Arthur Machen (1863-1947) was a Welsh author and mystic, best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy and horror fiction.

The Red Hand is a mysterious horror story, which tells the peculiar tale of the strange murder of Sir Thomas Vivian, the famous heart surgeon. Why was he murdered with an ancient flint weapon, when there was an unused brand new knife at the scene? What was the meaning of the bizarre letter in the dead man's pocket, written in a very strange hand? And what could be the meaning of the peculiar symbol of a red hand chalked on the wall above the corpse?