In Supernatural Horror in Literature, H. P. Lovecraft praised the story Great God Pan, saying: 'No one could begin to describe the cumulative suspense and ultimate horror with which every paragraph abounds'; he added that 'the sensitive reader' reaches the end with 'an appreciative shudder.' Arthur Machen had a substantial career as a novelist and storyteller, but nothing he did in the course of a lifetime made the impact he made in 1890 with _The Great God Pan._ The tale literally caused a furor in London -- for it seemed to many readers to bring horror and prurient sexuality together in a way that echoed their moment, foreshadowing the decadence of our own.