Algernon Blackwood’s Followers (1,178)

Algernon Blackwood

Born

in Shooter's Hill, Kent, England, The United Kingdom

March 14, 1869

Died

December 10, 1951

Genre

Horror, Short Stories, Weird Fiction

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Algernon Henry Blackwood (1869–1951) was an English broadcasting narrator, journalist, novelist and short story writer, and among the most prolific ghost story writers in the history of the genre. The literary critic S. T. Joshi stated, "His work is more consistently meritorious than any weird writer's except Dunsany's" and that his short story collection Incredible Adventures (1914) "may be the premier weird collection of this or any other century".

Blackwood was born in Shooter's Hill (today part of south-east London, but then part of northwest Kent) and educated at Wellington College. His father was a Post Office administrator who, according to Peter Penzoldt, "though not devoid of genuine good-heartedness, had appallingly narrow religiou Algernon Henry Blackwood (1869–1951) was an English broadcasting narrator, journalist, novelist and short story writer, and among the most prolific ghost story writers in the history of the genre. The literary critic S. T. Joshi stated, "His work is more consistently meritorious than any weird writer's except Dunsany's" and that his short story collection Incredible Adventures (1914) "may be the premier weird collection of this or any other century".

Blackwood was born in Shooter's Hill (today part of south-east London, but then part of northwest Kent) and educated at Wellington College. His father was a Post Office administrator who, according to Peter Penzoldt, "though not devoid of genuine good-heartedness, had appallingly narrow religious ideas." Blackwood had a varied career, farming in Canada, operating a hotel, as a newspaper reporter in New York City, and, throughout his adult life, an occasional essayist for various periodicals. In his late thirties, he moved back to England and started to write stories of the supernatural. He was very successful, writing at least ten original collections of short stories and eventually appearing on both radio and television to tell them. He also wrote fourteen novels, several children's books, and a number of plays, most of which were produced but not published. He was an avid lover of nature and the outdoors, and many of his stories reflect this.

H.P. Lovecraft wrote of Blackwood: "He is the one absolute and unquestioned master of weird atmosphere." His powerful story "The Willows," which effectively describes another dimension impinging upon our own, was reckoned by Lovecraft to be not only "foremost of all" Blackwood's tales but the best "weird tale" of all time.

Among his thirty-odd books, Blackwood wrote a series of stories and short novels published as John Silence, Physician Extraordinary (1908), which featured a "psychic detective" who combined the skills of a Sherlock Holmes and a psychic medium. Blackwood also wrote light fantasy and juvenile books. ...more

Combine Editions
Algernon Blackwood’s books

Average rating: 3.89 · 67,091 ratings · 8,121 reviews · 1,358 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Willows 4.05 avg rating — 17,647 ratings — published 1907 — 1013 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Wendigo 3.79 avg rating — 8,395 ratings — published 1910 — 483 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Best Ghost Stories of Algernon Blackwood by Algernon Blackwood, E.F. Bleiler (Selection, Introduction) 4.15 avg rating — 3,197 ratings — published 1973 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories by Algernon Blackwood, S.T. Joshi (Introduction) 4.09 avg rating — 2,358 ratings — published 2001 — 28 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories 3.73 avg rating — 1,938 ratings — published 1906 — 695 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Man Whom the Trees Loved 3.68 avg rating — 1,044 ratings — published 1912 — 132 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Complete John Silence Stories (John Silence #1-2) by Algernon Blackwood, S.T. Joshi (Editor) 3.97 avg rating — 853 ratings — published 1908 — 24 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Empty House 3.45 avg rating — 763 ratings — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Damned 3.49 avg rating — 464 ratings — published 1914 — 28 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Four Weird Tales by Algernon Blackwood, 1stworld Library (Editor) 3.50 avg rating — 449 ratings — published 1907 — 124 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Algernon Blackwood…

Series by Algernon Blackwood

John Silence (2 books)
by

Algernon Blackwood

3.93 avg rating — 1,183 ratings

Biblioteca de Lovecraft (4 books)
by

Algernon Blackwood

3.57 avg rating — 14 ratings

Quotes by Algernon Blackwood (?)

“The Wise are silent, the Foolish speak, and children are thus led astray.”
― Algernon Blackwood

64 likes

“When common objects in this way be come charged with the suggestion of horror, they stimulate the imagination far more than things of unusual appearance; and these bushes, crowding huddled about us, assumed for me in the darkness a bizarre grotesquerie of appearance that lent to them somehow the aspect of purposeful and living creatures. Their very ordinariness, I felt, masked what was malignant and hostile to us.”
― Algernon Blackwood, The Willows

50 likes

“No place worth knowing yields itself at sight, and those the least
inviting on first view may leave the most haunting pictures upon the
walls of memory.”
― Algernon Blackwood, A Prisoner in Fairyland

45 likes

See all Algernon Blackwood's quotes »

Polls

April 2019 Short Story/Novella Poll

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, 82 pages, 1912

96 votes, 33.1%

The Ballad Of Reading Gaol by Oscar Wilde, 37 pages, 1896

58 votes, 20.0%

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin, way less than the 32 pages listed, 1973

36 votes, 12.4%

The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood, 48 pages, 1910

35 votes, 12.1%

The Country of the Blind by H.G. Wells, Title story only, online PDF 22 pages, 1904

34 votes, 11.7%

Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo, 128 pages, 1955

31 votes, 10.7%

290 total votes

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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Supernatural Fict...: SHADOWS,, edited by Robert Dunbar	1	25	Sep 08, 2010 12:40PM
October Horror 2011: Lovecraft	13	27	Oct 13, 2011 05:28AM
Chaos Reading: Themed Read: PLACES AS PERSONALITIES Nominations [closed]	60	75	Jul 13, 2012 05:42AM
The Novella Club: The Willows (spoilers)	28	43	Oct 30, 2012 06:15PM
The Seasonal Read...: Fall Challenge 2012: Reading Plans	58	342	Nov 23, 2012 08:20PM

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