The Great God Pan


Read by Ethan Rampton

(4.6 stars; 208 reviews)

"The Great God Pan" is a novella written by Arthur Machen. A version of the story was published in the magazine Whirlwind in 1890, and Machen revised and extended it for its book publication (together with another story, "The Inmost Light") in 1894. On publication it was widely denounced by the press as degenerate and horrific because of its decadent style and sexual content, although it has since garnered a reputation as a classic of horror. Machen’s story was only one of many at the time to focus on Pan as a useful symbol for the power of nature and paganism. The title was taken from the poem "A Musical Instrument" published in 1862 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, in which the first line of every stanza ends "... the great god Pan."
(via Wikipedia) (1 hr 59 min)

Chapters

The Experiment 17:48 Read by Ethan Rampton
Mr. Clarke's Memoirs 15:09 Read by Ethan Rampton
The City of Resurrections 16:28 Read by Ethan Rampton
The Discovery in Paul Street 12:47 Read by Ethan Rampton
The Letter of Advice 11:47 Read by Ethan Rampton
The Suicides 17:44 Read by Ethan Rampton
The Encounter in Soho 14:40 Read by Ethan Rampton
The Fragments 13:12 Read by Ethan Rampton

Reviews

Wonderfully Haunting


(5 stars)

The narrator was fabulous. I loved this story. A cautionary tale of the consequences when one meddles with things beyond our ken.


(5 stars)

Reviewed in 2020. I absolutely loved this story. Beautifully written and very excellently narrated. The narrator must have been trained in drama or acting. It was most brilliantly spoken. I will listen to this again. The story is intense and complex with many characters. A little macabre but as I have not the constitution for horror or thrillers, I was relieved the large volume of the story was inferred and not revealed to give me nightmares


(5 stars)

This recording is well done and easy to listen to, and the only mistake that I noted was at the end of chapter 7 where the reader says “end of chapter 6.” When chapter 8 starts one may think they have missed chapter 7 but all chapters are accounted for.


(4.5 stars)

Wow. This is some seriously progressive material for the Era. If you're a true horror fan and enjoy being made uncomfortable., check this out.

Out of the Pan


(5 stars)

Great story, but the best chapter is the first, and it gets worse as it goes on. The problem was that the protagonist and the antagonist were only tangentially related to one another. Therefore, Machen had to work quite hard to push them together, and it came across as forced. I think Machen could have preserved the mystery and interlinked the characters. For example, amalgamating Clarke and Lord Argentine, so that Clarke becomes Lord Argentine due to his elder brother's suicide. On the plus side, "The Great God Pan" was spooky, striking, and subtle. It draws attention to many things, such as the likeness of Pan and Satan, without overdoing them. Solid.

Exceptional piece of historical horror


(4.5 stars)

This short story is brilliant. It shocked the Victorian public with it's sexual innuendos and graphic death scenes, which serves to make it that much more intriguing to read. Of course, 19th century readers were, apparently, easily shocked and modern readers may find it comical that such 'tame' writing was considered quite scandalous in this bygone era. Stephen King names this work as one that contributed to his love of horror and his subsequent foray into the genre of macabre.

one of the best reading bags on librivox


(5 stars)

One of the best readers I’ve ever heard. Great story. If you block Lovecraft, you’ll love this story. One of the few that had a huge influence on H. P. L.

loved it.


(4.5 stars)

Gothic horror at its best. The seeds to a number of horror books and films that followed are all over this story. I really enjoyed it.