kamrusepa 's review for:

The Willows by Algernon Blackwood

5.0

---

One of my favorite works of horror. Just as excellent as I remembered it. Ever since I first read it, some of the images depicted within have remained etched into my brain. I love how different environments are personified for different effects; we begin with the Danube, described almost like an old, familiar friend, while the personification of the titular willows serves to emphasize their inhumanity and overall sense of otherworldliness. By the end of the novella it’s clear that the narrator’s early attempts to tame the natural landscape through personified language fail when faced with the unknown and the unknowable—things that defy not only language but thought. The sense of dread throughout is unparalleled and the ending is killer.