Editing Arthur Machen (section)

== Legacy and influence ==
Machen's literary significance is substantial; his stories have been translated into many languages and reprinted in short story anthologies countless times. In the early 1970s, a paperback reprint of ''[[The Three Impostors]]'' in the [[Ballantine Adult Fantasy series]] brought him to the notice of a new generation. More recently, the [[small press]] has continued to keep Machen's work in print. In 2010, to mark the 150 years since Machen's birth, two volumes of Machen's work were republished in the prestigious [[Parthian Books#Library of Wales|Library of Wales]] series.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/9473709.Tracing_the_life_of_Caerleon_mystic__Arthur_Machen/|title=Tracing the life of Caerleon mystic, Arthur Machen|date=16 January 2012 |publisher=southwalesargus.co.uk|access-date=26 January 2017}}</ref>

Literary critics such as [[Wesley D. Sweetser]] and [[S. T. Joshi]] see Machen's works as a significant part of the late Victorian revival of the [[gothic novel]] and the decadent movement of the 1890s, bearing direct comparison to the themes found in contemporary works like Robert Louis Stevenson's ''[[Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde]]'', [[Bram Stoker]]'s ''[[Dracula]]'', and Oscar Wilde's ''[[The Picture of Dorian Gray]]''. At the time authors like Wilde, [[William Butler Yeats]], and [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] were all admirers of Machen's works. He is also usually noted in the better studies of [[Anglo-Welsh literature]]. The French writer [[Paul-Jean Toulet]] translated Machen's ''[[The Great God Pan]]'' into French and visited Machen in London. [[Charles Williams (British writer)|Charles Williams]] was also a devotee of Machen's work, which inspired Williams' own fiction.<ref>[[Glen Cavaliero]], ''Charles Williams: Poet of Theology'' (London, Macmillan, 1983) p. 55.</ref>

===Genre fiction===
Historian of fantastic literature [[Brian Stableford]] has suggested that Machen "was the first writer of authentically modern horror stories, and his best works must still be reckoned among the finest products of the genre".<ref name="bs">"Machen, Arthur (Llewellyn)", by Brian Stableford in [[David Pringle]] (ed), ''St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost and Gothic Writers''. London : St. James Press, 1998, {{ISBN|1558622063}} (pp. 382–84).</ref>

Machen's popularity in 1920s America has been noted, and his work was an influence on the development of the pulp horror found in magazines like ''[[Weird Tales]]'' and on such notable fantasy writers as [[James Branch Cabell]], [[Clark Ashton Smith]], [[Robert E. Howard]],<ref>Rusty Burke notes that Howard's early story "The Little People" is "clearly influenced by Arthur Machen's 'The Shining Pyramid'" (Rusty Burke, "Notes on Miscellanea" in Robert E. Howard, ''Bran Mak Morn: The Last King ''. New York: Del Rey/Ballantine, p. 193. {{ISBN|978-0-345-46154-4}}).</ref> [[Frank Belknap Long]] (who wrote a tribute to Machen in verse, "On Reading Arthur Machen"),<ref>Long's poem is republished in Lovecraft's ''Supernatural Horror in Literature''. See ''The Annotated Supernatural Horror in Literature'', ed. S. T. Joshi (Hippocampus Press, 2000), p. 62.</ref> [[Donald Wandrei]],<ref>Don Herron, "[http://www.donherron.com/collecting_donald_wandrei.html Collecting Donald Wandrei] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907101637/http://www.donherron.com/collecting_donald_wandrei.html |date=7 September 2008 }}", ''Firsts: The Book Collector's Magazine'', Oct. 1999: "Within a decade Wandrei began to write appreciations of his favorite writers. His article 'Arthur Machen and The Hill of Dreams' appeared in the ''Minnesota Quarterly'' in spring 1926, and led to an exchange of letters with the Welsh mystic."</ref> [[David Lindsay (novelist)|David Lindsay]]<ref name="bs" /> and [[E. C. Vivian|E. Charles Vivian]].<ref>"Vivian, E(velyn) C(harles)", by [[Jack Adrian]] in the ''St. James Guide To Fantasy Writers'', edited by David Pringle. St. James Press, 1996, pp. 577–80 {{ISBN|1-55862-205-5}}</ref>

His significance was recognized by [[H. P. Lovecraft]], who in his essay "[[Supernatural Horror in Literature]]" named Machen as one of the four "modern masters" of supernatural horror (with [[Algernon Blackwood]], [[Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany|Lord Dunsany]], and [[M. R. James]]). Machen's influence on Lovecraft's own work was substantial. Lovecraft's reading of Machen in the early 1920s led him away from his earlier Dunsanian writing towards the development of what became the [[Cthulhu Mythos]]. Machen's use of a contemporary Welsh or London background in which sinister ancient horrors lurk and are capable of interbreeding with modern people obviously helped inspire Lovecraft's similar use of a New England background. Machen's story "[[The White People]]" includes references to curious unknown rites and beings, an idea Lovecraft uses frequently in the mythos.

Lovecraft pays tribute to the influence by directly incorporating some of Machen's creations and references, such as [[Nodens (Cthulhu Mythos)|Nodens]] and [[Aklo]], into his Cthulhu Mythos and using similar plotlines, most notably seen by a comparison of "[[The Dunwich Horror]]" to ''[[The Great God Pan]]'' and of "[[The Whisperer in Darkness]]" to "[[The Novel of the Black Seal]]". Other Lovecraft tales with a debt or reference to Machen include "[[The Call of Cthulhu]]", "[[The Festival (short story)|The Festival]]", "[[Cool Air]]", "[[The Descendant (short story)|The Descendant]]", and "[[The Colour Out of Space]]".{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}

His intense, atmospheric stories of horror and the supernatural have been read and enjoyed by many modern horror and fantasy writers, influencing directly [[Peter Straub]], [[Stephen King]], [[Ramsey Campbell]], [[Karl Edward Wagner]],<ref>Benjamin Szumskyj, ''Black Prometheus: A Critical Study of Karl Edward Wagner'', Gothic Press, 2007 (p. 21)<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed, if any --></ref> "[[Sarban (author)|Sarban]]" (John William Wall),<ref>[[Peter Nicholls (writer)|Peter Nicholls]], "Sarban", in ''Supernatural Fiction Writers'' edited by E. F. Bleiler. Scribner's, New York, 1985. (pp. 667–74)</ref> [[Joanna Russ]],<ref>Joanna Russ, ''The Country You Have Never Seen:Essays and Reviews''; {{ISBN|0853238693}} (p. 58)</ref> [[Graham Joyce]], [[Simon Clark (novelist)|Simon Clark]], [[Tim Lebbon]], and {{nowrap|[[T. E. D. Klein]]}}, to name but a few. Klein's novel ''[[The Ceremonies (novel)|The Ceremonies]]'' was partly based on Machen's "The White People", and Straub's novel ''[[Ghost Story (Straub novel)|Ghost Story]]'' was influenced by ''The Great God Pan''.<ref name="Gwilym Games 2007">Gwilym Games (ed), ''Machenology: Tributes to the Master of Mysteries'', 2007.<!--publishing info needed; ISSN/ISBN needed, if any--></ref>

===Wider literary influence===
Machen's influence is not limited to genre fiction, however. [[Jorge Luis Borges]] recognized Machen as a great writer, and through him Machen has had an influence on [[magic realism]]. He was also a major influence on [[Paul Bowles]] and [[Javier Marías]], the latter of whom dedicated a subplot of his 1989 novel ''All Souls'' to collecting the works of Machen and his circle of peers. He was one of the most significant figures in the life of the [[Poet Laureate]] Sir [[John Betjeman]], who attributed to Machen his conversion to High Church Anglicanism, an important part of his philosophy and poetry. [[Sylvia Townsend Warner]] (a niece of Machen's second wife, Purefoy) admired Machen and was influenced by him,<ref name="Gwilym Games 2007"/> as is his great-granddaughter, the contemporary artist [[Tessa Farmer]].<ref>{{cite journal |year=2007 |title=In Conversation With Tessa Farmer |journal=Antennae |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=16–24 |url=http://www.antennae.org.uk/ANTENNAE%20ISSUE%203%20V1.doc.pdf |access-date=2007-10-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228011524/http://www.antennae.org.uk/ANTENNAE%20ISSUE%203%20V1.doc.pdf |archive-date=28 February 2008 }}</ref>

Machen was also a pioneer in [[psychogeography]], due to his interest in the interconnection between landscape and the mind. His strange wanderings in Wales and London recorded in his beautiful prose make him of great interest to writers on this subject, especially those focusing on London, such as [[Iain Sinclair]] and [[Peter Ackroyd]]. [[Alan Moore]] wrote an exploration of Machen's mystical experiences in his work ''[[A Disease of Language|Snakes and Ladders]]''. [[Aleister Crowley]] loved Machen's works, feeling they contained "Magickal" truth, and put them on the reading list for his students, though Machen, who never met him, detested Crowley. Other occultists, such as [[Kenneth Grant (occultist)|Kenneth Grant]], also find Machen an inspiration. Far closer to Machen's personal mystical world view was his effect on his friend [[Evelyn Underhill]], who reflected some of Machen's thinking in her highly influential book ''Mysticism''.

One chapter of the French best-seller ''[[The Morning of the Magicians]]'', by L. Pauwels and J. Berger (1960), deals extensively with Machen's thought and works. Machen's approach to reality is described as an example of the "fantastic realism" which the book is dedicated to.

===Other fields===
In music, the composer [[John Ireland (composer)|John Ireland]] found Machen's works to be a life-changing experience that directly influenced much of his composition<ref>Colin Scott Sutherland. 'Arthur Machen and John Ireland’, in ''The John Ireland Companion'', ed. [[Lewis Foreman]] (2011)</ref> – specifically the piano piece ''[[Decorations (John Ireland)|The Scarlet Ceremonies]]'' (1912–13, founded on a quotation from "The White People"); the symphonic rhapsody ''[[Mai-Dun]]'' (1920–21, believed to have been inspired by ''The Hill of Dreams''); and ''Legend'' for piano and orchestra (1933), which is dedicated to Machen.<ref>[https://www.caerleon.net/history/machen/music/index.html ''Arthur Machen and his Music'', Caerleon.net]</ref><ref>[[Jocelyn Brooke]].''The birth of a legend: a reminiscence of Arthur Machen and John Ireland'' (1964)</ref>

[[Mark E. Smith]] of [[The Fall (band)|The Fall]] also found Machen an inspiration. Likewise, [[Current 93]] have drawn on the mystical and occult leanings of Machen, with songs such as "The Inmost Light", which shares its title with Machen's story. Some artists on the [[Ghost Box Music]] label like [[Belbury Poly]] and [[The Focus Group]] draw heavily on Machen. It is an interest also shared by film directors like Mexican [[Rogelio A. González]] who made a successful version of "The Islington Mystery" as ''[[El Esqueleto de la señora Morales]]'' (1960), adapted by [[Luis Alcoriza]], a frequent collaborator in [[Luis Buñuel]]'s classic films. This interest in Machen's works among filmmakers is also shared by [[Guillermo del Toro]] and [[Richard Stanley (film director)|Richard Stanley]]. Other notable figures with an enthusiasm for Machen have included [[Brocard Sewell]], [[Barry Humphries]], [[Stewart Lee]] and [[Rowan Williams]], Archbishop of Canterbury.<ref name="Gwilym Games 2007"/>

===Literary societies===
[[File:Machen plauque.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Blue plaque]] installed on Machen's birthplace in [[Caerleon]] in November 1997,<ref>{{cite book |last=Wisker |first=Gina |title=Horror Fiction: An Introduction |year=2005 |publisher=Continuum |location=New York & London |isbn=0-8264-1561-X |page=74 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yNEfpTpoNukC&pg=PA74 |access-date=14 April 2012}}</ref> under the auspices of the UK Arthur Machen Society]]
An Arthur Machen Society was established in 1948 in the United States and survived until the 1960s. It was followed by the Arthur Machen Society based in the UK, in 1986, which in turn was replaced by the current literary society, The Friends of Arthur Machen.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arthurmachen.org.uk/|title=Friends of Arthur Machen Website homepage: Horror Fantastic and Supernatural Fiction|publisher=arthurmachen.org.uk|access-date=27 September 2014}}</ref>

The Friends of Arthur Machen (FoAM) is a non-profit international [[literary society]] founded in 1998 dedicated to supporting interest in Arthur Machen and his work, and to aid research. It publishes two journals: ''Faunus'', which reprints rare Machen articles and criticism of his work, and ''Machenalia''. It fosters interest not only in Machen but in events in which he played a key part, such as the [[Angels of Mons]] affair, and organises [[psychogeography|psychogeographic]] excursions.

Prominent members include [[Alan Moore]], [[Stewart Lee]] and [[R. B. Russell]] of [[Tartarus Press]]. The society was nominated for a [[World Fantasy Special Award: Non-Professional]] in 2006.