Algernon Blackwood

The Wendigo Algernon Blackwood

Algernon Henry Blackwood, (1869 -1951) was an English writer of supernatural fiction. Blackwood was also a journalist and a broadcasting narrator. Blackwood had a varied career, farming in Canada, operating a hotel, a newspaper reporter in New York, and essayist for various periodicals. His works included ten collections of short stories, fourteen novels, children's stories, and several plays. Many of his stories reflect his love of nature and the outdoors. His two best-known stories were "The Willows" and "The Wendigo". In this camper tale set in the Canadian wilderness, a hunting party separates to track moose, and the Wendigo of legend abducts one member. A Wendigo is a malevolent cannibalistic spirit into which humans could transform, or which could possess humans. Those who indulged in cannibalism were at particular risk, and the legend appears to have reinforced the taboo against cannibalism.