Previously aired on BBC 7, The Willows is a century old supernatural Horror story that H.P. Lovecraft described as: ‘The finest supernatural tale in English literature.’ Blackwood, is well regarded as one of the 20th century’s foremost writers of supernatural fiction and as Lovecraft, said of him:
“[Blackwood] is the one absolute and unquestioned master of weird atmosphere …[he] can evoke what amounts almost to a story from a simple fragment of psychological description. Above all others he understands how fully some sensitive minds dwell for ever on the borderland of dream, and how relatively slight is the distinction betwixt those images formed from actual objects and those excited by the play of the imagination.”
The Willows
By Algernon Blackwood; Read by Lawrence Jackson
4 X 30 Minute Episodes – Approx. 2 Hours [UNABRIDGED?]
BROADCASTER: BBC7’s The 7th Dimension
BROADCAST: Monday 6th to Thursday 9th of October 2008 at 6:30pm (repeats 12:30am) UK Time*
Two friends on a canoeing trip down the Danube decide to spend the night on a small island in a remote stretch of the river between Austria and Hungary. Little by little, they realize that malevolent supernatural forces, embodied by the island’s ubiquitous rustling willow trees, are at work against them, and what at first promises to be a straightforward camping expedition escalates into an ordeal of survival against a powerful agency from another dimension.
All four parts should be available via the BBC iPlayer service shortly after they air.
Also, there is currently a torrent for The Willows, over on RadioArchive.cc [FREE REGISTRATION REQUIRED].
This is a terrific reading of a real creepy story. A Lovecraft progenitor and a near classic in general. A must for fans of supernatural stories.
I haven’t listened to the recording yet, but I’ve read “The Willows” and it is indeed a fantastically creepy story. It (and Blackwood) deserves more recognition.