Algernon Blackwood

Algernon Blackwood
Born	Algernon Henry Blackwood (1869-03-14)14 March 1869 Shooter's Hill, Kent, England
Died	Bishopsteighton, Kent, England
Occupation	Writer, broadcaster
Nationality	English
Genre	Fantasy, Horror, Weird fiction
Notable works	The Centaur, "The Willows", "The Wendigo"

Algernon Henry Blackwood, CBE (14 March 1869 – 10 December 1951) was an English short story writer and novelist, one of the most prolific writers of ghost stories in the history of the genre. He was also a journalist and a broadcasting narrator. S. T. Joshi has stated that "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".

Life and work

Blackwood was born in Shooter's Hill (now 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, working as a dairy farmer in Canada, operating a hotel, as a newspaper reporter in New York City, bartender, model, journalist for the New York Times, private secretary, businessman, and violin teacher.

Throughout his adult life, he was an occasional essayist for various periodicals. During his late thirties, he relocated back to England and started to write stories of the supernatural. He was successful, writing at least ten original collections of short stories and eventually performing by 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 are affected by this. 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.

Jack Sullivan stated that "Blackwood's life parallels his work more neatly than perhaps that of any other ghost story writer. Like his lonely but fundamentally optimistic protagonists, he was a combination of mystic and outdoorsman; when he wasn't steeping himself in occultism, including Rosicrucianism and Buddhism, he was likely to be skiing or mountain climbing." Blackwood was a member of one of the factions of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, as was his contemporary Arthur Machen. Cabalistic themes influence his novel The Human Chord.

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 climaxes 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. In correspondence with Peter Penzoldt, Blackwood wrote

My fundamental interest, I suppose, is signs and proofs of other powers that lie hidden in us all; the extension, in other words, of human faculty. So many of my stories, therefore, deal with extension of consciousness; speculative and imaginative treatment of possibilities outside our normal range of consciousness. ... Also, all that happens in our universe is natural; under Law; but an extension of our so limited normal consciousness can reveal new, extra-ordinary powers etc., and the word "supernatural" seems the best word for treating these in fiction. I believe it possible for our consciousness to change and grow, and that with this change we may become aware of a new universe. A "change" in consciousness, in its type, I mean, is something more than a mere extension of what we already possess and know.

Blackwood wrote an autobiography of his early years, Episodes Before Thirty (1923), and there is a biography by Mike Ashley (ISBN 0-7867-0928-6).

Blackwood died after several strokes. Officially his death on 10 December 1951 was of cerebral thrombosis with arteriosclerosis as contributory. He was cremated at Golders Green crematorium. A few weeks later his nephew took his ashes to Saanenmöser Pass in the Swiss Alps Mountains, and scattered them in the mountains that he had loved for more than forty years.

Legacy

• H. P. Lovecraft included Blackwood as one of the "Modern Masters" in the section of that name in "Supernatural Horror in Literature".
• Authors who have been influenced by Blackwood's work include William Hope Hodgson, George Allan England, H.P. Lovecraft, H. Russell Wakefield, "L. Adams Beck" (Elizabeth Louisa Moresby), Margery Lawrence, Evangeline Walton, Ramsey Campbell and Graham Joyce.
• Frank Belknap Long's 1928 story "The Space-Eaters" alludes to Blackwood's fiction.
• The plot of Caitlin R. Kiernan's novel Threshold (2001) is influenced by Blackwood's work. Kiernan has cited Blackwood as an important influence on her writing.
• In The Books in My Life, Henry Miller chose Blackwood's The Bright Messenger as "the most extraordinary novel on psychoanalysis, one that dwarfs the subject."
• Algernon Blackwood appears as a character in the novel The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey
• In the PS4 game "Until Dawn", the main setting is named Blackwood Pines, as the main antagonist is a Wendigo.

Critical studies

• An early essay on Blackwood's work was "Algernon Blackwood: An Appreciation," by Grace Isabel Colbron (1869–1943),which appeared in The Bookman in February 1915. The essay was reprinted in Jason Colavito's book A Hideous Bit of Morbidity: An Anthology of Horror Criticism from the Enlightenment to World War I.
• Peter Penzoldt devotes the final chapter of The Supernatural in Fiction (1952) to an analysis of Blackwood's work, and the book is dedicated "with deep admiration and gratitude, to Algernon Blackwood, the greatest of them all".
• There is an extensive critical analysis of Blackwood's work in Jack Sullivan's book Elegant Nightmares: The English Ghost Story From Le Fanu to Blackwood (1978).
• David Punter has an essay on Blackwood in the book Supernatural Fiction Writers.
• There is a critical essay on Blackwood's work in S. T. Joshi's The Weird Tale (1990).
• Edward Wagenknecht analyses Blackwood's work in his book Seven Masters of Supernatural Fiction.

Works

Novels

In sequence of first publication:

• Jimbo: A Fantasy (1909a)
• The Education of Uncle Paul (1909b)
• The Human Chord (1910)
• The Centaur (1911)
• A Prisoner in Fairyland (1913); sequel to The Education of Uncle Paul
• The Extra Day (1915)
• Julius LeVallon (1916a)
• The Wave (1916b)
• The Promise of Air (1918a)
• The Garden of Survival (1918b)
• The Bright Messenger (1921); sequel to Julius LeVallon
• Dudley & Gilderoy: A Nonsense (1929)

Children's novels:

• Sambo and Snitch (1927)
• The Fruit Stoners: Being the Adventures of Maria Among the Fruit Stoners (1934)

Plays

In sequence of first performance:

• The Starlight Express (1915), coauthored with Violet Pearn; incidental music by Edward Elgar; based on Blackwood's 1913 novel A Prisoner in Fairyland
• Karma a reincarnation play in prologue epilogue and three acts (1918), coauthored with Violet Pearn;
• The Crossing (1920a), coauthored with Bertram Forsyth; based on Blackwood's 1913 short story "Transition"
• Through the Crack (1920b), coauthored with Violet Pearn; based on Blackwood's 1909 novel The Education of Uncle Paul and 1915 novel The Extra Day
• White Magic (1921a), coauthored with Bertram Forsyth
• The Halfway House (1921b), coauthored with Elaine Ainley
• Max Hensig (1929), coauthored with Frederick Kinsey Peile; based on Blackwood's 1907 short story "Max Hensig – Bacteriologist and Murderer"

Short fiction collections

In sequence of first publication:

• The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories (1906); original collection
• The Listener and Other Stories (1907); original collection
• John Silence (1908); original collection; reprinted with added preface, 1942
• The Lost Valley and Other Stories (1910); original collection
• Pan's Garden: a Volume of Nature Stories (1912); original collection
• Ten Minute Stories (1914a); original collection
• Incredible Adventures (1914b); original collection
• Day and Night Stories (1917); original collection
• Wolves of God, and Other Fey Stories (1921), honorarily coauthored with Wilfred Wilson; original collection
• Tongues of Fire and Other Sketches (1924); original collection
• Ancient Sorceries and Other Tales (1927a); selections from previous Blackwood collections, and pre-publication abridgment of 1932's planned The Willows and Other Queer Tales
• The Dance of Death and Other Tales (1927b); selections from previous Blackwood collections; reprinted as 1963's The Dance of Death and Other Stories
• Strange Stories (1929); selections from previous Blackwood collections
• Short Stories of To-Day & Yesterday (1930); selections from previous Blackwood collections
• The Willows and Other Queer Tales (1932); selected by G. F. Maine from previous Blackwood collections
• Shocks (1935); original collection
• The Tales of Algernon Blackwood (1938); selections from previous Blackwood collections, with a new preface by Blackwood
• Selected Tales of Algernon Blackwood (1942); selections from previous Blackwood collections (not to be mistaken for the identical title to a 1964 Blackwood collection)
• Selected Short Stories of Algernon Blackwood (1945); selections from previous Blackwood collections
• The Doll and One Other (1946); original collection
• Tales of the Uncanny and Supernatural (1949); selections from previous Blackwood collections
• In the Realm of Terror (1957); selections from previous Blackwood collections
• The Dance of Death and Other Stories (1963); reprint of 1927's The Dance of Death and Other Tales
• Selected Tales of Algernon Blackwood (1964); selections from previous Blackwood collections (not to be mistaken for the identical title to a 1942 Blackwood collection)
• Tales of the Mysterious and Macabre (1967); selections from previous Blackwood collections
• Ancient Sorceries and Other Stories (1968); selections from previous Blackwood collections
• Best Ghost Stories of Algernon Blackwood (1973), selected and introduced by Everett F. Bleiler; selections from previous Blackwood collections; includes Blackwood's own preface to 1938's The Tales of Algernon Blackwood
• The Best Supernatural Tales of Algernon Blackwood (1973); selected and introduced by Felix Morrow; selections from 1929's Strange Stories
• Tales of Terror and Darkness (1977); puts together Tales of the Mysterious and Macabre and Tales of the Uncanny and Supernatural.
• Tales of the Supernatural (1983); selected and introduced by Mike Ashley; selections from previous Blackwood collections
• The Magic Mirror (1989); selected, introduced, and notes by Mike Ashley; original collection
• The Complete John Silence Stories (1997); selected and introduced by S. T. Joshi; reprint of 1908's John Silence (without the preface to the 1942 reprint) and the one remaining John Silence story, "A Victim of Higher Space"
• Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories (2002); selected, introduced, and notes by S. T. Joshi; selections from previous Blackwood collections
• Algernon Blackwood's Canadian Tales of Terror (2004); selected, introduced, with notes by John Robert Colombo; eight stories of special Canadian interest plus information on the author's years in Canada

Weird fiction

This list of all Blackwood's known short stories in the Weird Fiction vein is presented in sequence of first publication or, where first publication is not traceable, collection:

Title	Earliest known date of appearance	Earliest known location of appearance	Earliest known date of collection	Earliest known collection	Summary
A Haunted Island	xx/04/1899	Pall Mall Magazine, Vol. 17 No. 72	xx/11/1906	The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories	A supernatural vision on an Island, in which a man encounters a group of natives with particularly ill intent.
A Case of Eavesdropping	xx/12/1900	Pall Mall Magazine, Vol. 22 No. 92	xx/11/1906	The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories	A man residing in a New York apartment hears conversations from the room next door that turn out to be supernatural in origin. Based on Blackwood's time living in New York.
The House of the Past	15 April 1904	The Theosophical Review, Vol. 34 No. 200	23 February 1914	Ten Minute Stories	A vaguely psychological story expressed in supernatural terms about the relationship between memories, dreams and past lives.
The Empty House			xx/11/1906	The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories	A standard haunted house story involving an adventurous Aunt and her nephew who attempt to spend a single night in a reputedly ill-omened house... The story is likely based on Blackwood's early haunted house investigations with the Psychical Research Society.
Keeping His Promise			xx/11/1906	The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories	Possibly a re-telling of a tale Blackwood came across during his years as an undergraduate in Edinburgh. An old agreement between two old friends, in effort to prove the existence of the supernatural, is realised in terrible circumstances.
With Intent to Steal			xx/11/1906	The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories	A barn is haunted by a spirit with the power to possess the living. Another tale possibly based on Blackwood's own experiences researching haunted properties.
The Wood of the Dead			xx/11/1906	The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories	A visitor to the West Country comes upon the ghost of an old man, whose appearance is an omen of death, which spells doom for the residents of a small mountain village.
Smith: An Episode in a Lodging House			xx/11/1906	The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories	A man's neighbour in an apartment appears to be dabbling in the black arts. Another story inspired by Blackwood's time in New York. The events depicted are likely based on Blackwood's learning whilst a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
The Strange Adventures of a Private Secretary in New York			xx/11/1906	The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories	A highly Gothic story of a Butler, a reporter, and a mad would-be chemist, who may also be lycanthropic... One of the more humorous tales in Blackwood's ouvre.
The Listener			xx/11/1907	The Listener and Other Stories	One of Blackwood's few epistolary stories, told solely through diary extracts. A man of nervous temperament, with a history of mental ill-health in his family, may or may not be receiving visits by a previous tenant. A tenant very dead. Another tale most likely inspired by Blackwood's time in New York.
The Willows			xx/11/1907	The Listener and Other Stories	A man known only as 'the Swede' (based on Blackwood's friend of many years Wilfred Wilson), and an unnamed narrator journey into the wilderness and become trapped by flood on an island in the Danube. The stay proves to be an exercise in terror for two men who are beset by forces neither of them can fully see or hear, nor even begin to comprehend.
The Insanity of Jones			xx/11/1907	The Listener and Other Stories	A tale of revenge in the present, for the wrong's done in a past life. Or is Jones completely out of his mind?
The Dance of Death			xx/11/1907	The Listener and Other Stories	A dance with a mysterious lady proves disastrous to one man's health...
The Old Man of Visions			xx/11/1907	The Listener and Other Stories	A character study of an old man who is able to see the world that lies beyond the veil. The man is based on one of Blackwood's many acquaintances, as related in his auto-biography Episodes Before Thirty.
May Day Eve			xx/11/1907	The Listener and Other Stories	Visions of the spirit world on May Day eve.
Miss Slumbubble—and Claustrophobia			xx/11/1907	The Listener and Other Stories	A woman's apparent hysteria in a train compartment has roots in a macabre haunting.
The Woman's Ghost Story			xx/11/1907	The Listener and Other Stories	A spirit is set free from its prison by a woman's love.
A Psychical Invasion			16 September 1908	John Silence: Physician Extraordinary	A man's experimentation with drugs opens his mind to an attack by a supernatural force. The tale is based on both Blackwood's own experiments with drugs and his occult learning whilst in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
Ancient Sorceries			16 September 1908	John Silence: Physician Extraordinary	A village in a Cathedral town in France, with an above average population of cats, turns out to have in its midst a number of dabblers in the dark arts.
The Nemesis of Fire			16 September 1908	John Silence: Physician Extraordinary	A fire elemental from millennia ago lays siege to a country mansion and only Dr. Silence can stop it.
Secret Worship			16 September 1908	John Silence: Physician Extraordinary	Based partially on Blackwood's own boyhood experiences studying in the Black Forest with the Moravian brotherhood, only the Brotherhood in this tale have been corrupted by the dark arts.
The Camp of the Dog			16 September 1908	John Silence: Physician Extraordinary	A group's visit to the outback is disturbed by the presence of a werewolf.
The Story of Mr. Popkiss Told	24 December 1908	The Westminster Gazette			A haunting vision of the future on a train.
The Kit-Bag	xx/12/1908	Pall Mall Magazine, Vol. 42 No. 188	xx/xx/1989	The Magic Mirror: Lost Supernatural and Mystery Stories	A kit-bag proves to be the source of an unusual haunting.
Entrance and Exit	13 February 1909	The Westminster Gazette	23 February 1914	Ten Minute Stories	A man is sucked out of reality into a world that lies beyond that of mortal men.
You May Telephone From Here	27 February 1909	The Westminster Gazette	23 February 1914	Ten Minute Stories	A telephone call has supernatural implications.
Carlton's Drive	17 July 1909	The Westminster Gazette	xx/06/1910	The Lost Valley and Other Stories	A man has a stroke and then dreams that death is coming for him.
The Man Who Played upon the Leaf	30 October 1909 and 5 November 1909	Country Life, Vol. 26 No. 669 & Vol. 26 No. 670	xx/06/1910	The Lost Valley and Other Stories	The tale of one man's encounter with another—the mysterious 'Man who Played Upon the Leaf', hated by adults; loved by children, and the music he plays to his God Pan.
The Terror of the Twins	6 November 1909	The Westminster Gazette	xx/06/1910	The Lost Valley and Other Stories	Two young men are scorned by their father in life, and seek the help of a Priest for fear that they are to be equally scorned in death.
The Occupant of the Room	xx/12/1909	Nash's Magazine, Vol. 2 No. 9	xx/02/1917	Day and Night Stories	Feelings of malaise in a mountain location are attributed to the ghost of a suicide.
The South Wind	29 January 1910	The Westminster Gazette	1911	Pan's Garden, A Volume of Nature Stories
If the Cap Fits—	12 February 1910	The Westminster Gazette	23 February 1914	Ten Minute Stories	The memories contained within and about inanimate objects.
Perspective	xx/03/1910	Pall Mall Magazine, Vol. 45 No. 203	xx/06/1910	The Lost Valley and Other Stories	Two lovers are saved from separation, thanks to a Priest who receives a pantheistic visitation in the mountains.
Special Delivery	xx/05/1910	Pall Mall Magazine, Vol. 45 No. 205	23 July 1912	Pan's Garden, A Volume of Nature Stories
The Lost Valley			xx/06/1910	The Lost Valley and Other Stories	Two twin brothers, their lives inseparable, are threatened in their bond by the appearance of a woman who has mysterious ties to a place of local legend, where the souls of the suicidal and lost are free to roam in peace.
The Wendigo			xx/06/1910	The Lost Valley and Other Stories	Based on Blackwood's experience's hunting in the backwoods of Canada. A group of men deep in the Northern wilderness are visited by a terrifying creature from Native American legend.
Old Clothes			xx/06/1910	The Lost Valley and Other Stories	The reincarnation in a young girl of a woman whose lover met a terrible fate. Blackwood was an ardent believer in reincarnation and the tale is a heart-warming dramatisation of his own beliefs.
The Man From the 'Gods'			xx/06/1910	The Lost Valley and Other Stories	A story of creative inspiration for a musician who struggles to achieve true greatness, until he receives a special visitation.
The Eccentricity of Simon Parnacute			xx/06/1910	The Lost Valley and Other Stories	Professor Parnacute, a hater of eccentricity, suddenly finds himself compelled to unleash a bird from its cage, and in doing so summons the attention of a mysterious 'world-policeman' who takes him on an incredible journey.
The Message of the Clock	xx/06/1910	Nash's Magazine, vol. 2 No. 15	xx/xx/1989	The Magic Mirror: Lost Supernatural and Mystery Stories	The ticking of a clock and the passing of a life appear to have a strange kind of unity.
The Sea Fit	25 June 1910	Country Life, Vol. 27 No. 703	23 July 1912	Pan's Garden, A Volume of Nature Stories	A man of Viking descent hears the call of his ancestors from the sea.
Imagination	17 December 1910	The Westminster Gazette	23 February 1914	Ten Minute Stories	A case of writer's block is overcome thanks to the intervention of a supernatural agent.
The Singular Death of Morton	xx/12/1910	The Tramp, Vol. 2 No. 10	xx/xx/1989	The Magic Mirror: Lost Supernatural and Mystery Stories	Two men abroad in Switzerland are pursued by a vampire. Blackwood's only traditional vampire tale.
The Empty Sleeve	xx/01/1911	The London Magazine, Vol. 25 No. 149	26 May 1921	The Wolves of God and Other Fey Stories
The Deferred Appointment	xx/01/1911	The Westminster Gazette	23 February 1914	Ten Minute Stories	A photographer is visited by a very sickly looking man... Deathly sick.
The Prayer	17 June 1911	The Westminster Gazette	23 February 1914	Ten Minute Stories	Two young men who experiment with drugs find themselves able to see other people's thoughts.
The Return	22 June 1911	The Eye-Witness, Vol. 1 No. 1	23 July 1912	Pan's Garden, A Volume of Nature Stories
Two in One	20 July 1911	The Eye-Witness, Vol. 1 No. 5	23 February 1914	Ten Minute Stories	A romance about a single which soul appears to be reincarnated into two different people.
Accessory Before the Fact	2 September 1911	The Westminster Gazette	23 February 1914	Ten Minute Stories	A man has a strange premonition about meeting two German tramps who may not be quite what they seem...
Clairvoyance	19 October 1911	The Eye-Witness, Vol. 1 No. 11	23 July 1912	Pan's Garden, A Volume of Nature Stories
Dream Trespass	24 October 1911	The Morning Post	23 February 1914	Ten Minute Stories	A house appears to be the site of a reincarnation.
The Transfer	9 December 1911	Country Life, Vol. 30 No. 779	23 July 1912	Pan's Garden, A Volume of Nature Stories
The Messenger	9 December 1911	The Westminster Gazette	23 July 1912	Pan's Garden, A Volume of Nature Stories
The Golden Fly	29 December 1911	The Eye-Witness, Vol.2 No. 2	23 July 1912	Pan's Garden, A Volume of Nature Stories
The Glamour of the Snow	xx/12/1911	Pall Mall Magazine, Vol. 48 No. 224	23 July 1912	Pan's Garden, A Volume of Nature Stories	A man on a skiing holiday in the mountains meets a strangely distant woman and becomes entranced by her.
The Heath Fire	20 January 1912	Country Life, Vol. 31 No. 785	23 July 1912	Pan's Garden, A Volume of Nature Stories
The Destruction of Smith	29 February 1912	The Eye-Witness, Vol. 2 No. 11	23 July 1912	Pan's Garden, A Volume of Nature Stories
The Man Whom the Trees Loved	xx/03/1912	The London Magazine, Vol. 28 No. 17	23 July 1912	Pan's Garden, A Volume of Nature Stories
The Attic	20 April 1912	The Westminster Gazette	23 July 1912	Pan's Garden, A Volume of Nature Stories
The Whisperers	23 May 1912	The Eye-Witness, Vol. 2 No. 23	23 February 1914	Ten Minute Stories	A library is haunted by books.
The Second Generation	6 July 1912	The Westminster Gazette	23 February 1914	Ten Minute Stories	A man returning home to visit his wife encounters the supernatural.
Ancient Lights	11 July 1912	The Eye-Witness, Vol. 3 No. 4	23 February 1914	Ten Minute Stories
Sand			23 July 1912	Pan's Garden, A Volume of Nature Stories
The Temptation of the Clay			23 July 1912	Pan's Garden, A Volume of Nature Stories
The Goblin's Collection	5 October 1912	The Westminster Gazette	23 February 1914	Ten Minute Stories	Missing artefacts at an overnight stay at a hotel are attributed to a mischievous little Goblin.
La Mauvaise Riche	30 November 1912	The Westminster Gazette	xx/xx/1989	The Magic Mirror: Lost Supernatural and Mystery Stories	The ghost of an evil old woman haunts a cemetery.
The Man Who Found Out	xx/12/1912	The Canadian Magazine, Vol. 40 No. 2	26 May 1921	The Wolves of God and Other Fey Stories	A researcher goes on an expedition to find "The Tablets of the Gods" which have plagued his dreams since his boyhood. He finds them, and the horrible truth of humanity's true purpose in the universe.
Wayfarers	xx/12/1912	The English Review, Vol. 13 No. 1	6 November 1914	Incredible Adventures
The Sacrifice	xx/04/1913	The Quest, Vol. 4 No. 3	6 November 1914	Incredible Adventures
H.S.H.	xx/10/1913	The British Review, Vol. 6 No. 1	xx/02/1917	Day and Night Stories
The Tradition	29 November 1913	The Westminster Gazette	xx/02/1917	Day and Night Stories
Transition	11 December 1913	The New Witness, Vol. 3 No. 58	xx/02/1917	Day and Night Stories
A Desert Episode	10 January 1914	Country Life, Vol. 35 No. 888	xx/02/1917	Day and Night Stories
By Water	19 April 1914	The Westminster Gazette	xx/02/1917	Day and Night Stories
The Falling Glass	23 May 1914	Country Life, Vol. 35 No. 907	23 November 1924	Tongues of Fire and Other Sketches
The Regeneration of Lord Ernie			6 November 1914	Incredible Adventures
The Damned			6 November 1914	Incredible Adventures
A Descent into Egypt			6 November 1914	Incredible Adventures	A long, carefully constructed story in which a man's soul is gradually subsumed into eternity.
The Wings of Horus	xx/11/1914	Century Magazine, Vol. 89 No. 1	xx/02/1917	Day and Night Stories
A Victim of Higher Space	xx/12/1914	The Occult Review, Vol. 20 No. 6	xx/02/1917	Day and Night Stories
The Paper Man	9 October 1915	The Saturday Westminster Gazette			Comic fantasy in which a man obsessed with the papers finds himself turning into one.
Cain's Atonement	20 November 1915	Land and Water, Vol. 66 #2793	xx/02/1917	Day and Night Stories
The Other Wing	xx/11/1915	McBride's, Vol. 96 No. 575	xx/02/1917	Day and Night Stories
Initiation	xx/07/1916	The Quest, Vol. 7 No. 4	xx/02/1917	Day and Night Stories
The Tryst			xx/02/1917	Day and Night Stories
The Touch of Pan			xx/02/1917	Day and Night Stories
S.O.S.	xx/03/1918	The Story-Teller	23 November 1924	Tongues of Fire and Other Sketches
The Garden of Survival	xx/03/1918	The Garden of Survival	1918	The Garden of Survival	A short novella of the sentimental variety concerning reincarnation and mysticism. One of Blackwood's most personal tales.
The Little Beggar	10 May 1919	The Saturday Westminster Gazette	23 November 1924	Tongues of Fire and Other Sketches
The World-Dream of McCallister	xx/09/1919	Vision, Vol. 1 No. 5	23 November 1924	Tongues of Fire and Other Sketches
Alexander Alexander	6 September 1919	The Saturday Westminster Gazette	23 November 1924	Tongues of Fire and Other Sketches
Wireless Confusion	xx/10/1919	The Quest, Vol. 11 No. 1	26 May 1921	The Wolves of God and Other Fey Stories
The Other Woman	8 November 1919	The Saturday Westminster Gazette	23 November 1924	Tongues of Fire and Other Sketches
The Decoy	xx/12/1919	Lloyd's Magazine, Vol. 32 No. 385	26 May 1921	The Wolves of God and Other Fey Stories
The Call	6 December 1919	Nash's Illustrated Weekly, Vol. 2 No. 13	26 May 1921	The Wolves of God and Other Fey Stories
First Hate	xx/02/1920	McClure's Magazine	26 May 1921	The Wolves of God and Other Fey Stories
Chinese Magic	xx/06/1920	Romance, Vol. 2 No. 2	26 May 1921	The Wolves of God and Other Fey Stories
Running Wolf	4 August 1920	Century Magazine, Vol. 100 No. 4	26 May 1921	The Wolves of God and Other Fey Stories
Confession	xx/03/1921	Century Magazine, Vol. 101 No. 5	26 May 1921	The Wolves of God and Other Fey Stories
The Valley of the Beasts	xx/03/1921	Romance Magazine	26 May 1921	The Wolves of God and Other Fey Stories
The Wolves of God			26 May 1921	The Wolves of God and Other Fey Stories
The Tarn of Sacrifice			26 May 1921	The Wolves of God and Other Fey Stories
Egyptian Sorcery			26 May 1921	The Wolves of God and Other Fey Stories
Vengeance Is Mine			26 May 1921	The Wolves of God and Other Fey Stories
The Olive	xx/07/1921	Pearson's Magazine, Vol. 52 No. 307	23 November 1924	Tongues of Fire and Other Sketches
The Lane That Ran East and West	xx/09/1921	McCall's, Vol. 48 No. 12	26 May 1921	The Wolves of God and Other Fey Stories
Nephelé	xx/12/1921	Pears Annual	23 November 1924	Tongues of Fire and Other Sketches
Lost!	14 October 1922	Living Age	23 November 1924	Tongues of Fire and Other Sketches
Tongues of Fire	xx/04/1923	The English Review, Vol. 36 No. 4	23 November 1924	Tongues of Fire and Other Sketches
The Man Who Was Milligan	xx/11/1923	Pearson's Magazine, Vol. 56 No. 335	23 November 1924	Tongues of Fire and Other Sketches
Malahide and Forden			23 November 1924	Tongues of Fire and Other Sketches
Playing Catch			23 November 1924	Tongues of Fire and Other Sketches
The Pikestaffe Case			23 November 1924	Tongues of Fire and Other Sketches
A Continuous Performance			23 November 1924	Tongues of Fire and Other Sketches
The Open Window			23 November 1924	Tongues of Fire and Other Sketches
Petershin and Mr. Snide			23 November 1924	Tongues of Fire and Other Sketches
A Man of Earth			23 November 1924	Tongues of Fire and Other Sketches
Laughter of Courage			23 November 1924	Tongues of Fire and Other Sketches
Full Circle	xx/05/1925	The English Review, No. 198	xx/10/1935	Shocks
Hands of Death	xx/12/1925	The Bolton Evening News	xx/10/1935	Shocks
Chemical	xx/xx/1926	The Ghost Book (ed. Cynthia Asquith)	xx/10/1935	Shocks
The Stranger	xx/06/1927	The Fortnightly Review, Vol. 121 No. 6	xx/10/1935	Shocks
The Land of Green Ginger	23 December 1927	The Radio Times	xx/10/1935	Shocks
Dr. Feldman	xx/05/1928	The Strand Magazine, Vol. 72 No. 449	xx/10/1935	Shocks
Shocks	xx/09/1930	The Strand Magazine, Vol. 80 No. 477	xx/10/1935	Shocks
The Survivors	xx/12/1930	The Occult Review, Vol. 52 No. 6	xx/10/1935	Shocks
The Man Who Lived Backwards	12 December 1930	World Radio, Vol. 11 No. 281	xx/10/1935	Shocks
Revenge	19 December 1930	The Radio Times	xx/10/1935	Shocks
The Fire Body	xx/09/1931	The North American Review, Vol. 232 No. 3			A woman is convinced she has met the protagonist before on an astral plane in his 'Fire Body'.
A Threefold Cord...	xx/xx/1931	When Churchyards Yawn (ed. Cynthia Asquith)	xx/10/1935	Shocks
Elsewhere and Otherwise			xx/10/1935	Shocks
Adventures of Miss de Fontenay			xx/10/1935	Shocks
The Blackmailers	xx/10/1935	My Grimmest Nightmare	xx/xx/1989	The Magic Mirror: Lost Supernatural and Mystery Stories
At a Mayfair Luncheon	xx/03/1936	Windsor Magazine, No. 495	xx/xx/1989	The Magic Mirror: Lost Supernatural and Mystery Stories	A man receives a rare kind of divine meeting in the most uninspiring of social gatherings...
The Man-Eater	xx/03/1937	Thrilling Mystery, Vol. 6 No. 2	xx/xx/1989	The Magic Mirror: Lost Supernatural and Mystery Stories	A variation on the were-wolf story.
The Magic Mirror	16 March 1938	The Bystander, Vol. 137 #1787	xx/xx/1989	The Magic Mirror: Lost Supernatural and Mystery Stories
King's Evidence	9 January 1941	London Calling, No. 70	xx/xx/1989	The Magic Mirror: Lost Supernatural and Mystery Stories	A re-write of the earlier story 'Confession', done originally for radio, but also published in the BBC's journal London Calling.
The Doll			xx/04/1946	The Doll and One Other	The gift of a doll to a little girl is actually a malignant supernatural entity that has macabre designs upon her Father. One of the few of Blackwood's tales to feature a female protagonist, in this case a Governess (in the Turn of the Screw mould).
The Trod			xx/04/1946	The Doll and One Other	An unusual love-triangle involving a man, a woman, and a call from the Fairy world. Eternal life comes at a high price—the loss of one's soul and of mortal love.
Roman Remains	xx/03/1948	Weird Tales, Vol. 40 No. 3	xx/xx/1989	The Magic Mirror: Lost Supernatural and Mystery Stories

Children's stories and non-Weird tales

As well as his supernatural tales for adults, Blackwood also wrote a considerable number of children's tales, some supernatural and some not, as well as other pieces for an adult readership that were not in the weird fiction mode. These included love stories and, at the height of the first world war, propaganda pieces.

Title	Earliest known date of appearance	Earliest known location of appearance	Earliest known date of collection	Earliest known collection	Summary
The Story of Karl Ott	xx/10/1896	Pall Mall Magazine, Vol. 10 No. 42			A tragic love story of typical Victorian sentimentalism.
A Mysterious House	xx/07/1889	The Belgravia, Vol. 69, No. 203	1989	The Magic Mirror: Lost Supernatural and Mystery Stories	A story of faux supernaturalism.
The Last Egg in the Nest	23 August 1902	The Boy's Own Paper, Vol. 24 #1232
Testing His Courage – The Story of a Quaint Device	xx/09/1904	Pearson's Magazine, Vol. 18 No. 105			A love story in which a ritual of facade is performed that a man might prove his true love's worth.
How Garnier Broke the Log-Jam	31 December 1904	The Boy's Own Paper, Vol. 27 #1355
A Suspicious Gift			1906	The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories	A crime story in which the gift of an immense sum of money turns out to be not as beneficent as hoped.
Skeleton Lake: An Episode in Camp			1906	The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories	A crime story set in the Canadian outback.
Max Hensig – Bacteriologist and Murderer			1907	The Listener and Other Stories	A suspense tale of the non-supernatural variety in which a reporter is pursued by the murderer he wrote about.
The Secret	7 November 1908	The Westminster Gazette	1914	Ten Minute Stories	A conversation between two old friends.
Stodgman's Opportunity	5 December 1908	The Westminster Gazette			A nightmare encounter on a train inspires a spark of creativity
The Invitation	3 April 1909	The Westminster Gazette	1914	Ten Minute Stories	Two friends attempt to arrange lunch.
The Lease	22 May 1909	The Westminster Gazette	1914	Ten Minute Stories	Solicitors, leases, and the problems therein...
Faith Cure on the Channel	19 June 1909	The Westminster Gazette	1914	Ten Minute Stories	Two friends attempt to overcome the evils of sea-sickness.
The Laying of a Red-Haired Ghost	xx/09/1909	The Lady's Realm	1989	The Magic Mirror: Lost Supernatural and Mystery Stories	A tale of faux supernaturalism and pseudo-seances.
Up and Down	9 October 1909	The Westminster Gazette	1914	Ten Minute Stories	Two friends discuss holidays.
The Strange Disappearance of a Baronet	27 November 1909	The Westminster Gazette	1914	Ten Minute Stories	A baronet dreams that he has shrunk to the size of a mouse.
The Price of Wiggins's Orgy			1910	The Lost Valley and Other Stories	A man in need of a meal, a mysterious waiter in a mysterious restaurant, and a room full of cannibals. One of Blackwood's more humorous tales.
The Impulse	8 April 1911	The Westminster Gazette	1914	Ten Minute Stories	An impulsive act of non-materialism makes a man feel better.
News vs Nourishment	4 November 1911	The Westminster Gazette	1914	Ten Minute Stories	The story of a gentleman's odd eating habits
In A Jura Village	26 December 1911	The Morning Post			A man reminisces about the characters and experiences associated with a small country village.
The Bitter Bit	17 February 1912	The Saturday Westminster Gazette
Egyptian Antiquities	9 April 1912	The Morning Post			A man struggles to make his way in life as a dealer of Egyptian antiquities.
Let Not the Sun –	19 November 1912	The Morning Post	1914	Ten Minute Stories	The tragedy of a couple whose vacation together never comes...
Her Birthday	3 May 1913	The Westminster Gazette	1914	Ten Minute Stories	The finishing of a letter to a special lady.
Violence	22 May 1913	The New Witness, Vol. 2 No. 29	1914	Ten Minute Stories	A vaguely conte-cruel story of madness.
Who Was She?	26 June 1913, 17 July 1913, and 28 August 1913	The New Witness, Vol. 2 No. 34, Vol. 2 No. 37, & Vol. 2 No. 43			A philosophical story about a man's realisation of who he is.
The Barmecide Feast	19 July 1913	Country Life, Vol. 34 No. 863			A suspenseful but ultimately comic tale in which disturbances in the house are not what they seem...
The Kiss of a Psychologist	13 September 1913	Country Life, Vol. 34 No. 871			A love story about a man who gets 'caught in the act' of kissing another woman.
The Story Hour	18 November 1913	The Morning Post			Children's fantasy, reprinted in part in The Extra day.
What Nobody Understands	17 February 1914	The Morning Post			Children's fantasy, reprinted in part in The Extra day.
Maria	28 March 1914	The Morning Post			Children's fantasy concerning the plotting of a train crash. Reprinted as Chapter III of The Extra Day
A Bit of Wood	29 April 1914	The Morning Post	1917	Day and Night Stories	The fateful role a piece of wood plays in the lives of human beings.
The Night Wind	9 May 1914	Country Life, Vol. 35 No. 905			Children's fantasy in which an Uncle and his nieces and nephews encounter the mysterious nightly wonder that is 'the Night-Wind'. Reprinted as Chapter VII of The Extra Day.
Breakfast Honey	9 June 1914	The Morning Post			A gentleman in a Hotel is most displeased at the apparent lack of quality honey.
The Philosopher	13 June 1914	The Westminster Gazette			A dog looks after his master, proving himself to be a most astute and loyal companion in the process.
Jimbo's Longest Day	24 June 1913	The Morning Post	1914	Ten Minute Stories	A child's understanding of the longest day of the year.
The Daisy World	xx/07/1914	The Quest, Vol. 5 No. 4			An uncle and his niece experience life among the daisies.
Non-Human	10 December 1914	The New Witness, Vol. 5 No. 110			Two men are stalked by a night predator.
An Egyptian Hornet	xx/03/1915	Reedy's Mirror	1917	Day and Night Stories	An encounter between a man and a very large Egyptian buzzing insect of malignant potency...
The God	7 August 1915	The Saturday Westminster Gazette			A propaganda piece.
The Soldier's Visitor	9 October 1915	Land and Water, Vol. 65 #2787	1989	The Magic Mirror: Lost Supernatural and Mystery Stories	A war story about a man in a hospital bed who receives a very special visit.
The Celestial Motorbus	18 December 1915	The Saturday Westminster Gazette			A propaganda piece on jobs during the war.
The Snake	18 March 1916	The Saturday Westminster Gazette			Two gentlemen discuss snakes.
Proportion	5 August 1916	The Saturday Westminster Gazette			Two gentlemen discuss astronomy and the wonders of the modern telescope.
Camping Out	xx/xx/1916	Blackie's Children's Annual 1916
The Memory of Beauty	3 January 1918	Land and Water, Vol. 70 #2904	1989	The Magic Mirror: Lost Supernatural and Mystery Stories
The Perfect Poseur	xx/07/1919	The Saturday Westminster Gazette
Picking Fir-Cones	xx/07/1919	The English Review, Vol. 29 No. 1	23 November 1924	Tongues of Fire and Other Sketches
Onanonanon	xx/03/1921	The English Review, Vol. 32 No. 3	1989	The Magic Mirror: Lost Supernatural and Mystery Stories	A gruesome dream story of psychological doubling about a dog whose bark drives a man to distraction. One of Blackwood's rare non-supernatural horror tales.
Changing 'Ats	16 December 1921	Time and Tide, Vol. 2 No. 50			A study of different personalities in a social setting.
Genius	15 July 1922	The Weekly Westminster Gazette			Two men's creative inspirations from a forest. One receives a kind of spiritual awakening, the other sees only darkness.
The Impulse	6 December 1924	T.P.'s & Cassell's Weekly, Vol. 3 No. 59
Toby's Birthday Presents	xx/xx/1926	The Treasure Ship (ed. Cynthia Asquith)
The Cross-word Alien	7 January 1927	Time and Tide, Vol. 8 No. 1			The wonders of language emerge between two friends, with the aid of a cross-word.
Mr. Cupboard, or The Furniture's Holiday	xx/09/1927	Number Five Joy Street
The Water Performance	xx/xx/1927	Sails of Gold (ed. Cynthia Asquith)
By Underground	xx/09/1928	Number Seven Joy Street
When Nick Dressed Up	xx/xx/1928	The Treasure Cave (ed. Cynthia Asquith)
The Chocolate Cigarettes	xx/xx/1928	Number Six Joy Street
The Adventure of Tornado Smith	7 December 1929	Country Life, Vol. 66 #1716	xx/10/1935	Shocks
The Graceless Pair – The Saving of Colonelsirarthur	23 April 1930	The Sketch #1943
The Graceless Pair – French and Italian	30 April 1930	The Sketch #1944
The Graceless Pair – Burglars	7 May 1930	The Sketch #1945
The Graceless Pair – 'Anyopedoctor? Abaslesboches! Etc.'	14 May 1930	The Sketch #1946
The Graceless Pair – The Fish Pond	21 May 1930	The Sketch #1947
The Graceless Pair – The Afternoon Call	28 May 1930	The Sketch #1948
Mr. Bunciman at the Zoo	xx/xx/1930	The Children's Cargo: Lady Cynthia Asquith's Annual (ed. Cynthia Asquith)
The Parrot and the – Cat!	xx/08/1930	Number Eight Joy Street			Prequel to Blackwood's 1929 novel Dudley & Gilderoy: A Nonsense and to his 1930 serial The Graceless Pair.
The Colonel's Ring	31 December 1931	The Morning Post	1935	Shocks
The Italian Conjuror	xx/xx/1931	Number Nine Joy Street (ed. Michael Lynn)
Maria (of England) in the Rain	xx/09/1932	Number Ten Joy Street
Sergeant Poppett and Policeman James	xx/xx/1933	Number Eleven Joy Street
What the Black Chow Saw	xx/xx/1933	The Princess Elizabeth Gift Book (ed. Cynthia Asquith)
The Fruit Stoners	xx/xx/1934	Number Eleven Joy Street			Linked to, but not part of, Blackwood's 1934 novel The Fruit Stoners: Being the Adventures of Maria Among the Fruit Stoners.
Journey to London	xx/xx/1934	Just Cats (ed. Richard Miller)			A cat and parrot get along far better than their owners perceive and plan escape. A reprint of Chapter 5 of Dudley & Gilderoy: A Nonsense.
Dudley & Gilderoy	1936	My Best Animal Story (ed. Anon)			A reprint of chapters 1 & 2 of Dudley & Gilderoy: A Nonsense.
How the Circus Came to Tea	xx/xx/1935	Number Twelve Joy Street
That Mrs. Winslow	xx/10/1936	Pearsons' Magazine, Vol. 82 No. 490			A love story about a lawyer, a will, and a widow would-be Egyptologist.
By Proxy	17 November 1937	The Bystander, Vol. 136 #1770	1989	The Magic Mirror: Lost Supernatural and Mystery Stories	A crime story about a thief after some jewels, and the cruel trick he plays on a young boy in obtaining them.
The Reformation of St. Jules	29 December 1937	The Bystander, Vol. 136 #1776	1989	The Magic Mirror: Lost Supernatural and Mystery Stories	An apparent practical joke on a small rural community.
Eliza Among the Chimney Sweeps	xx/xx/1950	The Children's Ship (ed. Cynthia Asquith)

Nonfiction

Aside from well over a hundred published articles, essays, prefaces, and book reviews which remain to be collected, Blackwood authored only one nonfiction book, a memoir of his youth:

• Episodes Before Thirty (1923); reissued in 1950 with newly incorporated photographic plates and a brief prefatory "Author's Note".

See also

• List of horror fiction authors
• Religion and mythology
• Tales of Mystery (A 1960s British supernatural television drama series)
• Weird Fiction

References

• US edition of Starlight Man: The Extraordinary Life of Algernon Blackwood.
• UK edition of Algernon Blackwood: An Extraordinary Life.
• Modern reissue of subject's memoir; originally published in 1923 (London: Cassell & Co.).
• Burleson, Donald. "Algernon Blackwood's "The Listener: A Hearing"". Studies in Weird Fiction 5 (Spring 1989), 15–19.
• Colombo, John Robert. "Blackwood's Books: A Bibliography Devoted to Algernon Blackwood" Toronto Hounslow Press 1981 ISBN 0-88882-055-0
• Colombo, John Robert. (ed) Algernon Blackwood's Canadian Tales of Terror Lake Eugenia, Ontario Battered Silicon Dispatch Box 2004 ISBN 1-55246-605-1
• Goddin, Jeffrey. "Subtle Perceptions: The Fantasy Novels of Algernon Blackwood" in Darrell Schweitzer (ed) Discovering Classic Fantasy Fiction, Gillette NJ: Wildside Press, 1986, pp. 94–103.
• Johnson, George M. “Algernon Blackwood.” Dictionary of Literary Biography. Late-Victorian and Edwardian British Novelists, First Series. Ed. George M. Johnson. Detroit: Gale, 1995.
• Johnson, George M. “Algernon Blackwood.” Dictionary of Literary Biography. British Short-Fiction Writers, 1880–1914. Ed. William F. Naufftus. Detroit: Gale, 1995.
• Johnson, George M. “Algernon Blackwood.” New Dictionary of National Biography. Ed. Brian Harrison. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
• Johnson, George M. “Algernon Blackwood’s Modernist Experiments in Psychical Detection.” Formal Investigations: Aesthetic Style in Late-Victorian and Edwardian Detective Fiction. Stuttgart: Ibidem Press, 2007. pp. 29–51.
• Johnson, George M. “The Other Side of Edwardian Fiction: Two Forgotten Fantasy Novels of 1911.” Wormwood: Literature of the fantastic, supernatural and decadent. UK, No. 16 (Spring 2011) 3–15.

External links

• Works by Algernon Blackwood at Project Gutenberg
• Works by Algernon Blackwood at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/authors/Algernon_Blackwood.htm
• The Algernon Blackwood Society
• "The Empty House" Creative Commons Audio Book
• The Literary Gothic's Algernon Blackwood page
• Spitzer Interview: Adapting The Willows
• Collection of Blackwood Stories
• Algernon Blackwood Quotes
• Algernon Blackwood at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database