Ancient Sorceries: The Adventures of John Silence

by Algernon Blackwood

Welcome to the casebook of Dr John Silence, Physician Extraordinary. After a long and severe training – five years he was gone from the face of the earth, travelling who knows where – Silence returned to England as the greatest occult detective of the age. When he takes up an investigation, when he comes to the aid of some poor, frightened soul, you can be sure it will lead to the most strange and terrifying of circumstances: from pagan magic in remote France to battles with ancient Egyptian fire spirits, and from geometry defying alternate dimensions to the most macabre of haunted houses.

Some of the first works written by Algernon Blackwood – one of the twentieth century’s greatest ghost story writers – these John Silence tales are a visionary blend of horror, fantasy and science fiction, and remain today as some of pinnacle achievements of Weird Fiction.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Classics, Fantasy, Short Stories, Mystery

256 pages, Paperback

Published October 17, 2024

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

[Audrey Kang · Rating 2 out of 5]

i wanted to love this but i did not. as someone else said: cool author name, occult sherlock holmes, cool settings, seemed completely up my alley. nemesis of fire and secret worship were alright, but the first 2 stories droned on. also the idealness and good perfection of dr silence got annoying when it was mentioned every other line. also i may be over reading, but there are definitely sexist and potentially racist undertones (i understand it's an old book but they still angered me, and i've read many books from the same period that are better about it) that led me to enjoy it even less

[Jasmine Cendrakasih · Rating 1 out of 5]

jullie hebben geen idee hoe blij ik ben dat ik klaar ben met deze boek wajow 😭 never again dat ik een boek gewoon koop omdat de cover zo leuk is

[Sharni · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so excited to read this, I was basically sold just for it being part of Penguin’s Weird Fiction imprint and Algernon Blackwood’s (isn’t that just such an authors name?) Wikipedia page made for interesting reading.

The book itself is essentially a collection of John Silence’s case notes (although the titular Ancient Sorceries is just him retelling a story that was told to him? BRO!!) Anyway, I wanted to love occult Sherlock Holmes but I lowkey hated it and was mostly bored throughout. I’m so disappointed that I didn’t love it (I think that’s why I made myself finish it)

[laumpet · Rating 4 out of 5]

First proper dip into weird fiction, so nothing to compare to; yet: some a bit slow, with lengthy passages and language which spoiled the momentum of the story - as well as being written from a perspective where you know everyone is all right in the end. Favs were the shorter stories, succeeded better in creating atmosphere and suspense - especially case IV, Secret Worship.

[Aafke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een collectie korte verhalen over casussen van Dr.John Silence, een soort 'supernatuurlijke' detective. De ene casus beviel beter dan de ander, met als favoriet de vierde casus: Secret Worship.
Overigens erg goed te lezen qua taalgebruik, ondanks de ouderdom.

[Stijn · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Very readable despite the old stories. Reminded me a lot of Twenty Days of Turin, maybe because of the structure, but also because of the style and weirdness.

[Mickey Dubs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection finds the kind Doctor John Silence in a series of supernatural adventures involving all number of weird and peculiar phenomena.

The best story here was definitely 'Secret Worship'. 'Nemesis of Fire' was also really fun too.

I found 'A Psychical Invasion' a little less involving because it was just a straightforward haunted house story (catalysed by a tincture of cannabis indica, which apparently lets you commune with malevolent spirits and the like). I did enjoy that half of the story was about John Silence watching his cat misbehave, however.

Algernon Blackwood only ever wrote six John Silence stories so it's strange that this edition only contains five of them. What a tease!

It's kind of sad that poor Doctor John Silence, physician extraordinary, never reached the icon status of similar heroes like Sherlock Holmes or Doctor Who. He's in the public domain now so maybe it's time for a Dr. Silence revival. Maybe he could team up with Le Docteur Oméga and take his battle against satanic forces out into the cosmos.

I did some research and this was the first page of the 1908 edition lol

[Des Bladet · Rating 5 out of 5]

No introduction, no notes, not even dates or other details of publication of stories; Penguin have done the barest of minimums here. But the cover is nice and the stories are pretty good.

[Anna Bosman · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seems that century-old male authors found it easier to imagine seeing in the 4th dimension than to imagine females as non-threatening human being equals. Only two out of five stories in this collection did not depict women as dangerous and/or seductive evil witches — for the simple reason that these two stories did not depict any women at all. Accidentally misogynistic, oops, he did it again!

Besides the misogyny (typical of the time), I have actually thoroughly enjoyed this pulpy early version of lovecraftianism. Sure, these are new-wave penny dreadfuls, written to thrill more than anything besides that, yet they capture a worldview, this fragile state before the ultimate post-war post-modern death of all the gods: these stories are unironically spiritualistic, with multiple references to past lives, latent demons, spiritual vibrations, and, of course, the soul and — ultimately — its salvation. If Lovecraft is there to make you feel tiny and altogether unimportant, then Algernon Blackwood is there to give you reassurance, hope, belief in the ultimate victory of what is good and dressed in English tweed — through the strong hand and keen, wonderful eye of Dr. John Silence. Dr. Silence always knows the answer. Dr. Silence has sympathy and patience. Dr. Silence is there for you — unless, of course, you’re a woman, in other words, some or other emanation of a wicked witch. He can see straight through your evil little soul, you know!

Nevertheless, the evil witch that I am, I am not done with this author. He’s perfectly atmospheric, and I’m generously willing to tolerate the rest of it. I won’t set out on an Algernon Blackwood quest, but if he jumps out at me from a second-hand bookstore, I certainly will not refuse the pleasure. Sending vibrations to the 4th dimension!

[LayDownYourSoul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this collection.

This is essentially the complete John Silence stories, minus The Camp of the Dog (possibly because of its length) which I might look to read separately as it seems promising.

I had already read and thoroughly enjoyed 'A Victim of Higher Space', which is included here, and it was still as good on re-reading. Very cool seeing the combination of the supernatural and the (pseudo) scientific that often comes with this era of weird fiction, which was also present in other stories. Also have to wonder whether this directly influenced much more recent portrayals of what it could be like travelling in/to the 4th dimension.

The other standout stories were The Nemesis of Fire and Secret Worship. Some of my favourite writing of Blackwood's is the way he represents nature, and The Nemesis of Fire was a great example. There was some amazing imagery in this story, about the things people say they see around the forest that is the source of the strangeness. Some great action scenes in this story too, and possibly an interesting message about the morality of stealing ancient artefacts...

Secret Worship at first seemed like an outlier and not a John Silence story at all, but still a very entertaining one (there is, ultimately, a connection to the detective). A great short story though, loved the atmosphere and moments of dramatic irony, always love an oblivious character in a horror story.

Enjoyed the first story too, loved the use of the cat and dog for their psychic abilities, and the way that the spirits chose to manifest. Interesting tidbit that the paranormal events are drug-induced, by a mysterious (I guess at the time) substance called 'cannabis indica'.

[strawbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had too much fun I fear, what a body of work. I think I’m in awe of Dr. John Silence? When I die I hope I can sit down with Blackwood and ask a million questions.

I want to say ‘I’d have liked to have heard more about John Silence himself’ but actually his archetype was perfect I knew who he was and what he would have done before it happened. I knew his values, his ‘vibe’ and his ways immediately. I felt reassured when he was on scene. He’s almost an epic hero, but more of a Buddhist-type figure than an archaic one, leading with as much empathy as he did self-assuredness. It read to me like an exercise in horror, suspense and the occult as much as it did an exercise in spirituality and Buddhist dogma. Trying to find the perfect set of traits that made someone entirely believable talking about things which are entirely unbelievable, in a well balanced mix of intellect and compassion.

As you can tell, I was obsessed. Inject it if I’m honest.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting collection of the John Silence stories written by Algernon Blackwood. They were all very varied with different narration perspectives as well as the causes of the disturbances which were the centre of the tales. I liked the variety of participation that the connecting character (John Silence) took some he was a driving factor others he was passively hearing a tale that has already occurred, it made each story interesting and engaging. Would listen/read more of Blackwood's short stories as the writing is easy to understand and gives just the right amount of description to create the images but not too much that the stories get bogged down. All stories *3.5 with The Nemesis of Fire being my favourite of the collection.

[Devero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ricordo di aver letto in racconto diversi lustri fa, in una antologia. Non mi era dispiaciuto, ma mi era parso troppo lungo e per certi versi, noioso. Specilamente nella prima parte, troppo lento e noioso.
A distanza di lustri devo dire che non la penso più così: certo, forse la prima metà è ancora troppo lunga, ma non noiosa.
In realtà il racconto regge bene, la tensione che all'inizio è completamente assente appare dopo una decina di pagine, sottile e blanda, per crescere e svilupparsi con il trascorrere della lettura. C'è un picco all'apparire della giovane figlia della locandiera, per poi crescere fino al culmine del racconto, a poche pagine dalla fine.

Nel complesso merita tranquillamente le 3 stelle e mezza.

[Ray Higgs · Rating 3 out of 5]

i was a bit up and down with this book of old ghost stories - some of the stories (or cases) were delightful - i rushed through them and would’ve given them five stars; and then some were an absolute slog, either slow or uninteresting and i was begging myself to finish them and move on

john silence is an interesting fella and a fun lead character for the stories, and i v much enjoyed the lore between him and the supernatural in this universe

i saw a review saying these weren’t some of algernon blackwood’s best stories so i WILL be reading another collection soon, he’s an interesting enough author to give it another shot

[Samuel Clarkbourne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable collection of weird tales, some more entertaining than others. Blackwood's prose is evocative and rich but sometimes stretches too far (why does he describe the reactions of his pets quite so much in that one story!).

I was really excited by Penguin putting this collection together, but as another user pointed out they have done the bare minimum. An introduction by an expert or the editor, at the very least, would have brought some useful insight into these republished classics.

[شاهنشاه‎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blackwood, while often regarded as little more than a precursor to Lovecraft, produced prettier and far more polished prose than Lovecraft ever did. If Lovecraft was the better storyteller (which is debatable), Blackwood was by far the better writer.

The fantastic "Nemesis of Fire" is the highlight of this volume. "Ancient Sorceries," while somehow famous, is actually one of Blackwood's less polished and coherent works.

[Bob Jacobs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vijf verhalen - cases - rond John Silence, een ‘dokter’ die zich bezighoudt met weirde shit. Perfect voor tussendoor: goed geschreven kortverhalen met interessante - doch ietwat voorspelbare - plots.

[Richard Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though these stories are somewhat dated, their pseudoscience is still interesting. My favourite tale is 'Secret Worship' with its creeping atmosphere of unease.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Five of Doctor John Silence's cases. My favourite was Secret Worship in which Silence only really appears in the last couple of pages.

[Dylan Rock · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely brilliant collection of weird fiction from a master of the form. It's almost like if Father Brown stories by G.K Chesterton meets Arthur Machen.

[Taylor Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good fun, worth trying to cover each story in single sittings if you can. The descriptions run on with all the trimmings, and over multiple sittings it feel congested and ugly.

[Evan Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty interesting but I didn't find myself getting pulled in all too much. I would've liked a longer more drawn out story as opposed to shorter bits.

[Julian · Rating 4 out of 5]

conclusion is that i love john silence

[Andrew Craddock · Rating 4 out of 5]

I suppose fairly typical of turn-of-the-century serialised anthologies like this, some of the five Dr. John Silence stories presented here are stronger than others, but what a fantastic introduction to Blackwood’s weird fiction.