The Great God Pan

Esoteric Classics: Occult Fiction

By: Arthur Machen

Narrated by: Shea Taylor

Machen's novella The Great God Pan is often cited as one of Lovecraft's most notable influences. In it, Dr. Raymond's ultimate goal is to devise a way to open the mind of man so that he may experience all the world has to offer. He calls this "seeing the great god Pan". After much study of the human mind, he devises an experiment that involves minor brain surgery. He performs this experiment on a young woman named Mary, but when she awakens she is terrified and mentally crippled. Years later another woman, the beautiful but sinister-looking Helen Vaughan, is reported to have caused a series of mysterious happenings in a small, nameless town....

Public Domain (P)2016 Lamp of Trismegistus

Wonderfully fantastic and chilling

This story really brings to life the universal fear of the unknown and how dangerous it can be to toy with things you don't fully understand.

foundational but tedious

This story left an indelible mark on weird fiction & horror, but Machen smothers the atmosphere in lifeless late Victorian prose. Worth a listen for fans of the occult & esoteric, but this is strictly homework. The Germ of the next century trapped in the bloated corpse of the last.

A good but antiquated horror story

After listening to The Exorcist I wanted to pick up some more horror stories, and I had a gap in between Audible's monthly tokens. So seeing as how this was less than 5 dollars I figured it would be a good filler in-between larger books.

I'd heard of The Great God Pan before because it's often referenced as an influence for both Lovecraft and Stephen King. However, I didn't know anything else about it besides that going into it.

It's short and honestly there's not much of a story here. Despite it being a staple of horror writing I didn't really find it all that frightening with a couple exceptions. The opening scene of the story definitely gives off a very creepy vibe, and there's a couple other moments in the story that give off an unsettling feeling.

I know that at the time this was written it was considered grotesque, but by modern standards it's incredibly tame. Most of the time the horror aspects don't come from descriptions of unsettling scenes, but rather from describing the feelings and sensations that the characters experience. Also, I find it funny that so much of the writing from this time leads me to believe that every important decision ever made in England is just a bunch of snooty gentlemen sitting in a club smoking, and everyone needs alcohol to restore themselves after a fainting spell.

Overall though, it drags on in the middle, but maybe I'm just judging it from my media-addled ADHD modern sensibilities. The beginning of the story is very cool and creepy and the story wraps up at the end in a satisfying way.

Another thing about this recording though, is that I just don't like Shea Taylor as a narrator. He fits certain characters very well, but he has a very feminine voice and I didn't find it suited to a horror story at all. It really ruined much of the book for me.

This is one story, that although I feel like I got my money's worth, I might have enjoyed it more reading it on paper rather than listening to the audio.

Good stuff

Thoroughly enjoyed this tale. Can see how it inspired Stephen King to write Revival.

Awesome novella!!!!

I'm so glad I listened to the reviews and listened to this book!!! Very creepy, very entertaining, and VERY hard to believe it was written over 100 years ago!!! Do yourself a favor and don't skip this one!!!