Arthur Machen Collected Works: 23 Tales of Horror & Other Fiction Short Stories
One of the great authors of the early 20th century, Arthur Machen, was a master at writing horror stories, fantasy and supernatural fiction. Arthur Machen was Welsh and was born in Caerleon, Monmouthshire in 1863 as Arthur Llewelyn Jones. Machen had a passion for writing from a very early age and his literary talents showed great promise. He married Amy Hogg, a music teacher in 1887 and soon after began to devote much more time to his writing. In 1890 his stories began to be published in literary magazines with his first major success following closely behind with the publication of The Great God Pan in 1894. This story is considered to be a horror classic. One of the masters of horror, Stephen King, referred to it as possibly the best horror story in the English language. After the death of his wife Amy, Machen turned to acting in 1901 although he also continued with his true passion, writing. He remarried in 1903 and had two children. He had a long and full literary career with many of his works published throughout the years. Arthur Machen died in 1947 and was well known for his insatiable enthusiasm for literature. He is highly regarded as one of the first authors of authentically modern horror fiction.