The Great God Pan and The Angels of Mons

Book: The Great God Pan and The Angels of Mons
Author: Arthur Machen
Pages: 101
Hard Core Scale: ¾ and 4/4
Normal Scale: 9/10 and 4/4
Publish Date:  2014 (1894 and 1915)
About:  The volume collects two works of late 19th century horror author Arthur Machen. “The Great God Pan” is about a series of grisly murders in London and other odd phenomenon after a night of a failed science experiment. The Angels of Mons is a collection of short stories through intense frame narrative depicting supernatural phenomenon during World War I.

Review:

It is rare I come across a classic author I have not read. Lovecraft wrote how much Machen was an inspiration to him and it can be clearly seen. A master of unreliable narrators, while skipping the gothic concept. There is great use of sense of history, weight and place.  Wonderful imagery, poetic word choice, and the handling of the unknown. The reason the “Great God Pan” gets a little bit of a ping is it felt like the horror stories I get from students and I look at them and ask “and what else" in concern of conflict and resolution. The mystery is seeable from the beginning does not make much depth or interest.  Early horror is hard to judge I suppose s the tropes and expanded purpose as a genre is not really explored. I rarely read horror as I often do not enjoy the subject matter.  Not sure if I can say it is a “first of its kind,” as I am not as knowledgeable about the horror genre. The seeds though were defiantly spread and granted by this.  “The Angels of Mons,” though has a lot of depth going on. The unreliable narration tied to collecting of these “stories” as if the editorial was real as catharsis and propaganda and folklore during WWI written in WWI  has a lot to say about humanity and storytelling. There is even a toe dip in SF about the war prolonging itself to “weird” technologies. In here is too is not the negative ghost association usually coupled with the horror story, but in vein of that folklore  “pugboo” goodness ghost with positive purpose. A supernatural overlook of the world that is more comforting then negative on the behalf of a force of good. These were very enjoyable. I wonder too if it had influence on Guillermo del Toro. So, if you are a horror buff these might be worth checking out. If you like “weird war” genre fiction though, the second half may definitely be worth the look. That right there has a higher chance of “first of its kind.”

 


 Great God Pan Cover, by Kia Draven 2014, Broken Ground Novellas publishing.

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