A collection of strange and fantastical tales from Algernon Blackwood, plus bonus documentaries
Described by H P Lovecraft as 'the one absolute and unquestioned master of weird atmosphere', Algernon Blackwood (CBE) was the acclaimed and prolific author of numerous ghost stories and horror tales. Throughout his lifetime, he wrote 14 novels, several children's books, a number of plays, and over 200 short stories.
This anthology opens with a selection of stories featuring his most influential character, occult detective Dr John Silence. The inspiration for the famous horror movie Cat People, 'Ancient Sorceries' (read by Philip Madoc), sees a timid tourist becoming enchanted by a sleepy French town whose residents have an oddly feline manner. It is followed by four chilling dramatisations starring Malcolm Hayes as Silence. In The Nemesis of Fire, the psychic doctor investigates eldritch events at an English manor house; while Secret Worship is a chilling tale of haunting and evil in a Bavarian forest. A wilderness trip turns terrifying in The Camp of the Dog, and in The Empty Sleeve, a virtuoso violinist's desire for a rare instrument has dire consequences.
Next up are three gripping standalone dramas: The Decoy (starring George Baker and Susan Jameson); Keeping His Promise (starring Eric Deacon and Christopher Neame) and The Human Chord (starring Philip Skale).
Also included is Violet Pearn's captivating fantasy play The Starlight Express, adapted from Blackwood's imaginative children's novel A Prisoner in Fairyland and starring Denis Dowling, Patrick Barr and Cecile Chavreau. This is followed by The Willows, read by Roger Allam: a claustrophobic tale of suspense and terror, as two companions camp on a remote island and become convinced they see a body in the water.
Three eerie supernatural stories are narrated by Blackwood himself in long-lost gems from the BBC Archive. They centre around mysterious encounters with a depressed Englishwoman ('The Occupant of the Room'), a man who was frightened to death ('The Woman's Ghost Story'), and the spectral presence of a town ('The Destruction of Smith'), and are followed by a quartet of strange stories ('Algernon Blackwood Tells a Strange Story').
01 – Ancient Sorceries – Arthur’s Journey
02 – Ancient Sorceries – Feeling Watched
03 – Ancient Sorceries – Ancient Forces
04 – Ancient Sorceries – Ancient Magic
05 – Stories of the Uncanny – The Nemesis of Fire
06 – Stories of the Uncanny – Secret Worship
07 – Stories of the Uncanny – The Camp of the Dog
08 – Stories of the Uncanny – The Empty Sleeve
10 – Haunted – Keeping His Promise
11 – Haunted – The Human Chord
13 – The Willows – The Body in the Water
14 – The Willows – False Haven
15 – The Willows – A New Order of Expeience
16 – The Willows – The Alternate Sacrifice
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