The Angels of Mons
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
The Winter issue of Machenalia (the newsletter of the Friends of Arthur Machen Society) has some photographs and captions by yours truly. Arthur Machen - a Welsh horror writer and contemporary of HP Lovecraft - is possibly best known for two things.
The first is his haunting short story of sinister vegetation, "The Willows". The second is "The Bowmen" - his retelling of the legendary Angels of Mons, phantom archers that helped the the British forces at the Battle of Mons in 1914.
When I bought an early copy of "The Bowmen and Other Stories", I found some carefully pressed clippings from the era, talking about the Mons sightings. Interesting stuff that I was keen to share (and FOAM was happy to reprint).
If you're not a member of FOAM already (or not even a fan of Machen's work), it is worth joining for the sheer collectible value of their publications. For their paltry membership fee of £17, you get several hardbound and softbound journals, as well as a variety of fantastic extras (in 2007, that included a limited edition Tartarus Press volume).