The White People and Other Weird Stories

Arthur Machen (1863-1947) was born in Monmouthshire in Wales, a region whose associations with Celtic, Roman and medieval history would make a strong impression on him. Too poor to attend university, he moved to London in 1881 and worked as a journalist, tutor and publisher's clerk, finding time to write at night. The Great God Pan was published in 1894, and despite widespread criticism for its decadent style and sexual content, was Machen's first popular success. In later life, he became an actor and pursued his interests in Celtic Christianity and the legend of the Grail while continuing to write fiction and journalism.

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.

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