Maurice Baring (1874-1945) was an English short story writer, novelist, and travel writer and war correspondent during the First World War.

Venus is a peculiar story about a reclusive and eccentric civil servant who becomes increasingly susceptible to strange fits where he seems to be transported to another planet where giant mushrooms grow and myriads of strange caterpillars and exotic butterflies abound. Over time the visions become stranger and more and more terrifying.