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I love James, and think he's a great writer (unlike most of my favorites), perhaps the best in the genre, if only because his writing never calls attention to itself. The only downside is he's a bit too pedestrian. His stories are too approachable to be truly weird. He never gets cosmic as Lovecraft would put it. And, as you say, he's also more descriptive than psychological, which also makes his stories less weird. Because of that, I think of him more as the best by far of the Victorian ghost story writers, even if some of his tales are more Gothic. He's the master of the rule that everything else must be perfectly normal. (Perhaps the misquote is his or about him.)

I put aside the mystery book last night, and started reading Blackwood's Sand. Most of the early story is in the main character's thoughts. About 1/3 of what goes on in the main character's head is forced or contrived, and unintelligible, referencing things I've never read or heard of, and those parts aren't even well written, as if Blackwood just went on too long. But the rest is full of Mystery of all kinds, from tales of Atlantis and ancient powers to sympathetic telepathy. He evokes a sense of awe for the dread power of Sand (personified) and constructs a theology of worship around this manifestation of Earth as god. If Blackwood's writing never approaches the lucidity of James, James never reaches the essence of the religious soul that Blackwood does so well. That's not really horror, though. It's more awe. It doesn't seem Gothic at all. What I can't figure out is how this differs from Lovecraft's stories of ancient powers. Perhaps it's just Blackwood's focus on the religious soul vs. Lovecraft's more secular characters.