There are three stories fantastical horror stories, melding the everyday Victorian World with the supernatural and I am going to review them separately.

The 1st (and longest) story is about a medical experiment gone awry, it's his most famous tale and has inspired many a horror writer from Lovecraft to king. Published in 1894 it holds up remarkably well, although sadly not that scary (a sexual women, dear god!). However Machen is great at building atmosphere, he only hints at the real horror: the God Pan is left to loom as large as your imagination wishes. It's quite gripping too as we watch the main protagonist drawn deeper into a dangerous mystery but it's a pity that the ending feels so hurried. 3.5*

The 2nd is nice little mystery involving mysterious signs, a disappearing girl and frightening ritual. It's an enjoyable quick read but not high on atmosphere and a bit of a clumsy mystery. 3 *

The 3rd is a mixed bag, starts off with dull dialogue (read lecture) about the nature of real evil and suddenly switches to a 1st person account from a young girl and her experience with the little people. Sadly Machen cannot write in the voice of a young girl, it's bad enough to make you wince at times, but oddly this is the bit of the book that I enjoyed the most. Machens description of a dark, eerie landscape captures the imagination vividly and gives a tantalising hint of the unknown which only deepens the sense of mystery and keeps you turning over the story in your mind long after you close the book. I can't rate this books ;-) perhaps 2&4!=3 ( )