Algernon Blackwood 
The Willows 

The Willows is a classic horror novella famous for being influential on a number of later writers, in particular horror author H.P. Lovecraft who praised it as the finest supernatural tale in English literature. Two friends are taking a break from a canoe-trip down the snaking, sinuous Danube River when they discover the corpse of a peasant in the woods. When they return to their canoe the oars are missing. As night sets in, a general creeping sense of unease permeates the wild and rural setting…