"The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood / A HorrorBabble Production

[@HorrorBabble]

"The Willows" is a novella by English author Algernon Blackwood, originally published as part of his 1907 collection The Listener and Other Stories. It is one of Blackwood's best known works and has been influential on a number of later writers. Horror author H. P. Lovecraft considered it to be the finest supernatural tale in English literature. The Willows is an example of early modern horror and is connected within the literary tradition of weird fiction. Chapters: 00:11 - Opening Credits 00:42 - Part 1 36:36 - Part 2 1:05:27 - Part 3 1:34:18 - Part 4 1:57:43 - Closing Credits Bandcamp link: horrorbabble.bandcamp.com/album/the-willows Narrated by Ian Gordon for HorrorBabble Music and production by Ian Gordon Support us on Bandcamp or Patreon: horrorbabble.bandcamp.com www.patreon.com/horrorbabble HorrorBabble MERCH: teespring.com/stores/horrorbabble-merch Search HORRORBABBLE to find us on: AUDIBLE / ITUNES / SPOTIFY Home: www.horrorbabble.com Rue Morgue: www.rue-morgue.com Social Media: facebook.com/HorrorBabble instagram.com/horrorbabble twitter.com/HorrorBabble

[@wingedeathnoisewave]

What happened to your superb reading of The Wendigo? I really love your guys channel!

[@thatguyreiji1045]

Ian's voice reading makes the best bedtime stories. Much love from Namibia,Africa.

[@HorrorBabble]

Thanks Ray, great to hear from you! Ian

[@bittybitty8233]

Ray Amukwaya hello ray !! From Oklahoma , USA !!💚

[@thatguyreiji1045]

+bitty bitty Hello hello. :) nice meeting a fellow horror book lover.

[@howardlovecraft750]

As well.

[@AdamWalkLikeSuicide]

2 years later still true, @Horrorbabble stories are the best bed time stories.

[@jmpsthrufyre]

Well that was intense. The willows behind my house suddenly look different. Wait, they weren't that close yesterday...

[@rattyrachel4316]

Lol!

[@Yossiloveu]

Lmao😂love it... This story is quite unsettling...

[@kmarch6630]

A word to those who have not heard or read this story before - try to listen to it all the way through without any interruptions like I had while listening. It will greatly intensify the resulting ending.

[@Boogie_the_cat]

I'm trying for the 3rd time. I was not impressed the first two times I listened to it, but I came back because EVERYONE in the entire multiverse raves about this story, including HPL. So I give it a third listen and hope to get some sort of enjoyment out of it this time. **Sigh** Hope.

[@andylordy177]

Thanks for this comment. I really think it intensified in my experience

[@AcornElectron]

Shhhhh

[@feralbluee]

the description of the Danube was beautiful and like i was watching the living river. i’ll never see it, so i loved feeling and seeing it in my imagination. . .

[@noelshane6546]

Word up. 😎

[@brettbarton1911]

Who knows, never say never, the world is really not so big, and the Danube not so small.

[@cynthiahawkins2389]

Blackwood had a genius for painting word pictures. As you get to about 7:30 in the story, you realize that the river (Danube) is one of the characters in this tale..and you are so caught up in what he has described, that you find yourself IN THE CANOE with the two men...

[@hoddsesaurusREX]

This story, and Ian’s reading of it, brought about the first feeling of actual fright I’ve had in years. Bravo!

[@sirtalkalotdoolittle]

The atmosphere he creates and describes makes it as if I was there. It's great how he takes so long to get to the "horror," yet still keeps the listener/reader enthralled.

[@kittybaby4288]

Love this one, Blackwood is AMAZING author, and with you narrating it doesn't get any better !! 👻💀🎃😼

[@HorrorBabble]

Thanks KB! I'm a big fan of his work too. Ian

[@bittybitty8233]

HorrorBabble I can't seem to sleep tonight so I put this on thinking your voice would surely help me drift off, but even tho I've heard it before, I got so into it , here I am wide awake! Now I'm going to put on The wendigo. O, how I love that one !! It's 12:45 am.here . so here I go, back to the jungles....

[@chaddixon3973]

One of my favorite classic horror tales. Blackwood creates perfect atmosphere and impending dread. Great work reading it.

[@PostInquiry]

Just noticed HB has ~140k subs, deserves way more. By far the best narrator for horror stories I've heard on KZbin

[@danbernstein4694]

I love this story. I first read it over 50 years ago and have never forgotten how incredibly spooky it is.

[@margarethevontater]

The grandaddy of all eco-horror. Love it.

[@danielwage5595]

IMO this is still the best "nature horror" story ever written.

[@MoonLitChild]

Agreed. Blackwood's description of the innate horror of man facing apathetic nature, and how all attempts to tame nature are arrogance in the extreme really hit hard.

[@greglombardi90]

Agreed!

[@NightCrawler2002]

​@@greglombardi90 is it a horror thriller? Can you describe in very short without spoilers?

[@merce5434]

honestly you can’t say much without spoiling it. All i can say is i have been listening to HB for two years almost every single night, and this is by far my favorite story.

[@NightCrawler2002]

@@merce5434 ok I'm gonna buy the Book...it's less than a dollar in my country.

[@ADITADDICTS]

I read this when I was about ten or eleven years old and it scared the crap out of me then due to the fact that my father and I frequently fly fish and the willows are constantly around us on said trips. Thank you for a blast from the past!

[@DancingQueenie]

I read this story a couple years ago. It’s so perfectly paced and descriptive, I can believe it really happened. Creeeepy. Thanks for reading it to us!

[@EdwardLorn]

I love Blackwood. Fantastic reading as always, Ian.

[@HorrorBabble]

Thanks again Edward! Ian

[@noahhecker6672]

Blackwood is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. First The Wendigo and now this? He has such a way of describing nature that reminds me of certain dark romantics as Poe and Mary Shelley. That way he had of describing the river as a living, moving being was absolutely beautiful, and placed my soul right in the shoes of the character. Fabulous reading and story Horrorbabble.

[@blixten2928]

I agree. It's the willows, the sand, the river and the wind that make this piece. And, of couse, the image of the otter (if it is an otter) whose brown body turns round and round and round in the water....

[@MoonLitChild]

I fell in love with this story from the moment I heard it. I grew up in the boonies, surrounded by nature and the way he captures the natural world is just exquisite. You can tell Blackwood spent a lot of time in nature to be able to describe it so intimately.

[@setamonkeytoy]

I love this story! I think it's one of blackwoods most poetic, it has such vivid descriptions of the environment the characters are in.

[@donaldmccleary9015]

Fantastic rendition of a classic! Well-done! Beauty, terror, fear, and insanity all wrapped together in a wonderful bundle. Oh my, the old gent really knew how to write. I love the sound of the river in the background. I listened to your rendition of "The Wendigo" yesterday and this one today. Two days of classics.

[@feralbluee]

i couldn’t stop listening in spellbound absorption - and i did the same before!! you’re amazing, Ian. 🌷🌱

[@joshsmiley4127]

Already on my full third playthrough of this great tale, blackwood meets gordon, what a refined experience.

[@frankmcgovern5445]

Such an amazing story. One of the things that got me as into classic and cosmic horror as I am.

[@MrDeathhand15]

This is one of the best books I've ever heard. Every time Listen to it it draws me in more to the story.

[@Kirke182]

First read this story very early in the morning when I was 11. Never been quite the same since.

[@mattylad388]

A classic Blackwood story read with style and a fine voice. Thanks.

[@HorrorBabble]

Thank you Matty! Ian

[@TheAngryBert]

Since the region along the Danube from Straubing, Bavaria, over to Vienna, Austria, to Hungary and Romania is my home turf, it is especially amazing to listen to such a compelling story, Thank you so much!

[@Torgo1001]

Is the Danube in the Sumpfe region as eerie and unsettling in real life as it is depicted by Algernon Blackwood?

[@smithintern-tainment7868]

This is the kind of horror stuff I dig. Yeah traditional ghost or suspenseful stories are cool but I love the “weird” ones. Way more room for creative storytelling made all the better by your awesome narration

[@biscuithammer00]

I very much appreciate you narrating one of my favorite stories. Thank you for your work.

[@merxeddie6474]

I’ve read the story,but hearing lends it a unique authenticity.Thanks.

[@richardw.b.feigen8700]

Thanks for the finest reading of one of my favorite stories!

[@HorrorBabble]

And thanks for listening Richard! Ian

[@baruchben-david4196]

I would like to suggest a story by Algernon Blackwood called, "A Confession." The ending caught me by surprise, whick doesn't happen much these days. I was glad to find that Blackwood still had some surprises for me.

[@HorrorBabble]

Thank you! I'll take a look. If you'd like to submit it as a request, please do so here: www.horrorbabble.com/contact Thanks again, Ian.

[@judithl.morton9178]

Thank you for sharing Mr. Blackwood I really enjoy his work. I went to the library and I could not find much of his work ...only 2 books and I have to wait for any. So Sad they don't seem to carry much in the area of the classic. Glad your here thanks again!

[@ProjectRedfoot]

*Thank you for helping us all take our minds off of some stuff!* (whatever that stuff may be)!

[@Tipi_Dan]

I have read it many times, and I hardly revisit past readings. I have read it to others, but never with such mastery as our host. By my reckoning, nature based horror is most chilling, but only when the dread is amorphous. Creature horror is jejune and dull.

[@stephennicholas1590]

Your reading of this story is sublime. What a wonderful marriage of masterful writing and narration. Thank you sir!

[@shgnamaste7730]

The Danube was apparently more ominous than the waltz would ever describe. ☠️

[@dmshueyable]

Nah. Just elegantly ominous...

[@samnangpoe]

ian, you are a legend, my friend! thanks for all the effort.

[@weedingaloud7891]

I dont care what this guy reads its better for it !👍keep up thr great work ian

[@wsksklyn2541]

Ian is incredible. Really brings the stories to life.

[@ryleeguy2763]

Just saw Ward reading this in the Color out of Space (2019) movie and was hoping you had it!! Your the man Ian. Thanks!

[@AnneAndersonFoxiepaws]

I am really getting into Algernon Blackwood. I wasn't too taken by his stuff on first hearing it but obviously the narrator makes a huge difference and I am finding it really compelling. I hate to say this but I have never really got into Lovecraft either, perhaps because he was overlooked when I used to read a lot but again, I think I have been put off by some not so good narrators recently. I am really looking forward to trying again with you narrating. (I know I am being lazy about reading latterly but my eyesight is awful and it's so much easier to listen these days...I am always the first to bemoan the state of the English language so I probably have very little right to do so as latterly I haven't been nearly as avid a reader as I was a decade ago. I am really glad to have found your site though...no annoying mispronounciatuons here and you read beautifully so I am willing to give some of the authors I have overlooked another chance.)

[@CJM-rg5rt]

I feel the same way, I really only like about 20% of Lovecraft stories but I absolutely love HB's Algernon Blackwood stories. Check out his Henry Kuttner stories too, these are the two authors on his channel that I'm really into.

[@billybees3796]

Algernon's The Empty House is what led me to his great work along with M.R James,E.F Benson.The English Victorian times created the best ghost stories ever,can't touch it.I might add a audio storyteller must keep your attention and Mr Man Gordon is a higher caliper narrator than most.Thank You, God Bless

[@billybees3796]

I mean Ian ,sorry

[@HorrorBabble]

Thanks Billy! The Empty House is imminent on my list of recordings - it's a classic. Thanks for the kind words. Ian

[@stewartlancaster6155]

calibre, a caliper is what the disabled use.

[@MorganScorpion]

Excellent! Loved this.

[@JasonJason210]

Just wanted to say that I appreciate the images you use in these videos. They are invariably well chosen.

[@Perseverence111]

This story, in particular, sticks out to me as being especially vivid in my imagination, through your style of narration.

[@robbabcock_]

What a superbly eerie tale, and wonderfully performed! 👻🙌☠

[@thefisherking78]

Coming back to this like I always do. Still a favorite 🎉

[@greglombardi90]

Absolutely fantastic narration, riveted from start to finish, and this is my 8th time around.

[@thefisherking78]

Blood-curdling spooky. Oh my god 😬😳

[@evilpompom]

This is one of my favorite stories! Thank you for bringing it to life with your lovely voice 😊

[@danielmeredith4222]

Another fantastic reading cheers and thankyou so much Ian Gordon. Your always there for me on my lonely nights and days xo

[@HorrorBabble]

Thanks again, Daniel.

[@blurryface9597]

Thanks for your great narration. This is one of my all time favorite.

[@rattyrachel4316]

What a trip! Fascinating and chilling from beginning to end! Wonderful narration; thank you so much!

[@benruniko]

This is the first Algernon Blackwood story I ever listened to or read, and while I forgot the name of the author for a bit, the story itself was imprinted deeply on my mind. I have never forgotten my shock and thrill from that first listen, and I will always jump at a chance to listen to anything written by them. And nobody does it better than HB!!

[@Jose-jx5pu]

Whats your take on the history? Whats the explaation?

[@benruniko]

@@Jose-jx5pu sorry, what? I don’t understand.

[@pbr-streetgang]

Again thanks for the upload sir.👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@rachelsatlas]

Come back and visit Blackwood time and again..he can make you hear the dried leaves and twigs crackle under your feet and the chill overtake you as you step from the sunlight into the shade of the canopy spread out over a wooded patch

[@gwendolyn2001]

I read this story decades ago--I must have been 13 or 14. I never forgot it, but neither did I understand it or the horror. Now, I do.

[@cam5816]

What didn’t you understand?

[@gwendolyn2001]

@@cam5816 the subtlety of the horror. I was used to vampires biting people and ghosts jumping out, not a creeping terror you cannot see.

[@Harpeia]

This is my favourite Blackwood book and I've only read it in my native language. Thank you for bringing in a brand new perspective!

[@RangerOfTheOrder]

My favorite part of this story is the setting is very real. It takes place in the Dunajské luhy Protected Landscape Area, on the present day Hungary-Slovakia border. I looked up some pictures and it is almost exactly as Blackwood describes. It's definitely on my bucket list now.

[@tiffanyclark-grove1989]

I love algernon blackwood

[@frankmcgovern5445]

Me too.

[@CJM-rg5rt]

By far my favorite author on HB's channel.

[@lauracraig6343]

Read beautifully and one of my all time faves so glad it's here to be enjoyed by all amazing job

[@PatFerris]

Am listening AGAIN to the willows tonight.

[@dismaspickman773]

This is THE video I suggest to everyone at Halloween. Personally, I listen to it about once a year.

[@vonjunzt4130]

you have a really great voice, especially for this kind of literature. Great.

[@joerivera6334]

Wonderful!

[@stuff6218]

Excellent. Thanks Ian.

[@joshuawaring4180]

I remember reading this one night in bed, and I have to say, it’s the only piece of literature I’ve ever found genuinely scary. I’ve read a lot of fiction, including some of the great titles in horror fiction, but this short novella was the only real unsettling one.

[@danbernstein4694]

Exactly my reaction!

[@cam5816]

Any other good recommendations?Have you read Pigeons From Hell?

[@gregchaney2004]

Thank you for a great narration. Greg Chaney in coastal N.C, USA

[@babymammoth34]

Such a messed up but engaging supernatural thriller tale. I prefer The Wendigo a lot more but this was tight.

[@AndyPutt1]

Fantastic story. I'll have to find more Algernon Blackwood

[@CJM-rg5rt]

You've heard all of HB's Blackwood then? The Dr. Silence one's are great.. from weed-induced witches to love-induced lycanthropy, the Dr's got it covered.

[@janemaas4225]

A fascinating story. This is a story that you can listen to over and over.

[@grandriver3152]

As best as I can, I will recant this tale to my Canadian friend , by a fire, on our next adventure.

[@johanlindwall7295]

Great story and fantastic narration as usual!

[@magisterapophis8714]

There are few things that surpass coming home and relaxing with my shire pipe while listening to the most recent telling from you Ian. Best way to relax and get some chills. Certainly the season for it after all

[@HorrorBabble]

Thanks as always Myles. What a way to set the scene! And yes, it is indeed the season for it. Plenty more to come! Ian

[@eldraque4556]

Wonderful words, great naration

[@grassbreads]

Your voice really suits the narrator of this story. Fantastic job!

[@Tipi_Dan]

Is this Blackwood's masterpiece? Likely it is, yet, there is another work of his that may have a rightful claim to that crown. It is longer (a full novel), and more complex. It deals with some similar speculations in a vastly expanded manner. It is Blackwood's most ambitious foray into the realm of nature "horror", yet it is not scary. It is certainly not horrible. It is scarcely known and even less often read. It is out of print. It is profoundly disquieting and simultaneously profoundly reassuring. It is mind-shattering and unforgettable. It is a difficult read. It is called "The Centaur", and it is worth every painstaking word.

[@colejames9715]

I Like The Empty House..I read it every year on Halloween..

[@mackjay1777]

I think THE WENDIGO is possibly Blackwood's most frightening tale. Give it a shot after THE WILLOWS.

[@Makaan]

What happened to your reading of The Wendigo? Recently I seem unable to find it in your channel.

[@HorrorBabble]

It lives here now: horrorbabble.bandcamp.com/album/the-wendigo

[@uros.u.novakovic]

Just finished this one, and honestly not sure why The Willows is allegedly his most popular story. It was decent. I enjoyed The Wendigo more.

[@linus0804]

Excellent story and narrator!

[@grojuana]

This and wendigo are my go to bedtime reads, the snow one is really good too!

[@violetfemme411]

Bravo! 👍

[@RandolphTheWhite1]

22:13 - "Good heavens! It's a man's body" Me when I finally get around to cleaning my room

[@Jose-jx5pu]

Whats your take on the history? Whats the explaation?

[@Arwcwb]

If he had worshipped the second he saw them you think he'd be allowed to leave or would he have just been taken away? I feel like they would've gotten away after showing respectful worship

[@MoonLitChild]

I always thought the willows wouldn't have cared and killed them anyway. A theme in a lot of Blackwood's writing is that nature owes man nothing, especially not our short, meaningless (to it's) lives. And he has a point, moreso today than ever...

[@chuzzthefuzz1908]

All I can say is - wow!

[@seanjustinkvalsvig1581]

Thank you from South Africa hermanus western cape

[@fredrikbrohall1422]

Awesome reading, first time I listened to Blackwood, but I can’t help to remember the name from somewhere, wasn’t his name mentioned in a book by H.P Lovecraft? Anyways thanks for the reading

[@HorrorBabble]

Thanks again for listening! Yes, a Blackwood reference opens The Call of Cthulhu. The Willows was one of Lovecraft's favourite stories. Ian

[@jeova0sanctus0unus]

Blackwood is also a possible translation of the Schwarzwald in germany. That is usually translated as Black Forrest, but... if you want to make it sound more Ominous...

[@PaulZink]

Lovecraft called "The Willow" the finest "weird tale" written in English, I believe.

[@PatFerris]

It's really nice to have a great story read to you... I wish I could do it like you Ian...I try but it doesn't matter who my audience is, it's like I'm "the librarian" from "the hilarious house of frankenstone"... Need to take some speaking lessons I suppose

[@HorrorBabble]

Thanks Pat. Honestly, it's trial and error in my opinion. There's always room for growth. Ian

[@blacknwhitehound]

Story is great . Spend a night alone in the forest ... not your neighborhood patch of trees , or camp ground. The forest and listen at night . It’s a different world

[@brettbarton1911]

This was my first A BW in my searching years, still a treasure.

[@markrpatterson9717]

I'm considering legally changing my name to Sandy Banks. 2:45 I also considered Muddy Waters, but that name is already taken. 4:04

[@frankmcgovern5445]

What about Willows Blackwood?

[@St1cKnGoJuGgAlO]

I'm going for harry sax

[@stephennicholas1590]

Marvelous!

[@cumulusclaus5888]

My favorite horror story

[@mijiyoon5575]

TY *HorrorBabble* ... scary & well done😨

[@danshaw9479]

Thanks!

[@HorrorBabble]

Thank you, Dan!

[@TheWolfgangfritz]

Being the Danube River which flowed through numerous significant locations that deposited their countless deeds of horror since the invasions of Caesar's troupes. Throughout the history of Germany, Austria and Hungary, millions of people who's bodies, in varied states of decomposure or in ashes, used the Danube as that great toilet bowl which would wash away any immediate signs of wrong doing. My mother's village of Alkoven with its infamous Hartheim Castle , the T4 Euthanasia Center deposited the ashes of at least 30 thousand. Then, flowing past Linz to about 35km more, one arrives at Mauthausen Concentration Camp, an even more evil place, and another dumping ground for ashes and bodies. Plenty of reasons for evil spirits to dwell in the willows that grow on its banks!

[@WinChun78]

Blackwood was a member of the magical Order Of The Golden Dawn, along with Aleister Crowley and H G Wells, amongst others.

[@cam5816]

What does this mean?

[@RexytheRexy]

The recent studies that show trees are sentient; can communicate and transfer nutrients to their children along a network of fungal mycelium that acts like a central nervous system; makes this all the more enthralling and sinister.

[@shantiboomj]

Nice