Algernon Blackwood

Algernon Blackwood (1869-1951), «cuya voluminosa obra se encuentra entre las más bellas de la literatura espectral de todos los tiempos», según Lovecraft, «es el maestro absoluto e indiscutible de la

Reconocido maestro de la moderna narrativa fantástica y de terror, Algernon Blackwood (1869-1951) supo compaginar su atracción por la mística y el ocultismo con su amor por la naturaleza. Autor de re

The Complete Works of Algernon Blackwood assembles the vast and compelling literary contributions of one of the foremost writers of supernatural fiction in the early 20th century. Known for his evocative prose and profound exploration of nature, Blackwoods stories intricately weave psychological depth with an environment that often serves as a character in its own right. His work spans various genres but is particularly marked by his deep fascination with the unseen forces of the natural worlda theme prevalent in stories like "The Willows" and "The Wendigo." This collection highlights Blackwoods ability to evoke eerie atmospheres and intricate emotional landscapes, showcasing his storytelling prowess in a burgeoning era of modernist literature steeped in mysticism and mystique. Algernon Blackwood was a man of diverse experiences; he embraced adventure, nature, and metaphysics, all of which profoundly influenced his writing. His early career included journalism and outdoor endeavors, giving him firsthand insights into the beauty and terror of the natural world. Such encounters with landscapes and his philosophical musings on existence and spirituality likely fueled his unique ability to transcend mundane reality through his fiction, making him a standout figure in the literature of horror and the supernatural. For those intrigued by the complexities of human psychology interwoven with mystifying elements, The Complete Works of Algernon Blackwood is an essential read. This collection not only provides a comprehensive look at Blackwoods literary genius but also invites readers to immerse themselves in a world brimming with unseen wonders and chilling tales, urging them to reconsider the relationship between humanity and the greater mysteries of existence.

A British traveller in France stops in a remote French hill town with some very unusual inhabitants and soon finds himself unable to leave; a scholar staying in a lodging house feels himself observed by a malevolent presence; two friends on a canoeing trip spend a night on a lonely willow-covered island in the middle of the Danube, haunted by the strange trees and sinister shapes in the water...Algernon Blackwood is one of Britains greatest ever proponents of weird and supernatural stories. This collection contains four of his most unnervingly curious tales: Ancient Sorceries, The Listener, The Sea Fit and The Willows.

The ghost story is as old as human speech, - and perhaps even antedates it. A naive acceptance of the supernatural was unquestionably one of the primal attributes of human intelligence. The ghost story may thus quite conceivably be the first form of tale ever invented. It makes its appearance comparatively early in the annals of literature...

Jimbo is a delicious book, and one that should be read by all who long at times to escape from this working-day world into the region of haunting and half-remembered things. Algernon Blackwood was one of the greatest writers of horror and the occult, on a level with King and Lovecraft and maybe, possibly, Gaiman.

This collection assembles four of Blackwoods greatest stories: "The Insanity of Jones,""The Man Who Found Out,""The Glamour of the Snow," and "Sand." Algernon Blackwood was one of the masters of horror and the macabre, a great influence on the works of Lovecraft and the future master-author Stephen King.

Certain houses, like certain persons, manage somehow to proclaim at once their character for evil. In the case of the latter, no particular feature need betray them; they may boast an open countenance and an ingenuous smile; and yet a little of their company leaves the unalterable conviction that there is something radically amiss with their being: that they are evil. Willy nilly, they seem to communicate an atmosphere of secret and wicked thoughts which makes those in their immediate neighbourhood shrink from them as from a thing diseased...

Al evocar las misteriosas fuerzas espirituales de la naturaleza, los escritos de Algernon Blackwood habitan la nebulosa frontera entre la fantasía, el asombro, la maravilla y el terror. Del autor de Los sauces y El Wendigo, he aqui una exquisita antologia donde figuran relatos monumentales, muchos de los cuales habian permanecido inexplicablemente ineditos en español."Blackwood es el absoluto e incuestionable maestro de la atmosfera fantastica Su genio es indiscutible, pues nadie se ha aproximado a la destreza, seriedad y minuciosa fidelidad con la que el registra los tonos de extrañeza en ambitos y experiencias ordinarias, o la notable perspicacia con la que construye detalle por detalle todas las percepciones que llevan de la realidad hacia una vision sobrenatural Sus obras alcanzan un nivel genuinamente clasico, y evocan como ninguna otra cosa en literatura un sobrecogedor y convincente sentido de la inmanencia de extrañas entidades y esferas espirituales." H.P. Lovecraft "Blackwood es, sin lugar a dudas, la figura central de la literatura britanica sobrenatural del siglo veinte."New York Review of Books"Seguimos lo bastante cerca de los dias primitivos con su terror a la oscuridad para que la razon pueda abdicar sin resistirse con demasiada violencia Estos relatos vieron su nacimiento acompañado de un delicioso estremecimiento." Algernon Blackwood

Repleto de histórias que cativaram legiões de amantes do terror pelo mundo, o livro conta com diversas narrativas inéditas no Brasil, trazendo contos de peso como "A casa vazia" e "O ouvinte" que env

Judy, Tim, and Maria were just little children. It was impossible to say exactly what their ages were, except that they were just the usual age, that Judy was the eldest, Maria the youngest, and that Tim, accordingly, came in between the two. Their father did his best for them; so did their mother; so did Aunt Emily, the latters sister. It is impossible to say very much about these three either, except that they were just Father, Mother, and Aunt Emily. They were the Authorities-in-Chief, and they knew respectively everything there was to be known about such remote and difficult subjects as London and Money; Food, Health and Clothing; Conduct, Behaviour and Regulations, both general and particular. Into these three departments of activity the children, without realising that they did so, classed them neatly. Aunt Emily, besides the special duties assigned to her, was a living embodiment of No. While Father allowed and permitted, while Mother wobbled and hesitated, Aunt Emily shook her head with decision, and said distinctly No. She was too full of warnings, advice, and admonitions to get about much. She wore gold glasses, and had an elastic, pointed nose. From the childrens point of view she must be classed as invalid. Somewhere, deep down inside them, they felt pity.

'Back from the shouting floor and ceiling came the chorus of images that stormed and clamoured for expression. Jones lay still and listened; he let them come. There was nothing else to do.' Algernon Blackwood was one of the most influential writers of twentieth-century weird and supernatural fiction. He once told a correspondent that every story he wrote was based on either a personal experience or that of someone he knew, and thus the vast collection of short stories and novels published in his lifetime can be seen to form a kind of autobiography. In this collection of his most atmospheric and uneasy tales, Mike Ashley provides the facts of Blackwood's life which inspired each story - including experiences as an intelligence agent in the First World War and adventures in New York - to tell the parallel tale of the author's lifetime of the supernatural.

Algernon Blackwood (Kent, 1869-1951) pertenece, al igual queM.R. James, E.F. Benson, Lord Dunsany, Machen o Hodgson, a la estirpe que fraguó en el cambio del siglo XIX al XX las bases del relato de fantasmas y la ficcion extraña contemporaneas, haciendo evolucionar los viejos espectros vengativos y ensangrentados de la tradicion gotica hacia los modernos ectoplasmas y poltergeist.Amante de la Naturaleza salvaje y los mitos clasicos, Blackwood acabara convirtiendose en un autor popular y una estrella de la radio, medio que utilizo para divulgar sus ideas y relatos fantasticos.Desde joven Blackwood sintio una poderosa atraccion e interes por la mistica oriental, hinduismo y budismo, y por el espiritismo.Escritor, periodista, viajero, deportista y aventurero, se afilio a los veintiun años a la celebre sociedad ocultista de la Golden Dawn.Publico relatos fantasticos en diversas revistas, historias que reunio mas tarde en libros como The empty house and other ghost stories (1906), o el presente volumen, John Silence, investigador de lo oculto (1908), con el que adquirio una gran popularidad.Emparentado con otros detectives de lo oculto, como Martin Hesselius de LeFanu, Van Helsing de Stoker o Carnacki de Hodgson,John Silence posee genuinos poderes psiquicos que le permiten moverse en el plano astral o comunicarse telepaticamente con sus clientes, asi como algunas caracteristicas del inmortal Sherlock Holmes.Incluye la presente edicion una obra maestra del relato fantastico:𠇊ntiguas brujerias”, tambien otras destacadas historias del genero como𠇌ulto secreto”, “La nemesis del fuego” o 𠇎l campamento del perro”.La capacidad de Blackwood para describir poeticas ensoñaciones fantasticas, escenarios naturales que se tornan sutilmente en sobrenaturales, mantiene al lector absorto, hipnotizado e incluso abducido hacia el interior de una voragine de sueños, deseos y vidas pasadas enormemente cautivadora.