Public reader discussion about The Great God Pan in the WeRead Catalog by Arthur Machen.
By PlainLetter
Hey everyone! I got into this story and author because I saw a quote from Stephen King saying it might be the scariest story ever written in English. So I’m curious to see if that’s actually true… hopefully we can figure it out together. :-) I really hope you enjoy it—thanks for listening!
By PhotonCastle5272
Why do authors keep using this character for their supernatural stuff? Like in *The Blessing of Pan* (Lord Dunsany), *The Great God Pan* (Arthur Machen), or *Pan’s Garden* (Algernon Blackwood)… Wouldn’t it make more sense to use something like “Cernunnos” or “Leshy” instead?
By winter-bard94
That book is supposed to be the one that inspired Stephen King’s “N.” It’s about this guy, just called “N.”, who has OCD and is convinced his compulsions are keeping some horrible monster from getting into our world. Since there are monsters from another dimension, it’s pretty hard not to think of Lovecraft. But King basically pushed back on the whole “it’s Lovecraft” thing—he said it’s more like a take on Arthur Machen’s “The Great God Pan,” and that it’s one of the best horror stories ever. I don’t think his version is anywhere near that level, but it sounds like he really enjoyed mixing the neurotic, obsessive-compulsive stuff with a big monster-filled universe.
By bronzepanda
I don’t think I’ve ever actually read any horror, but this one really pulls me in and I’d love to try it. The thing is, I’m super scared of horror movies—especially the jump-scare stuff. I’m okay with psychological horror because it gets in your head and messes with you in a deeper way, and I can handle body horror too. But I’ve got trauma from watching horror movies with tons of brutal scenes (nuns/ghosts/monsters—whatever was going on), and it used to make me stare at my bed at night and not be able to sleep. So I’m wondering if a horror book would be different since it won’t have jumpscares. But then again… it could still get pretty graphic with scary descriptions. I’ve never tried horror books, so I’m honestly not sure how it’ll feel for me. I’m really intrigued, but I also want to be able to sleep. Should I go for it?
By Silent-Fox2002
That’s exactly how I feel—once I start, I can’t stop until I’m done. Honestly it doesn’t even matter what it is, I just want more. Any suggestions for books like this?
By CocoaPorch
This is seriously the scariest thing I’ve ever read. Any book recommendations that hit that same “reality isn’t what we think” vibe?
By sleepyMarket98
So yeah, “The Great God Pan” by Arthur Machen. Stephen King has basically called it the scariest thing in English, and… I get why. People keep saying it’s one of the best horror stories ever, and after reading it, I’m like, okay, maybe even the best. But here’s the weird part: from a “stuff happening” point of view, not a whole lot goes on. Still, you get this slow, horrible unease the whole time, like something bad is unfolding and you can’t quite stop it. And you’re not left totally clueless either—you see enough clues to know something is happening, but they’re so ugly you almost don’t even want to connect the dots. So what you end up with isn’t just “oh, scary monsters,” it’s this creeping terror about what it all implies. It doesn’t feel like the world is empty or man is alone—it feels like you’re never really alone, and something nasty is always there in the background. It’s also the only story that actually made my jaw drop from the twist. What I liked most is that it kind of makes you figure it out yourself, so you come to the same grim conclusions the characters do. By the end you’re left with this feeling that you can’t fully trust anything anymore—like anything could be possible. Definitely recommend it if you’re into horror.
By envelope-fox652
Che bella edizione, davvero!
By Jar
Arthur Machen’s stuff seems to have really helped shape horror fiction, and I think he influenced a bunch of writers, but it feels like most people today don’t rate his work as much as they should. He also feels like one of the early guys behind cosmic/“weird” horror—especially since Lovecraft later made that kind of thing super popular. Because Lovecraft is so well-known, it’s easy for people to assume he’s basically the father of cosmic horror, but I don’t think “Lovecraftian horror” should be treated as the same thing as cosmic horror. What do you all think? Edit: apparently this take is actually pretty common lol XD
By redPencil3
What horror books are the real must-reads for someone who’s into the genre?
By Ink_Muddy
Hi! This is my third time reading Machen—my other two were *The Bowmen* and *Out of the Earth*. Is there some kind of shared mythos or reading order I should know about with his stuff? Also, what should I try next? I really love Lovecraft, and for other weird lit I’ve liked Hodgson, Chambers, and Blackwood. I’d probably prefer something with a more science-y vibe since sci-fi is usually my go-to.
By lazyYarn66
I’m really into weird fiction, and lately I’ve been reading Reggie Oliver’s The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini, which has that Machen-ish story “Garden Gods” in it. That made me go pull my copy of Joshi’s edition of The Great God Pan (Arcane Wisdom). The cover art for Pan is… not great, but even setting that aside, I’m still kind of left flat. I feel like I should love Machen, but the whole thing struck me as kind of off—like the story is laid out in a weird way, and I just can’t get on with the actual writing style. My usual thing is more ghostly and strange (MR James, Robert Aickman) rather than mystical, so I’m curious: has anyone else struggled with Machen, or which story of his actually clicked for you?
By looks_scene
I’ve got an editor whose books I’ve liked a lot, so I’m trying to grab my next physical read from their list. I narrowed it down to three things: **Dracula** (Stoker), **Frankenstein** (Mary Shelley), or a Machen collection (including **“The Great God Pan”**). I haven’t read any of them yet, so I’m basically a beginner when it comes to horror. I’ve only really messed around with the big classics—mostly Poe and Lovecraft (I think I’ve read pretty much all of them). And I’ve also gone down that same lane with writers like R.W. Chambers, Clark Ashton Smith, and August Derleth, so I’m really trying to get closer to where all of that stuff started. Edit: I went with **Dracula** for now. I’m a sucker for a really gripping adventure vibe, and this one felt like it mixed that with more old-school horror. **Frankenstein** and **Pan** both sounded super interesting in totally different ways though, so I’ll circle back after I’m done with the vampire stuff. Second edit: I’m basically finished with **Dracula** and wow—now I get why everyone talks about it. I didn’t expect to love it this much. The characters, the mood, how it moves, and the writing all just worked for me. **Frankenstein** is next for sure. Third edit: Finished **Frankenstein** too, and I’m honestly not ready to move on. It might’ve been one of the best reads of my life. I liked it just as much as **Dracula**, even though it’s a different kind of experience. The whole double tragedy with Victor and his creature hit me harder than I thought it would. I really don’t know why I didn’t decide to read more of these classics sooner, but the more I do, the more I’m glad I finally started. A **“The Great God Pan”** situation is waiting in the wings now, and I’m getting to it next.
By mercy_panther70
I figured I’d already seen people talk about this somewhere, but when I tried searching, nothing came up. Anyway, I’d still say everyone should read the novella, and the Wiki page has some pretty interesting notes too (not sure how much of it is actually accurate, though): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_God_Pan
By draftWhispers
I just wrapped up The Great God Pan and The Shining Pyramid, and I really enjoyed both. Any other gothic horror books that lean into ancient or mystical stuff that you’d recommend?
By MikeReads
Machen feels super underrated to me as a writer.
By Garden
I don’t really know why, but I’ve always been drawn to occult fiction. A few favorites: - *Satan Wants Me* by Robert Irwin — kind of a fuzzy, hallucinatory noir vibe set in Southern California, and the whole thing feels like it’s constantly sliding from delusion into something that might actually be real. - *De re dordica* by J.B. Jackson — librarians, banned books, random occult creeps, witches, and even imps, all in 1977 Texas. It’s weird in a very specific way. - *The Great God Pan* by Arthur Machen — an older horror classic where “serious” forbidden science pokes at something it shouldn’t. The evil feels quiet and unsettling, like it just worms into people’s heads and lives, way past when it starts.
By Juniper_Footnote2607
If you haven’t heard of him, he’s one of those gothic horror guys. The stories are really good and pretty creepy. I’m also a Lovecraft fan, so if you’re looking for something new to scratch that itch, maybe try stuff like “The Great God Pan” or “The White People.”
By heatherkey1989
I was kind of seeing parallels between Annie K. and that Mary character from Machen. Like, that part where Clark’s vibrating/seizing reminds me a bit of how Mary (and other people) react when they first see Pan. Edit: Also, the whole corpsicle thing could maybe be read as this burst of crazy ecstasy, then straight into terror. And that ram skull (?) at the end of ep 2 totally gives off a Pan vibe to me—Pan’s often shown with horns that look similar in art. I guess these mental rabbit holes are fun. Thanks!
By moonheather3306
I think what he’s holding is a syrinx—basically what people usually call a pan flute or pan pipes. I read that the name comes from a nymph named Syrinx who got turned into a water-reed when Pan was trying to catch her and she wanted to stay chaste. Then Pan apparently cut some reeds and made the instrument out of them.