Starlight Man

Algernon Blackwood has been called “the central figure in the British supernatural literature of the twentieth century” by Michael Dirda in the New York Review of Books. S. T. Joshi referred to him as “a master of narrative pacing.” He has been labeled “one of the most influential supernatural writers of his time” by Storm Constantine, author of The Wraeththu Chronicles. In his essay, Supernatural Horror in Literature, H. P. Lovecraft stated that “of the quality of Mr. Blackwood’s genius there can be no dispute.”

Writers and reviewers throughout the last 100 years have been extolling the virtues of Algernon Blackwood’s tales. But Blackwood was a rolling stone and kept virtually no papers or private records. When Mike Ashley decided to research Blackwood's life in 1978 he had no idea that over forty years later he would still be researching. A first edition of the biography was published in 2001 but that had to be edited down, and Ashley knew at that time that there were still many unanswered questions.

Since then some of those questions have been answered and though there still remains some mystery about Blackwood—and maybe that adds to his aura and fascination—Ashley has now brought the biography up to date, restoring the text that was removed and adding more of the results of his researches. Here, now, is the most extensive and thorough study of Blackwood's life and works revealing more about the mystic, the adventurer, the innocent, the seeker.