Opinions on Algernon Blackwood

Has anyone ever read any of his works? He apparently influenced Lovecraft. What's you opinion on him?

My opinion - extremely high. In fact I truly believe that he is up with the very best writers in the Ghost and Horror genre. It is generally thought that his stories The Willows and The Wendigo are his very best. My personal favorites are those stories collected under the title of John Silence and those in the collection The Empty House If you care to look under the authors name in my catalogue,you will see what books I have of this really great author of ghost tales.

Very high. Some of the stories creak a little bit, but most hold up extremely well. He was better in the short story/novella length stories, but I would recommend any of the collections of Blackwood to anyone interested in horror and suspense.

Algernon Blackwood was one of the best. In fact, I like him a lot more than HP Lovecraft, who can be a bit tedious at times. Try out The Willows, a masterpiece of slowly creeping horror.

Just chiming in to agree. Blackwood's well worth reading. The Willows is one of my favorite horror stories of all-time and is easily available on-line.

One of the absolute best. Personally, I much prefer him to Lovecraft. His work might not be quite as imaginative, but he was a much better wordsmith....

The Willows deserves its place being regarded as one of the greatest short horror stories there is. Absolutely superb, it's like a water colour painting using prose, atmosphere is the all and the nothing. That said, I do find Blackwood's paganistic worldview a bit grating at times but that's small complaint compared to what he did achieve in his greatest works.

Hmm I think I will read that work now. :)

If I was forced at gunpoint to pick my top ten weird short stories (unlikely to happen, but you never know) The Willows would be a shoe in...