- Born
- Died
- Birth nameArthur Llewellyn Jones
- Arthur Machen was born on March 3, 1863 in Caerleon, Monmouthshire, Wales. Arthur died on December 15, 1947 in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England.
- In his later years, Machen became a Roman Catholic.
- In 1912, approaching his 50th birthday, he joined the staff of the London Evening News.
- 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, "Sarban" (John William Wall), Joanna Russ, Graham Joyce, Simon Clark, Tim Lebbon, and T. E. D. Klein, to name but a few. Klein's novel The Ceremonies was partly based on Machen's "The White People", and Straub's novel Ghost Story was influenced by The Great God Pan.
- In music, the composer John Ireland found Machen's works to be a life-changing experience that directly influenced much of his composition.
- He entered journalism and two of his best-known works were originally published in the newspaper for which he worked. The Bowman (Evening News, 29 September 1914) gave rise during World War I to the story of the Angel of Mons.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content