My New Year’s Resolution that prompted me to pick up Blackwood’s collection Ten-Minute Stories was his association with Weird Tales. Blackwood was an inspiration to Lovecraft and many other writers. However, they were inspired by stories like “The Willows” and “The Wendigo.” I don’t know if anyone was motivated by “The Invitation” and “The Impulse.”
“The Invitation” is about two flighty men inviting each other to lunch. It”s told in the chatty manner that readers of the 1910s must have found hilarious because Blackwood kept writing them and getting them published.
“The Impulse” is a Scrooge/Machiavelli scheme to have one upperclass gentleman lend another 20 pounds. It’s not very satisfying but it does have a viable plot.
I get that Blackwood wanted to expand his scope as an artist and I get that certain of humor and go in and out of style. It’s just that I’m constantly waiting for a wendigo and I get two guys blabbering.
The stories feel more like artifacts than literature. Someone interested in the past might look into them but they’re not likely to appeal to most readers.
The New Rambler 
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