The Weird Tales - Horror & Macabre Ultimate Collection (ePub)

The Great God Pan was widely denounced by the press as degenerate and horrific because of its decadent style and sexual content, although it has since garnered a reputation as a classic of horror. H. P. Lovecraft praised the story, saying: "No one could begin to describe the cumulative suspense and ultimate horror with which every paragraph abounds"; he added that "the sensitive reader" reaches the end with "an appreciative shudder." Lovecraft also noted, however, that "melodrama is undeniably present, and coincidence is stretched to a length which appears absurd upon analysis." Bennett Cerf described the story as a "masterpiece". The Three Impostors is an episodic novel incorporating several weird stories, including "The Novel of the White Powder" and "The Novel of the Black Seal", and culminates in a final denouement of deadly horror, connected with a secret society devoted to debauched pagan rites. The three impostors of the title are members of this society who weave a web of deception in the streets of London-relating the aforementioned weird tales in the process-as they search for a missing Roman coin commemorating an infamous orgy by the Emperor Tiberius and close in on their prey: "the young man with spectacles". The White People is a fantasy-horror book. A discussion between two men on the nature of evil leads one of them to reveal a mysterious Green Book he possesses. It is often described as one of the greatest of all horror stories. Arthur Machen (1863-1947) was a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. Table of Contents: The Three Impostors The Terror The Secret Glory A Fragment of Life The White People The Great God Pan The Inmost Light The Shining Pyramid The Red Hand The Great Return