The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen

3.17/5.00

Published: 1890
Genre: Horror

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I read this book through Project Gutenberg. For those unfamiliar with Project Gutenberg, it publishes books online. Anyone with internet access can download and read the works as eBooks for free. And yes, it is legal. Once the copyright has expired on a book, it becomes public domain. Copyright laws can be a special breed of beasts, but if the book is available on Project Gutenberg, you can rest assured someone else checked the legality first. It is a free and easy way to read.

“You may think this all strange nonsense; it may be strange, but it is true, and the ancients knew what lifting the veil means. They called it seeing the god Pan.”

As we know, the best horror stories follow preset human fears, resurrecting what already lies here, not really creating anything. Any venture into the unknown breeds potential pathways. How many horror story relies on that dark unknown? The Mysterious Forest or that Stranger. How many horror stories relate scientific progress to a disturbing extreme? The Great God Pan tells a tale of mystery.

“I think her life is mine, to use as I see fit.”

Like Frankenstein, the actual horror is left out of the story for the most part. Instead, we read of people talking about it, the effects caused, and a general sense of fear. Whether you find this to be a genius horror trick or a cheap trick depends on taste. It doesn’t rely on gore, jump scares, and twists for the sake of twists. This book is subtler than that. Instead, it preys on our innate fear of the disturbing unknown.

The story is hailed as a great horror story. Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft, and S.T. Joshi among many others have spoken highly of Arthur Machen. Even if I did not find this book particularly exceptional, its fame should be noted.

“And I forgot, as I have just said, that when the house of life is thus thrown open, there may enter in that for which we have no name, and human flesh may become the veil of a horror one dare not express.”

The Great God Pan is short. Through Project Gutenberg, it’s free. It was a fun read. I would recommend it to anyone interested in horror fiction.

Arthur Machen was a Welsh author of the early 20^th century. Though arguably best known for The Great God Pan, he also penned several essays and short stories.