SOURCE: Arthur Machen: A Short Account of His Life and Work, John Baker, 1963, 202 p.

In the following excerpt, Reynolds and Charlton discuss thematic and stylistic aspects of Machen's short stories, maintaining that his fiction is "something not particularly profound, not even, at times, very skilfully executed, but of an imaginative sophistication which could be pressed no further."

[A distinctive style and manner] make their appearance in the story that first brought [Machen] into the public eye. This was called "The Great God Pan" and it is certainly true that the scenes set in the author's native land are far the most convincing. It was not on this account, however, that its publication caused a mild sensation. In the story a doctor performs an operation on the brain of a woman which causes her to awake a complete idiot. Shortly afterwards she dies, but before she dies she gives...