Sign up
Search
Advanced search settings

Search only in certain items:

Search results
All (1582)
Content
People
Apps
Books
Orbs
Movies
Music
Podcasts
Shows
Tabletop Games
Tech
TV
Video Games
YouTube Channels
Videos
40x40

Awix (3310 KP) rated The Great God Pan in Books

Aug 21, 2019  
The Great God Pan
The Great God Pan
Arthur Machen | 1894 | Fiction & Poetry, Horror, Science Fiction/Fantasy
7
5.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Classic of late Victorian horror-fantasy. A misguided scientist performs a surgical procedure on a young woman's brain which leads to her madness and death; but over the years that follow it becomes clear that he is also responsible for unleashing something much, much more disturbing.

It's slightly amusing to consider that this novella was criticised on first release for its decadence and sexual content - by modern standards it is, on the surface at least, very tame. But that's the nature of the beast in this case - this is a horror story where all the disturbing scenes happen off-stage, which is where the monster stays as well. Everything happens through implication, and is left somewhat to the reader's imagination, a trick which Machen pulls off rather more deftly than some writers who hailed him as an influence. I must be honest and say that the lack of a big reveal and a genuine climax wrong-footed me a bit, but the story is on the whole ingeniously structured and well-written, atmospheric and unsettling.