The Human Chord / The Centaur (Stark House Supernatural Classi...

Two early novels by this monumental writer of supernatural fiction. “[The Centaur] was to be the favorite among [Blackwood’s] novels, because it best represented all that he was trying to achieve…It is unlike any other work in the field of supernatural or mystical fiction.”—Mike Ashley, Starlight Man.

From the Inside Flap

THE HUMAN CHORD When Robert Spinrobin answers an ad in the paper from a retired clergyman looking for someone with courage and imagination, he enters into an adventure that is beyond all imagining. For Philip Skale is looking for the perfect tenor that will complete his quartet in an experiment that could unlock the very heart of Creation. Using the power of sound, Skale has spent his life trying to unlock the secrets of life and death. One voice cannot do it. He needs four. His housekeeper, Mrs. Mawle, is the alto; Skale s niece, Miriam, the soprano, and Skale the bass. Spinrobin completes the chord with his tenor. Collectively, they can utter the word, and become as gods. But there is also the possibility that something could go wrong, that instead of summoning God, they fail and unleash total chaos instead! THE CENTAUR Terrence O Malley, an Irish poet with a yearning in his soul for something more than the commonplace, takes a trip to Greece. While on the boat, he encounters a Russian father and son who seem out of place almost elemental. His companion, Dr. Stahl, warns him about getting too close to the couple, very aware that O Malley is very likely to get swept away by the feelings of rapture they can generate. For the father and son are much more than they seem much more than merely human and quite possibly a pure manifestation of the Earth itself. But once O Malley s Celtic soul is aroused, there is no turning back he is on a journey that will lead him to the very heart and soul of Mother Earth.

About the Author

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. Returning to Britain in the late 1890's, he soon began turning some of his strange experiences into stories. 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 had 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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