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The Wendigo
Algernon Blackwood's classic novella of supernatural terror. A hunting party in the Canadian wilderness is confronted by the horror of the Wendigo, the monster of Algonquian folk legend. H.P. Lovecraft stated that in the story, "we are confronted by horrible evidences of a vast forest daemon about which North Woods lumber men whisper at evening. The manner in which certain footprints tell certain unbelievable things is really a marked triumph in craftsmanship."
84 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1910
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8577 people want to read
About the author
Algernon Blackwood
1,344 books1,176 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 - 30 of 984 reviews
October 21, 2022
*3.5 stars*
This isn’t the scariest thing I’ve ever read, but Blackwood writes particularly well and he certainly creates fear and dread, the location adding much to the atmosphere, the isolation of a huge thickly forested area, a great wilderness where even the sounds of the forest are creepy enough, but is there something else to contend with, something really terrifying?
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10897
This isn’t the scariest thing I’ve ever read, but Blackwood writes particularly well and he certainly creates fear and dread, the location adding much to the atmosphere, the isolation of a huge thickly forested area, a great wilderness where even the sounds of the forest are creepy enough, but is there something else to contend with, something really terrifying?
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10897
January 5, 2018
a rainy, windy, chilly night with nothing to do but gaze lovingly at my overly full bookcases. so why not reread one of my favorite classic horror novellas? this one is about, wait for it, The Wendigo and its prey du jour (du nuit?): some hunters and their guides. but is the story really about this so-called "wendigo" or whatever... or is it more concerned with the awful beauty of uncharted nature, its allure and its dangers? knowing the author, probably the latter.
third time down, the tale is still flavorful. Blackwood clearly loves the natural world. he knows how to write about the deep dark woods and lakes and the wind and the sounds you hear around a campfire. or better yet, the sounds you hear when no one is awake around you as you lay huddled in your tent with a sleeping buddy. or perhaps even all on your lonesome, your nervous and don't-want-to-admit-you're-scared lonesome. he can write about wonder and terror all at once. he paints a mighty attractive picture of the great outdoors. makes me want to go camping, all by myself!
the wendigo itself is marvelously obscure - an ambiguous monster that flies through the trees, creeps upon sleepers, that somehow knows them, takes them on a terrible journey, transforms itself and its victims, perhaps even releases them. this is no tacky, familiar bugaboo - it is a mythic, unexplainable creature. listen to the cry of its victim:
third time down, the tale is still flavorful. Blackwood clearly loves the natural world. he knows how to write about the deep dark woods and lakes and the wind and the sounds you hear around a campfire. or better yet, the sounds you hear when no one is awake around you as you lay huddled in your tent with a sleeping buddy. or perhaps even all on your lonesome, your nervous and don't-want-to-admit-you're-scared lonesome. he can write about wonder and terror all at once. he paints a mighty attractive picture of the great outdoors. makes me want to go camping, all by myself!
the wendigo itself is marvelously obscure - an ambiguous monster that flies through the trees, creeps upon sleepers, that somehow knows them, takes them on a terrible journey, transforms itself and its victims, perhaps even releases them. this is no tacky, familiar bugaboo - it is a mythic, unexplainable creature. listen to the cry of its victim:
"Oh, oh! My feet of fire! My burning feet of fire! Oh, oh! This height and fiery speed!"although this is mainly a straightforward tale of horror, Blackwood's obsession with transformation remains intact. he has a thing for it, the idea of moving beyond ourselves and this finite mortal coil, and the many variations of transformation have been at the heart of nearly everything i've read by him. often it is a source of a bizarre kind of epiphany. in The Wendigo, transformation equals terror. but an awe-inspiring kind of terror, unknowable and indescribable. a wilderness forever uncharted by prosaic humans. makes me not want to go camping?
July 10, 2025
He Had Seen the Wendigo...
THE WENDIGO
by Algernon Blackwood
4 stars. A moose hunting party was formed on the last day of October...
Sometime in the 1800s...
The group consisted of Cathcart, his nephew Simpson, guide Hank Davis , another guide, Defago, and an Indian cook called Punk...
After camping in the same spot for a week with no moose sightings...
They decided to split up and scout for game elsewhere. They planned to start out the next morning...
Defago didn't seem happy about the new plans for some reason. The others noticed he seemed uneasy as they sat around the campfire...
He looked scared to his very soul...
The others concluded he was just scared of some ole' faery tale, but Punk, the Indian, sensed something evil too...
Later that night...
After everyone had bedded down in their tents, a sinister puff of air blew over the treetops of their camp, and a foul indescribable odor wafted in...
Still, they slept on...
Days later, one of their party disappeared...
The Wendigo is the call of the wild personified, and one of the hunters answered the call, and some say he had seen the Wendigo...
This was another creepy story by Algernon Blackwood. It wasn't as good as THE WILLOWS, mostly because of the outdated language, but it was still atmospheric.
THE WENDIGO
by Algernon Blackwood
4 stars. A moose hunting party was formed on the last day of October...
Sometime in the 1800s...
The group consisted of Cathcart, his nephew Simpson, guide Hank Davis , another guide, Defago, and an Indian cook called Punk...
After camping in the same spot for a week with no moose sightings...
They decided to split up and scout for game elsewhere. They planned to start out the next morning...
Defago didn't seem happy about the new plans for some reason. The others noticed he seemed uneasy as they sat around the campfire...
He looked scared to his very soul...
The others concluded he was just scared of some ole' faery tale, but Punk, the Indian, sensed something evil too...
Later that night...
After everyone had bedded down in their tents, a sinister puff of air blew over the treetops of their camp, and a foul indescribable odor wafted in...
Still, they slept on...
Days later, one of their party disappeared...
The Wendigo is the call of the wild personified, and one of the hunters answered the call, and some say he had seen the Wendigo...
This was another creepy story by Algernon Blackwood. It wasn't as good as THE WILLOWS, mostly because of the outdated language, but it was still atmospheric.
November 21, 2015
Dark and thrilling.
This demonstrates the narrative power of a short story.
Blackwood is able to hold a tingling sense of unease and supernatural awe throughout this tight prose and tell a riveting ghost story at the same time. His language is evocative and murky, making the forest come alive and the stillness of the far north broods like a monster.
Reminiscent of Jack London and Joseph Conrad at their best.
This demonstrates the narrative power of a short story.
Blackwood is able to hold a tingling sense of unease and supernatural awe throughout this tight prose and tell a riveting ghost story at the same time. His language is evocative and murky, making the forest come alive and the stillness of the far north broods like a monster.
Reminiscent of Jack London and Joseph Conrad at their best.
April 8, 2025
This was a very strange reading experience. I know that it was written quite a while ago, so I tried to look past some of the blatantly racist portions, but it was hard to do. Some of the language used, and even certain situations, were so obnoxiously racist that I questioned if I wanted to continue reading. But I struggled through, as the story was very slow and written in a way that did not hold my attention. And it was under a hundred pages, which still felt like an eternity. I’m giving it three stars purely for the quality of the writing, not the content, and the very eerie and chilling atmosphere that the author created. I didn’t like much beyond that.
October 30, 2023
Original!
Algernon Blackwood’s tale of Wendigo is original. I have never read a version like it before. This version is full of suspense and a lot of mystery.
The story has a very interesting twist to its Wendigo monster. The Wendigo in this story is a pied piper type that calls the victims towards it.
Two men, with their two servants are searching for moose located in the snowy forest and woods when they are possibly followed by a Wendigo.
Never before has the snow seemed so desolate and barren. A strange ending, but appropriate.
Five stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Algernon Blackwood’s tale of Wendigo is original. I have never read a version like it before. This version is full of suspense and a lot of mystery.
The story has a very interesting twist to its Wendigo monster. The Wendigo in this story is a pied piper type that calls the victims towards it.
Two men, with their two servants are searching for moose located in the snowy forest and woods when they are possibly followed by a Wendigo.
Never before has the snow seemed so desolate and barren. A strange ending, but appropriate.
Five stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
October 9, 2025
It's the last week of October, and Dr Cathcart is part of a hunting party in the wilderness of Rat Portage, with his nephew Simpson, a student, and their guides Hank Davis and Joseph Defago. There's also Punk, who caretakes the main camp to cook, etc.
When the party splits up in order to try and better their hunting chances, things take a turn for the worse. Whilst in a tent in the middle of the night, Simpson is awoken when he hears Defago, seemingly unsettled. Defago unexpectedly runs off and goes missing.
It had an eerie atmospheric feel to it, but everything is based more on suggestion; there is very little in the way of action. Explores themes surrounding folklore, madness and the solitude and beauty of the wilderness.
This is often referred to as a literary classic in the horror genre, so I was curious to see what it was about. It contained that typical florid classical prose which is always enjoyable to read, but it did have quite a meandering plot; even though this was a relatively short story, it felt drawn out. Can't say I was that big a fan of this, especially when taking into account my next point...
This was first published in 1910, and therefore it contains language and attitudes that haven't aged well. I'll be honest, if this book had been any longer, I probably wouldn't have continued. Although sometimes this outdated language is to be expected in these old works, this felt a bit much; therefore, as this was my first foray into this Author's work, it hasn't left a particularly good first impression. I've given the extra star based solely on the writing quality as opposed to its content; otherwise, this would have been a 1 star from me.
When the party splits up in order to try and better their hunting chances, things take a turn for the worse. Whilst in a tent in the middle of the night, Simpson is awoken when he hears Defago, seemingly unsettled. Defago unexpectedly runs off and goes missing.
It had an eerie atmospheric feel to it, but everything is based more on suggestion; there is very little in the way of action. Explores themes surrounding folklore, madness and the solitude and beauty of the wilderness.
This is often referred to as a literary classic in the horror genre, so I was curious to see what it was about. It contained that typical florid classical prose which is always enjoyable to read, but it did have quite a meandering plot; even though this was a relatively short story, it felt drawn out. Can't say I was that big a fan of this, especially when taking into account my next point...
This was first published in 1910, and therefore it contains language and attitudes that haven't aged well. I'll be honest, if this book had been any longer, I probably wouldn't have continued. Although sometimes this outdated language is to be expected in these old works, this felt a bit much; therefore, as this was my first foray into this Author's work, it hasn't left a particularly good first impression. I've given the extra star based solely on the writing quality as opposed to its content; otherwise, this would have been a 1 star from me.
June 30, 2018
Μια κατάσταση εμπειρική ως έλξη μιας ομορφιάς τρομερής, γλυκιάς και απόκοσμης.
Μία θανάσιμη ομορφιά που κυριαρχεί στο ασυνείδητο του ανθρώπου και δεν την αντέχουν οι αισθήσεις, το Γουέντιγκο είναι ίσως η γλυκερή μυρωδιά που αναδύει η ψυχή λίγο πριν χαθεί στα ακατοίκητα δάση της αιώνιας σιωπής του νου.
Ο θρύλος του Γουέντιγκο, η αρχαϊκή και πρωτόγονη καρδιά που κατάφερε να επιζήσει στην εξέλιξη της ανθρωπότητας.
Ένα τερατώδες και ανώριμο είδος ζωής που ξεπροβάλλει απο απάτητους αγριότοπους και κλέβει συνειδήσεις
Με γοητεύει μόνο αν το δω ως την άγρια και φοβερή δύναμη που καραδοκεί πάντα πίσω απο τις ψυχές των ανθρώπων, και όταν για κάποιο λόγο εμφανιστεί,
οδηγεί στο απόλυτο κενό.
Ο άνθρωπος που έχει δει το Γουέντιγκο έχει χάσει μυαλό, μνήμη και ψυχή ανεπιστρεπτί.
Έχει χαθεί σε απάτητες ερημιές της αβύσσου, βαθιές, σκοτεινές και άθικτες, αιώνια μυστικές και απομονωμένες απο κάθε μορφή βοήθειας για ζωή.
😱😰😨😱😶🤯😰😨😱
Καλή ανάγνωση.
Πολλούς ασπασμούς.
Μία θανάσιμη ομορφιά που κυριαρχεί στο ασυνείδητο του ανθρώπου και δεν την αντέχουν οι αισθήσεις, το Γουέντιγκο είναι ίσως η γλυκερή μυρωδιά που αναδύει η ψυχή λίγο πριν χαθεί στα ακατοίκητα δάση της αιώνιας σιωπής του νου.
Ο θρύλος του Γουέντιγκο, η αρχαϊκή και πρωτόγονη καρδιά που κατάφερε να επιζήσει στην εξέλιξη της ανθρωπότητας.
Ένα τερατώδες και ανώριμο είδος ζωής που ξεπροβάλλει απο απάτητους αγριότοπους και κλέβει συνειδήσεις
Με γοητεύει μόνο αν το δω ως την άγρια και φοβερή δύναμη που καραδοκεί πάντα πίσω απο τις ψυχές των ανθρώπων, και όταν για κάποιο λόγο εμφανιστεί,
οδηγεί στο απόλυτο κενό.
Ο άνθρωπος που έχει δει το Γουέντιγκο έχει χάσει μυαλό, μνήμη και ψυχή ανεπιστρεπτί.
Έχει χαθεί σε απάτητες ερημιές της αβύσσου, βαθιές, σκοτεινές και άθικτες, αιώνια μυστικές και απομονωμένες απο κάθε μορφή βοήθειας για ζωή.
😱😰😨😱😶🤯😰😨😱
Καλή ανάγνωση.
Πολλούς ασπασμούς.
October 22, 2014
Algernon Blackwood had an interesting life - before he began to write weird stories he taught the violin, was a bartender, reported for the New York Times, operated a hotel and worked as a farmer in Canada; only in his late thirties did he return to England and started to write stories, using his many personal experiences for inspiration and combining them with his vivid imagination. First published in 1910 The Wendigo is one of Blackwood's early stories, and also one of his most famous. In the length of a short novella, Blackwood managed to craft a story which not only is eerie atmospheric to this day, but continues to influence contemporary writers of horror and weird fiction.
The Wendigo is a creature enshrined in the myths of various Native American tribes that inhabited the area of the Great Lakes, today located on the American/Canadian border - most notably the Ojibwe. A Wendigo is mostly associated with the vast and cold spaces of the North, where it hunted down those unlucky to stumble on its path. Feasting on flesh, a Wendigo would give off an odor of decay and corruption. The tribes believed that humans could be possessed by the spirit of a Wendigo while dreaming, and become obsessed with eating human flesh, or be turned into Wendigos when they resorted to cannibalism on their own, even when they were forced to do so to survive a particularly harsh winter or a famine.
Blackwood employs the legend of the Wendigo to create a mother of all horror stories which feature a group of people lost in the woods. He sets his story in the Canadian Far North, and its vast unexplored wilderness where enormous, thick forests stretch seemingly without end. Two Scotsmen - a Dr. Cathcart and Mr. Simpson, his nephew - travel there to hunt moose, accompanied by a Native cook named Punk and two guides: a man named Hank Davis and Joseph Défago, a Quebecer fascinated by the North and its many mysteries. To cover more groundand catch more game the party decides to split up - Cathart goes with Davis, and Simons with Défago - and the vast, lonely and yet uncharted country starts to get to them,; they begin to hear strange sounds and smell strange smells. Unexpectedly, Défago takes off on his own, and is so swift that the surprised Simons cannot catch up with him. But as he ventures after Défago, Simons discovers that the tracks he left cannot possibly match his movement, and smells a lingering, horrible odor.
Blackwood really excells at setting the mood and atmosphere in the few pages of this novella: the reader feels as if he were right there in the cold, unfamiliar country, where the vastness of empty and uninhabited space silently stretches out across the horizon. The setting and its utter indifference to human life is a major part in building up fear, where the festival of strange noises and scents and the oppressive feeling of endless lonely forests and their unrelenting cold can drive one mad. In this story, the land itself is a force acting upon those who tread it; and it's neither kind nor unkind, merely indifferent, which is perhaps the most horrifying thing of all.
This is a classic and influential story which can be easily read in one sitting, and since it's in public domain it's also available as a legal, free download from many sources. I read a copy from Feedbooks which provides both a well-formatted EPUB and a Kindle version. Both can be downloaded here:
http://www.feedbooks.com/book/1063/th...
The Wendigo is a creature enshrined in the myths of various Native American tribes that inhabited the area of the Great Lakes, today located on the American/Canadian border - most notably the Ojibwe. A Wendigo is mostly associated with the vast and cold spaces of the North, where it hunted down those unlucky to stumble on its path. Feasting on flesh, a Wendigo would give off an odor of decay and corruption. The tribes believed that humans could be possessed by the spirit of a Wendigo while dreaming, and become obsessed with eating human flesh, or be turned into Wendigos when they resorted to cannibalism on their own, even when they were forced to do so to survive a particularly harsh winter or a famine.
Blackwood employs the legend of the Wendigo to create a mother of all horror stories which feature a group of people lost in the woods. He sets his story in the Canadian Far North, and its vast unexplored wilderness where enormous, thick forests stretch seemingly without end. Two Scotsmen - a Dr. Cathcart and Mr. Simpson, his nephew - travel there to hunt moose, accompanied by a Native cook named Punk and two guides: a man named Hank Davis and Joseph Défago, a Quebecer fascinated by the North and its many mysteries. To cover more groundand catch more game the party decides to split up - Cathart goes with Davis, and Simons with Défago - and the vast, lonely and yet uncharted country starts to get to them,; they begin to hear strange sounds and smell strange smells. Unexpectedly, Défago takes off on his own, and is so swift that the surprised Simons cannot catch up with him. But as he ventures after Défago, Simons discovers that the tracks he left cannot possibly match his movement, and smells a lingering, horrible odor.
Blackwood really excells at setting the mood and atmosphere in the few pages of this novella: the reader feels as if he were right there in the cold, unfamiliar country, where the vastness of empty and uninhabited space silently stretches out across the horizon. The setting and its utter indifference to human life is a major part in building up fear, where the festival of strange noises and scents and the oppressive feeling of endless lonely forests and their unrelenting cold can drive one mad. In this story, the land itself is a force acting upon those who tread it; and it's neither kind nor unkind, merely indifferent, which is perhaps the most horrifying thing of all.
This is a classic and influential story which can be easily read in one sitting, and since it's in public domain it's also available as a legal, free download from many sources. I read a copy from Feedbooks which provides both a well-formatted EPUB and a Kindle version. Both can be downloaded here:
http://www.feedbooks.com/book/1063/th...
March 25, 2020
A hunting company, an old folk lore and a member of the hunting company that seems to have changed... the story was a bit slow paced, without the usual twist other Blackwood stories have. I wasn't scared or frightened when toiling through this story. Okay, plotting and prose were immaculate but the story itself was extremely tedious. In my opinion there are many more uncannier, more hair raising tales about this old folk lore. I was a bit disappointed. This was not my cup of tea. Only for Blackwood fans!
November 14, 2020
"La fría magnificencia de estos bosques solitarios y remotos le abrumaba y le hacía sentir su propia pequeñez. De la infinidad de copas azulencas que se balanceaban en el horizonte, se desprendía y revelaba por sí misma esa severidad que emana de las vegetaciones enmarañadas y que sólo puede calificarse como despiadada y terrible. Comprendía la muda advertencia. Se daba cuenta de su total desamparo"
Partiendo del mito del Wendigo. Perteneciente a las culturas nativas del norte de América. Blackwood narra esta historia mítica de horror y misterio. En la que con su prosa oscura, majestuosa y elegante, te adentran en los vastos bosques primitivos, y te hace sentir totalmente desamparado e indefenso en su inmensidad y soledad.
Partiendo del mito del Wendigo. Perteneciente a las culturas nativas del norte de América. Blackwood narra esta historia mítica de horror y misterio. En la que con su prosa oscura, majestuosa y elegante, te adentran en los vastos bosques primitivos, y te hace sentir totalmente desamparado e indefenso en su inmensidad y soledad.
August 31, 2025
Magnífico, de nuevo el autor nos enseña cómo hacer una gran ambientación y de cómo, sin enseñar mucho, crea sosiego y temor hacia las criaturas primigenias.
Los grandes bosques y lo que allí se oculta.
Valoración: 8/10
Los grandes bosques y lo que allí se oculta.
Valoración: 8/10
November 2, 2018
I read this short novella as part of a Halloween group reading – and I’m glad I did.
Algernon Blackwood was completely unknown to me until now. The author can create a good, which in this case means uncomfortable, atmosphere with fairly simple means. Even though I didn’t lie in the corner in foetal position, jittering and trembling, I have to admit that the story struck some nerve with me. Blackwood apparently knows how to expose his protagonists to varying degrees of concrete fear and diffuse anxiety that somehow transfer to the reader, in my case even overcome the language barrier that normally protects me from such things.
For me it’s not the woods I’m afraid of, or anything in it, and I don’t believe in Wendigowak (which I learned is the plural of Wendigo) or other such creatures from folklore; yet this story from the infinite wilderness of Canada and the haunting creature which can only be recognized by its smell at first, has triggered similar reactions in me as sometimes a recurring unpleasant dream does.
Now that I have experienced this kind of feeling in a waking state and have been able to analyse it in some way, I finally might get rid of this stupid dream. Thanks, Wendigo!
I’m also glad I not only bought The Wendigo, but Blackwood’s Complete Supernatural Stories . There are certainly some more “nice” pieces in there for me to “enjoy”.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Algernon Blackwood was completely unknown to me until now. The author can create a good, which in this case means uncomfortable, atmosphere with fairly simple means. Even though I didn’t lie in the corner in foetal position, jittering and trembling, I have to admit that the story struck some nerve with me. Blackwood apparently knows how to expose his protagonists to varying degrees of concrete fear and diffuse anxiety that somehow transfer to the reader, in my case even overcome the language barrier that normally protects me from such things.
For me it’s not the woods I’m afraid of, or anything in it, and I don’t believe in Wendigowak (which I learned is the plural of Wendigo) or other such creatures from folklore; yet this story from the infinite wilderness of Canada and the haunting creature which can only be recognized by its smell at first, has triggered similar reactions in me as sometimes a recurring unpleasant dream does.
Now that I have experienced this kind of feeling in a waking state and have been able to analyse it in some way, I finally might get rid of this stupid dream. Thanks, Wendigo!
I’m also glad I not only bought The Wendigo, but Blackwood’s Complete Supernatural Stories . There are certainly some more “nice” pieces in there for me to “enjoy”.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
August 24, 2013
This 'horror classic' was such a strange mixture of psychological terror and late-night campfire yarn that it never really came together. He starts setting the mood in classic Blackwood fashion--slow, deliberate, and philosophical:
But then, just as he's building this slow-burn terror of strange noises, of things brushing against the tent, of a queer and unsettling scent on the wind, we get our first victim, torn away into the woods at 'furious, rushing speed', and as he disappears, he yells
And so, in one line, all the tension was deflated and I couldn't help but laugh out. The same line gets repeated several times over, which is what reminded me of a campfire tale--that there is a sort of repetitive motif that ties the thing together. Yet it really seemed to be in conflict with the general tone of the piece.
Other than that, and as usual for Blackwood, there were some quite disturbing and effective images, and some unpleasant implications. It really is a thoughtful and well-constructed story, I only wish he had found a voice for the victim's terror that wasn't so oddly specific in observing and reporting on the details of his predicament.
"The silence of the vast listening forest stole forward and enveloped them.
". . . that other aspect of the wilderness: the indifference to human life, the merciless spirit of desolation which took no note of man."
"When the seduction of the uninhabited wastes caught them so fiercely that they went forth, half fascinated, half deluded, to their death."
But then, just as he's building this slow-burn terror of strange noises, of things brushing against the tent, of a queer and unsettling scent on the wind, we get our first victim, torn away into the woods at 'furious, rushing speed', and as he disappears, he yells
"Oh! Oh! My feet of fire! My burning feet of fire! Oh! Oh! This height and fiery speed!"
And so, in one line, all the tension was deflated and I couldn't help but laugh out. The same line gets repeated several times over, which is what reminded me of a campfire tale--that there is a sort of repetitive motif that ties the thing together. Yet it really seemed to be in conflict with the general tone of the piece.
Other than that, and as usual for Blackwood, there were some quite disturbing and effective images, and some unpleasant implications. It really is a thoughtful and well-constructed story, I only wish he had found a voice for the victim's terror that wasn't so oddly specific in observing and reporting on the details of his predicament.
November 14, 2020
Me gustó. Es un relato de terror psicológico más que explícito o físico, en que el poder de la sugestión ante lo desconocido produce una terrible sensación de angustia y desasosiego.
Concuerdo con otras reseñas respecto de la impecable descripción de los parajes y bosques ancestrales, en una época en que es fácil imaginar territorios aún no explorados por el ojo humano, y que hacen aumentar el miedo ante lo que no es explicable a través del avance de la civilización.
Concuerdo con otras reseñas respecto de la impecable descripción de los parajes y bosques ancestrales, en una época en que es fácil imaginar territorios aún no explorados por el ojo humano, y que hacen aumentar el miedo ante lo que no es explicable a través del avance de la civilización.
January 13, 2018
Even better this time.
***
I think nature can be terrifying and creepy even without creatures that cannot be explained.
A hunting party of five men are on their way to find the elusive moose. They leave their cook Puck to guard their main camp while the rest split into two groups to cover more ground. Dr. Cathcart and one of the guides, Hank Davis, go westward and Défago and Simpson eastward. The story follows Défago and Simpson.
The way nature is depicted only confirms that I could never be a scout. While it is breathtakingly beautiful, it is more than scary. Add a supernatural element of a creature that can take a shape of your companion and you get a terrifying combination.
Don't expect to 'see' the Wendigo in its actual form. Its presence, or a hint of it, is used to terrify the men because the Wendigo is the unknown.
***
I think nature can be terrifying and creepy even without creatures that cannot be explained.
A hunting party of five men are on their way to find the elusive moose. They leave their cook Puck to guard their main camp while the rest split into two groups to cover more ground. Dr. Cathcart and one of the guides, Hank Davis, go westward and Défago and Simpson eastward. The story follows Défago and Simpson.
The way nature is depicted only confirms that I could never be a scout. While it is breathtakingly beautiful, it is more than scary. Add a supernatural element of a creature that can take a shape of your companion and you get a terrifying combination.
Don't expect to 'see' the Wendigo in its actual form. Its presence, or a hint of it, is used to terrify the men because the Wendigo is the unknown.
November 11, 2020
Gran cuento de terror
September 28, 2016
Este es un buen cuento de misterio, másque una historia terrorífica. Con una impresionante narrativa Blackwood nos presenta al Wendigo, una criatura mitológica norteamericana.
Sin que se nos presente propiamente a esta criatura, ni explícitamente se hable de lo que esta hace se logra que temamos por nuestros protagonistas, incluso siendo que desde el principio tengas una idea muy acertada de lo que va a pasar, temiendo y dudando de su capacidadpara soportar el temor hacia un depredador que llega anunciándose, pero no por ello da oportunidad de huida, sino que más bien va acorralando a su presay la deja sin salida alguna.
Cuando comienzan a hablar de su ataque y de las consecuencias del mismo es un deleite, no sólo por los sentimientos de la víctima, sino por la frustración del observador, cuando a eso se suma la descripción del bosque, con sus sombras y sonidos, el sentimiento final es de alerta para el lector.
<----No, el wendigo no es así en esta historia,pero está es la representación que más me gusta XD
Sin que se nos presente propiamente a esta criatura, ni explícitamente se hable de lo que esta hace se logra que temamos por nuestros protagonistas, incluso siendo que desde el principio tengas una idea muy acertada de lo que va a pasar, temiendo y dudando de su capacidadpara soportar el temor hacia un depredador que llega anunciándose, pero no por ello da oportunidad de huida, sino que más bien va acorralando a su presay la deja sin salida alguna.
Cuando comienzan a hablar de su ataque y de las consecuencias del mismo es un deleite, no sólo por los sentimientos de la víctima, sino por la frustración del observador, cuando a eso se suma la descripción del bosque, con sus sombras y sonidos, el sentimiento final es de alerta para el lector.
<----No, el wendigo no es así en esta historia,pero está es la representación que más me gusta XD
November 27, 2015
Excelente, de las mejores historias que he leído, descripciones impresionantes que automáticamente te llevan a las profundidades de los bosques, allá por donde la negrura cubre al feroz wendigo.
November 4, 2018
I have to admit, that I had never heard anything from the author before our group reading. Actually, I also thought that the figure of Wendigo is unknown to me, but when the creature appeared for the first time, it reminded me of Pet’s Cemetery of Stephen King, where the cat also emerged from the grave with a strong smell of earth. Odors and sounds play an important role in this little story. The author's language is full of sensory impressions that you get in a dark forest. Dark forests have always awakened primeval fears in humans and have become a subject in legends, fairy tales and nowadays in horror novels. The plot itself is rather unspectacular for our time. The writing style and the language make the book something special. I liked it.
December 26, 2020
Terrorífico, aún en su simpleza. Sin duda Blackwood y el Wendigo se alzaron en el panteón Lovecraftiano por algo. Hay algo en la ambientación que impregna todo el relato, un simple terror de los detalles, algo inexplicable . Un terror sin forma, pero con nombre. El Wendigo. La llamada de la naturaleza hecha ser sobrenatural. Una leyenda que hace aparición solo a traves de un guía aterrado que dice ser llamado por él para adentrarse en los bosques. Cuando este reaparece, lo hace aparentemente igual, pero convertido en algo distinto.
Aquí, al igual que con muchos mitos Lovecraftianos, no veremos nunca al monstruo, pero si sentiremos las consecuencias de todo aquel que sabe de él. Solo el notar alrededor su olor, o viendo como las ramas del bosque se agitan con su sola presencia invisible.
Me ha encantado, uno de los mejores cuentos de terror que he leído hasta el momento.
Aquí, al igual que con muchos mitos Lovecraftianos, no veremos nunca al monstruo, pero si sentiremos las consecuencias de todo aquel que sabe de él. Solo el notar alrededor su olor, o viendo como las ramas del bosque se agitan con su sola presencia invisible.
Me ha encantado, uno de los mejores cuentos de terror que he leído hasta el momento.
September 15, 2025
4 Anamistic Stars
Nearly all of us are familiar with some modern day rendition of the Wendigo from movies, horror novels, or TV series such as The X-Files, Charmed, or Grimm (these three being personal favorites of mine!)
The original Wendigo legend originates from spiritual beliefs held by Indigenous peoples who inhabited both the northeastern U.S. seaboard and continental interior, especially the region around the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. Believed to be the spirit of winter and a symbol of the dangers of selfishness. the Wendigo is generally considered a horrifying entity with an insatiable taste for human flesh. Anyone who encounters a Wendigo risks being devoured or even being turned into a Wendigo.
You can listen to a very high quality performance by Arthur Lane here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=des...
OR
performed in a twangy nasal North American dialect by Darren Marlar, aka WierdDarkness, oooodles of annoying adverts included here: https://weirddarkness.com/thewendigoa...
I started with the twangy nasal performance by Darren Marler; by the time the audiobook broke for psoriasis-meds and birthright adverts I had just about had enough and, luckily, found the quality performance by Arther Lane who, through his skilled presentation, has inspired me to also want to read the hard copy version.
The intricate prose creates a palpable sense of dread and terror through slow, deliberate pacing that pulls you into a downspinning vortex of dread and terror. As the story unfolds you're drawn into a world of subtle, inexplicable details rather than overt horror. Highly recommend 💛🧚♀️🙋🏼👍.
9/15/25 addendum - Project Gutenberg offers a free ecopy that you may read here: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10897
Nearly all of us are familiar with some modern day rendition of the Wendigo from movies, horror novels, or TV series such as The X-Files, Charmed, or Grimm (these three being personal favorites of mine!)
The original Wendigo legend originates from spiritual beliefs held by Indigenous peoples who inhabited both the northeastern U.S. seaboard and continental interior, especially the region around the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. Believed to be the spirit of winter and a symbol of the dangers of selfishness. the Wendigo is generally considered a horrifying entity with an insatiable taste for human flesh. Anyone who encounters a Wendigo risks being devoured or even being turned into a Wendigo.
You can listen to a very high quality performance by Arthur Lane here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=des...
OR
performed in a twangy nasal North American dialect by Darren Marlar, aka WierdDarkness, oooodles of annoying adverts included here: https://weirddarkness.com/thewendigoa...
I started with the twangy nasal performance by Darren Marler; by the time the audiobook broke for psoriasis-meds and birthright adverts I had just about had enough and, luckily, found the quality performance by Arther Lane who, through his skilled presentation, has inspired me to also want to read the hard copy version.
The intricate prose creates a palpable sense of dread and terror through slow, deliberate pacing that pulls you into a downspinning vortex of dread and terror. As the story unfolds you're drawn into a world of subtle, inexplicable details rather than overt horror. Highly recommend 💛🧚♀️🙋🏼👍.
9/15/25 addendum - Project Gutenberg offers a free ecopy that you may read here: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10897
September 14, 2010
Algernon Blackwood has been on my list of classic horror/weird fiction writers since I discovered my fascination with these old, and often lost, gems that fell in the cracks of classic literature. I have read his biography on Wikipedia.org, and he seemed like an interesting fellow. I bought a couple of his volumes for my collection, and added more to my Kindle. A few years ago, I attempted to read The Willows in an anthology, and it just wasn't our time to get acquainted. Thankfully, the Classic Horror Lovers group voted on reading this short story as a group. For, I found it to be a very good story.
Nature fascinates as much as it terrifies. I'm a nature girl. But, let's face it, I'd be almost helpless were I stranded in the wild. I like to watch "Man V. Wild" and "Survivorman", and I collect my survival guides to prepare for the coming apocalypse, the 'what if' scenario in which I have to live on the land. But, this surburban girl would be in for it, were she in the shoes of these men in this story, which is why I stay my butt at home.
Intrepid fellows (or nowadays gals, as well) who venture into the wilderness may face a mental crisis in which they lose their reason when faced with the powerful force of the uninhibited, unclaimed isolation of the wild. They may start to go crazy, and think they see things, which cannot be real. But, why, I ask, did it happen to a seasoned woodsman first, and not the naive, inexperienced young Scottish student who had accompanied him? The reason is, there is a force that lurks in the wild. The natives know to fear it. It is the Wendigo.
I admit I laughed at a few parts. Not because the writing was bad or because it was cheesy. I think I needed the release of a pressure valve. Also because, It seemed terribly bizarre to think that some wild force could essentially kidnap you, force you to run so fast your feet caught on fire, and your eyes bled. So fast, your feet burned away, to be replaced by the animal-like ones that it has. A force that could assume your very form and masquerade as you to your companions--perhaps waiting for its chance to snap them up too. Okay, it makes me shudder just writing that.
This story is pretty creepy in parts. Algernon Blackwood uses language in such a way to evoke this emotion. He paints a clear picture of the beauty of the wild, and the sinister creature that lurks within. The erudite would try to dismiss its existence, like Simpson, and his uncle, Cathcart. But the deeper part of a man, the pure, instinctual survivor, knows better than that. To know and to understand is to fear that force, the primal creature that defies explanation: The Wendigo.
A word of warning to those who like to venture into the unknown wilderness: Take great care when you go into the wild. Guard your eyes and your feet well. Don't let that fire go out for one second. Look carefully into the face of your companion. The Wendigo lurks out there.
I'm glad to have read Mr. Blackwood, and I am eager to explore more of his singular tales.
Nature fascinates as much as it terrifies. I'm a nature girl. But, let's face it, I'd be almost helpless were I stranded in the wild. I like to watch "Man V. Wild" and "Survivorman", and I collect my survival guides to prepare for the coming apocalypse, the 'what if' scenario in which I have to live on the land. But, this surburban girl would be in for it, were she in the shoes of these men in this story, which is why I stay my butt at home.
Intrepid fellows (or nowadays gals, as well) who venture into the wilderness may face a mental crisis in which they lose their reason when faced with the powerful force of the uninhibited, unclaimed isolation of the wild. They may start to go crazy, and think they see things, which cannot be real. But, why, I ask, did it happen to a seasoned woodsman first, and not the naive, inexperienced young Scottish student who had accompanied him? The reason is, there is a force that lurks in the wild. The natives know to fear it. It is the Wendigo.
I admit I laughed at a few parts. Not because the writing was bad or because it was cheesy. I think I needed the release of a pressure valve. Also because, It seemed terribly bizarre to think that some wild force could essentially kidnap you, force you to run so fast your feet caught on fire, and your eyes bled. So fast, your feet burned away, to be replaced by the animal-like ones that it has. A force that could assume your very form and masquerade as you to your companions--perhaps waiting for its chance to snap them up too. Okay, it makes me shudder just writing that.
This story is pretty creepy in parts. Algernon Blackwood uses language in such a way to evoke this emotion. He paints a clear picture of the beauty of the wild, and the sinister creature that lurks within. The erudite would try to dismiss its existence, like Simpson, and his uncle, Cathcart. But the deeper part of a man, the pure, instinctual survivor, knows better than that. To know and to understand is to fear that force, the primal creature that defies explanation: The Wendigo.
A word of warning to those who like to venture into the unknown wilderness: Take great care when you go into the wild. Guard your eyes and your feet well. Don't let that fire go out for one second. Look carefully into the face of your companion. The Wendigo lurks out there.
I'm glad to have read Mr. Blackwood, and I am eager to explore more of his singular tales.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 2, 2018
Das Setting hat mich bei dieser Mystery-Geschichte besonders angesprochen. Die unfassbare Weite der kanadischen Wildnis, angesichts der sich der einzelne Mensch seiner ganzen Verletzlichkeit und Verlorenheit bewusst wird. Es ist das Grausen vor dem leeren, scheinbar grenzenlosen Raum, ein Horror vacui, der die Teilnehmer der Jagdgesellschaft allmählich ergreift. Ob es den Wendigo tatsächlich gibt oder ob dieses Wesen nur eine Projektion darstellt, eine Kapriole des Gehirns um die Leerstellen auszufüllen, bleibt im Ungewissen. Jeder der schon einmal eine Nacht in vollkommener Finsternis im Wald verbracht hat, wird den Effekt kennen, dass sich plötzlich Schemen scheinbar vor dem Auge bewegen, obwohl nichts weiter da ist, als Bäume und Sträucher. Blackwood setzt diese physiologischen Vorgänge des von seinem eigenen Vorstellungsvermögen irregeleiteten Verstandes gekonnt und spannend in Szene.
October 30, 2023
Very atmospheric short story.
I read this because I heard pet semetary was partly inspired by it, hadn’t heard of Algernon Blackwood before but it’s good stuff.
There’s a sense of creeping dread in it that reminds me of HP Lovecraft who incidentally wrote a glowing review of Blackwood’s work.
I read this because I heard pet semetary was partly inspired by it, hadn’t heard of Algernon Blackwood before but it’s good stuff.
There’s a sense of creeping dread in it that reminds me of HP Lovecraft who incidentally wrote a glowing review of Blackwood’s work.
December 23, 2018
One of my favorite classic horror shorts. Perfect story to read around a campfire on a cold winter night.
August 13, 2020
"El Wendigo es simplemente la personificación de la llamada de la selva, que algunos individuos escuchan para precipitarse hacia su propia destrucción ... Y cuando lo oyes, no hay posibilidad de que te equivoques. Te llama por tu propio nombre"
Todo comenzará cuando un grupo de cazadores de alces deciden separarse y así poder abarcar más terreno, y lograr encontrar alguna presa. Lo que no saben es que en las profundidades del bosque, en esos oscuros y realmente gélidos bosques, eso no es lo que encontrarán.
Blackwood con excelente maestría logra una ambientación lúgubre en las profundidades del bosque, el cual será testigo de hechos que inquietarán hasta al más escéptico.
Generando así, una obra escalofriante en torno a una terrorífica criatura o espíritu que ronda los oscuros bosques.
Todo comenzará cuando un grupo de cazadores de alces deciden separarse y así poder abarcar más terreno, y lograr encontrar alguna presa. Lo que no saben es que en las profundidades del bosque, en esos oscuros y realmente gélidos bosques, eso no es lo que encontrarán.
Blackwood con excelente maestría logra una ambientación lúgubre en las profundidades del bosque, el cual será testigo de hechos que inquietarán hasta al más escéptico.
Generando así, una obra escalofriante en torno a una terrorífica criatura o espíritu que ronda los oscuros bosques.
October 4, 2016
“[A] Little Child, Crying in Mid-Atlantic”
Or aware of looming forces of indifference in the dark and yet having no other choice but to go on, like the poor French soldier in Caspar David Friedrich’s painting Chasseur im Walde, this is probably what the individual boils down to when he suddenly finds himself torn out of the everyday web of civilized life, whatever that is, and is confronted with Nature Unmasked.
Algernon Blackwood’s novella The Wendigo, published in 1910, seems to have been inspired by a moose-hunting expedition in Canada the author undertook in 1898, and it was probably the impression of the seemingly boundless primeval forests which might hold creatures no human has ever set eye on that haunted Blackwood and prompted to him the story of a handful of men facing the Demon of the Wilderness:
”’I—I was thinking of our little toy woods at home, just at that moment,’ stammered Simpson, coming back to what really dominated his mind, and startled by the question, ‘and comparing them to—to all this,’ and he swept his arm round to indicate the Bush.
A pause followed in which neither of them said anything.
‘All the same I wouldn't laugh about it, if I was you,’ Défago added, looking over Simpson's shoulder into the shadows. ‘There's places in there nobody won't never see into—nobody knows what lives in there either.’
‘Too big—too far off?’ The suggestion in the guide's manner was immense and horrible.
Défago nodded. The expression on his face was dark. He, too, felt uneasy. The younger man understood that in a hinterland of this size there might well be depths of wood that would never in the life of the world be known or trodden. The thought was not exactly the sort he welcomed.“
Interestingly, it is not young Simpson, a student of theology, who has been invited to this moose hunt by his uncle Cathcart, a doctor of medicine and a skeptic, who will be carried away by the Wendigo but one of the guides, who is described as becoming “imaginative and melancholy” when too long exposed to the constraints of civilization. Blackwood does not give the reader too clear an idea of what the Wendigo actually is; instead it is both intrusive and elusive, its most conspicuous quality being a particular smell:
”And even this was now rapidly disappearing in its turn. In spite of his exceeding mental perturbation, Simpson struggled hard to detect its nature, and define it, but the ascertaining of an elusive scent, not recognized subconsciously and at once, is a very subtle operation of the mind. And he failed. It was gone before he could properly seize or name it. Approximate description, even, seems to have been difficult, for it was unlike any smell he knew. Acrid rather, not unlike the odor of a lion, he thinks, yet softer and not wholly unpleasing, with something almost sweet in it that reminded him of the scent of decaying garden leaves, earth, and the myriad, nameless perfumes that make up the odor of a big forest. Yet the ‘odor of lions’ is the phrase with which he usually sums it all up.”
The little qualification of the Wendigo’s smell not being altogether unpleasing might probably be a hint at how the author himself felt when exposed to the untouched wilderness of the Canadian forests. Did he feel allured or awed by what Jack London called the Call of the Wild, or was he rather worried by the remoteness of any trace of civilization and security? One of the strongest scenes in this short story is probably that in which Simpson wakes up in the middle of the night and hears his experienced guide Défago, who is stricken with terror, cry like a helpless child about being at the mercy of unfeeling Nature:
”And, long before he understood what this sound was, it had stirred in him the centers of pity and alarm. He listened intently, though at first in vain, for the running blood beat all its drums too noisily in his ears. Did it come, he wondered, from the lake, or from the woods?...
Then, suddenly, with a rush and a flutter of the heart, he knew that it was close beside him in the tent; and, when he turned over for a better hearing, it focused itself unmistakably not two feet away. It was a sound of weeping; Défago upon his bed of branches was sobbing in the darkness as though his heart would break, the blankets evidently stuffed against his mouth to stifle it.
And his first feeling, before he could think or reflect, was the rush of a poignant and searching tenderness. This intimate, human sound, heard amid the desolation about them, woke pity. It was so incongruous, so pitifully incongruous—and so vain! Tears—in this vast and cruel wilderness: of what avail? He thought of a little child crying in mid-Atlantic....”
Were it not for the element of the supernatural that is constantly hinted at in this story, one might even suppose that one was reading a Joseph Conrad story – with certain reservations depending on Conrad’s superiority in style –, a story which deals with civilized man fighting his darker impulses when he suddenly finds himself plunged into primordial chaos. Blackwood deftly leaves the supernatural in the dark, whence it stares at the reader out of its red eyes, not deigning to step into the light and showing us its real shape – and this leaves the reader with the question whether there is a Wendigo outside in the dark forests, or whether there are not rather some people carrying the Wendigo inside themselves. The skeptical Dr. Cathcart would definitely prefer the latter solution, but his nephew has gathered some evidence to the contrary he might find it hard to defy. Readers of this intriguing tale might feel themselves left in the dark, and enjoy it.
Or aware of looming forces of indifference in the dark and yet having no other choice but to go on, like the poor French soldier in Caspar David Friedrich’s painting Chasseur im Walde, this is probably what the individual boils down to when he suddenly finds himself torn out of the everyday web of civilized life, whatever that is, and is confronted with Nature Unmasked.
Algernon Blackwood’s novella The Wendigo, published in 1910, seems to have been inspired by a moose-hunting expedition in Canada the author undertook in 1898, and it was probably the impression of the seemingly boundless primeval forests which might hold creatures no human has ever set eye on that haunted Blackwood and prompted to him the story of a handful of men facing the Demon of the Wilderness:
”’I—I was thinking of our little toy woods at home, just at that moment,’ stammered Simpson, coming back to what really dominated his mind, and startled by the question, ‘and comparing them to—to all this,’ and he swept his arm round to indicate the Bush.
A pause followed in which neither of them said anything.
‘All the same I wouldn't laugh about it, if I was you,’ Défago added, looking over Simpson's shoulder into the shadows. ‘There's places in there nobody won't never see into—nobody knows what lives in there either.’
‘Too big—too far off?’ The suggestion in the guide's manner was immense and horrible.
Défago nodded. The expression on his face was dark. He, too, felt uneasy. The younger man understood that in a hinterland of this size there might well be depths of wood that would never in the life of the world be known or trodden. The thought was not exactly the sort he welcomed.“
Interestingly, it is not young Simpson, a student of theology, who has been invited to this moose hunt by his uncle Cathcart, a doctor of medicine and a skeptic, who will be carried away by the Wendigo but one of the guides, who is described as becoming “imaginative and melancholy” when too long exposed to the constraints of civilization. Blackwood does not give the reader too clear an idea of what the Wendigo actually is; instead it is both intrusive and elusive, its most conspicuous quality being a particular smell:
”And even this was now rapidly disappearing in its turn. In spite of his exceeding mental perturbation, Simpson struggled hard to detect its nature, and define it, but the ascertaining of an elusive scent, not recognized subconsciously and at once, is a very subtle operation of the mind. And he failed. It was gone before he could properly seize or name it. Approximate description, even, seems to have been difficult, for it was unlike any smell he knew. Acrid rather, not unlike the odor of a lion, he thinks, yet softer and not wholly unpleasing, with something almost sweet in it that reminded him of the scent of decaying garden leaves, earth, and the myriad, nameless perfumes that make up the odor of a big forest. Yet the ‘odor of lions’ is the phrase with which he usually sums it all up.”
The little qualification of the Wendigo’s smell not being altogether unpleasing might probably be a hint at how the author himself felt when exposed to the untouched wilderness of the Canadian forests. Did he feel allured or awed by what Jack London called the Call of the Wild, or was he rather worried by the remoteness of any trace of civilization and security? One of the strongest scenes in this short story is probably that in which Simpson wakes up in the middle of the night and hears his experienced guide Défago, who is stricken with terror, cry like a helpless child about being at the mercy of unfeeling Nature:
”And, long before he understood what this sound was, it had stirred in him the centers of pity and alarm. He listened intently, though at first in vain, for the running blood beat all its drums too noisily in his ears. Did it come, he wondered, from the lake, or from the woods?...
Then, suddenly, with a rush and a flutter of the heart, he knew that it was close beside him in the tent; and, when he turned over for a better hearing, it focused itself unmistakably not two feet away. It was a sound of weeping; Défago upon his bed of branches was sobbing in the darkness as though his heart would break, the blankets evidently stuffed against his mouth to stifle it.
And his first feeling, before he could think or reflect, was the rush of a poignant and searching tenderness. This intimate, human sound, heard amid the desolation about them, woke pity. It was so incongruous, so pitifully incongruous—and so vain! Tears—in this vast and cruel wilderness: of what avail? He thought of a little child crying in mid-Atlantic....”
Were it not for the element of the supernatural that is constantly hinted at in this story, one might even suppose that one was reading a Joseph Conrad story – with certain reservations depending on Conrad’s superiority in style –, a story which deals with civilized man fighting his darker impulses when he suddenly finds himself plunged into primordial chaos. Blackwood deftly leaves the supernatural in the dark, whence it stares at the reader out of its red eyes, not deigning to step into the light and showing us its real shape – and this leaves the reader with the question whether there is a Wendigo outside in the dark forests, or whether there are not rather some people carrying the Wendigo inside themselves. The skeptical Dr. Cathcart would definitely prefer the latter solution, but his nephew has gathered some evidence to the contrary he might find it hard to defy. Readers of this intriguing tale might feel themselves left in the dark, and enjoy it.
September 19, 2023
Entertaining listening 🔰😀
Another will written fantasy thriller adventure novel by Algernon Blackwood about a moose hunting in Canada when one of the party goes missing. They search for several days without luck and return to the main camp where they find him and things get really weird. I would recommend this novel to anyone looking for a quick entertaining read. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or 🎶 to 👍novels 🔰😀2022
Entertaining horror listening 🎧
I listened to this as part of Cliassic Horror Tales - 500+ stories box set. The story is very interesting and a very quick read. I would recommend to readers of horror novels. 2023
As with all box sets some story you will like better than others but that is normal.
Another will written fantasy thriller adventure novel by Algernon Blackwood about a moose hunting in Canada when one of the party goes missing. They search for several days without luck and return to the main camp where they find him and things get really weird. I would recommend this novel to anyone looking for a quick entertaining read. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or 🎶 to 👍novels 🔰😀2022
Entertaining horror listening 🎧
I listened to this as part of Cliassic Horror Tales - 500+ stories box set. The story is very interesting and a very quick read. I would recommend to readers of horror novels. 2023
As with all box sets some story you will like better than others but that is normal.
August 12, 2017
While starting out pretty slow and somewhat dated it really picked up and the chill factor increased right up until the end.
Definitely one of the better "classics" that I have read. I can see where this story in particular had a bigtime influence with authors that came after. Nicely done and has stood the test of time incredibly well.
Definitely one of the better "classics" that I have read. I can see where this story in particular had a bigtime influence with authors that came after. Nicely done and has stood the test of time incredibly well.
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