AN INCOHERENT NIGHTMARE OF SEX..." That was The Westminster Gazette's description of Arthur Machen's first book, THE GREAT GOD PAN, upon its publication in 1894. An unwittingly enticing description for one of the greatest ever works of weird horror and decadence, in which Machen unfurls with his singular eye for the bizarre and macabre the tale of a young girl cursed by her unnatural parentage to become a creature of shape-shifting, polysexual, demi-human evil.

First published in the 1896 short story collection Stones In The Fire, M P Shiel's XELUCHA is the most grotesque entry from that collection, a deliberate and delirious evocation of the sepulchral horrors of Poe.

This new double edition of THEe€ˆGREATe€ˆGOD PAN and XELUCHA, two key works of British decadent horror, includes a set of rare automatic drawings by the occult artist Austin Osman Spare, and a short introduction to Machen by the author H P Lovecraft who also provides two back cover quotes.