John Buchan (1875-1940) was a Scottish statesman, novelist and short story writer best known for his adventure novels such as The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915). He also produced an impressive output of supernatural fiction, including tales inspired by his time in Canada in the role of governor-general. James Machin is a researcher of British weird fiction, and editor of Handheld Press's British Weird anthology. He has worked with the John Buchan Society to promote Buchan's weird and uncanny fiction, and included a chapter on Buchan in his monograph Weird Fiction in Britain, 1880-1939.