The Weird Tale Quotes

“Like Lovecraft, like Machen, Dunsany claimed aesthetic independence from his time and culture, became a sharp and unrelenting critic of the industrialism and plebeianism that were shattering the beauty both of literature and of the world, wrote works almost obtrusively and aggressively unpopular in tone and import yet retained a surprising popularity—at least in terms of the sale of his work—through the whole of his career.”
― S.T. Joshi, The Weird Tale: Arthur Machen/Lord Dunsany/Algernon Blackwood/M. R. James/Ambrose Bierce/H. P. Lovecraft

“all this points to a truth so obvious that many seem not to have realised it—that horror or fantasy is almost entirely a matter of approach rather than of subject matter.”
― S.T. Joshi, The Weird Tale: Arthur Machen/Lord Dunsany/Algernon Blackwood/M. R. James/Ambrose Bierce/H. P. Lovecraft

“each of Dunsany’s works must be studied individually for the philosophy imbedded in it.”
― S.T. Joshi, The Weird Tale: Arthur Machen/Lord Dunsany/Algernon Blackwood/M. R. James/Ambrose Bierce/H. P. Lovecraft

“Some think highly of The Terror, but it is in fact quite bad. The American magazine The Century printed a shortened version of the short novel—reduced to a mere quarter of its size—which is a significant improvement on the original; and it would be rather better for Machen’s reputation if this version were better known.”
― S.T. Joshi, The Weird Tale: Arthur Machen/Lord Dunsany/Algernon Blackwood/M. R. James/Ambrose Bierce/H. P. Lovecraft

“certain authors develop certain types of world views that compel them to write fiction that causes readers to question, revise, or refashion their views of the universe; the result is what we (in retrospect) call weird fiction.”
― S.T. Joshi, The Weird Tale: Arthur Machen/Lord Dunsany/Algernon Blackwood/M. R. James/Ambrose Bierce/H. P. Lovecraft