10 Extreme Ghost Stories For Hardcore Horror Fans Only Illustrated

by Algernon Blackwood

Introduction

• 10 Original Horror Illustrations and/or photographs added to this edition.

Here are 10 ghost stories written by the long forgotten horror master of the 20th century, Algernon Blackwood.

His vintage 228-page account is true to form in that it carefully builds the cases of 10 extreme hauntings in a psychological and material way that slowly brings goose bumps to your entire body.

For fans of bizarre and subtle hauntings without the 21th century special effects and over exaggerations, this book is for you! The ghosts herein invade your personal space to the point that the term haunting is fully understood.

Enjoy.

Chet Dembeck
Publisher of One

218 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 20, 2009

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

[Sonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I'm not sure "extreme" would really be the word I'd ascribe to this collection. However, I think for the period in which these stories were set, these stories would qualify as very scary. Blackwood certainly does have a gift with atmosphere. The setting for his stories is always well defined and very eerie. I felt that was the strength of this collection.

The stories are entertaining, but they do feel outdated for the modern "horror" reader.

[H.C. Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

A masterful writer of psychological terror. "A Haunted Island" in particular gave me a restless night! Some of the stories have something of the macabre about them, but they are none the worse for that. Could have done with a few less stories about single men in boarding houses but I can't fault the writing.

[Ken · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love Algernon Blackwood, but this was just "The Empty House and Other Stories" with a different title.

[Carra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not enjoy this at all - the writing was sub-par, the stories were not scary and I fail to find anything positive to say about it.