Showing results for "Algernon Blackwood" in Literature & Fiction

Described by H P Lovecraft as 'the one absolute and unquestioned master of weird atmosphere', Algernon Blackwood (CBE) was the acclaimed and prolific author of numerous ghost stories and horror tales. Throughout his lifetime, he wrote 14 novels, several children's books, a number of plays, and over 200 short stories. This anthology opens with a selection of stories featuring his most influential character, occult detective Dr John Silence.

As the days grow shorter and the temperature drops, Halloween approaches. Come, brave listener, pull up a chair, and spend some time with master storyteller Stephen Fry as he tells us some of his favourite ghost stories of all time, in truly terrifying spatial audio. From the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow to the tortured spirits of M.R. James, from Edgar Allan Poe’s terrifying tale of a doppelganger to Charlotte Riddell’s Open Door that should definitely stay shut, join Stephen as he tells you some truly terrifying tales.

Perhaps Blackwood's most celebrated story, The Willows was influenced heavily by his own trips down the Danube River. It tells the story of two campers who pick the wrong place to sleep for the night, a place where another dimension impinges on our own. H.P. Lovecraft considered this the finest supernatural tale in English literature.

Days from civilisation five men are about to experience something beyond the rational. In the snow slaked wilds where the natives fear to tread, these men search for moose but find something more terrifying and supernatural. With a rush of wind and the smell of feral nature one of their number is whisked away, leaving them wondering: Who might be next?

In The Damned (1914), Algernon Blackwood—master of the supernatural and psychological horror—crafts a chilling meditation on unseen evil and the price of emotional corruption. Less a ghost story than a metaphysical haunting, this tale explores the thin boundary between human anguish and the cosmic unknown.

First published in 1917 by Alfred A. Knopf, this collection of Algernon Blackwood's short stories includes some of his most beloved classics.

When aging artist David Bittacy develops an increasingly intimate bond with the forest surrounding his home, his devotion to the trees becomes something deeper—mystical, unsettling, and profoundly transformative. His wife Sophia, rooted in conventional faith and fearful of the wild unknown, watches with growing dread as the woods seem to claim her husband in ways she cannot understand.

When a group of travelers ventures into an isolated, sun-scorched landscape, they begin to sense an unseen presence lurking beneath the endless dunes—something ancient, intelligent, and profoundly hostile to human life. As the desert tightens its grip, ordinary reality erodes, replaced by mounting dread and the terrifying suggestion that the sand itself is watching.

The Insanity of Jones is one of Algernon Blackwood’s most haunting psychological tales—a gripping fusion of supernatural mystery, reincarnation, and unresolved vengeance that blurs the line between madness and metaphysical truth.

The Man Who Found Out by Algernon Blackwood is a haunting tale of discovery, dread, and the terrible price of forbidden knowledge. When an earnest researcher uncovers an ancient manuscript said to reveal the “ultimate truth” of existence, his life spirals into terror as the revelation shatters his mind and consumes his soul.

A monster lurks in the Canadian forests. If the legends are to be believed, a small band of hunters is about to meet the Wendigo. The legend of the Wendigo originates from folk stories from the Plains and Great Lakes Native Americans. The creature is a malevolent spirit, known to possess and even eat humans.

Algernon Blackwood was born on 14th March 1869 in Shooter’s Hill, South East London, to a religious middle-class family. His mother was a widowed Duchess and his father was a Post Office administrator. Blackwood was interested in the paranormal and the supernatural at an early age, and had a thirst for anything on Buddhism, other Oriental philosophies, mysticism and occultism. In his writings the weaving of the supernatural into his various works, from ghost stories and children’s stories to plays and long novels is clearly seen.

The Willows is a novella by English author Algernon Blackwood, originally published as part of his 1907 collection The Listener and Other Stories. It is one of Blackwood's best known works and has been influential on a number of later writers. Horror author H.P. Lovecraft considered it to be the finest supernatural tale in English literature. The Willows is an example of early modern horror and is connected within the literary tradition of weird fiction. Two friends are midway on a canoe trip down the Danube River.

The Glamour of the Snow is one of Algernon Blackwood’s most haunting supernatural tales—a hypnotic blend of winter wilderness, psychological tension, and eerie elemental forces. When an English traveler becomes captivated by a mysterious woman who appears only in the snow-covered Swiss Alps, he is drawn into a chilling dance between beauty and danger. As fascination deepens into obsession, the seductive pull of the mountains reveals its true, otherworldly power.

Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837-1909) was a poet, critic, novelist, and playwright. He was born in London and educated at Eton and Oxford and was a contemporary of the Pre-Raphaelites. "Hymn to Proserpine" was published in 1866 in "Poems and Ballads", Swinburne's first collection of poems which was a great success but which contained subjects that were, at the time, very controversial. Other poems in this collection are: "A Ballad of Dreamland", "A Leave-Taking", "At Parting", "August", "Genesis", "Itylus", "Rococo", "Sapphics", "An Interlude", "The Nightingale", "Three Faces", and "Before the Mirror."

Algernon Blackwood, a journalist and broadcast narrator, was one of the most prolific writers of ghost stories in the history of the genre. The title story, "The Touch of Pan", explores the lingering presence of myth in everyday life. In "The Glamour of the Snow", Blackwood winds a tale about a man's infatuation with a supernatural winter beauty. In "The Attic", the ghost of an usurer haunts the old Chateaux and, on the anniversary of a young boy's death, the boy's cat brings the family together. "The Willows" follows two campers who are on a canoe trip down the Danube.

This collection comprises 40 stories by and inspired by the originators of weird fiction. From Blackwood's The Empty House, through to Philip K. Dick's The Hanging Stranger, Lovecraft's Out of The Aeons, and beyond.

Journey into the captivating realm of eerie and uncanny with Algernon Blackwood in his second compilation of weird fiction stories. This collection features some of his most critically acclaimed tales, from the unsettling The Listener, that paints a haunting portrait of an enchanted house, to Max Hensig Bacteriologist and Murderer, a chilling true crime narrative. Experience the otherworldly intrigue of reincarnation in The Insanity of Jones, and immerse yourself in The Willows, an influential masterpiece that has shaped the landscape of weird literature. Each story is a testament to ...

CONTENTS: 1. The Imp of the Perverse [Poe], 2. The Devil in the Belfry [Poe], 3. The Crawling Chaos [Lovecraft], 4. Aunt Joanna [Sabine Baring-Gould], 5. The Outsider [Lovecraft], 6. The Hound [Lovecraft], 7. The Disinterment [Lovecraft], 8. The Horror At Martin's Beach [Lovecraft], 9. The Tree On The Hill [Lovecraft], 10. The Outgoing of The Tide [John Buchan], 11. The Curse of Yig [Lovecraft], 12. The Haunter Of The Dark [Lovecraft], 13. Berenice [Poe], 14. The Angel Of The Odd [Poe], 15. Black Ram [Baring-Gould], 16. The Cask Of Amontillado [Poe], 17. Dracula's Guest [Bram Stoker].

British author Algernon Blackwood was a prolific writer who is usually remembered for his numerous ghost stories; however, he also wrote on many other supernatural themes. This collection of 13 stories includes: "The Wendigo", "The Olive", "The Goblin's Collection", "The Sea Fit", "Ancient Lights", "The Prayer", "The Wood of the Dead", "An Egyptian Hornet", "The Other Wing", "The Singular Death of Morton", "Entrance and Exit", "The Kit Bag", "The Damned".