Algernon Blackwood’s Followers (1,145)

Algernon Blackwood

Born

in Shooter's Hill, Kent, England, The United Kingdom

March 14, 1869

Died

December 10, 1951

Genre

Horror, Short Stories, Weird Fiction

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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 religiou 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. ...more

Combine Editions
Algernon Blackwood’s books

Average rating: 3.9 · 63,039 ratings · 7,516 reviews · 1,264 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Willows 4.05 avg rating — 16,357 ratings — published 1907 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Wendigo 3.80 avg rating — 7,799 ratings — published 1910 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Best Ghost Stories of Algernon Blackwood by Algernon Blackwood, E.F. Bleiler (Selection, Introduction) 4.15 avg rating — 3,180 ratings — published 1973 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories by Algernon Blackwood, S.T. Joshi (Introduction) 4.09 avg rating — 2,306 ratings — published 2001 — 28 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories 3.74 avg rating — 1,858 ratings — published 1906 — 701 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Man Whom the Trees Loved 3.66 avg rating — 986 ratings — published 1912 — 130 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Complete John Silence Stories (John Silence #1-2) by Algernon Blackwood, S.T. Joshi (Editor) 3.97 avg rating — 817 ratings — published 1908 — 127 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Empty House 3.45 avg rating — 694 ratings — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Damned 3.50 avg rating — 449 ratings — published 1914 — 342 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Four Weird Tales by Algernon Blackwood, 1stworld Library (Editor) 3.48 avg rating — 445 ratings — published 1907 — 125 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Algernon Blackwood…

Series by Algernon Blackwood

John Silence (2 books)
by

Algernon Blackwood

3.92 avg rating — 1,136 ratings

Biblioteca de Lovecraft (4 books)
by

Algernon Blackwood

3.50 avg rating — 12 ratings

Quotes by Algernon Blackwood (?)

“The Wise are silent, the Foolish speak, and children are thus led astray.”
― Algernon Blackwood

63 likes

“When common objects in this way be come charged with the suggestion of horror, they stimulate the imagination far more than things of unusual appearance; and these bushes, crowding huddled about us, assumed for me in the darkness a bizarre grotesquerie of appearance that lent to them somehow the aspect of purposeful and living creatures. Their very ordinariness, I felt, masked what was malignant and hostile to us.”
― Algernon Blackwood, The Willows

49 likes

“No place worth knowing yields itself at sight, and those the least
inviting on first view may leave the most haunting pictures upon the
walls of memory.”
― Algernon Blackwood, A Prisoner in Fairyland

45 likes

See all Algernon Blackwood's quotes »

Polls

November Short Story/Novella Poll

The Last Question by Isaac Asimov, 16 pages, 1956

47 votes, 26.0%

The Hand by Guy de Maupassant, 32 pages, 1875,

27 votes, 14.9%

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr, 80 pages, 1977

26 votes, 14.4%

Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by Nikolai Leskov 88 pages, 1864

22 votes, 12.2%

The 13 Clocks by James Thurber, 129 pages, 1950

21 votes, 11.6%

"Girl of the Golden West" as found in After Henry by Joan Didion, 12 +- pages, 1992

17 votes, 9.4%

The Devil's Pool by George Sand, 108 pages, 1846

15 votes, 8.3%

The Kit Bag by Algernon Blackwood, 6+ pages, 1908

6 votes, 3.3%

181 total votes

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Supernatural Fict...: SHADOWS,, edited by Robert Dunbar	1	25	Sep 08, 2010 12:40PM
October Horror 2011: Lovecraft	13	27	Oct 13, 2011 05:28AM
Chaos Reading: Themed Read: PLACES AS PERSONALITIES Nominations [closed]	60	75	Jul 13, 2012 05:42AM
The Novella Club: The Willows (spoilers)	28	43	Oct 30, 2012 06:15PM
The Seasonal Read...: Fall Challenge 2012: Reading Plans	58	341	Nov 23, 2012 08:20PM

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