Pan's Garden / Incredible Adventures

PAN’S GARDENPan’s Garden is a thematic collection of stories which, in the words of the author, “illustrates that characteristic belief, present in all my work, that there exists a definite relationship between Human Beings and Nature.” From the opening novella, “The Man Whom the Trees Loved”—in which Nature welcomes and absorbs the soul of a man—to the concluding “The Temptations of the Clay”—in which Nature rejects the spirit of the man who tries to profit from it—we are transported into a natural world where the elements hold sway. Mike Ashley, in his introduction, calls Pan’s Garden “the definitive volume of Blackwood’s short stories. . . because it defines the true nature of Blackwood’s writing.”INCREDIBLE ADVENTURESIncredible Adventures represents what biographer Mike Ashley calls "thelast outburst of his golden period" and is comprised of three novellasand two short stories. Here, nature is a living force, truth is theonly religion and the past holds sway over the present. At times almostsurreal in their intensity, these tales exert a strange power over thereader, opening our eyes to a larger world around us. From the ruggedmountains of Eastern Europe in "The Regeneration of Lord Ernie" to thevast deserts of Egypt in "A Descent Into Egypt," Blackwood takes us toother places--and other worlds.

From the Inside Flap

Pan's Garden is a thematic collection of stories which, in the words of the author, "illustrates that characteristic belief, present all my work, that there exists a definite relationship between Human Beings and Nature." Mike Ashley, in his introduction, calls Pan's Garden "the definitive volume of Blackwood's short stories...because it defines the true nature of Blackwood's writing." Incredible Adventures represents what biographer Mike Ashley calls "the last outburst of his golden period" and is comprised of three novellas and two short stories. Here, nature is a living force, truth is the only religion and the past holds sway over the present. At times almost surreal in their intensity, these tales exert a strange power over the reader, opening our eyes to a larger world around us. From the rugged mountains of Eastern Europe in "The Regeneration of Lord Ernie" to the vast deserts of Egypt in "A Descent Into Egypt," Blackwood takes us to other places--and other worlds.

About the Author

Algernon Blackwood is remembered best for his two superlative horror stories, "The Wendigo" and "The Willows." But in his lifetime he wrote over 150 stories, at least a dozen novels, two plays and quite a few children's books as well. Born in London on March 14, 1869, Blackwood rebelled against his strong Catholic upbringing and began studying Oriental religions and the occult, later joining several occult societies. When he reached twenty, his father sent him to Canada, and there he spent several years before entering the U.S. and becoming a reporter for the New York Sun. Returning to Britain in the late 1890's, he soon began turning some of his strange experiences into stories, beginning with "A Haunted Island," a ghost story set in the remote Canadian backwoods. An acquaintance sent these stories to a publisher and the result was The Empty House, soon followed by many more weird story collections and some truly strange and powerful novels. Storyteller, mystic, adventurer, radio and television personality--Algernon Blackwood has been all of these in his rich and varied lifetime. In fact, as he revealed to his friends, most of his stories were based on actual events. By the time of his death in 1951, he had become one of the greatest writers of supernatural fiction in the 20th century.

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