In the creation of the supernatural, and in the investigation of the paranormal, Blackwood as story-teller remains without a rival. His tales have the eerie uncanny charm of far-off things and of strange new worlds. The stories in this collection are more mature and profound than many of his earlier stories. Some of them go deeper into the mysteries of other dimensions of reality than ever. Autobiographical experiences are also mingled in the tales: Blackwood himself often spent the night in abandoned haunted houses waiting to record traces of ghosts; in the story where the young man returns penniless from Canada after failing in business there, he is describing himself.