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Best Ghost Stories of Algernon Blackwood
"Best Ghost Stories of Algernon Blackwood" is a collection of supernatural stories by one of the greatest writers of such stories to have ever lived. This collection contains the story, "Ancient Sorceries", which is the tale of a tourist who becomes enchanted by a strange French town and the ancient secrets that are hidden there. Also included in this collection is one of Blackwood's most celebrated stories, "The Willows", the story of two campers who pick the wrong place to sleep for the night, as well as the following eleven tales: "Secret Worship", "The Glamour of the Snow", "The Wendigo", "The Other Wing", "The Transfer", "Ancient Lights", "The Listener", "The Empty House", "Accessory Before the Fact", "Keeping His Promise", and "Max Hensig".
213 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1973
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6617 people want to read
About the author
Algernon Blackwood
1,364 books1,182 followersAlgernon 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 142 reviews
February 13, 2020
This is an excellent collection of tales, the best of which defy the limiting label of "ghost story." Blackwood is an excellent, old-fashioned stylist, and although his leisurely development may frustrate a few contemporary readers, I advise them to keep their patience, for the slow build-up leads to cumulative horror.
The first five stories--more than half the book--are major works, essential reading for any lover of the Weird Tale. Two of them ("Secret Worship," "Ancient Sorceries") feature obscure locations with evil histories (a remote boys' religious school, a small French village) where forces attempt--through a link our hero has with that past--to draw him downward to destruction. The other three ("The Willows," The Wendigo,' "The Glamour of the Snow") reveal a malevolence close to the heart of Nature herself. "The Willows" and "The Wendigo" are particularly fine, and should be read by everyone who admires good short fiction.
The stories I have not mentioned--that make up the second half of the book--vary in quality, but they are all well-written and every one is worth your time.
June 29, 2017
It's an interesting collection containing the most famous horror stories by Algernon Blackwood. Written nearly a century ago tales, to contemporary reader may seem a bit old-fashioned, because they don’t shock us with pictures of bloody monsters and hideous specters, don’t dazzle us with cheap tricks but try to capture something in fact elusive. Blackwood masterfully builds an strange atmosphere, unfolding sinister aura gradually creates a mood of growing horror.
The stories can be divided into two categories. First one, where the source of fear seem to be seemingly ordinary objects. Oh, the old dismal house, abandoned somewhere in the suburbs, an obscure alley with cats lurking in the darkness, some rustling, whispering, shadows on the walls, strange odors. States we experience sometimes waking up in the middle of the night, uncertain whether this feeling is made by dream or we actually heard something.
The second category is inseparably connected with nature. Not nature. But Nature. Because Blackwood’s Nature is a wild, incomprehensible and impenetrable. While the man is just a helpless plaything in its hands, stray wanderer, an intruder in the primeval forest.
They say that snowy Canadian wilderness is a place where one can meet a strange creature native to the Indian legend and covered with willows island on the Danube may be a gateway to another world. You never know. However one thing seems to be certain. From now you'll never feel light-heartedly resting in the shade of the trees.
August 1, 2007
Terrific collection of Blackwood's best-known tales, including "The Willows" and "The Wendigo." Calling these thirteen tales "ghost stories" may be something of a misnomer, as Blackwood is hard to classify -- perhaps "supernatural tale" would be more appropriate. In his most effective tales, he slowly draws the reader into a downward spiral of dread and terror, creating a palpable sense of a malevolent unknowable or unspeakable something. This ability to arouse and sustain terror is what is truly remarkable about Blackwood's writing. It's remarkable that he keeps the reader's spellbound attention while essentially simply describing a psychological sort of unwinding or inchoate impressions.
I love these affordable Dover editions of ghost, detective, and supernatural stories and have many of them. This one has a foreword by the excellent critic and editor E.F. Bleiler.
I love these affordable Dover editions of ghost, detective, and supernatural stories and have many of them. This one has a foreword by the excellent critic and editor E.F. Bleiler.
October 12, 2017
This is a collection of the most famous of Algernon Blackwood's spooky stories, plus a concluding one, 'Max Hensig' which is non-supernatural and deals with a reporter's brush with the psychopathic killer of the title, quite interesting in its own right.
The book opens with 'The Willows', a long story which some have stated is the best ghost story in the English language. I wouldn't agree; for a start, it isn't about ghosts but about the encounter of two men, travelling to the source of the Danube, with forces from another dimension. The setting is a remote marshy area covered in stunted willow bushes, and in the course of the story, the willows take on something of the nature of the inimical force which threatens the two men. I found it a bit slow, and its chief interest lay in my conviction that it must have influenced H P Lovecraft, a well-read man, because it is surely the earliest example (the 1907 credit is of its first collection in another anthology, so it is earlier than that) of a story about the intrusion into our dimension of hostile forces alien to humankind - a theme which became Lovecraft's entire oeuvre.
Other stories, such as 'Ancient Sorceries' and 'Secret Worship' concern those who worship traditional sources of evil, such as the devil Asmodeus. A hapless protagonist is drawn into a situation where he feels an irrestible attraction to a place or person, sometimes both - in 'Ancient Sorceries' and 'Glamour of the Snow' the person in question is a femme fatale who exercises an almost literally fatal attraction. The portrayal of witchcraft is always traditionally satanic in nature; far from the nature worship of the modern Wiccan religion which antedated Blackwood's stories.
Other tales are more varied - 'The Listener' concerns an impoverished magazine article writer who takes rooms because they are cheap and finds out why, and 'He Kept His Promise' is about a student who is cramming for his exams when an old friend arrives, sadly transformed. In 'Ancient Lights' a staid officeworker is pixie-lead in an old wood, and an equally unadventurous character on a walking holiday is brought face to face with a moral dilemma in 'Accessory Before the Fact'. 'The Empty House' is the most traditional ghost story in the collection, in which the protagonist is asked to accompany his plucky but elderly aunt who wants support when she spends the night in a local haunted house.
'The Transfer' is unusual in that it is the only story with a female protagonist: a governess who witnesses the visit of her employer's brother, a psychic vampire who leaches vitality from all around him, but who finally meets his match in a rather mystical fashion. And 'The Other Wing' is from the viewpoint of a young boy, although it is rather confusing at first, implying that the boy is an invalid - he isn't - and then that he is much younger than eight or nine; but it does capture well the attempt by a child to make sense of strange phenomena by inventing his own story about it to tell himself.
Some of the stories fall a bit flat with non-conclusive endings: 'Ancient Sorceries', already mentioned, is one of a series Blackwood apparently wrote where someone tells their tale to a "psychic doctor" called John Silence, and trails off rather flatly. However, even where they strike a modern reader as a bit slow or predictable, or lacking an impactful ending, they nevertheless are usually good at evoking an atmosphere of creepy awareness of the supernatural.
Not the final story in the book, but the one I most enjoyed was the first Blackwood story I ever read, 'The Wendigo'. Despite last reading this as a child, I still remembered certain striking details. The story holds a strange power and tellingly, is set in the great outdoors of remote Canada. Blackwood was a great explorer of wildernesses which still existed in the early Twentieth Century, Canada being one, and in 'The Wendigo' he evokes the remote loneliness and power of the forests and the strangeness of its denizens. Loosely based on a Native American mythological character, this story still creates shivers, though it is necessary to overlook the stereotypes of the era, including the somewhat condescending portrayal of the Native American cook and general dogsbody.
Given the mixture of stories and their varying success for me, my overall rating for the collection is 3 stars.
The book opens with 'The Willows', a long story which some have stated is the best ghost story in the English language. I wouldn't agree; for a start, it isn't about ghosts but about the encounter of two men, travelling to the source of the Danube, with forces from another dimension. The setting is a remote marshy area covered in stunted willow bushes, and in the course of the story, the willows take on something of the nature of the inimical force which threatens the two men. I found it a bit slow, and its chief interest lay in my conviction that it must have influenced H P Lovecraft, a well-read man, because it is surely the earliest example (the 1907 credit is of its first collection in another anthology, so it is earlier than that) of a story about the intrusion into our dimension of hostile forces alien to humankind - a theme which became Lovecraft's entire oeuvre.
Other stories, such as 'Ancient Sorceries' and 'Secret Worship' concern those who worship traditional sources of evil, such as the devil Asmodeus. A hapless protagonist is drawn into a situation where he feels an irrestible attraction to a place or person, sometimes both - in 'Ancient Sorceries' and 'Glamour of the Snow' the person in question is a femme fatale who exercises an almost literally fatal attraction. The portrayal of witchcraft is always traditionally satanic in nature; far from the nature worship of the modern Wiccan religion which antedated Blackwood's stories.
Other tales are more varied - 'The Listener' concerns an impoverished magazine article writer who takes rooms because they are cheap and finds out why, and 'He Kept His Promise' is about a student who is cramming for his exams when an old friend arrives, sadly transformed. In 'Ancient Lights' a staid officeworker is pixie-lead in an old wood, and an equally unadventurous character on a walking holiday is brought face to face with a moral dilemma in 'Accessory Before the Fact'. 'The Empty House' is the most traditional ghost story in the collection, in which the protagonist is asked to accompany his plucky but elderly aunt who wants support when she spends the night in a local haunted house.
'The Transfer' is unusual in that it is the only story with a female protagonist: a governess who witnesses the visit of her employer's brother, a psychic vampire who leaches vitality from all around him, but who finally meets his match in a rather mystical fashion. And 'The Other Wing' is from the viewpoint of a young boy, although it is rather confusing at first, implying that the boy is an invalid - he isn't - and then that he is much younger than eight or nine; but it does capture well the attempt by a child to make sense of strange phenomena by inventing his own story about it to tell himself.
Some of the stories fall a bit flat with non-conclusive endings: 'Ancient Sorceries', already mentioned, is one of a series Blackwood apparently wrote where someone tells their tale to a "psychic doctor" called John Silence, and trails off rather flatly. However, even where they strike a modern reader as a bit slow or predictable, or lacking an impactful ending, they nevertheless are usually good at evoking an atmosphere of creepy awareness of the supernatural.
Not the final story in the book, but the one I most enjoyed was the first Blackwood story I ever read, 'The Wendigo'. Despite last reading this as a child, I still remembered certain striking details. The story holds a strange power and tellingly, is set in the great outdoors of remote Canada. Blackwood was a great explorer of wildernesses which still existed in the early Twentieth Century, Canada being one, and in 'The Wendigo' he evokes the remote loneliness and power of the forests and the strangeness of its denizens. Loosely based on a Native American mythological character, this story still creates shivers, though it is necessary to overlook the stereotypes of the era, including the somewhat condescending portrayal of the Native American cook and general dogsbody.
Given the mixture of stories and their varying success for me, my overall rating for the collection is 3 stars.
May 6, 2015
This was my first exposure to Blackwood's writing, and it won't be my last. Really good ghost stories in the literary vein. My favorites were The Willows and The Wendigo, mainly because of the settings. Blackwood can take the ghost story out of the haunted house (although he does those too) and put them right in the middle of the forest and make them so very unsettling.
As with any collection of this sort, some stories are better than others, but there was really nothing that I disliked. It was all readable and some were downright chilling. The final story in the volume, Max Hensig, was probably my least favorite, but even it had its own appeal.
If you are a fan of classical ghost stories, then be sure to pick this volume up. You won't be disappointed.
As with any collection of this sort, some stories are better than others, but there was really nothing that I disliked. It was all readable and some were downright chilling. The final story in the volume, Max Hensig, was probably my least favorite, but even it had its own appeal.
If you are a fan of classical ghost stories, then be sure to pick this volume up. You won't be disappointed.
August 4, 2018
Vaiduokliai ir priešiška, šiurpi gamta!
13 trumpų siaubo istorijų, kurias gal vertinčiau geriau, jei nelyginčiau su Lovecraftu ir Poe. Faina, kad istorijų aplinkybės labai skirtingos - vienur žmonės stovyklauja gamtoje ir susiduria su tuo, su kuo susidurti nederėtų, kitur studentas išsinuomoja įtartinai pigų kambarį, dar kitur žurnalistas eina daryti interviu su pavojingu žudiku. Grėsmę gali kelti viskas - namai, kambariai, žmonės, sena mokykla, bet labiausiai - gamta. Aprašymai smulkūs ir nuostabūs. Paprastai literatūroje nedaug kalbama apie kvapus (žinau, žinau, Proustas - bet apskritai ne itin dažnas atvejis), o čia kvapai vaidina labai svarbų vaidmenį. Kvapai, garsai, kažkas menkai apčiuopiama, lyg virpėjimas ore etc.
Smagiausia skaityti istorijų vidurį - aprašymai vis dar gyvi, įtampa kyla ir visai neaišku, kuo viskas pasibaigs. Bet kai pasibaigdavo, likdavau šiek tiek nusivylusi. Nežinau, tos mistinės jėgos galų gale pasirodydavo kažkokios... proziškos? Gražu, įdomu, bet gale tarsi kažko trūksta. Vaiduokliai vaiduoklina, nes kažką nužudė ar nusižudė, gamta gamtina, o vienuoliai garbina velnią. Ok.
Perskaičiusi nueidavau miegoti ramiai ir miegodavau kaip katinėlis, grėsmės nuojauta neužsilikdavo.
Dar - tikrai ne kiekvieną knygą skaitau įjungusi savo 'feminist agenda', bet čia kažkaip erzino moterų personažų kūrimas. Yra kelios mistinės vilioklės, jautri auklė ir 'neįprastai drąsi kaip moteriai' teta. Net istorijose, kur moterų visai nėra, buvo justi kažkokia lyčių dichotomija: tikri vyrai su palapine gamtoje daro vyriškus dalykus etc. Gal aš prisigalvoju, bet vėl - Lovecrafto ar Poe istorijose visai (ar beveik) nėra moterų, bet tai pastebėjau tik dabar, kai pradėjau apie tai galvoti. Kai skaitai, įsijauti į tau pateikiamą personažą ir jo lytis visai nesvarbi. O čia tas backgroundinis vyriškumas-moteriškumas truputį maišė, bet net negaliu pirštu parodyti, kur ir kodėl.
Apskritai istorijos geros, siūlau paskaityti ir mėgautis aprašymais ir viduriu, pernelyg daug vilčių nededant į knygos pabaigą.
13 trumpų siaubo istorijų, kurias gal vertinčiau geriau, jei nelyginčiau su Lovecraftu ir Poe. Faina, kad istorijų aplinkybės labai skirtingos - vienur žmonės stovyklauja gamtoje ir susiduria su tuo, su kuo susidurti nederėtų, kitur studentas išsinuomoja įtartinai pigų kambarį, dar kitur žurnalistas eina daryti interviu su pavojingu žudiku. Grėsmę gali kelti viskas - namai, kambariai, žmonės, sena mokykla, bet labiausiai - gamta. Aprašymai smulkūs ir nuostabūs. Paprastai literatūroje nedaug kalbama apie kvapus (žinau, žinau, Proustas - bet apskritai ne itin dažnas atvejis), o čia kvapai vaidina labai svarbų vaidmenį. Kvapai, garsai, kažkas menkai apčiuopiama, lyg virpėjimas ore etc.
Smagiausia skaityti istorijų vidurį - aprašymai vis dar gyvi, įtampa kyla ir visai neaišku, kuo viskas pasibaigs. Bet kai pasibaigdavo, likdavau šiek tiek nusivylusi. Nežinau, tos mistinės jėgos galų gale pasirodydavo kažkokios... proziškos? Gražu, įdomu, bet gale tarsi kažko trūksta. Vaiduokliai vaiduoklina, nes kažką nužudė ar nusižudė, gamta gamtina, o vienuoliai garbina velnią. Ok.
Perskaičiusi nueidavau miegoti ramiai ir miegodavau kaip katinėlis, grėsmės nuojauta neužsilikdavo.
Dar - tikrai ne kiekvieną knygą skaitau įjungusi savo 'feminist agenda', bet čia kažkaip erzino moterų personažų kūrimas. Yra kelios mistinės vilioklės, jautri auklė ir 'neįprastai drąsi kaip moteriai' teta. Net istorijose, kur moterų visai nėra, buvo justi kažkokia lyčių dichotomija: tikri vyrai su palapine gamtoje daro vyriškus dalykus etc. Gal aš prisigalvoju, bet vėl - Lovecrafto ar Poe istorijose visai (ar beveik) nėra moterų, bet tai pastebėjau tik dabar, kai pradėjau apie tai galvoti. Kai skaitai, įsijauti į tau pateikiamą personažą ir jo lytis visai nesvarbi. O čia tas backgroundinis vyriškumas-moteriškumas truputį maišė, bet net negaliu pirštu parodyti, kur ir kodėl.
Apskritai istorijos geros, siūlau paskaityti ir mėgautis aprašymais ir viduriu, pernelyg daug vilčių nededant į knygos pabaigą.
October 23, 2017
It’s my favorite time of year, and I’m not talking about election season. Actually, I’m a huge fan of Halloween, for a lot of reasons. It’s my favorite holiday, not just because I’m a pagan, but because it falls in one of the most beautiful seasons of the northern hemisphere this time of year, when leaves start to turn colors and litter the yard and a crisp coolness is in the air. There’s also the whole candy and costumes thing, too, which I love, but what I really love is that this is the perfect time for ghost stories.
I love horror movies, and I love reading horror fiction, but I honestly don’t spend as much time as I’d like reading horror, mainly because I just get caught up in other stuff. (It’s the downside for having eclectic tastes in reading.) But I’ve always had a love for the genre, starting with my first Stephen King novel back when I was in middle school. (“The Stand”, immediately followed by “It”)
King was the gateway to other writers like Clive Barker, Dean Koontz, Peter Straub, Anne Rice, H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe. I graduated on from there to more “literary” horror writers like Shirley Jackson, Octavia Butler, Bram Stoker, Rudyard Kipling, Mary Shelley. Even writers who aren’t known particularly for horror have written books which have made my favorite lists in horror: Toni Morrison (“Beloved” is, at its heart, a creepy ghost story.), George Orwell (There is nothing more horrifying than a good dystopic future, and “1984” is one of the best and most horrifying.), and Roberto Bolano (I was left with an unsettling “WTF?” feeling after reading “2666”, and while I’m not sure what happened in it, it was undoubtedly a horror novel, albeit an incredibly poetic one.)
I’ve read a lot of horror, and I’ve seen a lot of horror movies in my 45 years, so I feel that I have a pretty good grasp of the genre. While I do happen to love gratuitous blood and gore in my fiction, as in film, I tend to be a lot more discriminating nowadays. I steer clear of what is commonly called “torture porn” in movies, mainly because that kind of depravity is less horror than it is simply shock value violence. It’s the lame and lazy attempt at scares, the equivalent to the cat jumping out of a closet or the killer popping up behind a victim. It’s also too close to reality: I don’t need to be reminded that there are sick fucks in the world who will torture and kill for some perverted sense of fun.
Lately, my tastes in horror have reverted back to a simpler time, when things that really scared me were the childhood fears of shadows moving across the wall at night, or creaky boards in old houses, or that sense (the “sixth” one, according to M. Night Shyamalan) that an unseen presence is nearby, preceded by the hairs on the back of my neck popping up.
Lately, I am less interested in blood and guts and more into a sense of the supernatural, a feeling of cosmic dread, which is why Lovecraft has always held a special place in my (twisted) heart.
While not a particularly great writer, Lovecraft was a brilliant creator of dark worlds populated with ideas and concepts that often went beyond the traditional sense of the supernatural. Not constrained by a Judeo-Christian mythos or ideology, Lovecraft felt that there were, certainly, supernatural forces bigger than us operating in the universe, but that they were older than, and more powerful than, our notions of God or ancient deities. He called them “Old Ones”, and they had ravaged the universe long before our solar system was even a spinning mass of debris, and the only reason they hadn’t destroyed us yet is because we were simply too tiny and inconsequential to be a blip on their radar.
Lovecraft, of course, got his sense of the weird and spooky from somewhere. In interviews, Lovecraft referenced, as inspiration, Victorian-era horror writers such as J.S. Le Fanu, M.R. James, and Algernon Blackwood. Sadly, many of these writers are rarely read anymore. In the case of James, for instance, it is perhaps due to the fact that he created so many of the horror fiction cliches that we take for granted today that reading him is almost like reading basic templates of novels or stories by subsequent, and better, horror writers.
Blackwood, a ridiculously prolific writer (he published over 50 novels, plays, short story collections, and children books in his lifetime), was considered a major influence on Lovecraft, and it’s easy to see why.
“Best Ghost Stories of Algernon Blackwood”, compiled and edited by E.F. Blieler and published in 1973 by Dover Publications, is a short but intense collection of ghost stories by Blackwood. Bleiler, himself, in his introduction, admits that Blackwood’s body of work is so huge as to be unable to include all of his best stuff, and that many of his best works were too long to be included in a compilation. Nevertheless, the selection is impressive. If anything, the book makes me want to find more of Blackwood’s published works, many of which are, unfortunately, out of print.
The opening story, “The Willows”, is so overtly Lovecraftian one would think it was written by Lovecraft himself. The story takes place during a long canoe trip down the Danube. Two (unnamed) friends, ostensibly college buddies (although so little is actually revealed about either character, almost purposefully), set up camp on a desolate piece of land somewhere between Vienna and Budapest. On the first night, both men witness what they first think is a corpse floating down the river but may have been just an otter flopping about in the water. They also see what could have either been a man standing on a barge, waving his hands at them as if warning them about something, or debris in the shape of man with outstretched arms. The trip goes downhill from there.
As the story progresses, an inexplicable dread creeps into each man’s psyche, brought on by horrifying but unrecognizable noises and the sense that the creepy willow trees are alive and moving around at night. Things go from bad to worse, and all the while, the men exchange theories to explain their plight, most having to do with the growing knowledge that they’ve stumbled upon a soft spot in our world that is a gateway into another world, an alternate dimension in which otherworldly and horrible creatures abide, and they have nothing but hatred and evil designs upon the world of man.
This story is, by far, the creepiest story of the bunch, and it’s a great opener for the other twelve stories.
Two stories involve Blackwood’s recurring character, John Silence, a psychic detective who pits himself in cases involving strange, supernatural aspects. In one story, “Secret Worship”, he saves a man who comes to visit his old boarding-school only to find that it is now run by a Satan-worshipping cabal of former faculty members and students, who may be the undead. In another, “Ancient Sorceries”, a man consults Mr. Silence about an incident in a French town in which everyone turned into cats at night, a fact that Silence nonchalantly explains away as simply being indicative of an entire town of witches and warlocks, because everyone knows that a witch’s most prominent familiar is that of the cat. Of course.
Some of the stories are more run-of-the-mill haunted house stories, but they are all expertly executed and guaranteed to give one the heebie-jeebies.
The last story, “Max Hensig”, is out of place in that it is the only one that does not have anything to do with the supernatural, but it is nevertheless still creepy as hell. Blackwood was a journalist for a short time in New York City, and he had obviously seen some shit. In the story, the protagonist, Williams, is a journalist who is covering the trial of a German doctor accused of poisoning his wife. The doctor insists he is innocent, and while the general public seems to be split on it, Williams is sure the guy’s a killer, and his articles don’t hide his feelings. (It was, apparently, acceptable for journalists to editorialize far more in stories than it is today. Either that, or editors were just completely worthless back then.) When Hensig is set free due to a technicality, Williams’s world is turned upside down. Word on the street is that Hensig is after the journalist, and soon Williams is seeing the German doctor everywhere. Hensig is a joyfully creepy and charismatic psycho, who predates Hannibal Lector by about seventy years. It wouldn’t surprise me if Thomas Harris used this story as inspiration for his classic character in “The Silence of the Lambs”. I certainly can see Anthony Hopkins playing Dr. Hensig.
If you’re looking for some good old-fashioned scares and ones that will certainly leave that slow crawl of dread down one’s spine, it would behoove one to check out the stories of Blackwood.
Happy Halloween!
I love horror movies, and I love reading horror fiction, but I honestly don’t spend as much time as I’d like reading horror, mainly because I just get caught up in other stuff. (It’s the downside for having eclectic tastes in reading.) But I’ve always had a love for the genre, starting with my first Stephen King novel back when I was in middle school. (“The Stand”, immediately followed by “It”)
King was the gateway to other writers like Clive Barker, Dean Koontz, Peter Straub, Anne Rice, H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe. I graduated on from there to more “literary” horror writers like Shirley Jackson, Octavia Butler, Bram Stoker, Rudyard Kipling, Mary Shelley. Even writers who aren’t known particularly for horror have written books which have made my favorite lists in horror: Toni Morrison (“Beloved” is, at its heart, a creepy ghost story.), George Orwell (There is nothing more horrifying than a good dystopic future, and “1984” is one of the best and most horrifying.), and Roberto Bolano (I was left with an unsettling “WTF?” feeling after reading “2666”, and while I’m not sure what happened in it, it was undoubtedly a horror novel, albeit an incredibly poetic one.)
I’ve read a lot of horror, and I’ve seen a lot of horror movies in my 45 years, so I feel that I have a pretty good grasp of the genre. While I do happen to love gratuitous blood and gore in my fiction, as in film, I tend to be a lot more discriminating nowadays. I steer clear of what is commonly called “torture porn” in movies, mainly because that kind of depravity is less horror than it is simply shock value violence. It’s the lame and lazy attempt at scares, the equivalent to the cat jumping out of a closet or the killer popping up behind a victim. It’s also too close to reality: I don’t need to be reminded that there are sick fucks in the world who will torture and kill for some perverted sense of fun.
Lately, my tastes in horror have reverted back to a simpler time, when things that really scared me were the childhood fears of shadows moving across the wall at night, or creaky boards in old houses, or that sense (the “sixth” one, according to M. Night Shyamalan) that an unseen presence is nearby, preceded by the hairs on the back of my neck popping up.
Lately, I am less interested in blood and guts and more into a sense of the supernatural, a feeling of cosmic dread, which is why Lovecraft has always held a special place in my (twisted) heart.
While not a particularly great writer, Lovecraft was a brilliant creator of dark worlds populated with ideas and concepts that often went beyond the traditional sense of the supernatural. Not constrained by a Judeo-Christian mythos or ideology, Lovecraft felt that there were, certainly, supernatural forces bigger than us operating in the universe, but that they were older than, and more powerful than, our notions of God or ancient deities. He called them “Old Ones”, and they had ravaged the universe long before our solar system was even a spinning mass of debris, and the only reason they hadn’t destroyed us yet is because we were simply too tiny and inconsequential to be a blip on their radar.
Lovecraft, of course, got his sense of the weird and spooky from somewhere. In interviews, Lovecraft referenced, as inspiration, Victorian-era horror writers such as J.S. Le Fanu, M.R. James, and Algernon Blackwood. Sadly, many of these writers are rarely read anymore. In the case of James, for instance, it is perhaps due to the fact that he created so many of the horror fiction cliches that we take for granted today that reading him is almost like reading basic templates of novels or stories by subsequent, and better, horror writers.
Blackwood, a ridiculously prolific writer (he published over 50 novels, plays, short story collections, and children books in his lifetime), was considered a major influence on Lovecraft, and it’s easy to see why.
“Best Ghost Stories of Algernon Blackwood”, compiled and edited by E.F. Blieler and published in 1973 by Dover Publications, is a short but intense collection of ghost stories by Blackwood. Bleiler, himself, in his introduction, admits that Blackwood’s body of work is so huge as to be unable to include all of his best stuff, and that many of his best works were too long to be included in a compilation. Nevertheless, the selection is impressive. If anything, the book makes me want to find more of Blackwood’s published works, many of which are, unfortunately, out of print.
The opening story, “The Willows”, is so overtly Lovecraftian one would think it was written by Lovecraft himself. The story takes place during a long canoe trip down the Danube. Two (unnamed) friends, ostensibly college buddies (although so little is actually revealed about either character, almost purposefully), set up camp on a desolate piece of land somewhere between Vienna and Budapest. On the first night, both men witness what they first think is a corpse floating down the river but may have been just an otter flopping about in the water. They also see what could have either been a man standing on a barge, waving his hands at them as if warning them about something, or debris in the shape of man with outstretched arms. The trip goes downhill from there.
As the story progresses, an inexplicable dread creeps into each man’s psyche, brought on by horrifying but unrecognizable noises and the sense that the creepy willow trees are alive and moving around at night. Things go from bad to worse, and all the while, the men exchange theories to explain their plight, most having to do with the growing knowledge that they’ve stumbled upon a soft spot in our world that is a gateway into another world, an alternate dimension in which otherworldly and horrible creatures abide, and they have nothing but hatred and evil designs upon the world of man.
This story is, by far, the creepiest story of the bunch, and it’s a great opener for the other twelve stories.
Two stories involve Blackwood’s recurring character, John Silence, a psychic detective who pits himself in cases involving strange, supernatural aspects. In one story, “Secret Worship”, he saves a man who comes to visit his old boarding-school only to find that it is now run by a Satan-worshipping cabal of former faculty members and students, who may be the undead. In another, “Ancient Sorceries”, a man consults Mr. Silence about an incident in a French town in which everyone turned into cats at night, a fact that Silence nonchalantly explains away as simply being indicative of an entire town of witches and warlocks, because everyone knows that a witch’s most prominent familiar is that of the cat. Of course.
Some of the stories are more run-of-the-mill haunted house stories, but they are all expertly executed and guaranteed to give one the heebie-jeebies.
The last story, “Max Hensig”, is out of place in that it is the only one that does not have anything to do with the supernatural, but it is nevertheless still creepy as hell. Blackwood was a journalist for a short time in New York City, and he had obviously seen some shit. In the story, the protagonist, Williams, is a journalist who is covering the trial of a German doctor accused of poisoning his wife. The doctor insists he is innocent, and while the general public seems to be split on it, Williams is sure the guy’s a killer, and his articles don’t hide his feelings. (It was, apparently, acceptable for journalists to editorialize far more in stories than it is today. Either that, or editors were just completely worthless back then.) When Hensig is set free due to a technicality, Williams’s world is turned upside down. Word on the street is that Hensig is after the journalist, and soon Williams is seeing the German doctor everywhere. Hensig is a joyfully creepy and charismatic psycho, who predates Hannibal Lector by about seventy years. It wouldn’t surprise me if Thomas Harris used this story as inspiration for his classic character in “The Silence of the Lambs”. I certainly can see Anthony Hopkins playing Dr. Hensig.
If you’re looking for some good old-fashioned scares and ones that will certainly leave that slow crawl of dread down one’s spine, it would behoove one to check out the stories of Blackwood.
Happy Halloween!
November 29, 2007
I picked up this book because I had read, more than once, that "The Willows" is considered by many to be the best ghost story ever written. I'm not sure that I would agree. A well-written tale that had me feeling a little "edgy" at times, it didn't really sustain itself for me. I realize that many might confuse the "ghost" story with a "horror" story, and they are not necessarily the same (though they can be), but a ghostly presence ought to run a shivver up my spine, and this didn't, though perhaps it came close.
August 18, 2010
"the willows" is so scary i was reading it aloud to my wife and she made me stop before i finished. then i walked the dog and the dog kept looking over his shoulder and stopping, he was petrified.
also, Blackwood has a tremendous vocabulary, it's fun to look up words like "rosacrutian."
also, Blackwood has a tremendous vocabulary, it's fun to look up words like "rosacrutian."
November 21, 2025
2025 Book #25:
Best Ghost Stories (1938) by Algernon Blackwood
This volume collects several iconic supernatural tales originally written in the first two decades of the twentieth century. For anyone already familiar with Blackwood, you know that we’re dealing with a masterful writer, an irreproachable craftsman of atmosphere. Blackwood (along with authors such as Hodgson, Machen, Chambers, and M. R. James) is usually heralded as one of the foundational (pre-Lovecraftian) writers of what would come to be known as weird fiction. What makes this collection interesting, however, is that it represents two halves of a divide within early-twentieth-century supernatural fiction. On the one hand, we have several fairly conventional ghost stories here. These are mostly unremarkable outside of Blackwood’s skillful suspense-building and engrossing prose. But on the other hand, we have the really great stories of weird fiction (e.g., “The Willows,” “The Wendigo,” “The Transfer”) that dispense with the ghost trope in order to focus on something more mysterious: the ineffable and incomprehensible dimension of phenomena lurking just outside our perception. It’s really Blackwood’s weird stories, not his ghost stories, which are his rightly regarded masterpieces. If this volume just included the weird fiction, it would be a perfect reading experience. But the inclusion of the less-interesting ghost stories is of historical interest, helping to contextualize Blackwood as someone embedded within the late-Victorian/Edwardian ghost-story tradition. Whatever the case, this is a collection worth checking out. (high 4/5)
Best Ghost Stories (1938) by Algernon Blackwood
This volume collects several iconic supernatural tales originally written in the first two decades of the twentieth century. For anyone already familiar with Blackwood, you know that we’re dealing with a masterful writer, an irreproachable craftsman of atmosphere. Blackwood (along with authors such as Hodgson, Machen, Chambers, and M. R. James) is usually heralded as one of the foundational (pre-Lovecraftian) writers of what would come to be known as weird fiction. What makes this collection interesting, however, is that it represents two halves of a divide within early-twentieth-century supernatural fiction. On the one hand, we have several fairly conventional ghost stories here. These are mostly unremarkable outside of Blackwood’s skillful suspense-building and engrossing prose. But on the other hand, we have the really great stories of weird fiction (e.g., “The Willows,” “The Wendigo,” “The Transfer”) that dispense with the ghost trope in order to focus on something more mysterious: the ineffable and incomprehensible dimension of phenomena lurking just outside our perception. It’s really Blackwood’s weird stories, not his ghost stories, which are his rightly regarded masterpieces. If this volume just included the weird fiction, it would be a perfect reading experience. But the inclusion of the less-interesting ghost stories is of historical interest, helping to contextualize Blackwood as someone embedded within the late-Victorian/Edwardian ghost-story tradition. Whatever the case, this is a collection worth checking out. (high 4/5)
January 6, 2022
Mixed bag of stories with a final story, Max Hensig, that blew my mind.
September 15, 2020
This collection showcases how Blackwood straddled the gap between the classic ghost stories of antiquity and the cosmic horror stories that came after. One of Blackwood’s works features a haunted houses with 13 in the address where the ghosts become most active at midnight, a paradigmatic example of such a tale that M.R. James might have written. Another features strange creatures from other dimensions, whose reality leaks into our own in certain strange corners of the world, a clear predecessor and acknowledged influence of H.P. Lovecraft.
Blackwood is not merely a transitionary figure in horror, however, as his works have their own distinguishing features, most notably his transformation of nature into its own type of supernatural threat. I would say that the best of the collection are The Willows, The Listener, and Ancient Sorceries, though the latter amused me mostly because it featured a hot teenage catgirl long before such things became a staple in Japanese media. The only story I would categorize as bad through-and-through is The Transfer, but at least that one is short. To be clear, however, most of the tales in the collection are decidedly middle of the road. I did appreciate the variety in the collection, with the thriller story Max Hensig providing an interesting break from all the supernatural horror stories that preceded it.
If you like Lovecraft and want more works in the same vein then pick this collection up, and if you enjoy haunted house stories the collection features several of them as well. Overall the quality of the collection averages out to a 3/5.
Blackwood is not merely a transitionary figure in horror, however, as his works have their own distinguishing features, most notably his transformation of nature into its own type of supernatural threat. I would say that the best of the collection are The Willows, The Listener, and Ancient Sorceries, though the latter amused me mostly because it featured a hot teenage catgirl long before such things became a staple in Japanese media. The only story I would categorize as bad through-and-through is The Transfer, but at least that one is short. To be clear, however, most of the tales in the collection are decidedly middle of the road. I did appreciate the variety in the collection, with the thriller story Max Hensig providing an interesting break from all the supernatural horror stories that preceded it.
If you like Lovecraft and want more works in the same vein then pick this collection up, and if you enjoy haunted house stories the collection features several of them as well. Overall the quality of the collection averages out to a 3/5.
February 28, 2019
Os Salgueiros - 4*
A Outra Ala - 4.5*
O Wendigo - 4.5*
Luzes Antigas - 4.5*
Feitiços Antigos - 4*
O Homem que descobriu (um pesadelo) - 4*
O Homem à escuta - 3.5*
A Outra Ala - 4.5*
O Wendigo - 4.5*
Luzes Antigas - 4.5*
Feitiços Antigos - 4*
O Homem que descobriu (um pesadelo) - 4*
O Homem à escuta - 3.5*
May 19, 2015
An excellent introduction to Blackwood for those who – like me – either haven’t read this notable British writer much, or possibly haven’t read him at all. Most of the stories here (other than “Max Hensig,” a crime tale with psychic overtones) were written before 1916, and combine traditional slow-burn horror with some of the finest atmospherics around.
Two of the longer tales – “The Willows” and “The Wendigo” – are weird fiction classics, and worth the very reasonable price of this collection all by themselves. The rest ring a wide variety of changes on the traditional ghost story. Some are distinctly horrific (I found “Secret Worship,” “The Listener,” and “The Empty House” particularly disturbing), while others focus on the pure experience of being haunted
Blackwood’s style is thoroughly English -- literary & “chewy.” His endings might be a little quiet for modern tastes, but he delivers some serious chills along the way.
Two of the longer tales – “The Willows” and “The Wendigo” – are weird fiction classics, and worth the very reasonable price of this collection all by themselves. The rest ring a wide variety of changes on the traditional ghost story. Some are distinctly horrific (I found “Secret Worship,” “The Listener,” and “The Empty House” particularly disturbing), while others focus on the pure experience of being haunted
Blackwood’s style is thoroughly English -- literary & “chewy.” His endings might be a little quiet for modern tastes, but he delivers some serious chills along the way.
April 6, 2015
Not sure if I should mark this read or did-not-finish. I did get through three of the stories in this compilation, and enjoyed the world building and the eery tone Blackwood created, but in every one I was disappointed by the ending. I think it was a reflection of the time in which it was written, but I don't want my ghost stories to end with pseudo-scientific rationalizations; if I wanted that, I'd read science fiction. Also, maybe two of the three stories involved actual ghosts, and one of those two only counts if you consider reincarnation as a type of ghost story.
So, saying goodbye to Blackwood and continuing my search for another great (spooky, not gross) Gothic horror author, preferably one with a thing for ghosts.
So, saying goodbye to Blackwood and continuing my search for another great (spooky, not gross) Gothic horror author, preferably one with a thing for ghosts.
September 15, 2012
Calling Blackwood's tales ghost stories, it has been written, is like calling Melville's Moby Dick a fish story. One of my favorite shot stories anthologies to pick up between novels, the imaginative journey these stories take you on is amazing. "The Willows," "The Glamour of the Snow," and "The Windigo" are standouts, but all of these 13 stories are incredible!
July 9, 2017
An excellent collection of some of Blackwood's best short stories, and a fine companion piece to Penguin Classic's Ancient Sorceries (though a couple of the stories overlap). Only a weaker second half prevents me from rating this five stars, but it's a minor quibble, and if you're looking to sample Blackwood for the first time, or acquire a nice if non-comprehensive 'best of' collection, then you can't really go wrong.
January 16, 2021
Excellent collection of atmospheric bedtime stories...
No spoilers. 4 stars. Although I've rated this collection of 13 short stories by Algernon Blackwood 4 stars overall, there are a few 5 star tales within and I've rated each story individually... so enjoy!...
THE WILLOWS: 5 stars.
Two camping companions canoeing on the Danube decide to stop for the night on a small island surrounded by marsh willows... they got more than they bargained for because the willows were looking for a victim...
SECRET WORSHIP: 4 1/2 stars.
Harris, traveling from England through Germany stops at a railway inn for supper and meets a priest and fellow Englishman at table. Harris tells the men he had attended university here at a school run by a devout brotherhood of priests and he intends to pay them a visit... the priest tells Harris: You will find the brotherhood different...
ANCIENT SORCORIES: 3 stars.
A psychic doctor who loved to unravel mysteries to their very soul meets a man who was crossing northern France and decided to exit the train at the next stop and spend the night at the inn there... but the little village was stranger than he anticipated... and so were the people...
THE GLAMOUR OF SNOW: 3 stars.
Hibbert is vacationing in the snowy Alps. Three worlds vacationed there: tourists, peasants and nature; he felt he belonged to the world of nature... and it was this self-identification that led him to be vulnerable to the wiles of a young woman he met one cold, windy midnight in the deserted skating rink..
THE WENDIGO: 4 stars.
A seasoned group of moose hunters camp in the Canadian wilderness... one of the men goes missing... some say he had met the Wendigo...
THE OTHER WING: 2 stars.
A little boy is fixated on a forbidden wing of the old family house. One night he wakes to find the doors open to the corridor of the Other Wing... he gets his great grandfather's walking cane and enters the Corridor of Nightmares...
THE TRANSFER: 2 stars.
A clairvoyant English nanny and her little charge, a boy called Jamie, seem to be the only people aware of the vampiric pull of a dead patch of ground in the corner of the garden and an energy-sucking Uncle Frank... which of the two will win the energy tug-of-war?...
ANCIENT LIGHTS: 4 1/2 stars.
A surveyor's clerk was on his way to see about cutting down an ancient wood which was interfering with his client's view... the day was blustery and cloudy with a threat of rain when the clerk came to the wicket gate leading into the wood. He quickly became lost in the trees... he saw in the distance the gamekeeper and asked if this was Lumley Wood... the gamekeeper replied: This wood is ours; trespassers will be persecuted (not prosecuted)...
THE LISTENER: 4 stars.
A man finds cheap rooms for rent at the end of a brick alleyway surrounded by tall buildings in the center of London... the rent is good but the rooms are as quiet and cold as the grave... but late... after midnight... each evening... he hears footsteps on the stairs leading to the little room under the roof...
THE EMPTY HOUSE: 2 stars.
An elderly aunt and her nephew get the keys to a house in the town square believed to be haunted... they agree to go there at midnight and see if there is any truth to this urban legend...
ACCESSORY BEFORE THE FACT: 5 stars.
A man on a walking holiday stood at the moorland crossroads reading the signpost and consulting his map... he thought he had taken a wrong turn while taking a shortcut...
...but the shortcut snare is an old trick. He followed one of the arms of the signpost and, at dusk, came upon two tramps covered in rags who appeared to be waiting for someone...
KEEPING HIS PROMISE: 4 stars.
A student cramming for the next day's exams was interrupted at about 11:00 pm by an old friend who appeared on his doorstep on this rainy night tired and clearly starving... Very atmospheric!...
MAX HENSIG: 5 stars.
This is an excellent story about a NYC reporter writing a story about a German doctor on trial for his wife's murder... the man was eventually acquitted but not before the reporter had written a series of stories about the trial slanting toward the doctor's guilt...
... now the disgruntled German doctor is out to kill the reporter... This engrossing cat and mouse story is similar in some ways to Stephen King's short story APT PUPIL.
This was a great sampling of the atmospheric and eerie stories of Algernon Blackwood. They make good bedtime stories (for adults) which can be finished in one sitting although 2 of the stories, THE WILLOWS and MAX HENSIG are more in the novella territory. I usually avoid collections but this one is exceptional!
No spoilers. 4 stars. Although I've rated this collection of 13 short stories by Algernon Blackwood 4 stars overall, there are a few 5 star tales within and I've rated each story individually... so enjoy!...
THE WILLOWS: 5 stars.
Two camping companions canoeing on the Danube decide to stop for the night on a small island surrounded by marsh willows... they got more than they bargained for because the willows were looking for a victim...
SECRET WORSHIP: 4 1/2 stars.
Harris, traveling from England through Germany stops at a railway inn for supper and meets a priest and fellow Englishman at table. Harris tells the men he had attended university here at a school run by a devout brotherhood of priests and he intends to pay them a visit... the priest tells Harris: You will find the brotherhood different...
ANCIENT SORCORIES: 3 stars.
A psychic doctor who loved to unravel mysteries to their very soul meets a man who was crossing northern France and decided to exit the train at the next stop and spend the night at the inn there... but the little village was stranger than he anticipated... and so were the people...
THE GLAMOUR OF SNOW: 3 stars.
Hibbert is vacationing in the snowy Alps. Three worlds vacationed there: tourists, peasants and nature; he felt he belonged to the world of nature... and it was this self-identification that led him to be vulnerable to the wiles of a young woman he met one cold, windy midnight in the deserted skating rink..
THE WENDIGO: 4 stars.
A seasoned group of moose hunters camp in the Canadian wilderness... one of the men goes missing... some say he had met the Wendigo...
THE OTHER WING: 2 stars.
A little boy is fixated on a forbidden wing of the old family house. One night he wakes to find the doors open to the corridor of the Other Wing... he gets his great grandfather's walking cane and enters the Corridor of Nightmares...
THE TRANSFER: 2 stars.
A clairvoyant English nanny and her little charge, a boy called Jamie, seem to be the only people aware of the vampiric pull of a dead patch of ground in the corner of the garden and an energy-sucking Uncle Frank... which of the two will win the energy tug-of-war?...
ANCIENT LIGHTS: 4 1/2 stars.
A surveyor's clerk was on his way to see about cutting down an ancient wood which was interfering with his client's view... the day was blustery and cloudy with a threat of rain when the clerk came to the wicket gate leading into the wood. He quickly became lost in the trees... he saw in the distance the gamekeeper and asked if this was Lumley Wood... the gamekeeper replied: This wood is ours; trespassers will be persecuted (not prosecuted)...
THE LISTENER: 4 stars.
A man finds cheap rooms for rent at the end of a brick alleyway surrounded by tall buildings in the center of London... the rent is good but the rooms are as quiet and cold as the grave... but late... after midnight... each evening... he hears footsteps on the stairs leading to the little room under the roof...
THE EMPTY HOUSE: 2 stars.
An elderly aunt and her nephew get the keys to a house in the town square believed to be haunted... they agree to go there at midnight and see if there is any truth to this urban legend...
ACCESSORY BEFORE THE FACT: 5 stars.
A man on a walking holiday stood at the moorland crossroads reading the signpost and consulting his map... he thought he had taken a wrong turn while taking a shortcut...
...but the shortcut snare is an old trick. He followed one of the arms of the signpost and, at dusk, came upon two tramps covered in rags who appeared to be waiting for someone...
KEEPING HIS PROMISE: 4 stars.
A student cramming for the next day's exams was interrupted at about 11:00 pm by an old friend who appeared on his doorstep on this rainy night tired and clearly starving... Very atmospheric!...
MAX HENSIG: 5 stars.
This is an excellent story about a NYC reporter writing a story about a German doctor on trial for his wife's murder... the man was eventually acquitted but not before the reporter had written a series of stories about the trial slanting toward the doctor's guilt...
... now the disgruntled German doctor is out to kill the reporter... This engrossing cat and mouse story is similar in some ways to Stephen King's short story APT PUPIL.
This was a great sampling of the atmospheric and eerie stories of Algernon Blackwood. They make good bedtime stories (for adults) which can be finished in one sitting although 2 of the stories, THE WILLOWS and MAX HENSIG are more in the novella territory. I usually avoid collections but this one is exceptional!
November 12, 2018
El año pasado leí con mucho interés varias historias de Blackwood (ptincipalmente las de John Silence) en formato digital, así que decidí adquirir este libro de Dover Publications en inglés para tener fisicamente algunas de ellas y poder leer de paso otros de sus relatos mas famosos.
Cuenta con una introducción sobre la vida de Blackwood y otra escrita por el propio autor en el 37 hablando sobre sus relatos. La edición en general es muy decente.
- The Willows (1907) : Tercera vez que leo este clásico, tercera vez que quedo igual de impresionado. Imprescindible y único. 5/5
- Secret Worship [John Silence] (1908) y Ancient Sorceries [John Silence] (1908) : Los dos mejores relatos de John Silence. Los comenté extensamente el año pasado al criticar "Three John Silence stories" y "Three more John Silence Stories". 5/5 y 5/5.
- The Glamour of the Snow (1911) : Desconocía la existencia de este relato, que tiene elementos comunes a nivel de ambientación con el Wendigo y Ancient sorceries. No es tan redondo, pero se acerca, con un invierno atractivo y esa "idealización vs realidad" de la naturaleza que tanto le gustaba. 4.5/5
- The Wendigo (1910) : Como con The Willows, tercera vez que lo leo, y tercera vez que me maravilla. Escribí una reseña completa sobre él el año pasado. 5/5
- The Other Wing (1915) : Desconocía esta faceta de Blackwood... un relato narrado desde el punto de vista de un niño pequeño, confundiendo sus sueños con la realidad, asociando presencias extrañas a una zona cerrada de su casa y recuerdos de un fallecido abuelo, que quizá tenga aún algo que decir. Me ha encantado, mas cercano a la fantasía que al terror. 5/5
- The Transfer (1911) : Otra historia muy peculiar, en este caso protagonizada por una mujer "sensible psiquicamente". Es tremendamente original, sobre un trozo de tierra donde no crece nada y que el niño de la casa cree que "tiene hambre". Es, hasta cierto punto, un original relato de vampirismo. 5/5
- Ancient Lights (1912) : Corto relato muy Blackwood, con esa fascinación constante con la naturaleza y su conflictiva relación con el hombre. Tiene ese aire intangible, de belleza primordial y miedos ocultos, que tan bien se le dan. 4.5/5
- The Listener (1907) : He leido algunos relatos de este tipo por parte de Blackwood, con un estudiante pobre que acaba en una habitación alquilada en la que ocurren cosas extrañas. The Listener creo que es el mejor de todos ellos, repleto de detalles espeluznantes y escenas sugerentes. Imprescindible. 5/5
- The Empty House (1906) : Aparentemente es uno de sus grandes clásicos, una tradicional historia de fantasmas totalmente centrada en la atmósfera y las sensaciones sensitivas. Se lee con agrado, pero reconozco que no me ha cautivado tanto como a otras personas. 3/5
- Accessory Before the Fact (1914) : Un relato muy corto con un esquema muy sencillo. Es un pequeño divertimento agradable, pero poco original. 2.5/5
- Keeping His Promise (1906) El reencuentro de un estudiante con un viejo amigo venido a menos, y un misterio sobre una promesa hecha hace tiempo. No es nada especialmente original, pero esta bien. 3.5/5
- Max Hensig (1945) : Relato largo que se lee mas bien como un thriller de suspense, que como una historia de terror. Sigue los pasos de un periodista enfrentado a un posible asesino sin escrúpulos. La atmosfera opresiva es impresionante y engancha mucho. En su parte final es demasiado redundante, cosa que me ha sacado a ratos de la lectura y creo que desluce un poco lo que es un magnífico relato. 4/5
A modo de Extra, decir que he leido "A case of Eavesdropping" en otra parte. Es exactamente el mismo tipo de historia que The Listener, pero creo que está algo menos conseguido, con bastantes menos detalles interesantes. Es solvente, pero yo leeria The Listener directamente. 3.5/5
Cuenta con una introducción sobre la vida de Blackwood y otra escrita por el propio autor en el 37 hablando sobre sus relatos. La edición en general es muy decente.
- The Willows (1907) : Tercera vez que leo este clásico, tercera vez que quedo igual de impresionado. Imprescindible y único. 5/5
- Secret Worship [John Silence] (1908) y Ancient Sorceries [John Silence] (1908) : Los dos mejores relatos de John Silence. Los comenté extensamente el año pasado al criticar "Three John Silence stories" y "Three more John Silence Stories". 5/5 y 5/5.
- The Glamour of the Snow (1911) : Desconocía la existencia de este relato, que tiene elementos comunes a nivel de ambientación con el Wendigo y Ancient sorceries. No es tan redondo, pero se acerca, con un invierno atractivo y esa "idealización vs realidad" de la naturaleza que tanto le gustaba. 4.5/5
- The Wendigo (1910) : Como con The Willows, tercera vez que lo leo, y tercera vez que me maravilla. Escribí una reseña completa sobre él el año pasado. 5/5
- The Other Wing (1915) : Desconocía esta faceta de Blackwood... un relato narrado desde el punto de vista de un niño pequeño, confundiendo sus sueños con la realidad, asociando presencias extrañas a una zona cerrada de su casa y recuerdos de un fallecido abuelo, que quizá tenga aún algo que decir. Me ha encantado, mas cercano a la fantasía que al terror. 5/5
- The Transfer (1911) : Otra historia muy peculiar, en este caso protagonizada por una mujer "sensible psiquicamente". Es tremendamente original, sobre un trozo de tierra donde no crece nada y que el niño de la casa cree que "tiene hambre". Es, hasta cierto punto, un original relato de vampirismo. 5/5
- Ancient Lights (1912) : Corto relato muy Blackwood, con esa fascinación constante con la naturaleza y su conflictiva relación con el hombre. Tiene ese aire intangible, de belleza primordial y miedos ocultos, que tan bien se le dan. 4.5/5
- The Listener (1907) : He leido algunos relatos de este tipo por parte de Blackwood, con un estudiante pobre que acaba en una habitación alquilada en la que ocurren cosas extrañas. The Listener creo que es el mejor de todos ellos, repleto de detalles espeluznantes y escenas sugerentes. Imprescindible. 5/5
- The Empty House (1906) : Aparentemente es uno de sus grandes clásicos, una tradicional historia de fantasmas totalmente centrada en la atmósfera y las sensaciones sensitivas. Se lee con agrado, pero reconozco que no me ha cautivado tanto como a otras personas. 3/5
- Accessory Before the Fact (1914) : Un relato muy corto con un esquema muy sencillo. Es un pequeño divertimento agradable, pero poco original. 2.5/5
- Keeping His Promise (1906) El reencuentro de un estudiante con un viejo amigo venido a menos, y un misterio sobre una promesa hecha hace tiempo. No es nada especialmente original, pero esta bien. 3.5/5
- Max Hensig (1945) : Relato largo que se lee mas bien como un thriller de suspense, que como una historia de terror. Sigue los pasos de un periodista enfrentado a un posible asesino sin escrúpulos. La atmosfera opresiva es impresionante y engancha mucho. En su parte final es demasiado redundante, cosa que me ha sacado a ratos de la lectura y creo que desluce un poco lo que es un magnífico relato. 4/5
A modo de Extra, decir que he leido "A case of Eavesdropping" en otra parte. Es exactamente el mismo tipo de historia que The Listener, pero creo que está algo menos conseguido, con bastantes menos detalles interesantes. Es solvente, pero yo leeria The Listener directamente. 3.5/5
August 12, 2017
I don't think I've ever read anything by Algernon Blackwood before, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading this collection of ghost stories.
To start with, he has one of the coolest names ever, especially for a ghost story writer. I thought at first that it must be a pen name, but it was apparently his real name.
This was a collection of assorted ghost stories. In a forward written by Blackwood for a previous edition, he makes the distinction that these are ghost stories not horror stories. There are no masked psychos or chopped up bodies. Instead, these stories focus on the supernatural or at least the unexplained. One thing I really enjoyed was that the characters often go through spooky situations in a realistic way; they find themselves in an eerie situation and proceed to attempt to rationalize everything they see and hear all the while becoming increasingly frightened. None of the stories were too bizarre, and it was easy to follow along on the adventures. Many of these stories were at least partially inspired by events experienced by Blackwood during his extensive travels throughout Europe and North America. His writing style also adapted depending on the setting. The diction used in the contemporary New York setting for "Max Hensig" was distinctive from that used in the Black Forest setting of "Secret Worship."
His descriptions were amazing. Written with an effortless prose, I had no trouble picturing each scene whether it was a medieval town in France or the Canadian wilderness. Take, for instance, this quote from "The Glamour of the Snow:"
“Like a forest rose the huge peaks above the slumbering village, measuring the night and heavens. They beckoned him. And something born of the snowy desolation, born of the midnight and silent grandeur, born of the great listening hollows of the night, something that lay 'twixt terror and wonder, dropped from the vast wintry spaces down into his heart-- and called him. Very softly, unrecorded in any word or thought his brain could compass, it laid its spell upon him. Fingers of snow brushed the surface of his heart. The power and quiet majesty of the winter's night appalled him....”
There is a certain timelessness to Blackwood's work. These stories were written over a century ago, but they did not feel dated the way many older works do. I also thoroughly enjoyed his diverse vocabulary, which included words such as fecundity, dishabille, and serried. I get a similar feeling when reading most older works. I am not sure if I am simply drawn to those particular works that feature more diverse vocabulary or if the standard for writing was simply higher in those days.
I liked "The Glamour of the Snow" the best and "Ancient Sorceries" the least mainly because that piece seemed a little drawn out and the "cat-like" analogy was over-used. Overall, I really enjoyed this collection of stories. I can definitely see how much Blackwood influenced the genre.
I will end with one more quote:
"'It is, alas, chiefly the evil emotions that are able to leave their photographs upon surrounding scenes and objects,' the other added, 'and who ever heard of a place haunted by a noble deed, or of beautiful and lovely ghosts revisiting the glimpses of the moon? It is unfortunate. But the wicked passions of men's hearts alone seem strong enough to leave pictures that persist; the good are ever too lukewarm.'"
To start with, he has one of the coolest names ever, especially for a ghost story writer. I thought at first that it must be a pen name, but it was apparently his real name.
This was a collection of assorted ghost stories. In a forward written by Blackwood for a previous edition, he makes the distinction that these are ghost stories not horror stories. There are no masked psychos or chopped up bodies. Instead, these stories focus on the supernatural or at least the unexplained. One thing I really enjoyed was that the characters often go through spooky situations in a realistic way; they find themselves in an eerie situation and proceed to attempt to rationalize everything they see and hear all the while becoming increasingly frightened. None of the stories were too bizarre, and it was easy to follow along on the adventures. Many of these stories were at least partially inspired by events experienced by Blackwood during his extensive travels throughout Europe and North America. His writing style also adapted depending on the setting. The diction used in the contemporary New York setting for "Max Hensig" was distinctive from that used in the Black Forest setting of "Secret Worship."
His descriptions were amazing. Written with an effortless prose, I had no trouble picturing each scene whether it was a medieval town in France or the Canadian wilderness. Take, for instance, this quote from "The Glamour of the Snow:"
“Like a forest rose the huge peaks above the slumbering village, measuring the night and heavens. They beckoned him. And something born of the snowy desolation, born of the midnight and silent grandeur, born of the great listening hollows of the night, something that lay 'twixt terror and wonder, dropped from the vast wintry spaces down into his heart-- and called him. Very softly, unrecorded in any word or thought his brain could compass, it laid its spell upon him. Fingers of snow brushed the surface of his heart. The power and quiet majesty of the winter's night appalled him....”
There is a certain timelessness to Blackwood's work. These stories were written over a century ago, but they did not feel dated the way many older works do. I also thoroughly enjoyed his diverse vocabulary, which included words such as fecundity, dishabille, and serried. I get a similar feeling when reading most older works. I am not sure if I am simply drawn to those particular works that feature more diverse vocabulary or if the standard for writing was simply higher in those days.
I liked "The Glamour of the Snow" the best and "Ancient Sorceries" the least mainly because that piece seemed a little drawn out and the "cat-like" analogy was over-used. Overall, I really enjoyed this collection of stories. I can definitely see how much Blackwood influenced the genre.
I will end with one more quote:
"'It is, alas, chiefly the evil emotions that are able to leave their photographs upon surrounding scenes and objects,' the other added, 'and who ever heard of a place haunted by a noble deed, or of beautiful and lovely ghosts revisiting the glimpses of the moon? It is unfortunate. But the wicked passions of men's hearts alone seem strong enough to leave pictures that persist; the good are ever too lukewarm.'"
October 13, 2021
There's only one or two Blackwood stories I've read that aren't on this so I can hardly be an authority, but despite his expertise I think E.F. Bleiler probably left off a lot of highly deserving stories (the ones I've heard mentioned often, such as "The Man Whom The Trees Loved") that tend to get on the other Best Ofs. I can't tell you if there is a better collection of Blackwood, the huge Centipede Press editions are too rare/expensive for most people to consider but I have a feeling there are other better introductions.
I slightly prefer "The Wendigo" to "The Willows" (his two biggest classics), I find the setting and particular creepiness of the former a bit more enchanting but they're both great. "The Glamour Of The Snow" is a little beauty. "The Empty House" is more chilling than the garden variety murder of the story would suggest. "Ancient Sorceries" is spoiled slightly with the too insistent reminders of how shy the main character is and the revealed Satanism is underwhelming.
I was struck by "The Transfer" because of how it describes an unwittingly oppressive man having an effect on people that sounds strikingly like how people today describe oppressive systems of power; and I like the line "It seemed a few hours had passed, but really they were seconds, for time is measured by the quality and not the quantity of sensations it contains".
I think in terms of prose, Blackwood is head and shoulders above most of the other classic horror writers, he's so deft with delicate details and nuances of moments in a way that makes a scene come alive in a way M.R. James and Lovecraft couldn't pull off as well. But sometimes like in "Max Hensig", he explains the details in such a longwinded manner that the effectiveness is lost. I hear his novels can be more challenging for this reason. He's not without his prejudices but there's something refreshing about how outgoing and positive he is compared to the writers he is often mentioned beside. I'd only consider a few of these stories essential though.
I slightly prefer "The Wendigo" to "The Willows" (his two biggest classics), I find the setting and particular creepiness of the former a bit more enchanting but they're both great. "The Glamour Of The Snow" is a little beauty. "The Empty House" is more chilling than the garden variety murder of the story would suggest. "Ancient Sorceries" is spoiled slightly with the too insistent reminders of how shy the main character is and the revealed Satanism is underwhelming.
I was struck by "The Transfer" because of how it describes an unwittingly oppressive man having an effect on people that sounds strikingly like how people today describe oppressive systems of power; and I like the line "It seemed a few hours had passed, but really they were seconds, for time is measured by the quality and not the quantity of sensations it contains".
I think in terms of prose, Blackwood is head and shoulders above most of the other classic horror writers, he's so deft with delicate details and nuances of moments in a way that makes a scene come alive in a way M.R. James and Lovecraft couldn't pull off as well. But sometimes like in "Max Hensig", he explains the details in such a longwinded manner that the effectiveness is lost. I hear his novels can be more challenging for this reason. He's not without his prejudices but there's something refreshing about how outgoing and positive he is compared to the writers he is often mentioned beside. I'd only consider a few of these stories essential though.
December 7, 2025
Po przeczytaniu tego zbiorku mam wrażenie, że Blackwood podoba mi się bardziej w dłuższych opowiadaniach, takich na parędziesiąt stron niż tych krótszych, kilkustronicowych. Mają one ciekawsze koncepty i miejsce, aby odpowiednio rozwinąć poczucie narastającej grozy. Oczywiście najbardziej znane „Wierzby” oraz „Wendigo” były wyśmienite, a to w jaki sposób autor buduje w nich napięcie oraz tworzy atmosferę poprzez opisy wszechogarniającej, pradawnej natury, potrafiło wzbudzić we mnie pokłady niepokoju. Inne opowiadania, które do mnie przemówiły to „Tajemniczy lokator”, „Pradawna magia”, „Sekretny kult”, „Przejęcie” oraz „Max Hensig”. Myślę, że w większości opowiadań Blackwooda wyraźnie widać strach przed, ale i fascynację tym co niezwykłe. Niczym bohaterowie „Pustego domu” wchodzimy do nawiedzonego mieszkania, nie po to aby poznać jego historię, znamy w końcu doniesienia, konwencje, ale po to aby doświadczyć czegoś niezwykłego.
Read
February 10, 2014Went thru a period where I tried to catch all the old masters of the macabre and found most very tame as compared to Lovecraft and some of his followers. But after more reading it was obvious that where HPL was of one sort, the writers like Blackwood were more subtle and in the end more terrifying and frightening.
September 3, 2009
Some of these tales simply didn't age well, but that is not the case with Blackwood's two classics, "The Willows" and "The Wendigo," both of which have lost none of their fearful, imaginative power.
January 12, 2017
The Willows is one of the great masterpiece of horror, and many of the other stories in this collection are well worth reading, although Blackwood relies a bit much on concepts of the occult rather than pure horror. Well worth reading and a required text of the genre.
December 26, 2007
Creepy. Master of atmosphere. Guy can spook with a phrase.
March 4, 2011
Stunning and completely underrated storyteller. I highly recommend this collection to anyone who's a fan of horror, suspense, and well-written literature.
November 18, 2018
the beauty of the wildnerness, the terrible mystery of spiritual and physical human intimacy, a piercing observation of animal behaviours, the fear of the unseen - but felt - unsaid but known. if you search for subtle, poetic use of language bound in suspense and a frisson of fear, set in imaginary places and ideas, yet which are somehow fully believable stories, then blackwood is the man. his words take me to all the places he conjours up from his life and travels and the haunting intuitions of his mind. a magical conveyer of atmosphere, he's closer to m r james than anyone. there is an authentic but sublimely heightened realism to the weirdness he writes, that pours over normal earth-bound happenings. this is not gore or horror nor does it have a philosophical agenda that overwhelms narratives (thinking of lovecraft). no, these are sometimes terrifying, but always elegant, engrossing mesmerising tales.
i miss my friend reading them aloud every year in the run up to christmas, her soft calm voice cooly telling the eerie stories. for me they feel as if they move beyond ghost stories into literature, to something finer and more expansive, and yet remain rooted in the classic form of the short story by a generally unknown writer, but one who knows how to pitch it perfectly. if this is what you seek, i promise they will stay with you and keep calling you back. a perfect winter present for the deep thinking, imaginative soulmate in your life.
i miss my friend reading them aloud every year in the run up to christmas, her soft calm voice cooly telling the eerie stories. for me they feel as if they move beyond ghost stories into literature, to something finer and more expansive, and yet remain rooted in the classic form of the short story by a generally unknown writer, but one who knows how to pitch it perfectly. if this is what you seek, i promise they will stay with you and keep calling you back. a perfect winter present for the deep thinking, imaginative soulmate in your life.
October 18, 2020
3 stars!
I was first introduced to Algernon Blackwood by H.P. Lovecraft. His name also happens to be significant in the classic supernatural horror genre so I was pretty excited to come across this collection of his ghost stories. Overall, this was a mixed bag for me with some stories that I felt were strong but others that were pretty lukewarm. Ancient Sorceries and The Listener were the standouts of this set for me but stories like The Empty House and Max Hensig I found to be pretty weak. With regard to the latter I'm not even sure why it was included in the collection because it did not have any ghosts involved in the plot. His stories are pretty tame with the horror and they do get a tad formulaic but he does a good job with building atmosphere and his prose his excellent. At his best Blackwood crafts an darkly atmospheric experience introducing fascinating concepts that include otherwordly beings, reincarnation, mythic doppelgangers etc. but at his worst his stories are tame, safe, and generic.
I liked this collection all in all and I wouldn't mind trying out another one of his in the future.
I was first introduced to Algernon Blackwood by H.P. Lovecraft. His name also happens to be significant in the classic supernatural horror genre so I was pretty excited to come across this collection of his ghost stories. Overall, this was a mixed bag for me with some stories that I felt were strong but others that were pretty lukewarm. Ancient Sorceries and The Listener were the standouts of this set for me but stories like The Empty House and Max Hensig I found to be pretty weak. With regard to the latter I'm not even sure why it was included in the collection because it did not have any ghosts involved in the plot. His stories are pretty tame with the horror and they do get a tad formulaic but he does a good job with building atmosphere and his prose his excellent. At his best Blackwood crafts an darkly atmospheric experience introducing fascinating concepts that include otherwordly beings, reincarnation, mythic doppelgangers etc. but at his worst his stories are tame, safe, and generic.
I liked this collection all in all and I wouldn't mind trying out another one of his in the future.
June 9, 2024
4.44⭐
Introduction • (1973) • essay by Everett F. Bleiler ✔️
Introduction • (1938) • essay by Algernon Blackwood ✔️
The Willows • (1907) 5⭐
Secret Worship • [John Silence] • (1908) 5⭐
Ancient Sorceries • [John Silence] • (1908) 4⭐
The Glamour of the Snow • (1911) 5⭐
The Wendigo • (1910) 4.25⭐
The Other Wing • (1915) 4.5⭐
The Transfer • (1911) 3⭐
Ancient Lights • (1912) 4⭐
The Listener • (1907) 4⭐
The Empty House • (1906) 5⭐
Accessory Before the Fact • (1914) 4.5⭐
Keeping His Promise • (1906) 4.5⭐
Max Hensig • (1945) (variant of Max Hensig: Bacteriologist and Murderer 1907) 5⭐
Introduction • (1973) • essay by Everett F. Bleiler ✔️
Introduction • (1938) • essay by Algernon Blackwood ✔️
The Willows • (1907) 5⭐
Secret Worship • [John Silence] • (1908) 5⭐
Ancient Sorceries • [John Silence] • (1908) 4⭐
The Glamour of the Snow • (1911) 5⭐
The Wendigo • (1910) 4.25⭐
The Other Wing • (1915) 4.5⭐
The Transfer • (1911) 3⭐
Ancient Lights • (1912) 4⭐
The Listener • (1907) 4⭐
The Empty House • (1906) 5⭐
Accessory Before the Fact • (1914) 4.5⭐
Keeping His Promise • (1906) 4.5⭐
Max Hensig • (1945) (variant of Max Hensig: Bacteriologist and Murderer 1907) 5⭐
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