Le Camp du chien

by Algernon Blackwood, Jacques Parsons (Translator)

A jolly campout on an island in the Baltic Sea slowly turns terrifying as a mysterious canine follows the footsteps of a young woman. In 1906-07, Algernon Blackwood wrote a short story cycle telling of the adventures of psychic detective/ghostbuster John Silence, a sort of Sherlock Holmes meets H. P. Lovecraft meets Hermann Hesse. Algernon Blackwood (1869-1951) was a prolific fantasy and horror writer whose total production consists of more than 200 short stories, 12 novels, a couple of plays, an autobiography and even some poetry. Over 50 distinct book editions of his works have been published in the US and UK, counting the reprint collections. Today, his books are mostly out of print, but he is far from forgotten. His style of writing is very intense emotionally, and holds a strong fascination for the reader. The supernatural element is carefully woven into the plot which often turns the ordinary and familiar into something mysterious and awesome. Many of his tales take place outdoors in some magnificent setting of nature, like the wilderness of Canada, the swamplands of the Danube river or the Black Forest in Germany. Nature spirits, haunted houses, the spirits of the dead and other ancient sorceries all abound in his strange tales.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Fantasy, Classics, Audiobook, Short Stories, Weird Fiction

175 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1908

About the author

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

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

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

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

Reviews

[Ярослава]

У Блеквуда є ідеальні "Верби" (мій відгук) і приємний "Чоловік, якого любили дерева" (мій відгук) - ймовірно, є ще щось приємне, але це те, що раджу, якщо ви любите, згрубша кажучи, космічний горор (той, що порушення законів світобудови, а не про Чужого).

А "Табір собаки" категорично не раджу: на рівні сюжету це вкрай банальна конструкція, знайома нам від "Дракули" до "Сутінків", про те, що "сексуальне бажання - це страшне і звірине, тому уявімо, що ця метафора набуває буквального втілення в постать монстра (тут перевертня, але вампіри теж можуть мати цей функціонал), всьо, тепер бажання - не внутрішнє, а зовнішнє, не треба нести за нього відповідальність, можна віддатися і насоложуватися", приправлена расизмом (звичайно, представники не-білих народів - це дикуни, які на пікнічку на природі дичавіють і буквально стають чудовиськами, - запевняє автор) і якоюсь інцельською фігнею (якщо мужику не дати, він стане чудовиськом, тому найпростіший спосіб уникнути чудовиськ - просто дати). Я, канєшно, проти того, щоб кінкшеймити давно померлих авторів, але я категорично не цільова авдиторія цих фантазій. Як то кажуть, любиш космічний горор - люби й закочувати очі так, що видно тільки білки, від чергових проявів расизму і сексизму в авторів (якщо додумувати думочку, припускаю, це не артефакти епохи, а артефакти жанру як такого; космічний горор дуже симпатичний мені як вайб і естетика, але його підвалини проблемненькі, цей жанр мертвий, як світло далеких згаслих зірок, на які ви досі за звичкою дивитеся і думаєте "як красиво", але краще вам не знати, що думають ці неситі мерці, коли дивляться на вас у відповідь <= приклад косм-горорного вайбу).

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This work is memorable because of the following reasons:
1. Blackwood excels in describing wilderness. Like the characters in this story, we also get mesmerised as nature works her magic on us through the author.
2. It has a beautiful romantic angle fused into spine-tingling horror.
3. If you can manage to remove the mumbo-jumbo and interpret the sexual tension throbbing in the story, you might get a fresh view with respect to the concept of werewolf.
Unfortunately, it’s also full of rubbish notions regarding 'primitive' tribes and 'soulless' nature. Plus, the padding is massive. However, the motion would carry you forward once you are in the island, with the characters.
Recommended.

[Monophylos Fortikos · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh, man. It's like Blackwood decided to turn "The Wendigo", which is a genuinely effective and creepy story, into a comedy. The first half of the story is badly weakened by Blackwood's wordy and repetitious insistence on how wild, savage, and threatening the situation is. There's nothing particularly wild or savage or threatening about the changes in personality and loosening of inhibitions that Blackwood describes; at any rate it hardly needs a camping trip to a desolate island in Scandinavia to elicit these changes. A long road trip to a rock concert would probably do the same. Nevertheless the story remains engaging through this first half and there are some nicely realized observations about the characters' behavior.

Then John Silence shows up and everything goes pear-shaped. Of course he knows exactly what's going on, is ready with an explanation for everything, and effectively kills all sense of mystery and suspense just by opening his mouth. Worse, he has a bizarre manner of detachment, almost of callousness, about him that I suppose Blackwood means to convey his command of the situation but instead causes one to wonder whether he couldn't have saved everyone a heap of trouble by speaking out sooner.

Dreadful, absolutely dreadful. This isn't the first Algernon Blackwood story I've read but it's the first with John Silence and also the first I utterly despised by the end of it. Are all the Silence stories this bad?

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Algernon does a good job of explaining wilderness type settings but this book bordered on the mystic or fantasy. It was a fun short story but not believable. I think Joan’s parents would have wisked her off that island instead of staying to let a dog or wolf continue to stalk her and maul her.

[MH · Rating 1 out of 5]

An interesting idea, but the delivery is long, dull, and boring, with extra bonus racism.

[Sean Carlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very atmospheric werewolf yarn that is probably too lackadaisically paced -- too devoid of suspense set-pieces -- for contemporary readers. (It is also, alas, a product of its time, with, shall we say, antiquated notions of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas.)

The Camp of the Dog reminded me, in some respects, of Dracula: The terror builds, rather descriptively, throughout the first half... only to have a patriarchal parapsychologist show up at the midpoint with a cool head, steady hand, and all the answers. (In that sense, you could say John Silence stands in for Van Helsing here, Hubbard for Seward, Sangree for Dracula/Renfield, Joan for Lucy/Mina, and Reverend Maloney for Holmwood. Not perfect analogs across the board, but you get the point.)

Though I enjoyed Blackwood's novel take on lycanthropic lore -- werewolf as astral projection, which seems like the type of fanciful speculative notion The X-Files would've explored nearly a century later -- I can't help but think this story might've been better served if it hadn't been a heroic showcase for his infallible metaphysician John Silence. Hubbard's -- and, by extension, Blackwood's -- endless hero worship of Silence detracts from an otherwise creepy horror story.

[Uroš Novaković · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I read these horror books written a century or so ago, I do my best to put my mind into a state of someone reading this for the first time when the story itself was new. Because what horror was a century ago isn't what horror is nowadays. What was scary back then may be dragged through the mud in modern times and is no longer effective.

But even with that method that I try to use, this story was just boring. It's too wordy, too repetitive, too long just to tell a basic werewolf love story.

[Zuzanna Korpak · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could be a good movie..

[Harvey Hênio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um grupo de campistas se lança na vastidão inexplorada de uma ilha no mar Báltico para descansar e espairecer. Diante dos imensos espaços desabitados e perante uma natureza fascinante, exuberante e ao mesmo tempo impiedosa, o grupo se sente intimidado e indefeso estando tão distante dos recursos e confortos propiciados pela civilização.
Eis que, subitamente, o grupo passa a ser acossado por tenebrosas impressões provocadas por inexplicáveis ruídos oriundos das matas e subitamente a presença de um enorme e misterioso cão põe em risco a segurança e a vida de todos. O crescendo de terror e suspense atinge o clímax quando o grupo se vê diante de um mistério ancestral que habita os pesadelos da humanidade desde tempos primordiais.
O inglês Algernon Blackwood (1869/1951), hoje em dia, é considerado um dos grandes autores do gênero terror dos séculos XIX e XX. Seu trabalho mais notório é a assustadora novela “Os salgueiros”. “O acampamento do cão”, também uma novela, traz o autor em sua melhor forma nos propiciando um terror elegante e climático em que as sombras se esgueiram no “cume calmo” do nosso olho e em que o horror se impõe mais pela sugestão do que por sanguinolências gratuitas.
Esta edição, eletrônica, precisa de uma revisão urgente pois o texto traduzido traz erros gritantes de concordância e trechos truncados em que a compreensão é prejudicada.
Mas trata-se de um ótimo trabalho oriundo da lavra de um mestre.

[LayDownYourSoul · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent read overall but very mixed.

Enjoyed the start of the story, some great descriptions of nature. Kind of wish this had been a story about some people camping, being scared because there was an animal where none could survive, it was unresolved and they just went home...

The action later in the story wasn't too compelling, and I was disappointed in the racist way that the character with Native American ancestry was depicted. There were also a few different angles I was hoping it would take that would have been more interesting (e.g. when the presumably white love interest is revealed to share repressed feelings, we learn she's also a werewolf, instead of sleepwalking). Also wasn't particularly scary.

[cheshire · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Willows this isn’t. I grew to dislike this more and more as I read. One character dislikes another, calls him creepy, begs the main character to stick around as protection from creepy guy. Then later, it turns out no, she loves creepy guy, which she realizes while she’s sleepwalking. Creepy guy is a werewolf because of his “savage” nature, that is, the indigenous American blood in him. He turns into a werewolf because he’s obsessed with the girl. Some doctor shows up and knows everything, no one has to figure anything out. Just bad writing.

[Rari Marks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story. I enjoyed the build up and the setting in the woods. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happened next. The ending felt rushed or something, explanations by a paranormal expert at the end were a little too thorough-how is he such an expert?! I still really liked the author's style and enjoyed the story.

[Forked Radish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wrong! A werewolf results when someone is bitten by a rabid canid, often a guess what? The superstitious peasants were right again. Maybe, it’s because they have generations of experiential empirical inference which pseudo-intellectual academicians lack?
The true origin of “the Force”, Luke and Carlos Castaneda gets scooped. It was hashish, after all.

[Paul Preston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting take on an old legend. Not how I grew up thinking how these things went but it made for a story. I think I like the popular version better

[Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lycanthropy as astral projection.

[Jonathan_ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite Blackwood story but it's alright

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This 1908 short story describes a trip of a group of travelers who decided to go on a camping trip to several islands in the Baltic sea. For their landing they selected one uninhabited island from a group of beautiful islands of the secluded Baltic wilderness. After making a camp, travelers enjoy refreshing effect of the beautiful island nature around them.

Similar to his other books, also here author shows his mastery in creating the atmosphere of peacefulness, upon which he bit by bit adds ingredients of uneasiness, tension, mystery and finally of terror. So also in this story, after the peaceful arrival, things begin to change... Approximately until the half of the story it is a pleasant creepy mystery story. Afterwards it takes a more explanatory and talkative direction what significantly reduces substance and effect of the story.

"[In the wilderness] some parts of the personality go to sleep, others wake up. But the first sweeping change that the primitive life brings about is that the artificial portions of the chatacter shed themselves one after another like dead skins."

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good story. Not as good as The Willows imho, but still pretty good. It has hints and moments of the eerie quality of The Willows, namely when describing the natural environment in which the story takes place, but the fact that the main object of terror is a werewolf sort of kills it a little for me. A warewolf is a fairly comprehensible and prosaic object of fear, though the modern, scientific attempts at explaining such a phenomenon make this story different from a classic gothic take on the subject. Also wonderfully victorian and archaic in some of the themes. Omg, the dirty, passionate, native american blood made the guy too emotional, so he became le werewolf. XD Could never be written today.

[James McKenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this almost immediately after it was recommended to me because I'd gotten sick of Joseph Heller and had no idea where to go from there, and I enjoyed it for what it was, a brief and entertaining ghost story with writing a cut above what you would normally expect from the genre. Aside from the obvious stuff, the thing I liked the most were those early descriptions of attraction that really rang true, but I guess the experience of falling in love is such an important part of the human experience that an author should be able to put it in words, shouldn't they?

[Ginger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did this via Audio.
this book deal with superstitions of medieval times that come alive for campers on an island.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just tell me that it's by Blackwood and I know I'll love it. Lots of fun listening to the audio of this story. Excellent narration from Librivox.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Predictable English drivel