I Read Books: The Great God Pan

The Great God Pan

Clarke is invited to observe Dr Raymond when he performs an experiment on the brain of a young woman in the hope of allowing her to experience the universe in an intimate personal manner, to lift the veil of the senses. He suggests the ancients experienced this as the spiritual world, and called it the Great God Pan. He succeeds but after a brief period of awe and terror she lapses into a state that he describes as being “a hopeless idiot,” here using the medical term of the period.

Some years later Clarke learns of some unusual events, in which a young woman named Helen is involved. Various of her childhood companions have terrifying experiences. Herbert, an acquaintance, has changed careers from gentleman to vagabond, claiming to have been corrupted body and soul by her when they were married.

Later still Clarke and his friends learn of mysterious suicides, all of which have in common that the last person to see (or perhaps “see” if you know what I mean, nudge nudge, wink wink) them is a Mrs Beaumont. It’s implied that she sexes them up so outrageously that they see beyond the material world and so have to kill themselves.

This is creepy, in part because it starts off with Raymond’s absolutely terrible experiment in detail before going on to obliquely refer to the uncanny events. (There is a more explicit scene of weirdness at the end). In this case the Victorian reticence works with the story; we cannot know what direct experience of the true nature of the universe is, as that is unbearable. A seminal work of weird horror fiction.

Read This: A classic early piece of weird fiction that holds up pretty well
Don’t Read This: It’s coyness and innuendo about both the unimaginable and the sordid are not for you
You Can Read It Online: Perhaps try here.
On A Personal Note: This is the last book I read in 2020, thus showing the length of my backlog (again)