Algernon Blackwood Review: Violence

One of the oldest and best endurung literary subject is the homicidal maniac. The Romans and Greeks wrote plays in which Hercules went mad and slaughtered his family (Disney left that part out). The Greeks rarely depicted death and violence on stage but described it in eye-gouging detail. In sharp contrast, the Romans even executed criminals on stage to amplify the gore.

Algernon Blackwood took a different approach at criminally insane violence by claiming that even the most delusional killer maintains a spark of decency.

The story follows an insane would-be killer as he draws closer and closer to a doctor. The story unfolded differently than what I expected from the author of “The Wendigo.”

I’ve been reading horror stories about homicidal maniacs since grade school and I’ve never run into anything like the treatment given to Blackwood’s message that even the most diseased brain keeps a bit of humanity. I think the closest was in Justice League comic book where a telepathic probe found a good section of the Joker’s mind. Other stories have posed the question but it was never the central issue as it was in “Violence.”

As usual, Blackwood paced the story in a slow, deliberate manner to build suspense. Back in 1914, audiences were much more receptive to this style. Some modern readers might be too used to faster pacing to appreciate Blackwood.

Readers interested in psychological theories of good and evil, violence, and the subconscious might enjoy “Violence.” Similar to the ancient Greeks, acts of violence are off the page but the threat of it runs from beginning to end.