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| Best Ghost Stories of Algernon Blackwood | 
| Author: Algernon Blackwood
Publisher: Dover Publications
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
Buy New: $8.26
You Save: $4.69 (36%)
New (17) Collectible (1) from $8.26
Avg. Customer Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 79223
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 366
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.2 x 0.9
ISBN: 0486229777
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.912
EAN: 9780486229775
ASIN: 0486229777
Publication Date: June 1, 1973
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
"If a ghost is seen, what is it interests me less than than what sees it?" Thus Algernon Blackwood describes his fascination with human beings' ability to sense invisible powers and stirrings in the universe, a fascination he developed most famously in his stories about mystical, ineffable encounters with nature. This collection, selected by renowned scholar of the supernatural, E. F. Bleiler, is an excellent sample of Blackwood's work, including 12 of his best ghost stories and a crime story as well. Blackwood is acknowledged today as the author who made the ghost story into a respectable literary form.
Product Description
Thirteen great stories by foremost British 20th-century supernaturalist: "The Willows," "The Wendigo," "Ancient Sorceries," others.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 20 more reviews...
 Slow and spooky April 27, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Occasionally, it is nice to buy a book merely on a whim. Prior to reading the Best Ghost Stories of Algernon Blackwood, I was hardly even familiar with the author, though he was apparently an influential author in the genre. The book was an interesting read, somewhat slow but overall a satisfying experience.
Though he wrote in the 1900s, Blackwood had a definite 19th Century style to his narrative, emphasizing description over action and mood over character. This is evident immediately in the first (and longest) story, The Willows, the tale of two men canoeing down the Danube and getting trapped on a small out-of-the-way island which also seems to serve as a doorway to another, more hostile universe. Secret Worship has a man revisiting his old school only to find dark deeds now going on there.
It is a common story element in Blackwood's stories for characters (almost all middle-aged men; women are relatively uncommon in his tales) to be drawn to isolated places with supernatural secrets (or are they merely imagined figments by madmen?). Beyond the first two stories, this element appears in others like Ancient Sorceries which has a man visiting a town that has some mysterious goings-on after dusk and The Wendigo, which has a hunting party stalked by a legendary monster.
For fans of more modern horror, Blackwood may be a bit of a trial to read as his style is distinctly different from more recent narrative. Nonetheless, there is value in reading him, just as there is with other early horror writers like Poe and Lovecraft. I don't think I'd put Blackwood in the first tier of those authors who fashioned the genre, but he is worth a look if you like supernatural tales.
Some excellent tales, but also marred by some quite mediocre ones October 6, 2007
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This was my first book by Algernon Blackwood, being the first book in my venture to expand beyond HP Lovecraft, and some of Blackwood's reputation as a master in his genre is certainly warranted. The three tales in the book that really stand out as memorable and excellent, in my opinion, are "The Willows", "The Glamour of the Snow" and "The Wendigo". The first one being so famous that little description is necessary, the second being a very dreamy tale about a love encounter between spiritual man and Nature, and the last one being an intense tale from the wilderness of Canada, where the hunters become the hunted. There are other tales of note here too, of course, but none of them are even close to the calibre of these first mentioned. The mediocre or merely "good" tales included are the following; "Secret Worship", "Ancient Sorceries", "The Other Wing", "Ancient Lights", "The Listener", "Accessory Before the Fact" and "Max Hensig". All of these tales have literary qualities above average, and some of them come quite close to being memorable tales, but all of them are marred in some way by various flaws.
The few tales included that are void of any note are the more standard ghost tales in the book, and admittedly, a subgenre which I'm not so fond of; "The Transfer", "The Empty House" and finally "Keeping His Promise". These tales appear to me dated, and even though they will appeal to many, they were not to my taste.
So all in all a difficult book to rate, since some of the tales are pure genius, like the genuinely scary "The Willows" and "The Wendigo", but which with the addition of lesser tales including the fact that the book is of very poor quality print-wise, with cheap paper and covers that won't last much more than one read, makes me take away a star.
To summarize; decidedly worth its cheap price for the Blackwood-novice, and containing much reading pleasure.
 Best Book of Modern Ghost Stories from the 20th century. December 5, 2006
This is simply the best collection of 20th century ghost stories,you'll ever have the pleasure to read through.What amazed me the most ,was that Mr.Blackwood may have helped plan the Lindbergh kidnapping.Blackwood enjoyed the writings of Swedenbourg and the friendship of Hilarie Belloc.Yet,i have found no direct connection of him to Ford Maddox Ford.One has to wonder.Did they unleash the ghosts on the hamlet of Hopewell? At any rate,if you want a high degree of excellent supernatural stories,then this book will serve you well.-Beware of Sleep,Beware of Cats!
Pulls You Right In... July 12, 2006
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Each story starts slowly but by ten pages in, you will be hooked each time. The Willows is a masterpiece, and the Wendigo is great also. SUSPENSE is the key here. Blackwood was a true artist. Each sentence is perfection- there is no filler! If you are impatient, this book may not be for you. Otherwise, read and enjoy!
This book will mess with you January 24, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Wow the stories in this book are all time classics. Algernon Blackwood was obviously well traveled. He definetley had a strange/odd perspective of Life,that would never come to mind for me, and he is able to put that to paper. The stories will haunt you well after you put it down!
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