rudyard Kipling, and Vincent Starrett. The fullness of his correspondence provides a fascinating insight into the literary life of Machen and his circle, which flourished around London from the twenties through the Second World War . Machen's work is important not only as a source of ideas about writing but also as a reflection of literary changes and as the critical foundation for modern fantasy. The Hasslers, in their analyses of the letters, explore Machen's versatility as a writer and offer an interpretation of his group and its opposition to literary modernism. This first extensive publication of his letters will fascinate fans of horror fiction, for whom Machen is an early classic, and scholars of fantasy, science fiction, and literature in general. Book collectors and historians of bookselling and collecting also will find much of interest here

Two London gentlemen ponder the evolution of humankind as they investigate a modern-day murder committed with an ancient tool.

CONTENTS: Introduction. What hath light wrought? / by Isaac Asimov Visitation. The midnight embrace / by Matthew Lewis The Frankenstein theme. The transformation / by Mary Shelley Dream state. The bold dragoon / by Washington Irving Drug addiction. Levana and our ladies of sorrow / by Thomas de Quincey Sorcery. The magician / by Lord Lytton Morphia influence. [Berenice]( / by Edgar Allan Poe Schizophrenia. The drunkard's dream / by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu Claustrophobia. The man in the reservoir / by C.F. Hoffman The blood drinker. Haceldama / by Lafcadio Hearn Hallucination. The ensouled violin / by Madame Blavatsky Morbidity. Visions of the night / by Ambrose Bierce The legendary dream. The soldier's rest / by Arthur Machen A trauma of war. The bureau d'échange de Maux / by Lord Dunsany Psychic experience. The silver mirror / by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The occultist. The testament of Magdalen Blair / by Aleister Crowley Visionary. A dream of Armageddon / by H.G. Wells Ghostly visitation. A school story / by M.R. James Obsession. The grimoire / by Montague Summers Recluse. The evil clergyman / by H.P. Lovecraft Nightmare. The slayers and the slain / by August Derleth Fear of illness. The shifting growth / by John Gawsworth Arachnophobia. Along came a spider / by Algernon Blackwood Night fantasy. The head hunter / by Robert Bloch A waking dream. The haunting of the new / by Ray Bradbury The future. The curse / by Arthur C. Clarke

For the first time ever, the complete contents of both the 1923 and 1925 editions of The Shining Pyramid are brought together in a single collection. Included are stories and essays that showcase the breath and depth of Arthur Machen's skill as both a storyteller and commentator of modern society. The title story is justly regarded as a classic of folk horror that Machen wrote during the same period that brought us his masterpieces such as "The Great God Pan" and "The White Children". We also get shorter journeys into the uncanny and weird with tales like "Out of the Earth", "The Happy Children", "The Lost Club", and "Drake's Drum". On the non-fiction side, included is "The Secret of the Sangraal", Machen's extensive commentary on the origins and lore surrounding the Holy Grail as well as several other essays detailing Machen's socio-economic beliefs, his thoughts on Christianity vs. Paganism, commentaries on art and other thoughts and musings.

Ambrose Meyrick has high expectations of the world, and is disappointed in the mundane factory town around him. He finds that others fail to see or even try to appreciate what he thinks is beautiful and excellent, but he gets along by pretending to conform, while the English public school tries to beat any individualism or imagination out of him. While Ambrose has trouble meeting the school’s expectations, he reaches back in his memory to a time with his father and their visit to an old Welsh farmer who had an ancient holy cup. This cup opens up a mystical world of beauty and splendor to Ambrose, which provides an escape from his troubled life. This book is considered a fantasy leaning on the theme of a holy grail. It’s one of Machen’s later works, and is sometimes compared to his earlier and more significant work, The Hill of Dreams.