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5.0 out of 5 stars
Bone Chilling Tales of the Strange, May 15 2003
Algernon Blackwood writes some very creepy stories. Born in 1869 to a ruling class family in Kent, England, Blackwood failed to live up to the expectations of his ultra religious parents. After attending the University of Edinburgh, the young man headed to Canada, then a part of the British Empire. In Canada Blackwood failed at several different endeavors, including an attempt at journalism, running a milk farm, and managing a bar. Algernon then went to New York City where he lived in penniless isolation. It was here that the future novelist encountered the seedy side of humanity, including dangerous criminals, con men, and other assorted unsavory types. Most people, when confronted with such a bleak atmosphere, would give up in frustration. Blackwood did not; he caught a break when a wealthy individual hired him as a private secretary. His eventual return to England led to the start of his writing career, a career as the premier author of supernatural fiction.This compilation of Blackwood stories, compiled by E.F. Bleiler in the early 1970s, contains several of Blackwoodï¿s most lauded tales. The stories vary in length from fifty pages to less than ten pages. The title of Bleilerï¿s collection, ï¿Best Ghost Stories of Algernon Blackwood,ï¿ is more than a little misleading. There are only three stories dealing with spirits from beyond the grave here, and only one of those, ï¿The Listener,ï¿ is truly creepy. The best stories in this book, without a doubt, are two of the lengthier contributions: ï¿The Willowsï¿ and ï¿The Wendigo,ï¿ which must rank as the eeriest stories ever written. Blackwood has the amazing ability to introduce not only deep sensations of terror, but to sustain and build that terror throughout the story. Every fan of horror must read Algernon Blackwood at some point. The first story, ï¿The Willows,ï¿ sets the tone for the book. Two men sailing down the Danube River become trapped on an island during a flood. Immediately, strangeness rears its ugly head. The men sense that all is not right in their surroundings. Huge winds buffet the island, followed by unexplainable internal sensations of deep fear. Supplies start to disappear and the willow trees in the area seem to move of their own accord. A mysterious hole in the canoe means the men will have to stay on the island longer than planned. Blackwood never explains exactly what plagues the two travelers, but he does hint at dark forces that are attempting to force themselves into our world. This yarn ranks high on the shudder meter. The second story that makes this collection worth owning is ï¿The Wendigo.ï¿ There are no ghosts rattling chains in this tale. Blackwood instead introduces the reader to a group of men on a hunting trip in the remoteness of backwoods Canada. Two of the men head out to a region that local Indians claim is haunted by a Wendigo, a creature who lifts men right off the ground and feeds off of them. This story is fantastic, arguably one of the best horror stories ever written. If you have ever gone out into the woods at night, far from the safety of home, you will instantly recognize the dark terror suffered by Simpson as he looks for the vanished guide Defago. I get chills just thinking about this story. A third story worth noting is ï¿The Listener,ï¿ a ghost yarn set in a rundown house in London. A struggling writer rents a room in this old residence, but slowly realizes something is amiss in his new digs. He gets intense headaches, becomes aware of strange footsteps in the house, and notices that someone (or something) is watching him while he sleeps. There are great scenes in this story, and the final line uttered by one of this manï¿s friends is about as unsettling as things get in this genre. For those who enjoy a great ghost story, ï¿The Listenerï¿ promises to deliver the goods. Blackwood tells the story through journal entries jotted down by the protagonist, allowing the reader of the story to get a sense of passing time and increasing weirdness. These three stories are the best of the lot, but by no means the only effective chillers chosen for inclusion by Bleiler. For example, ï¿Max Hensigï¿ is about a murderer hunting down a journalist who had the gall to make disparaging comments about him in the city paper. There is nothing supernatural about ï¿Max Hensig,ï¿ but it is a great story well worth reading. Other stories deal with nature run amuck or the appearance of devils and demons. There is something for everybody in this great book. Every story in the book starts the same way. One of the main characters quickly realizes that something is terribly wrong, usually through what we recognize as a ï¿sixth senseï¿ or a ï¿gut feeling,ï¿ an extrasensory perception that tells us we are in big trouble. Having his characters recognize the ï¿wrongnessï¿ of a situation is exactly what Blackwood set out to do. His interest was not in Wendigos or ghosts as much as it was in how man perceives these unknowns. Blackwood often ends his stories with no firm resolutions, with nothing more than speculation about what happened. This adds to the general sense of uneasiness. Blackwood must have influenced later writers like H.P. Lovecraft. Unfortunately, there are no clear successors to Algernon Blackwood alive today. Modern horror relies on gruesome scenes and neat plotlines that wrap up as neatly as a Christmas gift. Gore is not necessarily a bad thing, but when it is a substitute for suspense and clever writing there is a big hole that needs filling. This English author neatly closes that gap with great stories full of suspense and eeriness. More Blackwood, I say!
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by Robert E. Howard
by W.F. Harvey
by F Marion Crawford
by Gertrude Atherton
by Sir Alfr Caldecott
