The Willows

We’re back and we’re going on our summer holidays! What could be finer than drifting down the Danube, marvelling at all the willows crowding these sandy little islets? Well, maybe not being consumed or driven mad by the unseen cosmic forces lurking within them. But that’s just the kind of risk you take when you go camping. Main Topic: The Willows Following on from our recent discussion of cosmic horror, we thought it might be helpful to look at an example of the genre. Dating back to 1907, Algernon Blackwood’s “The Willows” is one of the earliest examples of cosmic horror. It was also a profound influence on the young HP Lovecraft, who later raved about it in Supernatural Horror in Literature. Unfortunately, as we explore in the episode, this admiration was not reciprocal. As usual, we dig into the story in detail, looking for inspiration for our Call of Cthulhu games. Also, as usual, we disagree about almost everything. Once again, the pandemic means we recorded this episode remotely, safely separated by invisible dimensional barriers. Links Things we mention in this episode include: * “The Willows” by Algernon Blackwood* Cosmic horror* Algernon Blackwood* The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn* John Silence* Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder* “The Wendigo” by Algernon Blackwood* Arthur Machen* “Supernatural Horror in Literature” by HP Lovecraft* Occultism in Lovecraft* Blackwood’s opinion of Lovecraft* The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame* WB Yeats* Celtic fairy folklore* Tolkien and trees Algernon Blackwood * Body horror* Ghosts* Folk horror* Survival horror* Dark Young* Folie à deux* Quixotism and