Arthur Machen – författare

”Jag hade sneglat upp mot fönstret till min brors arbetsrum, och i det ögonblicket var persiennen dragen åt sidan, och någonting som var vid liv stirrade ut över omvärlden. Nej, jag kan inte avgöra om jag såg ett ansikte eller något av mänsklig skepnad; en levande sak, två ögon av brinnande eld stirrade mot mig, och de var mitt i något lika formlöst som min fruktan, symbolen och närvaron av all ondska och all vedervärdig förruttnelse.” Mr Dyson och mr Phillipps råkar av en slump bli delaktiga i en vild jakt på ett romerskt guldmynt, som mystiska män är beredda att gå över lik för att få tag i. Vilka är de personer som matar våra huvudpersoner med historier om ond bråd död? Vem är den unge mannen med glasögon? Unga fröken Lally tar tjänst hos professor Gregg, som studerar ett svagt sigill med sällsamma inskriptioner och dras in allt djupare i dess hemligheter – vem, eller vad, har skrivit de märkliga tecknen? Vad är det för ett pulver juridikstudenten Francis Leicester tar som förändrar hela hans jag? Skepnader antar nya former, transmuteras. Dyson och Phillipps försöker nysta upp härvan, och kommer allt närmare gåtans svar. Arthur Machen (1863-1947) är en av skräcklitteraturens viktigaste författare. Romanen "De tre bedragarna, eller Transmutationerna" (1895) är en rad sammanlänkade historier som tillsammans bildar en helhet som vittnar om den muntliga berättarkonstens kraft. Denna utgåva innehåller även Machens inledning till boken, hans egna reflektioner kring romanens tillkomst, samt ett fylligt efterord om människan Machen och den kontroversiella tidsanda boken publicerades i.

Something pushed out from the body there on the floor, and stretched forth a slimy, wavering tentacle...Perhaps no figure better embodies the transition from the Gothic tradition to modern horror than Arthur Machen. In the final decade of the nineteenth century, the Welsh writer produced a seminal body of tales of occult horror, spiritual and physical corruption, and malignant survivals from the primeval past which horrified and scandalised-late-Victorian readers. Machen's 'weird fiction' has influenced generations of storytellers, from H. P. Lovecraft to Guillermo Del Toro-and it remains no less unsettling today.This new collection, which includes the complete novel The Three Impostors as well as such celebrated tales as The Great God Pan and The White People, constitutes the most comprehensive critical edition of Machen yet to appear. In addition to the core late-Victorian horror classics, a selection of lesser-known prose poems and later tales helps to present a fuller picture of the development of Machen's weird vision. The edition's introduction and notes contextualise the life and work of this foundational figure in the history of horror.

Mullret från första världskriget hörs i fjärran, men livet på Wales landsbygd lunkar vidare tämligen ostört. Det som börjar oroa folket är snarare en lång rad gåtfulla mord och dödsfall. En hel familj hittas massakrerad. Något skrämmer upp en flock hästar till skenande panik och trampar ihjäl ett kompani av soldater. Barn och vuxna försvinner. Gömmer sig sinnessjuka mördare ute i myrmarkerna? Eller är det tyska sabotörer som skapar terrorstämning inom det brittiska örikets gränser? Gåtorna visar sig ha en helt annan lösning. Det är något betydligt mer skrämmande -- ett hot mot mänsklighetens överlevnad.

Arthur Machen (1863-1947) var en framstående brittisk författare i kretsen kring Oscar Wilde. Idag är han ihågkommen som en av skräcklitteraturens klassiker. Både H.P. Lovecraft och Stephen King har räknat honom bland de främsta. En stilistisk mästare och expert på ockulta läror och myter, som lade grunden för den moderna skräckgenren.

Machen's weird tales of the creepy and fantastic finally come to Penguin Classics. With an introduction from S.T. Joshi, editor of American Supernatural Tales, The White People and Other Weird Stories is the perfect introduction to the father of weird fiction. The title story "The White People" is an exercise in the bizarre leaving the reader disoriented and on edge. From the first page, Machen turns even fundamental truths upside-down, as his character Ambrose explains, "there have been those who have sounded the very depths of sin, who all their lives have never done an 'ill deed'" setting the stage for a tale entirely without logic.

Vi satt kring sjuklingens bädd och såg den ohyggliga, pipande varelsen växa fram ur hans kropp, tills två vidriga, spindelbenssmala armar frigjorde sig. De diminutiva naglarna var perfekta, man kunde till och med urskilja de små halvmånarna vid nagelrötterna. Armarna gestikulerade och den högra handen famlade efter den döendes blonda skägg. -- Nej, jag står inte ut! skrek min vän och tog upp rakkniven... Från mörkrets mästare, en gedigen samling skräckhistorier som sällan eller aldrig bokpublicerats på svenska tidigare. Drypande djungelmysterier samsas med hemsökta herresäten, svinmonster från andra dimensioner och styggelser i urtida hålor under Gizas pyramider. Här finns också en bitterljuv spökhistoria om en blind kvinna, som i sin ensamhet fyller hemmet med spökande barn. Och därtill en essä där en av mästarna skildrar sina allt för livliga mardrömmar. Tretton skräckklassiker för finsmakaren, skrivna av H.P. Lovecraft, Gustav Meyrink, Rudyard Kipling med flera.

Arthur Machens Drömmarnas berg har kallats såväl den vackraste som den mest dekadenta bok som har skrivits på det engelska språket. Det här är berättelsen om den unge Lucian Taylor som hemsöks av underliga drömmar och visioner efter att ha vistats i en gammal romersk borgruin. Verklighetens till synes solida sömmar börjar snart att spricka och Lucian försvinner in i fantasins värld. Lovecraft korade Machen till en av de främsta skräckförfattarna genom tiderna; Arthur Conan Doyle ansåg honom vara ett geni, och Stephen King, Clive Barker, H.G. Wells, Jorge Luis Borges och Arthur Miller har alla intygat Machens betydelse för sina författarskap. Detta är den första svenska utgåvan av The Hill of Dreams, och den innehåller även Machens prosapoetiska tablåer Ornament i jade samt en opublicerad inledning av författaren, samt kommentarer, efterord och förord av översättaren Arthur Isfelt.

Jägardockan och harpspelaren stirrade med tomma ögon och fäktade runt med sina små händer. En hemsk, knarrande stämma: "Dumma stackare, enfaldiga varelser! Föraktade oss -- nu kan ni sitta där utan leksaker!" Förskräckta rusade barnen därifrån under regnet som strömmade ner, åskknallarna och stormen. Men knappt hade de kommit till den stora dammen, förrän flickans docka reste sig ur vassen och kväkte med förfärlig stämma: ?Dumma stackare, enfaldiga varelser -- nu kan ni sitta där utan leksaker! Vänta bara, vi är magister Tintes lydiga tjänare!? Felix stod inte ut med de förfärliga spökerierna, och arma Christlieb var halvdöd. Då summade och brusade det bakom dem. "Magister Tinte kommer!" skrek Felix Nio fantasifulla, mörka och bitterljuva noveller från gränslandet mellan konstsaga och fantasy. "Som helhet är Främmande folk och förtrollade skogar en njutbart fascinerande läsning som dessutom presenterar och ger utrymme åt den litteratur som genremässigt varken är saga, fantasy eller skräckberättelse utan befinner sig någonstans däremellan." -- Albin Eklund Djurberg i BTJ:s häfte 14106278.

Something pushed out from the body there on the floor, and stretched forth a slimy, wavering tentacle...Perhaps no figure better embodies the transition from the Gothic tradition to modern horror than Arthur Machen. In the final decade of the nineteenth century, the Welsh writer produced a seminal body of tales of occult horror, spiritual and physical corruption, and malignant survivals from the primeval past which horrified and scandalised-late-Victorian readers. Machen's 'weird fiction' has influenced generations of storytellers, from H. P. Lovecraft to Guillermo Del Toro-and it remains no less unsettling today.This new collection, which includes the complete novel The Three Impostors as well as such celebrated tales as The Great God Pan and The White People, constitutes the most comprehensive critical edition of Machen yet to appear. In addition to the core late-Victorian horror classics, a selection of lesser-known prose poems and later tales helps to present a fuller picture of the development of Machen's weird vision. The edition's introduction and notes contextualise the life and work of this foundational figure in the history of horror.

Selected and introduced by Stephen Carver'Of living creators of cosmic fear raised to its most artistic pitch, few if any can hope to equal the versatile Arthur Machen.’ – H.P. Lovecraft.There upon the floor was a dark and putrid mass, seething with corruption and hideous rottenness, neither liquid nor solid, but melting and changing before our eyes, and bubbling with unctuous oily bubbles like boiling pitch. And out of the midst of it shone two burning points like eyes…A mysterious beauty leaves a trail of suicides in her wake; an innocent child is indoctrinated into witchcraft and depravity; the bowmen of Agincourt come to the aid of the British Expeditionary Force; animals inexplicably start killing people; and a fragment of Paradise randomly manifests in a London suburb… Welcome to the weird world of Arthur Machen, a writer that H.P. Lovecraft hailed as a ‘Master of Horror.’ Machen fervently believed in a mystical and eternal reality hidden beyond the veil of ordinary existence, that could be glimpsed by those who knew how to look. Sometimes the revelation would be beautiful, sometimes terrible. Using the mediums of horror and weird fantasy, Machen set out to unlock these visions of ‘Sorcery and sanctity.’This collection comprises the majority of Machen’s short horror fiction, including his Decadent masterpiece The Great God Pan, his tales of the malevolent ‘Little People’ still living beneath the mountains and valleys of his native Wales, and the chilling novella The Terror.Full contents:Strange Story of a Red Jar The AutophoneA Double ReturnThe Lost ClubThe Great God PanThe Inmost LightThe Shining PyramidNovel of the Black SealNovel of the Iron MaidNovel of the White PowderThe Red Hand The White PeopleThe BowmenThe Soldiers’ Rest The Monstrance The Great Return Out of the Earth The Terror The Happy Children Ornaments in Jade: -The Rose Garden -The Turanians -The Idealist -Witchcraft -The Ceremony -Psychology -Torture -Midsummer -Nature -The Holy Things Opening the Door The Bright Boy The Children of the Pool The Exalted Omega Out of the Picture Change The Cosy Room N The Dover Road Ritual Appendix: Introduction to The Bowmen

Something pushed out from the body there on the floor, and stretched forth a slimy, wavering tentacle...Perhaps no figure better embodies the transition from the Gothic tradition to modern horror than Arthur Machen. In the final decade of the nineteenth century, the Welsh writer produced a seminal body of tales of occult horror, spiritual and physical corruption, and malignant survivals from the primeval past which horrified and scandalised-late-Victorian readers. Machen''s ''weird fiction'' has influenced generations of storytellers, from H. P. Lovecraft to Guillermo Del Toro-and it remains no less unsettling today.This new collection, which includes the complete novel The Three Impostors as well as such celebrated tales as The Great God Pan and The White People, constitutes the most comprehensive critical edition of Machen yet to appear. In addition to the core late-Victorian horror classics, a selection of lesser-known prose poems and later tales helps to present a fuller picture of the development of Machen''s weird vision. The edition''s introduction and notes contextualise the life and work of this foundational figure in the history of horror.

Something pushed out from the body there on the floor, and stretched forth a slimy, wavering tentacle...Perhaps no figure better embodies the transition from the Gothic tradition to modern horror than Arthur Machen. In the final decade of the nineteenth century, the Welsh writer produced a seminal body of tales of occult horror, spiritual and physical corruption, and malignant survivals from the primeval past which horrified and scandalised-late-Victorian readers. Machen''s ''weird fiction'' has influenced generations of storytellers, from H. P. Lovecraft to Guillermo Del Toro-and it remains no less unsettling today.This new collection, which includes the complete novel The Three Impostors as well as such celebrated tales as The Great God Pan and The White People, constitutes the most comprehensive critical edition of Machen yet to appear. In addition to the core late-Victorian horror classics, a selection of lesser-known prose poems and later tales helps to present a fuller picture of the development of Machen''s weird vision. The edition''s introduction and notes contextualise the life and work of this foundational figure in the history of horror.

Machen's weird tales of the creepy and fantastic finally come to Penguin Classics. With an introduction from S.T. Joshi, editor of American Supernatural Tales, The White People and Other Weird Stories is the perfect introduction to the father of weird fiction. The title story "The White People" is an exercise in the bizarre leaving the reader disoriented and on edge. From the first page, Machen turns even fundamental truths upside-down, as his character Ambrose explains, "there have been those who have sounded the very depths of sin, who all their lives have never done an 'ill deed'" setting the stage for a tale entirely without logic.

'I will not read it; I should never sleep again' A doctor performs an experiment on a young woman that goes horribly wrong, and a series of increasingly strange events follow: sinister woodland rituals, disappearances, suicides... Viewed as immoral and decadent on first publication in 1894, Machen's weird tale has since established itself as a classic of its genre and has been described by Stephen King as 'one of the best horror stories ever written. Maybe the best in the English language'. The Penguin English Library - collectable general readers' editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century to the end of the Second World War.

'I will not read it; I should never sleep again' A doctor performs an experiment on a young woman that goes horribly wrong, and a series of increasingly strange events follow: sinister woodland rituals, disappearances, suicides... Viewed as immoral and decadent on first publication in 1894, Machen's weird tale has since established itself as a classic of its genre and has been described by Stephen King as 'one of the best horror stories ever written. Maybe the best in the English language'. The Penguin English Library - collectable general readers' editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century to the end of the Second World War.

"Of creators of cosmic fear raised to its most artistic pitch, few can hope to equal Arthur Machen." - H. P. LovecraftArthur Machen (1863–1947), Welsh novelist and essayist, is considered one of the most important and influential writers of his time. While displaying a preoccupation with pagan themes and matters of the occult - an interest he shared with his close friend, the distinguished scholar A. E. Waite - his writing transcends the genre of supernatural horror. Oscar Wilde, W. B. Yeats, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as Paul Bowles and Jorge Luis Borges are just a few of the literary notables who are counted among his admirers. Machen is also a key figure in the development of pulp magazine fiction (e.g, Weird Tales), a line of ancestry that leads directly to today's popular graphic novels. Further, Machen's name often crops up in the writings of theorists and practitioners of psychogeography, a school of thought and literature which explores the hidden links between the landscape and the mind. In The Great God Pan, Arthur Machen delivers a tense atmospheric story about a string of mysterious suicides. With its suggestive visions of decadent sexuality, the work scandalized Victorian London. His short stories are considered some of the first works of horror and have inspired generations of subsequent writers and creators.

The stars gave light enough for me to discern the figure as that of a man, but I could scarcely discover more. “Dark night, this,” I said. “Darker below,” he muttered, as though to himself; “darker, darker, darker.”Yorkshire: a land entwined with a distinctive tradition of uncanny literature and folklore, home to twilit towns thronging with restless ghosts, woods alive with the whispers of fairies and vast moorlands stalked by boggarts and barghests after dark.Exploring Yorkshire’s position as a heartland of British supernatural fiction, the stories and poems gathered here trace its weird literary heritage from medieval tales of shapeshifting spirits to the Gothic worlds of the Brontë sisters, and from wartime hauntings to modern folk horror. Including local legends from rare sources and unsettling stories from Arthur Machen, Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes, Andrew Michael Hurley and many more, this collection offers glimpses of a stranger England hidden among the shadows of the dales.

From the peaks of Eryri to dramatic coastlines, misty valleys and haunted mines, Wales is a land whose myth and folklore has long been reflected in a thriving storytelling tradition, with the dragons and sorcerers of the Mabinogion and Arthurian legend laying a path for later tales of the Tylwyth Teg, and the pitiless fair folk of Arthur Machen's fictional world.To show the breadth of the strange tales inspired by the Celtic history and local legends of Cymru, horror expert Aaron Worth presents an exciting new selection of Anglophone Welsh fiction, including folkloric retellings, classics of the early twentieth-century weird and chilling pieces by writers from beyond the country's borders. Featuring stories by Dylan Thomas, Christianna Brand, Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen, Margiad Evans and many more, this collection welcomes you to the darker side of Cymru.