The Children of the Pool and Other Stories (Including the Shining Pyramid, the Red Hand, Out of the Earth, and Change)

Arthur Llewellyn Jones was a Welsh author and mystic who lived from March 3, 1863, to December 15, 1947. Arthur Machen was his pen name. He is best known for writing important horror, fantasy, and magical stories. Stephen King said that his short story "The Great God Pan" (1890 or 1894) was "Maybe the best in the English language." It is considered a classic in the horror genre. Many people read his short story "The Bowmen" as if it were true, which is how the story of the Angels of Mons came to be. Charles Llewelyn Jones was born in Caerleon, Monmouthshire, and became Richard Machen. There is a blue plaque on the house where he was born, which is across the street from the Olde Bull Inn in The Square at Caerleon and next to the Priory Hotel. He often called Monmouthshire by the name of the medieval Welsh kingdom, Gwent. The area's beautiful scenery and Celtic, Roman, and medieval history left a big impact on him, and his love of it is at the heart of many of his works. The Machen family came from Carmarthenshire and had a long history of being priests.