Weird Energies: Physics, Futures, and the Secrets of the Universe in Hodgson and Blackwood

Abstract

In nineteenth-century physics, the laws of thermodynamics inspired rationales for unseen worlds as the destination of dissipated energy, while the invisible inner world of atoms paved the way for quantum theory. In Algernon Blackwood’s “A Psychical Invasion” and “The Willows,” irruptions of weird phenomena become legible as exchanges of energy, increasing in power at the expense of humans; elsewhere, Blackwood’s protagonists undergo experiences that resemble quantum descriptions of reality. Hodgson’s The House on the Borderland and The Night Land use vast lengths of geological time to imagine the long-term implications of evolution and thermodynamics for the future of humanity including the weakening boundaries of the known world.