And yet, because Machen so sincerely feels the sense of sin and transgression in those things that “religion brands with outlawry and horror,” he manages to convey his sentiments to the reader in such a way that his work remains powerful and effective. Lovecraft himself came to regard “The White People” as perhaps second to Algernon Blackwood’s “The Willows” as the greatest weird tale of all time; he may well be right.
