[This is a reprint of a column which originally appeared in the January 16, 2003, issue of Hellnotes.]
Algernon Blackwood was born on March 14, 1869, in Shooter’s Hill, Kent, England. His parents were Sir Stevenson Arthur Blackwood and the dowager Duchess of Manchester. Blackwood attended various schools in Europe. His studies–both formal and informal–included spirituality, Eastern religions, theosophy, and hypnotism.
In 1887, Blackwood’s father sent him to Canada on business. The following year, he entered a university in Edinburgh but left a year later. He returned to Canada in 1890 and greatly enjoyed the backwoods there, which is where he set “The Wendigo,” a creepy, suspenseful tale of a hunting party that finds–something. He spent a few years in Canada, where he was involved in various businesses, such as a dairy farm and a hotel. The dairy farm failed and he did not like the hotel business.
Read the complete column: Algernon Blackwood
