Invisible and Redoubtable Beings

October 31, 2007 12:26 PM

"The Great God Pan," by Arthur Machen. "The Beckoning Fair One," by Oliver Onions. "Green Tea," by J. Sheridan LeFanu. "The Boarded Window," by Ambrose Bierce. "The Horla," by Guy de Maupassant.
posted by Iridic (15 comments total)

I love Arthur Machen, but I don't get why we have hypertext links for words like "am" and "condition." Are we trying to teach foreigners to speak English from Decadent and Fantastic writers? Because that's a great idea, to spawn an immigrant underclass who all talk like Count Stenbock.
posted by Sticherbeast at 12:34 PM on October 31, 2007

Defective Yeti posted a good list of links to short horror stories yesterday.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 12:43 PM on October 31, 2007

Ooh, nice. Thank you.
posted by Artw at 1:03 PM on October 31, 2007

Because that's a great idea, to spawn an immigrant underclass who all talk like Count Stenbock.

More people talking like they're from the 19th century is fine by me.
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:05 PM on October 31, 2007

The complete works of H.P. Lovecraft.

For those concerned about copyright, I ask that you click hereabouts.
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:15 PM on October 31, 2007 [1 favorite]

Is this the same Oliver Onions as the Bud Spencer & Terence Hill movie soundtrack Oliver Onions?
posted by bokeh at 1:16 PM on October 31, 2007

Let me also suggest Algernon Blackwood's classic The Willows.
posted by Kat Allison at 1:21 PM on October 31, 2007

Ask Mefi on Lovecraftian copyright
posted by Artw at 1:23 PM on October 31, 2007

I've always been a fan of M. R. James.
posted by batgrlHG at 2:44 PM on October 31, 2007

*shrieks with joy*

Thank you for this!

I love fin de siecle pulp fiction.
posted by jokeefe at 3:58 PM on October 31, 2007

I really enjoy Ambrose Bierce. Thanks for the post.
posted by nola at 6:39 PM on October 31, 2007

I really liked "The Great God Pan." There's something about the tone of 19th century horror that really appeals to me.
posted by MythMaker at 7:24 PM on October 31, 2007

MythMaker -- You'd enjoy the novel "Photographing Fairies." It captures the Arthur Machen voice perfectly.
posted by Faze at 8:37 PM on October 31, 2007

BODY-SNATCHER, n. A robber of grave-worms. One who supplies the young physicians with that with which the old physicians have supplied the undertaker. The hyena.

"One night," a doctor said, "last fall,
I and my comrades, four in all,
When visiting a graveyard stood
Within the shadow of a wall.

"While waiting for the moon to sink
We saw a wild hyena slink
About a new-made grave, and then
Begin to excavate its brink!

"Shocked by the horrid act, we made
A sally from our ambuscade,
And, falling on the unholy beast,
Dispatched him with a pick and spade."
Bettel K. Jhones

(Ambrose Bierce)
posted by hortense at 9:09 PM on October 31, 2007

Thanks, Faze! I'll take a look!
posted by MythMaker at 11:47 AM on November 1, 2007