English author, Algernon
Blackwood was one of the most prolific authors of ghost stories in
the golden age of Victorian literature. He lived from 1869 to 1951.
Born in England, he lived there for the majority of his life but
spent some time in Canada as a (not very successful) dairy farmer and
hotelier. He was known to be an avid outdoorsman and this is
reflected in his stories such as The Willows, The Wendigo
and A Haunted Island. Blackwood had a variety of jobs in his
life and finally found a place to belong as an author.
He was a member of The Ghost Club, Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle were
also members. The club, founded in London in 1862, investigated and
researched the paranormal. He was also a member of the
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn . He investigated Buddhism and other
religions, it has been speculated he did this because of his strict
Calvinist upbringing, but he was also a product of his times and
during this era, pictures made of human hair, seances and spiritualism were all the rage. Blackwood is known for writing ghost
stories that are not gory but have an uneasy psychological effect.
His talent is the emotion he weaves with his words. Some might find
his writings wordy, but it was the style of the time, his stories
don't reach out and knock you on the head but they make you wonder about every
little sound or shadow you think you are seeing or hearing in the
dead of night!
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| The Willows |
Blackwood is the creator of
the character, John Silence, one of the first occult or paranormal
detectives. His writing talent was also praised by Lovecaft. One of
his most famous stories would be The Willows, (novella
length). An early collection of his work (1914) is entitled
"Incredible Adventures",
it includes these stories "The Regeneration of Lord
Ernie","The Sacrifice", "The Damned", "A
Descent into Egypt", and "Wayfarers". Other highly
recommended works include- The Wendigo, John Silence stories, A Haunted Island, The Empty House, The Kit-Bag, and The Strange Adventures of a Private Secretary in New York.
His works are in the public
domain so free versions of his story collections can be found and
downloaded for kindle or other electronic devices, and are also
available free online at sites such as
Project Gutenberg here: Algernon Blackwood at Gutenberg.org, here: Algernonblackwood.org, and here:Algernon Blackwood at American Literature.
Check them out.
