The White People and Other Weird Stories (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Contrary to the fact that the beautiful cover illustration appears to be a depiction of Pan, and in spite of the fact that both Guillermo Del Toro and S.T. Joshi discuss the story in their respective foreword and introduction, Arthur Machen's most acclaimed story, "The Great God Pan," is not included in this otherwise seminal collection.

Not that I'm complaining, mind you - just giving a heads up to those who might be thinking of purchasing this collection on the assumption that the story is included. Amazon never provided their helpful LOOK INSIDE! option during the many months prior to WHITE PEOPLE's release, and there is still no "Table of Contents" option, which is unusual in my experience. Yes, you can easily scroll down and find the book's table of contents if you really want to, but I imagine there are many prospective buyers who will reasonably presume that the story is included based on both the misleading cover art and the fact that it is the author's most famous work.

Anyways, the truth is that because "Pan" is the most frequently reprinted of all Machen's work, it's a fairly safe assumption that most readers interested in THE WHITE PEOPLE AND OTHER WEIRD STORIES are already familiar with it. So I understand at least one reason why the editor might have chosen not to include it, although I suspect the real reason has more to do with Joshi's comment in the introduction that "The White People" is an "infinitely better" story than "Pan." "Infinitely better"? Seriously? Sorry, but you must be (clears throat) joshing. While I happen to agree that "White People" is the more impressive and unsettling story - it is in fact my favorite of the author's works - I also recognize "Pan" as being an utterly fantastic and essential Machen tale.

So. Anyone who enjoys this collection and wishes to track down a copy of "Pan" is encouraged to take a look at the classic Horror anthology, GREAT TALES OF TERROR AND THE SUPERNATURAL, edited by Wagner and Wise. This super-sized volume serves up a feast of early Horror tales (including "Pan," of course) featuring essential authors like Poe, Lovecraft, Algernon Blackwood, Ambrose Bierce, Rudyard Kipling, M.R. James, Oliver Onions, and many others.

But getting back to the book I'm supposedly reviewing, WHITE PEOPLE is among the most thoughtfully selected and copiously annotated Arthur Machen book you're likely to find. For those who aren't yet experienced, Machen was a highly original and sometimes challenging writer with an exceptional knack for depicting uncanny forces that are beyond the capacity of any sane person to fully grasp. And yet as bizarre and grotesque as some of his concepts are, they have the distinct quality of feeling upsettingly believable. Quite a feat for any writer, especially one of such "weird" stories.

His great recurring motif was the disturbing "Little People" mythology, in which an ancient offshoot of humanity continues to exist in malignant secrecy. Interestingly enough, I read an article just a few years back in which a collection of largely intact fossil samples of just such a clan were discovered in a cave (I forget where, unfortunately). And these Hobbit-sized men and women were apparently of extremely high intellect, especially considering how long ago they existed. See what I mean by his ideas being believable?

So in closing, I recommend this great and revelatory book without reservation to any reader of "weird stories" and more sophisticated Horror Fiction. Machen was a true master of darkly imaginative fiction, and his finest stories - most of which are compiled here - are sure to rock any reader with enough intelligence, imagination, and courage to go for the ride.

Enjoy.

I attended last night's Penguin Classics signing by S. T. Joshi, and although they had gobs and gobs of the newly-published Deluxe Edition of THE CALL OF CTHULHU AND OTHER WEIRD STORIES, they had but ONE copy of the Machen. I had already ordered it here at Amazon, and thus I was happy to see some other fellow who really wanted it and bought that copy.

S. T. said that Penguin were initially hesitant to publish the book, but they finally told him that if he could get Guillermo del Toro to write a Foreword, they'd publish it. It looks like they commissioned a new cover illustration of Pan, and that's odd since "The Great God Pan" does not appear in the book. The Contents are:

"The Ecstasy of St. Arthur," Foreword by Guillermo del Toro
Introduction by S. T. Joshi
Suggestions for Further Reading
A Note on the Texts
The Inmost Light
Novel of the Black Seal
Novel of the White Powder
The Red Hand
The White People
A Fragment of Life
The Bowman
The Soldier's Rest
The Great Return
Out of the Earth
The Terror
Explanatory Notes

Some people don't like Notes and Annotations. I love them and find that they enhance my enjoyment of an author. S. T. is so well read in the weird fiction field that he has a vast knowledge of things therein, and so his Notes are always illuminating. He begins each note with the writing/publication history of the tale, and the Notes then pertain to foreign words, historical aspects and the like.

This is a good solid selection of Machen's amazing weird fiction. The strangeness that these tales evoke, the threat of lingering aspects of the past, the trespassing into arcane realms, is in a class all its own. Machen had a magnificent and unique imagination, and he wrote in a plain yet literary style that flows easily. I highly recommend this book to all who enjoy excellent weird fiction.

"Of living creators of cosmic fear raised to its most artistic pitch, few if any can hope to equal the versatile Arthur Machen, author of some dozen tales long and short, in which the elements of hidden horror and brooding fright attain an almost incomparable substance and realistic acuteness."
--H. P. Lovecraft