A Victim Of Higher Space

by Algernon Blackwood

The doctor made an internal note of the man's halting description; he was pleased that the slight evidence of intuition which had induced him to engage Barker had not entirely failed at the first trial. Dr. Silence sought for this qualification in all his assistants, from secretary to serving-man, and if it surrounded him with a somewhat singular crew, the drawbacks were more than compensated for on the whole by their occasional flashes of insight.

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Science Fiction, Mystery

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Devero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un altro racconto eccellente del dottore psichico Silence. Weird story come poche, in cui Blackwood ci presenta un evento non legato ad antichi incantesimi, bensì a moderna matematica. Da bravo studioso dell'occulto che però viveva pienamente nel suo tempo, Blackwood era pienamente conscio delle scoperte scientifiche ed, in questo caso, matematiche. Anche HPL ha scritto un racconto in cui questi elementi sono presenti e fondanti, ma credo che Blackwood abbia raggiunto sia un'atmosfera migliore sia una inquietudine più profonda.
4 stelle

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant story involving the wonders of higher space, other dimensions and the possible hidden capabilities of the human mind,body and spirit...and the dangerous potential and possible consequences contained therein.

[Ida Aasebøstøl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree, the only cure against Wagner is alcohol, brandy, massive quantities.
Having others think nice, soft, warm-felt thoughts of you is the key to grounding in any dimension, really.

[Captain Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, brilliant, thought-provoking and well written.

[Mohamad Zeina · Rating 3 out of 5]

So cheesy that it’s quite enjoyable - but the dialogue is too obviously written by a single person - the people agree on every point instead of taking the conversation in different directions like a real conversation

[Uroš Novaković · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another story in the John Silence series. It's a short story about the 4th dimension and the capabilities of the human mind. It was a fun little read, but nothing that can even be remotely considered as "horror" happened here.

[Benjamin Stahl · Rating 2 out of 5]

The fourth dimension is an interesting subject, but this story wasn't anything special.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25⭐

[Forked Radish · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Good—vibrations” indeed. Nolens volens, in the name of space, I loved this non-euclidean encomium for epistemology.

[Mike Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little listen. Addresses fourth dimension interestingly, but not deep enough.

[Lau · Rating 2 out of 5]

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