Algernon Blackwood (1869-1951) is undoubtedly to be considered one of the masters of the fantastic. His stories, filled with an authentic and alien spiritual terror, are classics of the genre and deserve wider dissemination beyond the narrow circle of weird-tale and unknown lovers.
Originally from Kent, he later moved to Canada and the United States to pursue journalism and commerce. Fortunately, once back in England, he decided to devote himself to horror storytelling.
His figure has been duly celebrated in important studies on horror fiction: H.P. Lovecraft, in his now-classic "Supernatural Horror in Literature,” speaks of him in extremely flattering terms and goes so far as to elect “The Willows” as the best story in the history of supernatural literature.
Even greater space will be dedicated to him by Peter Penzoldt in his unfortunately unpublished in Italy "The Supernatural In Fiction” (except for the translation of a chapter on Machen translated by Claudio De Nardi in the Fanucci edition of "The Three Impostors” by the Welsh author).
In fact, the final chapter of this important study examines Blackwood's work in depth, and the book itself is devoted to him with great admiration.
It should be noted that Penzoldt himself mentions that Blackwood was very familiar with Lovecraft's work but was not very enthusiastic about it, as in his opinion, the writings of the solitary of Providence lacked the qualities of genuine "spiritual terror" that characterized his work.
It is undoubtedly an ungenerous judgment, considering that Lovecraft himself drew great inspiration from the English master, particularly in the conception of the "indifference" and hostility of supernatural forces towards man.
This theme can be found in the already mentioned masterpiece story “The Willows,” where two careless travelers, lost on a hostile and desolate Danubian island, must face terrifying manifestations of hostile and incomprehensible alien entities. The dark and chilling threat of these presences from a cosmic elsewhere seems to be alien and indifferent to common anthropocentric conceptions.
Algernon Blackwood is also remembered today for being one of the pioneers in bringing to life the famous figure of the "occult detective.” In this sense, the character of John Silence created by his pen is one of the most effective of this vein and stands alongside the various Carnacki by W.H. Hodgson, Jules De Grandin by Seabury Quinn, and Harry Dickson by Jean Ray.
Among the various stories of this cycle, "Ancient Sorceries" is unforgettable, set in an ancient French village where the inhabitants transform into felines. This story later inspired Jacques Tourneur for his famous "Cat People.” Also noteworthy is "Secret Worship," set in a German school, which has a hypnotic diabolic atmosphere with continuous references to ancient satanic cults that were practiced there in ancient times but still seem to have not lost their influence.
Blackwood was a member of the Golden Dawn like many other writers of the time, including Arthur Machen, and was always interested, as he declared, in the hidden powers and faculties within the human being.
Unfortunately today, excluding the studies of eminent scholars of the fantastic like S.T. Joshi, he does not seem to enjoy the fame he deserves, a common fate for many buried fantastic writers.
Essential Italian Bibliography
John Silence, Occult Investigator (John Silence, Physician Extraordinary, 1908), Jan 1977, Future. Science Fiction Library 27, Fanucci Editore, Rome
The Listener and Other Stories, Algernon BLACKWOOD Dec 1978, Future. Science Fiction Library 43, Fanucci Editore, Rome
The Man Whom the Trees Loved, Algernon BLACKWOOD, July 1986, The Myths of Cthulhu [10], Fanucci Editore, Rome
John Silence, Occult Investigator (John Silence, Physician Extraordinary, 1908), Dec 1989, The Masters of the Fantastic [12], Fanucci Editore, Rome
The Listener and Other Stories, Nov 1990, The Masters of the Fantastic [10], Fanucci Editore, Rome
The Wendigo and Other Fantastic Tales, Nov 1992, Library of Fantastic Literature 26, Edizioni Theoria, Rome-Naples
Lovecraft. My Favorite Horrors (My Favourite Horrors, 1994), Gianni PILO, Sebastiano FUSCO (edited by) May 1994, Great Pocket Economies 270, Newton & Compton, Rome (contains the story “The Willows”)
Peter Penzoldt "The Supernatural in Fiction" (1952)
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