Arthur Machen is one of the most mysterious writers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In his work, he fused traditions of romance and gothic horror, and became the founder of literature about supernatural terror. His fans included Oscar Wilde, H. P. Lovecraft, Jorge Luis Borges, and Guillermo del Toro. He has influenced the development of horror and many representatives of the genre, including Stephen King, Ramsey Campbell, Thomas Ligott, and Adam Neville. His works caused scandals, terrified his contemporaries, yet delight later generations. A writer ahead of his time—who established the traditions of his own unique mysticism—Machen remains, alongside Lovecraft, an unsurpassed master of strange and ominous stories, where ancient gods and creatures come to life, where fear can hide in the most everyday little things, and green forests and valleys conceal monsters beyond human imagination and reason.