The Horned God Weird Tales of the Great God Pan

by Wheatley, Michael

• ISBN13: 9780712354967
• ISBN10: 0712354964
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2023-03-01
• Publisher: British Library Publishing

Summary

Many writers in the early twentieth century particularly were fascinated by Pan as a figure of unbridled vivacity and pagan ecstasy, but also associated the god and folk hero with a sense of danger and even horror.

The pipe music shrilled suddenly around her, seeming to come from the bushes at her very feet, and at the same moment the great beast slewed round and bore directly down upon her.

In 1894, Arthur Machen’s landmark novella The Great God Pan was published, sparking a resurgence of literary fascination with the figure of the pagan goat god.

Tales from a broad spectrum of writers from E M Forster to prolific pulpsters such as Greye Le Spina took the god’s rebellious and chaotic influence as their subject, spinning beguiling tales of society turned upside down and the forces of nature compelling protagonists to ecstatic heights or bizarre dooms.

Selecting an eclectic cross-section of tales and short poems from this boom of Pan-centric literature, many first published in the influential Weird Tales magazine, this new collection examines the roots of a cultural phenomenon and showcases Pan’s potential to introduce themes of queer awakening and celebrations of the transgressive into the thrillingly weird stories in which he was invoked.

Author Biography

Michael Wheatley is a writer and researcher based at Royal Holloway, University of London. His research explores aspects of the ecoGothic, queer theory and delves into how Weird fiction can help society engage with the current climate crisis. He is the author of The Writers’ Block, an experimental horror short story collection published by Black Bear Press in 2019.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION – 7
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER – 13 
 
Pan: A Double Villanelle – OSCAR WILDE – 15
The Great God Pan – ARTHUR MACHEN – 19
Pan – GEORGE EGERTON – 89
A Musical Instrument – ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING – 115
The Moon-Slave – BARRY PAIN – 121
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn – KENNETH GRAHAME – 131
The Music on the Hill – SAKI – 145
The Haunted Forest – EDITH HURLEY – 155
The Story of a Panic – E. M. FORSTER – 159
The Touch of Pan – ALGERNON BLACKWOOD – 189
Moors of Wran – A. LLOYD BAYNE – 217
How Pan Came to Little Ingleton – MARGERY LAWRENCE – 221
The Devil's Martyr – SIGNE TOKSVIG – 249
Bewitched – WILLARD N. MARSH – 277
The Golden Bough – DAVID H. KELLER – 281
Forest God – DOROTHY QUICK – 303
The Cracks of Time – DOROTHY QUICK – 306