Algernon Blackwood’s John Silence Stories Listed by Case Order
Algernon Blackwood wrote six John Silence Stories. All of them are available to read on this site. Each case is a standalone story. There is no need to read them in a specific order, or to read them all. However, the first five stories appeared in the anthology John Silence, Physician Extraordinary, published in 1908, with each one being assigned a case number. The sixth story was published several years later, so can be deemed the final story.
I provide the list below for the convenience of site visitors who plan to read all the stories, and wish to do so following the case order.
CASE 1 — A Psychical Invasion: A writer seeks the occult detective’s help after experiments with drug usage cause him to fall prey to a terrible entity that invades his mind, destroying his ability to write humorous stories. [Read the Story]
CASE 2 — Ancient Sorceries: A man from Surbiton visits Silence and shares a strange tale about his experiences in a French village, where he almost lost his soul after becoming enamored with a mysterious young woman called Ilsé. [Read the Story]
CASE 3 — The Nemesis of Fire: Silence and his assistant, Hubbard, help a retired military man who is experiencing some very strange occurrences in and around the property he shares with his sister. [Read the Story]
CASE 4 — Secret Worship: Set in Germany, Secret Worship is about a silk merchant who decides to visit the boarding school he attended before embarking on his successful career. When he arrives, he finds dark forces at work and is unable to leave. Fortunately, John Silence, is on hand to rush in at the last moment and save the day. [Read the Story]
CASE 5 — The Camp of the Dog: An unusual werewolf story about the events that occur during a long camping trip to a remote island in the Baltic Sea. Silence’s assistant, Mr. Hubbard, is one of five members of the party, and, as the situation goes from bad to worse, he contacts John Silence and asks him to help. [Read the Story]
CASE 6 — A Victim of Higher Space: John Silence receives a visit from a client seeking help after his experiments with mathematics, geometry, and related concepts have caused him to slip into a condition where he is no longer able to maintain a physical presence in 3-dimensional space. [Read the Story]
All six stories are linked from the main list of public domain stories available on this site, appearing under Blackwood’s name. However, the page contains many additional Algernon Blackwood stories, listed alphabetically, by title; so his John Silence stories are not grouped together.