The title to choose
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What makes this stand out among other Arthur Machen collections is that it's not a collection but an original work, entwining three stories together and it is, also, precisely the incidents that hold the stories together that are particularly evocative of undefineable horror. H.P. Lovecraft used "The Novel of the Black Seal" (The Whisperer in Darkness) and, especially, "The Novel of the White Powder" (The Thing on the Doorstep), as basic inspiration. The reaction to coming horror by the protagonists of Machen is, however, neither a frenzy of screaming nor seeking admittance, mercifully, to madness' ebony gates of oblivion, for they await their Doom with awful foreknowledge.
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Exquiste Victorian Esoterica
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This is one of the finest novels by Arthur Machen, in my opinion more subtle & engrossing than "The Great God Pan" but in many ways just as unsettling. This is a fascinating selection of inter-weaving tales set in a wonderfull turn of the century Victorian London. All thoughout the book (as indeed through all Machen's work) there is the hinted at knowledge that beneath the everyday surface of life there is a dark undertow, a kind of pagan force, by turns evil & magnificent. I absolutely adored this, truelly something to soak up & immerse yourself in. Although known as a "horror" writer, if your looking for a gore or out & out ghosty story look elsewhere, this is far more elusive (although it has to be said, the section entitled "novel of the white powder" is pretty full on). If you are a connosieur of the darker things literature has to offer & enjoy things esoteric then you should definately check out Machen.
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