Arthur Machen. What can we say about Arthur Machen? He was born about a decade and a half after Edgar Allen Poe, and thus largely benefited from the success of his predecessor by making great use of the short story format popularized by Poe. He preceded H. P. Lovecraft by almost three decades, and thus helped propel Lovecraft’s work by simply writing stories of mystery and horror. Some argue that while Lovecraft was heavily influenced by Poe in his early work—something recognized by Lovecraft himself—the Cthulhu mythos has Machen to thank for its existence.1 While Machen was no pioneer in the vein of cosmic horror, his stories lean precipitously over the chasm; you can almost feel the cosmos writhing beneath his words.
What follows is a simple tale, told simply, of one’s demise in a straightforward and simple manner. And yet, the connotations of one man’s experience of the demise of another lingers long after the tale is complete. Perhaps, this too, is part of the tale.
Due to the story’s concision, the level of horror, and the general lack of superfluous detail, we here at the Calamity score this 🤡🤡 on The Calamity Content Rating System. If you are new to the way we score things here at the Calamity, please direct your attention to that page for more information.
