John Buchan (1875–1940) is now remembered chiefly as the author of spy thrillers such as The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915) and is often misunderstood as the author of populist boys-own adventure. As his readers know, however, he is a far more nuanced, able, and varied writer than that reputation suggests, and in this talk I will argue that he deserves to take his place with the likes of M. R. James, Arthur Machen, and Algernon Blackwood, as the author of superb ‘golden age’ weird fiction. He was certainly recognised by H. P. Lovecraft as such and his output in this mode also included novels such as The Dancing Floor (1926) and Witch Wood (1927), both anticipating folk horror, as well as subtle, finely-crafted tales of psychological terror rooted in landscape, such as ‘The Watcher by the Threshold’ (1900) and ‘The Grove of Ashtaroth’ (1912). As The Bookman wrote of a collection of his stories in 1902: “However unlike in plot, vague terror of an unrecognised reality, the survival of an unkindly time, is in them all, to shake our smug content with the triumphs of civilization, and to stir forgotten depths, from which rise wars against our comfort. The book is one to shudder over; but through it run veins of genuine beauty.”
James Machin is an editor, researcher, and writer who lives in Tring. Recent books include British Weird: Selected Short Fiction, 1893–1937 for Handheld Press and his short fiction has been published in Supernatural Tales, The Shadow Booth, and Weirdbook. He is co-editor of Faunus, the journal of the Friends of Arthur Machen and a member of the John Buchan Society.
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