[Ballantine Adult Fantasy 48] • The Three Imposters

Nightmare, dream, horror, idyll? A strange excursion to the edge (at least) of reality and—surely?—beyond. For if not, the implications curdle the blood.

Mr. Machen’s style is elliptical, crabwise, cheerful and totally deceptive. For at the root of his seemingly straightforward story of prosaic, indeed, rather stuffy Londoners, lies a deliberation of evil that sends one scurrying back through the pages to see if such things can really be.

 

And this is indeed, the burden of his tale—if, in fact, it can be so described. Respect' ability, he seems to say, is merely a screen for unimaginable horrors lurking right beneath the well-shined, sturdy shoes of your neighbor. But then, does that make this all real?

 

And that being so, where do you fit in?,