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Accessory Before The Fact
"(...)At the moorland cross-roads Martin stood examining the sign-post for several minutes in some bewilderment. The names on the four arms were not what he expected, distances were not given, and his map, he concluded with impatience, must be hopelessly out of date. Spreading it against the post, he stooped to study it more closely. The wind blew the corners flapping against his face.
The small print was almost indecipherable in the fading light. It appeared,(...)".
The small print was almost indecipherable in the fading light. It appeared,(...)".
- GenresHorrorShort Stories
18 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 2, 2013
23 people want to read
About the author
Algernon Blackwood
1,417 books1,212 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 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 12, 2020
4.5*
Complicidad previa al hecho/Accessory Before the Fact (1914)
"Al llegar a aquella encrucijada del páramo, Martin se detuvo y permaneció un rato observando perplejo los cuatro letreros del poste indicador. Aquellos no eran los nombres que esperaba encontrar y, además, no figuraban las distancias
Eran tantas las cosas que aquella tarde le parecían igualmente enigmáticas… el atajo, el mapa velado, los nombres del poste, sus propios impulsos erráticos o aquel misterioso estado de confusión que le iba embargando. El paisaje entero requería una explicación, aunque quizá «interpretación» fuera la palabra más exacta. Aquellos árboles solitarios se lo habían hecho ver claro. ¿Por qué se había extraviado con tanta facilidad? ¿Por qué consentía que aquellas vagas impresiones le indicaran el camino a seguir? ¿Por qué se encontraba aquí, precisamente aquí? "
Un relato en el que traspasa el umbral de la realidad y hace añicos la racionalidad
A lo largo de varios de sus relatos, muchas veces, Blackwood apela al hecho de que el protagonista se sienta el mismo como un "intruso". Ya sea en una casa, en tal o cual habitación, en un bosque, en la inmensidad de la naturaleza. En este oportunidad, directamente, ser un intruso en una realidad que no es la propia .Pero a la vez, ser participe, y tal vez de alguna forma cómplice, de un hecho en particular. Es completamente sensitivo y te coloca en un manto de niebla.
Complicidad previa al hecho/Accessory Before the Fact (1914)
"Al llegar a aquella encrucijada del páramo, Martin se detuvo y permaneció un rato observando perplejo los cuatro letreros del poste indicador. Aquellos no eran los nombres que esperaba encontrar y, además, no figuraban las distancias
Eran tantas las cosas que aquella tarde le parecían igualmente enigmáticas… el atajo, el mapa velado, los nombres del poste, sus propios impulsos erráticos o aquel misterioso estado de confusión que le iba embargando. El paisaje entero requería una explicación, aunque quizá «interpretación» fuera la palabra más exacta. Aquellos árboles solitarios se lo habían hecho ver claro. ¿Por qué se había extraviado con tanta facilidad? ¿Por qué consentía que aquellas vagas impresiones le indicaran el camino a seguir? ¿Por qué se encontraba aquí, precisamente aquí? "
Un relato en el que traspasa el umbral de la realidad y hace añicos la racionalidad
A lo largo de varios de sus relatos, muchas veces, Blackwood apela al hecho de que el protagonista se sienta el mismo como un "intruso". Ya sea en una casa, en tal o cual habitación, en un bosque, en la inmensidad de la naturaleza. En este oportunidad, directamente, ser un intruso en una realidad que no es la propia .Pero a la vez, ser participe, y tal vez de alguna forma cómplice, de un hecho en particular. Es completamente sensitivo y te coloca en un manto de niebla.
August 13, 2017
As always, Algernon Blackwood writes a good creeper.
June 2, 2024
A man receives an ominous premonition not meant for him. A dark fun little tale
December 29, 2020
A murder foreseen but not averted, what a crime!
May 29, 2024
4.5⭐
June 1, 2020
Conundrum of Time and Morality
In a short story the challenge is to establish both character and environment vividly in the mind of the reader without the luxury of "time." It is a challenge well met in this tale. Both the imagination and intellect are engaged almost immediately; drawing us with subtle foreshadowing in both landscape and seemingly minor events. After the acceptance of foreknowledge is the question of whether or not to act on it. The protagonist must weigh the eerie otherworldliness of his experience with the obligation to act on it in the natural world. We as readers are left to judge his decision as well to no easy conclusion.
In a short story the challenge is to establish both character and environment vividly in the mind of the reader without the luxury of "time." It is a challenge well met in this tale. Both the imagination and intellect are engaged almost immediately; drawing us with subtle foreshadowing in both landscape and seemingly minor events. After the acceptance of foreknowledge is the question of whether or not to act on it. The protagonist must weigh the eerie otherworldliness of his experience with the obligation to act on it in the natural world. We as readers are left to judge his decision as well to no easy conclusion.
November 21, 2017
Very well written. One of those rare books that keep you thinking well after you've read it.
June 22, 2023
Audiobook.
August 30, 2023
A familiar scenario for the clairvoyant. I’ve had it happen too many times to recall.
August 28, 2016
This is Algernon Blackwood (what a name for a writer of scary stories) at his best. This is the story of a traveler who runs head long into a reason to question reality. You can almost see Rod Serling and hear the Twilight Zone music.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews