Bøger af Algernon Blackwood

The story is comprised of a narrative written to the protagonist's twin brother looking back on his short marriage to an artistically-creative young woman who was his short-lived wife and can be seen as signifying both a mesmerizing beauty embodying true love as well as possibly a dark force of seduction. The narrative mainly documents the protagonist's spiritual development through the years following his short marriage and the effect her embodiment still has on him, either through memory or ghostly presence. (Robert Blenheim) About the authorAlgernon Henry Blackwood, CBE (14 March 1869 - 10 December 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". Throughout his adult life, he was an occasional essayist for periodicals. In his late thirties, he moved back to England and started to write stories of the supernatural. He was successful, writing at least ten original collections of short stories and later telling them on radio and television. He also wrote 14 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, as many of his stories reflect. To satisfy his interest in the supernatural, he joined The Ghost Club. He never married; according to his friends he was a loner, but also cheerful company.His two best-known stories are probably "The Willows" and "The Wendigo". He would also often write stories for newspapers at short notice, with the result that he was unsure exactly how many short stories he had written and there is no sure total. Though Blackwood wrote a number of horror stories, his most typical work seeks less to frighten than to induce a sense of awe. Good examples are the novels The Centaur, which reaches a climax with a traveller's sight of a herd of the mythical creatures; and Julius LeVallon and its sequel The Bright Messenger, which deal with reincarnation and the possibility of a new, mystical evolution of human consciousness. Blackwood died after several strokes. Officially his death on 10 December 1951 was from cerebral thrombosis, with arteriosclerosis as a contributing factor. He was cremated at Golders Green crematorium. A few weeks later his nephew took his ashes to Saanenmöser Pass in the Swiss Alps, and scattered them in the mountains that he had loved for more than forty years. (wikipedia.org)

These stories have that wonderful turn of the century feel to them, where horror is a matter of the toppling of a protagonist's spiritual and psychological underpinnings by the inexplicable, rather than our own 21st century's grotesque reveling in gore and physical mutilation. (Mark Hauer)About the authorAlgernon Henry Blackwood, CBE (14 March 1869 - 10 December 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". Throughout his adult life, he was an occasional essayist for periodicals. In his late thirties, he moved back to England and started to write stories of the supernatural. He was successful, writing at least ten original collections of short stories and later telling them on radio and television. He also wrote 14 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, as many of his stories reflect. To satisfy his interest in the supernatural, he joined The Ghost Club. He never married; according to his friends he was a loner, but also cheerful company.His two best-known stories are probably "The Willows" and "The Wendigo". He would also often write stories for newspapers at short notice, with the result that he was unsure exactly how many short stories he had written and there is no sure total. Though Blackwood wrote a number of horror stories, his most typical work seeks less to frighten than to induce a sense of awe. Good examples are the novels The Centaur, which reaches a climax with a traveller's sight of a herd of the mythical creatures; and Julius LeVallon and its sequel The Bright Messenger, which deal with reincarnation and the possibility of a new, mystical evolution of human consciousness. Blackwood died after several strokes. Officially his death on 10 December 1951 was from cerebral thrombosis, with arteriosclerosis as a contributing factor. He was cremated at Golders Green crematorium. A few weeks later his nephew took his ashes to Saanenmöser Pass in the Swiss Alps, and scattered them in the mountains that he had loved for more than forty years. (wikipedia.org)

CONTENTSThe Insanity of JonesThe Man Who Found OutThe Glamour of the SnowSand About the authorAlgernon Henry Blackwood, CBE (14 March 1869 - 10 December 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". Throughout his adult life, he was an occasional essayist for periodicals. In his late thirties, he moved back to England and started to write stories of the supernatural. He was successful, writing at least ten original collections of short stories and later telling them on radio and television. He also wrote 14 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, as many of his stories reflect. To satisfy his interest in the supernatural, he joined The Ghost Club. He never married; according to his friends he was a loner, but also cheerful company.His two best-known stories are probably "The Willows" and "The Wendigo". He would also often write stories for newspapers at short notice, with the result that he was unsure exactly how many short stories he had written and there is no sure total. Though Blackwood wrote a number of horror stories, his most typical work seeks less to frighten than to induce a sense of awe. Good examples are the novels The Centaur, which reaches a climax with a traveller's sight of a herd of the mythical creatures; and Julius LeVallon and its sequel The Bright Messenger, which deal with reincarnation and the possibility of a new, mystical evolution of human consciousness. Blackwood died after several strokes. Officially his death on 10 December 1951 was from cerebral thrombosis, with arteriosclerosis as a contributing factor. He was cremated at Golders Green crematorium. A few weeks later his nephew took his ashes to Saanenmöser Pass in the Swiss Alps, and scattered them in the mountains that he had loved for more than forty years. (wikipedia.org)

Opinion is divided upon which author conceived the idea of combining the perennially popular subgenre of detective fiction with the equally popular one of supernatural fiction. Whilst that ambiguity suggests that whoever it was did not make as much capital of the inspiration as perhaps, they should have done, it was certain to be popular with a substantial readership. Fitz James O'Brien's, Harry Escott first made an entrance in the excellent 'The Pot of Tulips' in 1855 and again in, 'What was it? A Mystery', in 1859, so possibly may claim the honours of innovation. Nevertheless, it was some time -notwithstanding isolated appearances of supernatural sleuths in the interim- before a character was created with a casebook of sufficient size for tales concerning them to legitimately be termed as a series. Eventually, E and H Heron's, Flaxman Low featured in a series of tales in Pearson's magazine (1898-9) followed by an increasing number of occult detectives of various types including, Carnacki the Ghost Finder, Aylmer Vance and the principal subject of this book, John Silence. He was, of course, the creation Algernon Henry Blackwood, who was one of the most prolific authors of supernatural and horror fiction in the history of the genre. The original complete collection of these well-loved and timeless short stories has been enhanced in this special Leonaur edition by an ominous tale featuring Max Hensig. This collection has been released to accompany the Leonaur collection of Algernon Blackwood's shorter fiction, though in a special cover that reflects its particular distinction.Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.

Opinion is divided upon which author conceived the idea of combining the perennially popular subgenre of detective fiction with the equally popular one of supernatural fiction. Whilst that ambiguity suggests that whoever it was did not make as much capital of the inspiration as perhaps, they should have done, it was certain to be popular with a substantial readership. Fitz James O'Brien's, Harry Escott first made an entrance in the excellent 'The Pot of Tulips' in 1855 and again in, 'What was it? A Mystery', in 1859, so possibly may claim the honours of innovation. Nevertheless, it was some time -notwithstanding isolated appearances of supernatural sleuths in the interim- before a character was created with a casebook of sufficient size for tales concerning them to legitimately be termed as a series. Eventually, E and H Heron's, Flaxman Low featured in a series of tales in Pearson's magazine (1898-9) followed by an increasing number of occult detectives of various types including, Carnacki the Ghost Finder, Aylmer Vance and the principal subject of this book, John Silence. He was, of course, the creation Algernon Henry Blackwood, who was one of the most prolific authors of supernatural and horror fiction in the history of the genre. The original complete collection of these well-loved and timeless short stories has been enhanced in this special Leonaur edition by an ominous tale featuring Max Hensig. This collection has been released to accompany the Leonaur collection of Algernon Blackwood's shorter fiction, though in a special cover that reflects its particular distinction.Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.

Algernon Henry Blackwood, CBE (14 March 1869 - 10 December 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". Throughout his adult life, he was an occasional essayist for periodicals. In his late thirties, he moved back to England and started to write stories of the supernatural. He was successful, writing at least ten original collections of short stories and later telling them on radio and television. He also wrote 14 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, as many of his stories reflect. To satisfy his interest in the supernatural, he joined The Ghost Club. He never married; according to his friends he was a loner, but also cheerful company.His two best-known stories are probably "The Willows" and "The Wendigo". He would also often write stories for newspapers at short notice, with the result that he was unsure exactly how many short stories he had written and there is no sure total. Though Blackwood wrote a number of horror stories, his most typical work seeks less to frighten than to induce a sense of awe. Good examples are the novels The Centaur, which reaches a climax with a traveller's sight of a herd of the mythical creatures; and Julius LeVallon and its sequel The Bright Messenger, which deal with reincarnation and the possibility of a new, mystical evolution of human consciousness. Blackwood died after several strokes. Officially his death on 10 December 1951 was from cerebral thrombosis, with arteriosclerosis as a contributing factor. He was cremated at Golders Green crematorium. A few weeks later his nephew took his ashes to Saanenmöser Pass in the Swiss Alps, and scattered them in the mountains that he had loved for more than forty years. (wikipedia.org)

The story is comprised of a narrative written to the protagonist's twin brother looking back on his short marriage to an artistically-creative young woman who was his short-lived wife and can be seen as signifying both a mesmerizing beauty embodying true love as well as possibly a dark force of seduction. The narrative mainly documents the protagonist's spiritual development through the years following his short marriage and the effect her embodiment still has on him, either through memory or ghostly presence. (Robert Blenheim) About the authorAlgernon Henry Blackwood, CBE (14 March 1869 - 10 December 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". Throughout his adult life, he was an occasional essayist for periodicals. In his late thirties, he moved back to England and started to write stories of the supernatural. He was successful, writing at least ten original collections of short stories and later telling them on radio and television. He also wrote 14 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, as many of his stories reflect. To satisfy his interest in the supernatural, he joined The Ghost Club. He never married; according to his friends he was a loner, but also cheerful company.His two best-known stories are probably "The Willows" and "The Wendigo". He would also often write stories for newspapers at short notice, with the result that he was unsure exactly how many short stories he had written and there is no sure total. Though Blackwood wrote a number of horror stories, his most typical work seeks less to frighten than to induce a sense of awe. Good examples are the novels The Centaur, which reaches a climax with a traveller's sight of a herd of the mythical creatures; and Julius LeVallon and its sequel The Bright Messenger, which deal with reincarnation and the possibility of a new, mystical evolution of human consciousness. Blackwood died after several strokes. Officially his death on 10 December 1951 was from cerebral thrombosis, with arteriosclerosis as a contributing factor. He was cremated at Golders Green crematorium. A few weeks later his nephew took his ashes to Saanenmöser Pass in the Swiss Alps, and scattered them in the mountains that he had loved for more than forty years. (wikipedia.org)

"The Willows" is a novella by English author Algernon Blackwood, originally published as part of his 1907 collection The Listener and Other Stories. It is one of Blackwood's best known works and has been influential on a number of later writers. Horror author H.P. Lovecraft considered it to be the finest supernatural tale in English literature. "The Willows" is an example of early modern horror and is connected within the literary tradition of weird fiction. Two friends are midway on a canoe trip down the River Danube. Throughout the story, Blackwood personifies the surrounding environment-river, sun, wind-with powerful and ultimately threatening characteristics. Most ominous are the masses of dense, desultory, menacing willows, which "moved of their own will as though alive, and they touched, by some incalculable method, my own keen sense of the horrible."Shortly after landing their canoe for the evening on a sandy island near Bratislava in the Dunajské luhy Protected Landscape Area of Austria-Hungary, the narrator reflects on the river's potency, human qualities, and his own will:Sleepy at first, but later developing violent desires as it became conscious of its deep soul, it rolled, like some huge fluid being, through all the countries we had passed, holding our little craft on its mighty shoulders, playing roughly with us sometimes, yet always friendly and well-meaning, till at length we had come inevitably to regard it as a Great Personage.Blackwood also specifically characterizes the silvery, windblown willows as sinister:And, apart quite from the elements, the willows connected themselves subtly with my malaise, attacking the mind insidiously somehow by reason of their vast numbers, and contriving in some way or other to represent to the imagination a new and mighty power, a power, moreover, not altogether friendly to us.At one point, the two men see a traveler in his "flat-bottomed boat". However, the man appears to be warning them and ultimately crosses himself before hurtling forward on the river, out of sight. During the night, mysterious forces emerge from within the forest, including dark shapes which seem to trace the narrator's consciousness, tapping sounds outside their tent, shifting gong-like noises, bizarre shadows, and the appearance that the willows have changed location. In the morning, the two realize that one of their paddles is missing, a slit in the canoe needs repair, and some of their food has disappeared. A hint of distrust arises between them. The howling wind dies down on the second day, and a humming calm ensues. During the second night, the second man, the Swede, attempts to hurl himself into the river as a "sacrifice". However, he is saved by the narrator. The next morning, the Swede claims that the mysterious forces have found another sacrifice which may save them. They discover the corpse of a peasant lodged in roots near the shore. When they touch the body, a flurry of living presence seems to rise from it and disappear into the sky. Later, they see the body is pockmarked with funnel shapes similar to the ones viewed across the island's coastline during their experience. These are "Their awful mark!" the Swede says. The body is swept away, resembling an "otter" they thought they had seen the previous day, and the story ends. (wikipedia.org)

These stories have that wonderful turn of the century feel to them, where horror is a matter of the toppling of a protagonist's spiritual and psychological underpinnings by the inexplicable, rather than our own 21st century's grotesque reveling in gore and physical mutilation. (Mark Hauer)About the authorAlgernon Henry Blackwood, CBE (14 March 1869 - 10 December 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". Throughout his adult life, he was an occasional essayist for periodicals. In his late thirties, he moved back to England and started to write stories of the supernatural. He was successful, writing at least ten original collections of short stories and later telling them on radio and television. He also wrote 14 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, as many of his stories reflect. To satisfy his interest in the supernatural, he joined The Ghost Club. He never married; according to his friends he was a loner, but also cheerful company.His two best-known stories are probably "The Willows" and "The Wendigo". He would also often write stories for newspapers at short notice, with the result that he was unsure exactly how many short stories he had written and there is no sure total. Though Blackwood wrote a number of horror stories, his most typical work seeks less to frighten than to induce a sense of awe. Good examples are the novels The Centaur, which reaches a climax with a traveller's sight of a herd of the mythical creatures; and Julius LeVallon and its sequel The Bright Messenger, which deal with reincarnation and the possibility of a new, mystical evolution of human consciousness. Blackwood died after several strokes. Officially his death on 10 December 1951 was from cerebral thrombosis, with arteriosclerosis as a contributing factor. He was cremated at Golders Green crematorium. A few weeks later his nephew took his ashes to Saanenmöser Pass in the Swiss Alps, and scattered them in the mountains that he had loved for more than forty years. (wikipedia.org)

A healthy dose of Victorian meta physics outlines this story of a man's spiritual awakening after he meets a mysterious man and boy aboard a steamer ship touring the Greek isles. Always well written with beautiful prose... (Robert Williams) About the authorAlgernon Henry Blackwood, CBE (14 March 1869 - 10 December 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". Throughout his adult life, he was an occasional essayist for periodicals. In his late thirties, he moved back to England and started to write stories of the supernatural. He was successful, writing at least ten original collections of short stories and later telling them on radio and television. He also wrote 14 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, as many of his stories reflect. To satisfy his interest in the supernatural, he joined The Ghost Club. He never married; according to his friends he was a loner, but also cheerful company.His two best-known stories are probably "The Willows" and "The Wendigo". He would also often write stories for newspapers at short notice, with the result that he was unsure exactly how many short stories he had written and there is no sure total. Though Blackwood wrote a number of horror stories, his most typical work seeks less to frighten than to induce a sense of awe. Good examples are the novels The Centaur, which reaches a climax with a traveller's sight of a herd of the mythical creatures; and Julius LeVallon and its sequel The Bright Messenger, which deal with reincarnation and the possibility of a new, mystical evolution of human consciousness. Blackwood died after several strokes. Officially his death on 10 December 1951 was from cerebral thrombosis, with arteriosclerosis as a contributing factor. He was cremated at Golders Green crematorium. A few weeks later his nephew took his ashes to Saanenmöser Pass in the Swiss Alps, and scattered them in the mountains that he had loved for more than forty years. (wikipedia.org)

English author Algernon Blackwood first published "The Willows" in his 1907 book The Listener and Other Stories. It is one of Blackwood's best-known works and has impacted a lot of writers after him. It was regarded by horror writer H.P. Lovecraft is the best supernatural story ever written in English. "The Willows" is a work of early modern horror that belongs to the strange fiction literary tradition. In the middle of their canoe expedition down the Danube, two buddies. Blackwood gives the river, the sun, and the wind strong and eventually menacing personalities throughout the narrative. The most foreboding trees are the dense, sullen, terrifying willows because they "moved of their own will as though alive, and they touched, by some immeasurable means, my own piercing sense of the horrible," moving as though they were alive. The mysterious beings in "The Willows," whose exact nature is unknown, include a new order of experience that is truly unearthly, as well as a realm "where tremendous things go on without ceasing...vast purposes...that deal directly with the soul, and not indirectly with trivial representations of the soul." They occasionally appear malicious or treacherous, while other times they are just mystical and almost divine.

Algernon Blackwood's novella The Wendigo was initially released in The Lost Valley and Other Stories (Eveleigh Nash, 1910). Simpson, a divinity student, and his uncle Dr. Cathcart, an author of a book on collective hallucination, are two Scotsmen on a moose-hunting trip with guides Hank Davis and the nature-loving French "Canuck," Joseph Défago, in the forest north of Rat Portage in Northwestern Ontario. Simpson eventually succeeds in returning to the main camp, where he meets up with the others. Dr. Cathcart and Hank follow him back to continue the search for Défago, and as they set up camp once more in the bush, Défago or some repulsive impersonation of Défago appears before them before slipping away into the darkness once more. They return to the main camp feeling conflicted and frightened by what they have seen, only to discover that Défago-the actual Défago this time-has made his own way there while experiencing delirium, exposure, and frostbite. He passes away shortly after, leaving the three guys perplexed and unsure of what happened. Punk could have been the one to explain it to them, but as soon as he smelled the awful odor Défago was carrying, he ran away to his house.

A Romantic, fantasy, Sci-Fi adventure thriller by Algernon Blackwood about a man who marries a woman carrying something of the spirit of air within her, something wonderful and birdlike. ...About the authorAlgernon Henry Blackwood, CBE (14 March 1869 - 10 December 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". Throughout his adult life, he was an occasional essayist for periodicals. In his late thirties, he moved back to England and started to write stories of the supernatural. He was successful, writing at least ten original collections of short stories and later telling them on radio and television. He also wrote 14 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, as many of his stories reflect. To satisfy his interest in the supernatural, he joined The Ghost Club. He never married; according to his friends he was a loner, but also cheerful company.His two best-known stories are probably "The Willows" and "The Wendigo". He would also often write stories for newspapers at short notice, with the result that he was unsure exactly how many short stories he had written and there is no sure total. Though Blackwood wrote a number of horror stories, his most typical work seeks less to frighten than to induce a sense of awe. Good examples are the novels The Centaur, which reaches a climax with a traveller's sight of a herd of the mythical creatures; and Julius LeVallon and its sequel The Bright Messenger, which deal with reincarnation and the possibility of a new, mystical evolution of human consciousness. Blackwood died after several strokes. Officially his death on 10 December 1951 was from cerebral thrombosis, with arteriosclerosis as a contributing factor. He was cremated at Golders Green crematorium. A few weeks later his nephew took his ashes to Saanenmöser Pass in the Swiss Alps, and scattered them in the mountains that he had loved for more than forty years. (wikipedia.org)

CONTENTSThe Insanity of JonesThe Man Who Found OutThe Glamour of the SnowSand About the authorAlgernon Henry Blackwood, CBE (14 March 1869 - 10 December 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". Throughout his adult life, he was an occasional essayist for periodicals. In his late thirties, he moved back to England and started to write stories of the supernatural. He was successful, writing at least ten original collections of short stories and later telling them on radio and television. He also wrote 14 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, as many of his stories reflect. To satisfy his interest in the supernatural, he joined The Ghost Club. He never married; according to his friends he was a loner, but also cheerful company.His two best-known stories are probably "The Willows" and "The Wendigo". He would also often write stories for newspapers at short notice, with the result that he was unsure exactly how many short stories he had written and there is no sure total. Though Blackwood wrote a number of horror stories, his most typical work seeks less to frighten than to induce a sense of awe. Good examples are the novels The Centaur, which reaches a climax with a traveller's sight of a herd of the mythical creatures; and Julius LeVallon and its sequel The Bright Messenger, which deal with reincarnation and the possibility of a new, mystical evolution of human consciousness. Blackwood died after several strokes. Officially his death on 10 December 1951 was from cerebral thrombosis, with arteriosclerosis as a contributing factor. He was cremated at Golders Green crematorium. A few weeks later his nephew took his ashes to Saanenmöser Pass in the Swiss Alps, and scattered them in the mountains that he had loved for more than forty years. (wikipedia.org)

The tales of Algernon Blackwood, in the view of many the greatest weird writer of them all, blur the boundaries between human and nonhuman, living and dead, beckoning the reader into strange borderlands where alien forces lurk.

Incredible Adventures is a collection by Algernon Blackwood, comprising three novellas and two short stories. It was originally published by Macmillan in 1914 and reprinted in 2004 by Hippocampus Press. H. P. Lovecraft wrote that: In the volume titled Incredible Adventures occur some of the finest tales which the author has yet produced, leading the fancy to wild rites on nocturnal hills, to secret and terrible aspects lurking behind stolid scenes, and to unimaginable vaults of mystery below the sands and pyramids of Egypt; all with a serious finesse and delicacy that convince where a cruder or lighter treatment would merely amuse. Some of these accounts are hardly stories at all, but rather studies in elusive impressions and half-remembered snatches of dream. Plot is everywhere negligible, and atmosphere reigns untrammelled.S. T. Joshi has acclaimed Incredible Adventures as possibly "the premier weird collection of this or any other century".The book contains the following stories, all novella-length except for "The Sacrifice" and "Wayfarers" The Regeneration of Lord Ernie"The Sacrifice"The DamnedA Descent into Egypt"Wayfarers" (wikipedia.org) About the authorAlgernon Henry Blackwood, CBE (14 March 1869 - 10 December 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". Throughout his adult life, he was an occasional essayist for periodicals. In his late thirties, he moved back to England and started to write stories of the supernatural. He was successful, writing at least ten original collections of short stories and later telling them on radio and television. He also wrote 14 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, as many of his stories reflect. To satisfy his interest in the supernatural, he joined The Ghost Club. He never married; according to his friends he was a loner, but also cheerful company.His two best-known stories are probably "The Willows" and "The Wendigo". He would also often write stories for newspapers at short notice, with the result that he was unsure exactly how many short stories he had written and there is no sure total. Though Blackwood wrote a number of horror stories, his most typical work seeks less to frighten than to induce a sense of awe. Good examples are the novels The Centaur, which reaches a climax with a traveller's sight of a herd of the mythical creatures; and Julius LeVallon and its sequel The Bright Messenger, which deal with reincarnation and the possibility of a new, mystical evolution of human consciousness. Blackwood died after several strokes. Officially his death on 10 December 1951 was from cerebral thrombosis, with arteriosclerosis as a contributing factor. He was cremated at Golders Green crematorium. A few weeks later his nephew took his ashes to Saanenmöser Pass in the Swiss Alps, and scattered them in the mountains that he had loved for more than forty years. (wikipedia.org)

"Every thing possible to be believ'd is an image of truth." - William BlakeThe Lure of the Unknown is a collection of Algernon Blackwood's essays, talks, reviews and anecdotes exploring encounters with the strange and unusual or, in Blackwood's preferred word, the "odd". They include his first attempts to investigate alleged haunted houses, his association with such luminaries as W. B. Yeats, "A.E.", and Gurdjieff; his thoughts on telepathy, reincarnation, elemental spirits, other dimensions, and his beliefs in what lies beyond our normal perceptions. These writings reveal not only Blackwood's diverse experiences, but his depth of reading and analysis of the unexplained. Few of these essays have been reprinted beyond their first publication or their broadcast on radio and television. They provide another dimension to an understanding of one of the great writers of the supernatural.