Algernon Henry Blackwood (March 14, 1869 – December 10, 1951) was an English writer of tales of the supernatural. Although 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 in human consciousness. His best stories, such as those collected in the book Incredible Adventures, are masterpieces of atmosphere, construction and suggestion. March 14 is the 73rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (74th in leap years) with 292 days remaining in the year. ... 1869 (MDCCCLXIX) is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... December 10 is the 344th day (345th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the United Kingdom (light green), with the Republic of Ireland (blue) to its west Languages English Capital London Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population –mid-2004... The supernatural (Latin: super- exceeding + nature) refers to forces and phenomena which are beyond ordinary scientific measurement. ... Horror fiction is, broadly, fiction in any medium intended to scare, unsettle or horrify the reader. ... This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ... A hypothetical phylogenetic tree of all extant organisms, based on 16S rRNA gene sequence data, showing the evolutionary history of the three domains of life, bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes. ...

Born in Shooter's Hill (today part of south-east London, but then part of north-west Kent) and educated at Wellington College, Algernon Blackwood had a varied career, farming in Canada, operating a hotel, and working as a newspaper reporter in New York City before moving to England and starting to write horror stories. He was very successful, writing 10 books of short stories and appearing on both radio and television to tell them. He also wrote fourteen novels and a number of plays, most of which were produced but not published. He was an avid lover of nature, and many of his stories reflect this. Shooters Hill is a place in the London Borough of Greenwich in south-east London. ... London is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom, and is the most populous city in the European Union. ... Kent is a county in England, south-east of London. ... Wellington College, Berkshire, the national monument to the Duke of Wellington, is an English public school, which was granted its royal charter in 1853. ... Flag Seal Nickname: Big Apple Location Location in the state of New York Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,214. ...

Blackwood wrote an autobiography of his early years, Episodes Before Thirty (1923). An autobiography, from the Greek auton, self, bios, life and graphein, write, is a biography written by the subject or composed conjointly with a collaborative writer (styled as told to or with). The term dates from the late eighteenth century, but the form is much older. ...

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). There is a biography by Mike Ashley (ISBN 0786709286) and a critical essay on Blackwood's work in S. T. Joshi's The Weird Tale (1990). The plot of Caitlin R. Kiernan's novel Threshold (2001) draws upon Blackwood's "The Willows", which is quoted several times in the book. Kiernan has cited Blackwood as an important influence on her writing. Jack Sullivan (born 1946) is an American literary scholar, essayist, author, editor, musicologist, and short story writer. ... Sunanda Tryambak Joshi (b. ... Photo of Caitlín R. Kiernan by Kathryn A. Pollnac. ...

Selected works

The Willows - Perhaps his most celebrated story, was influenced heavily by Blackwood's own trips down the Danube River. It tells the story of two campers who pick the wrong place to sleep for the night, a place where another dimension impinges on our own. H.P. Lovecraft considered this the finest supernatural tale in English literature. Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author of fantasy, horror and science fiction, noted for combining these three genres within single narratives. ...

The Wendigo - Another camper tale, this time set in the Canadian wilderness. A hunting party separates to track moose, and one member is abducted by the Wendigo of legend. The Wendigo (also Windigo, Wiindigoo, and numerous other variants, since the word appears in many different Native American languages and dialects) is a spirit in Anishinaabe mythology. ...

A Descent into Egypt - A long, carefully constructed story in which a man's soul is gradually subsumed into eternity.

The Regeneration of Lord Ernie - A listless young aristocrat is transformed into a firebrand through witnessing a mystical ceremony.

The Damned - A highly original haunted house tale in which the haunting results from the intolerant religious beliefs of a series of previous residents. A haunted house is a building that supposedly is a centre for supernatural occurrences or paranormal phenomena. ...

Ancient Sorceries - A tourist returning from a trip becomes too enchanted with a strange French town and its people to leave. He is slowly drawn more and more into their realm of secrets and talk of ancient memories.

The Insanity of Jones - A reincarnation story based around the correcting of past wrongs by revenge.

The Man Who Found Out - 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.

Smith: An Episode in a Lodging House - A man and his strange neighbor's paths meet more often than he would like in this story of a man delving into secrets he should not know.

The Glamour of the Snow - A traveller meets a strange woman late one night at a ski resort and spends the rest of his vacation searching for her, so that they can have one last moment together. He almost gets his wish...

The Man Whom the Trees Loved - A wife is powerless to save her husband from the nature he loves and its ever growing influence on his life.

External links

Wikisource has original works written by or about:

Algernon Blackwood

• http://hem.fyristorg.com/bd/ab/ A Blackwood Homepage
• Works by Algernon Blackwood at Project Gutenberg
• http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/authors/Algernon_Blackwood.htm
• Algernon Blackwood Stories