The Inmost Light

“The Inmost Light” is a 1894 short novel by Welsh author and mystic Arthur Machan, originally published along with “The Great God Pan” in John Lane's Keynotes Series. The story follows a scientist who incarcerates his wife's soul in a beautiful shining jewel. However, his wife's uninhabited body becomes a clear invitation for something altogether unworldly, and the jewel too tempting for the opportunistic. A classic supernatural tale by a master of the genre, “The Inmost Light” is not to be missed by lovers of horror fiction and those who have read and enjoyed other works by this author. Arthur Machen (1863 – 1947) was a Welsh author and renowned mystic during the 1890s and early 20th century who garnered literary acclaim for his contributions to the supernatural, horror, and fantasy fiction genres. His seminal novella “The Great God Pan” (1890) has become a classic of horror fiction, with Stephen King describing it as one of the best horror stories written in the English language. Other notable fans of his gruesome tales include William Butler Yeats and Arthur Conan Doyle, and his work has been compared to that of Robert Louis Stevenson, Bram Stoker, and Oscar Wilde. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.