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Algernon Blackwood's John Silence is a masterful compilation of supernatural tales that explore the mysterious and uncanny. Blackwood's literary style is characterized by a unique blend of horror, the supernatural, and the psychological, creating an atmosphere of tension and unease that grips readers from the first page to the last. Set in the early 20th century, these stories provide a glimpse into a world where the boundaries between the natural and the supernatural blur, leaving readers questioning the nature of reality and the unseen forces that shape our lives. Each story is a carefully crafted masterpiece of suspense and intrigue, showcasing Blackwood's unparalleled skill as a storyteller. Algernon Blackwood was a prolific writer of supernatural fiction, known for his ability to evoke a sense of dread and wonder in his readers. His fascination with the unknown and the unexplained led him to explore themes of the supernatural, the occult, and the subconscious mind in his works. Through his John Silence stories, Blackwood invites readers to confront their deepest fears and contemplate the mysteries of the universe. This volume contains six John Silence stories. In A Psychical Invasion Silence is summoned to a house apparently haunted by former tenants. In Ancient Sorceries, he encounters a man who tells of strange experiences in a small French town; and in Secret Worship, an ill-starred character is rescued from spiritual and perhaps physical death. The Nemesis of Fire, The Camp of the Dog, and A Victim of Higher Space conclude this collection of spellbinding tales, which will delight any devotee of "weird" literature.
Author

Blackwood was born in Shooter's Hill (today 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, farming in Canada, operating a hotel, as a newspaper reporter in New York City, and, throughout his adult life, an occasional essayist for various periodicals. In his late thirties, he moved back to England and started to write stories of the supernatural. He was very successful, writing at least ten original collections of short stories and eventually appearing on both 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 reflect this. Lovecraft wrote of Blackwood: "He is the one absolute and unquestioned master of weird atmosphere." His powerful story "The Willows," which effectively describes another dimension impinging upon our own, was reckoned by Lovecraft to be not only "foremost of all" Blackwood's tales but the best "weird tale" of all time. Among his thirty-odd books, Blackwood wrote a series of stories and short novels published as John Silence, Physician Extraordinary (1908), which featured a "psychic detective" who combined the skills of a Sherlock Holmes and a psychic medium. Blackwood also wrote light fantasy and juvenile books. The son of a preacher, Blackwood had a life-long interest in the supernatural, the occult, and spiritualism, and firmly believed that humans possess latent psychic powers. The autobiography Episodes Before Thirty (1923) tells of his lean years as a journalist in New York. In the late 1940s, Blackwood had a television program on the BBC on which he read . . . ghost stories!