Audiobook · read by volunteers
Camp of the Dog
Algernon Blackwood (1869–1951)
Read by Charlie Blakemore · 5 chapters · 2 h 52
About the book
A party of campers has pitched its tents on a lonely island in the Baltic, far from towns and roads. The days are peaceful, but at night something stirs: a huge wolf-like creature appears, and a sense of dread spreads through the little group. Is it a real animal, or something else, something that has been waiting for them? Algernon Blackwood is a master of atmosphere, and in this story he builds fear gradually from the landscape, the weather and the shifting moods of the characters. He does not rush, and the result is a strange tale that lingers. Five sections, read by one volunteer, last just under three hours. Camp of the Dog is a good choice for readers of classic supernatural fiction and for anyone who likes a ghost story that relies on mood rather than gore.
Introduction
Algernon Blackwood, who lived from 1869 to 1951, was an English writer of ghost stories and tales of the supernatural. He spent much of his early life travelling and working in various jobs, and his love of wild places and nature informs his best work. Camp of the Dog was published in 1908 in the collection John Silence.
The story belongs to a series of cases about a psychic doctor, though it can be read independently. It deals with the idea of lycanthropy, the transformation of a human into an animal, but treats it in an atmospheric and suggestive manner. Blackwood's writing, which often emphasises the power of place, is well suited to the open air setting of an island camp.
The LibriVox recording has five sections, and the total running time is about two hours and fifty minutes. One volunteer reads. It is a story to listen to at dusk. For readers who like their horror quiet and psychological, Blackwood remains one of the finest guides. Blackwood often wrote about the feeling that nature is alive and not wholly friendly, and that theme gives this story much of its force. The setting of a remote island, with its wind, water and trees, is evoked in a few strokes, and the reader's voice does the rest. It is a story that lingers after it has ended, and it suits solitary listening.
Public domain
Algernon Blackwood died in 1951: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text