Customer Reviews

The Terror and Other Stories: Vol. 3 of The Best Weird Tales of Arthur Machen (Call of Cthulhu Fiction)

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Arthur Machen is, of course, one of the preminent weird fiction writers of the early 20th century. Working at the same time as the Decadents, but most decidedly not one of them, his works would influence such writers as Lovecraft and his circle, as well as modern masters like Peter Straub.

The Terror is Chaosium's third volume of Arthur Machen's work, and as can be expected the best stories can be found in the previous two volumes. Editor S.T. Joshi admits as much in his introduction, but The Terror is still a worthy read.

"The Terror" is the same story featured in The White People, however this is the compete version, and the additions are most welcome. Most of the other stories do not reach such heights of sustained suspense as this story, the largest of the collection. "The Lost Club" deals with two men stumbling on a gentlemen's club that may be far more ominous than they first believe. "Munitions of War" is tale of ghosts and war. "The Islington Mystery" asks if a man can be a murderer if there's no body. "Johnny Double" concerns a boy who cannot possibly be in two places at once... but is. "The Cosy Room" also deals with a murder, but is it his guilt or the chase that drives him over the edge? "Opening the Door" deals with a man who literally disappears through a mysterious door in his garden. "The Children of The Pool" deals with a malignant genius loci that gives literal birth to the monstrous beings lurking within unwary visitors. "The Bright Boy" is an implausible story concerning a little boy who is not what he seems. In "Out Of The Picture," the subject of an artist's paintings menaces London. "Change" harkens back to Machen's early work concering the Little People; while on vacation in a sleepy Welsh town a family finds out just why the locals keep their lights on at night. "The Dover Road" deals with the mystery of a man who disappears within a haunted house... "Ritual," the final story, continues Machen's fascinations with children and pagan remnants of the dim past.

On the whole, these stories do not match Machen's earlier works... but at times the chills are just as sharp as they used to be... witness the first half of "The Dover Road," "Change" and "The Terror." If you like Arthur Machen's work you are well advised to read this book. If you're merely a fan of Lovecraft's predecessors or of Victorian/Edwardian fiction in general, try the previous Chaosium Machen collections first.

When I first read THE TERROR & OTHER TALES, I was under the impression from ST Joshi's introduction that he thought Arthur Machen's remaining works (the ones printed in this volume) were of poor quality. I spent the rest of the book determined to prove him wrong. Although I like Joshi as an editor (much better than Robert Price and his higher-criticism hangups), I think that academics sometimes become too focused on purity of form and lose sight of otherwise good writing. I personally like all of Arthur Machen's writing, both the cosmic horror and the everyday gone wrong. I was pleased to see, however, than when I reread the introduction I found that Joshi now agreed with me :)

Chaosium has previously produced 2 novels of Arthur Machen's fiction: THE THREE IMPOSTERS AND OTHER STORIES (which primarily contains "The Great God Pan" and the title story "The Three Imposters", which is actually a series of short stories) and THE WHITE PEOPLE AND OTHER STORIES (which contains "The White People" which heavily influenced HPL, "Ornaments in Jade", and "A Fragment of Life"). THE TERROR is the third (and presumably last) of the Arthur Machen line; I would call it a grab bag of anything remaining of Machen's work that is fit to print.

Machen's story "The Terror" is the title piece for this collection, and oddly it was the story I liked the least. It's about the animal kingdom turning on humanity during WW I, but the government is doing a coverup. Frankly it is somewhat slow and dry, and Machen seemed to be making a point rather than telling a story. Interestingly, at the end of "The Terror", the investigators find a farmhouse where some people took refuge from the "Terror" and read their diary - I was struck by the similarity to zombie movies (!) of all things, and I now wonder if George Romero had this story in mind when scripting "Night of the Living Dead"? Stranger things have happened...

The rest of the collected stories seem to me to be quieter, more prosaic stories where something has gone weird and it may be beyond the power of anyone to fix. Sometimes Machen will insert himself into the story as an ordinary journalist, a man interested in the story but with little power to affect the outcome. In style and substance, the remainder reminds me of MR James, which is high praise indeed.

Some of the better stories here are "The Lost Club" (which is distinctly eerie in finding the secret group of wealthy and famous, where at each gathering one member disappears), "The Dover Road" (which is sort of a ghost story but involves something more like spiritualism), and "Change" (where the children encounter something like "the White People" of Machen's earlier work). Some, like "The Islington Mystery", "Out of the Picture", and "The Bright Boy" are about criminals and their misdeeds, but there is some supernatural element that twists the whole thing into some horrible aspect. I can defintiely see hints and phrases that HPL would pick up on and use in some of his work; also, the two were writing at the same time towards the end of Machen's life, so perhaps there was a common style of the times for them to use.

I can highly recommend this anthology as being worth collecting.

If you enjoy mysterious tales that stimulate your imagination and respect your intelligence, you will enjoy these. They have kept me company on many a dark and stormy night. Vol. 1-3 all recommended.