The Collected Works of Algernon Blackwood

by Algernon Blackwood

This collection contains thirty-one works by master supernatural storyteller Algernon Blackwood, including his (arguably) two best-known short stories, THE WILLOWS and THE WENDIGO and four of novels, including the highly regarded work THE CENTAUR.

Novels
Jimbo
The Human Chord
The Centaur
The Extra Day

Short Stories
The Insanity of Jones
The Man Who Found Out
The Glamour of the Snow
Sand
May Day Eve
The Damned
The Empty House
A Haunted Island
A Case of Eavesdropping
Keeping His Promise
With Intent to Steal
The Wood of the Dead
Smith: An Episode in A Lodging-House
A Suspicious Gift
The Strange Adventures of A Private Secretary in New York
Skeleton Lake: An Episode in Camp
The Garden of Survival
The Listener
The Man Whom the Trees Loved
The Olive
The Wendigo
The Willows
A Psychical Invasion
Ancient Sorceries
The Nemesis of Fire
Secret Worship
The Camp of the Dog
A Victim of Higher Space

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

1230 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

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

[Erica-Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a massive anthology, a complete collection of nearly all the prolific Blackwood's works. While his mid-career stories are his most critically acclaimed, and delve into more psychologically murky, symbolic territory, I had the most fun reading his earliest works, in particular the first ten or so short stories he published (and which, prior to now, were hard to get hold of). They were insightful, witty, and scary, evoking a unique Edwardian time period (think Downton Abbey, E.M. Forster) that was optimistic and modern yet still routed in Victorian Gothic. Blackwood is, really, a master at this genre and it's a shame his work is not read more widely. Hopefully this anthology will help with that.

[Nenad Pavlović · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading two and a half novels and about two dozen stories from this collection, I can now say that I am D O N E with it. It's not that it's bad, far from it, but it is excessive and repetitive, and all in all plain boring .

So, what does the work of Algernon Blackwood say about the author? It says that:
- he was a swell, wholesome man, which I would love to have as a friend
- he was very perceptive, creative and imaginative
- he did a lot of things in his life, and had traveled far and wide
- he was very spiritual and sensitive
- he was a closet homosexual (and probably didn't even know what that is)
- he could write good stories
- he didn't know how to finish any of them in a good satisfying way (apart from maybe two)
- he couldn't write novels, as he tended to stretch a single idea ad infinitum, until it turned into pure boredom

Long story short: Read The Willows. If you're really up for more, read Vendigo and The Listener. And do yourself a favor and skip the rest. Blackwood may have influenced Lovecraft, he may even be more creative and skillful writer than him, but there is a good reason why Lovecraft is more popular of the two.

[Deborah Schuff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Algernon Blackwood writes spooky Poe-like tales. I enjoyed the short stories and was surprised to recognize "The Willows" as something I had read long, long ago. The four novels included are different from each other. Jimbo could easily be made into a horror film today. The Human Chord is quite spooky and had me on my edge. The Centaur was deadly dull, but would have made a more enthralling story if the repetitive explanations and quotes had been dropped in favor of tightening the whole into a novella or even a longish short story. The Extra Day is simply charming and wonderful, making it a delightful "children's" book that anyone would enjoy.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing was incredibly uneven, the horror was not actually scary, the spiritual/metaphysical underpinnings of most of the stories were ridiculous...And that's all before you get to the racism, sexism, and what starts to feel a lot like closeted homosexual confusion after you realize there's a heavy hero-worship of single males running through the stories. Interesting only in the sense that you can see where it influenced other writers, for good and ill. Also, the ridiculous and thinly-veiled attempt to capitalize on Sherlock Holmes fandom by creating a super Psychic detective was intriguing, if you've ever made a study of fanfic and it's influences on literary movements.

[Joel Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great, great, great. Best ghost stories and weird yards. What makes Blackwood great is the sense of cosmic forces -- a mixing of what's going on inside the character and outside in the world. The lines really blur and it's quite mystical and powerful. But you should know, he writes in a late Victorian, very British style, not contemporary fiction.

[Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read:

Ancient Sorceries. Sep 22. 2/5.
Smith: An Episode in a Lodging-House - 4/5
The Camp of the Dog - 3/5
The Empty House - 2/5
The Kit-Bag - 3/5
The Transfer- 3/5
The Wendigo - 4/5
The Willows - 4/5

[James Ranger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly fantastic. A true visionary for his time. Too bad we don't get too many writers like this these days.

[Alexander Kuzma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic!

[I. Blackwind · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The quality of the stories varies greatly, and I don't think that it's just that some have aged better than others. That's certainly a factor, though, too- there's some pretty racist and sexist stuff in here that I had a very difficult time reading.

[Cliff Hamrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic of the weird!