Ramsey Campbell - Thoughts?

[Mouse]

Heh heh! Thanks. I've heard of him now, obviously!!

 

[j d worthington]

Has anyone here read "The Stocking"? I just don't get what happened. Can anyone explain it to me?

That one does seem to have that effect with a fair number of people. I'm about to leave for work at this point, but, if no one else has taken a swing at it by the time I get back this evening, I'll give it a go.....

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

I've edited the title of this thread to correct the spelling of Campbell's first name.

I like his short stories more than his novels - he tends towards subtlety and this works better in a shorter format, I think, because in his novels this restraint transforms into a downright reticence to explore the full implications of the often very horrific concepts he starts out with. Having said that, I've only read two novels and a two short story collections by Campbell and my opinions at this point have to be considered as provisional.

 

[j d worthington]

Campbell's stories can indeed be rather elliptical at times, and that can put some people off. Others find the very weirdness of that approach gives them frisson enough to keep them interested. And, like many such writers, with such tales often they become more disturbing with each reading, rather than less....

As for "The Stocking" itself...

Spoiler

Essentially, what you have is a tale of an office flirtation gone very, very wrong, resulting in murder (the sound at the end is the stocking being removed from his face for the purpose of strangling her). Campbell keeps everything just beneath the surface to increase that feeling of paranoid tension, capturing the confusion and bewilderment of Sheila as what was an innocent (if at times somewhat bold) flirtation turns not only to stalking but murder.

What makes this one especially horrifying is that, in essence, Sheila creates her own murderer, not only by the level of flirtation -- which Campbell handles almost analytically, assigning no blame but presenting it as nonetheless a factor which can result in the blind cosmos crushing you all the same -- but by listening to that vague, nebulous premonitory feeling concerning the doorway... and sharing those feelings with Tom. This, in fact, may constitute the tale's only supernatural element: the idea that the premonition itself, and her heeding it, leads to the fulfilment of the very thing which she only half-knowingly fears. She not only unwittingly fans the fires of a very unstable person, but provides him with the perfect scene in which to play out his violent fantasies and his even more violent reaction to rejection. It is the sheer feeling of inevitability here that gives it both an horrific and tragic element, and which (to me) makes the story even more terrifying in retrospect than upon first reading.

 

[Fried Egg]

Erm...I did type a reply but it disappeared. Anyway, thanks JD for your explanation, you have been most helpful.

 

[Fried Egg]

Well, I've finished "Demons by Daylight" now and whilst I did think it was very good, boy, was it hard work. I think I must have read each story at least twice in an attempt to wrap my head around what was going on, only slightly increasing my understanding by doing so.

Anyway, I look forward to trying a novel next; I have "Midnight Sun" lined up...

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

My early experience with Campbell was as that that guy in horror anthologies whose stories I could never quite figure out. Over the years I've come to appreciate his subtlety - I think Campbell's mature work can help refine a reader's sensibilities to more internal and complex forms of horror.

 

[Moontravler]

Woot! I found "Scared Stiff" in a used bookstore last night.

I also picked up "Obsession", and The Nameless , but I don't see it mentioned above. IIRC, they had a few others by him too, all for very good prices, none of which I see mentioned above, though.

Are the above and other works by him, not mentioned by J.D., any good?

 

[j d worthington]

They aren't on the level of the ones mentioned above, in my opinion, but still good solid reads....

 

[Moontravler]

Thanks. They're at the bottom of my list, in that case.

 

[Moontravler]

I wonder if anybody would care to share some thoughts on Campbell's short story This Time ? I'm not too sure I'm 100% on top of this story. I do get the idea that the protagonist re-visited a past life when being "put under" by the aneasthetic, but not 100% sure about the rest... What was the face and dog-child thing?

Btw, where do the spoiler tags for this forum reside?

 

[Fried Egg]

I haven't read that particular story but I wouldn't worry too much, I wouldn't say that I was "100% on top" of many of his stories!

 

[Moontravler]

I like authors that aren't immediately obvious, that require a second reading, or an in-the-shower "aha!" moment.
With this story, I'm thinking that perhaps I'm just not well-read enough to recognise the figures he is alluding to.

I'll read some more of his works, and then I'll read this one again, and perhaps it will eventually become clear to me, once I've figured out his particular mindset... thanks, anyway!

 

[Fried Egg]

I just finished "Midnight Sun". I liked it very much, here is my review:

I came to this book expecting another hell raising ride of chaotic imagery (that I experienced with his short story collection Demons by Daylight) but this was far more conventionally written. Still in evidence though was Campbell's subtle approach to horror. Before the opening chapter was a quote from David Aylward:

"Writers (of supernatural fiction), who used to strive for awe and achieve fear, now strive for fear and achieve only disgust."

This shows Campbells appreciation of such classic writers as Blackwood, Machen and Lovecraft and his preference for their approach to horror over that employed by many modern writers (naming no names!) He is setting out his intention to write a modern horror in the classic tradition and I have to say that he does so successfully.

Indeed, I do not know if I have ever read such a slow and graduated build up of unease and fear towards it's dramatic conclusion. I was put in mind, in many ways, of Algernon Blackwood's "The Wendigo" but that is only a novlette. In this 309 page novel it is an even longer build up. There is a danger that it might feel drawn out and for some it will probably feel that way, but personally my interest was sustained throughout and the eventual tension towards the end almost agonising to endure. An effect one could not possibly achieve with a more direct approach.

Reading this has only increased my respect for Ramsey Campbell and I look forward to reading more of his work.

 

[J-WO]

I like authors that aren't immediately obvious, that require a second reading, or an in-the-shower "aha!" moment.

The latter happened to me once with Heinlein, but I saw him off with a mixture of hand-to-hand combat and Necromancy.

Sorry.

Campbell wrote the only story that scared me silly, where I didn't want to turn out the lights. Oddly, I don't remember the details too well now.

There was a crazy woman who kept her pet cat on a lead in her front room and she told the narrator that sometimes her dead husband's head would come and look through the window. I think it was set in Brichester. The stories greatest success was that most of it was set in the daylight. It made the daytime scary. And at the end... well, I don't want to ruin it.

Anyone know this one at all?

 

[Fried Egg]

Being set in Brichester isn't really a clue as I've read plenty of his stories set in that fictional town...

 

[J-WO]

Yeah, I know. I guess I'll just have to keep an eye out for it.

 

[Fried Egg]

Just finished "The Parasite". So far J.D.'s recommendations have been very good. Here are my thoughts on this book:

This is another finely crafted story of horror in which a malevolant spirit, that entered the protagonist Rose when she was a child, gradually starts to make it's presence felt although she can only wonder at first, at her new found psychic powers, but later her nightmares begin to dominate.

There is a really slow build up of unease in this book that may leave some readers impatient for the story to develop but Campbell will not be rushed. There is a most gradual transformation of Rose's character as she discovers and comes to terms with her new found psycic powers and this innevitably begins to affect her relationship with her sceptical husband Bill. Their relationship begins to suffer but to what extent is that down to Bill's unwillingness to accept change or a sinister influence making her see things differently, saying unkind things and trying to drive them apart?

Campbell also slows down the pace of the narrative by devoting many paragraphs to evoking powerful imagery, shaping mood and atmosphere. Much of the tension of the story is built this way (as opposed to relying solely on event driven tension) and it is important that, as a reader, you swallow your impatience and immerse yourself in the imagery in order to get the full benefit of what the author is trying to do.

This is a pretty bleak story as Rose is either let down or betrayed by almost everyone she knows but if you can bare that, this is a powerful and very effective horror novel that any fan of the genre should read.

 

[j d worthington]

Thank you for the compliment. Glad the recommendations have proven useful.

By the way... I may have mentioned this one before, but has anyone else here read his short story, "The Christmas Present"? Despite its brevity, I think it is quite a powerful story, one of his best, and certainly it remains one of my personal favorites. (I'd love to have heard him read it over the radio, which he apparently did some 30+ years ago....)

 

[J-WO]

Campbell wrote the only story that scared me silly, where I didn't want to turn out the lights. Oddly, I don't remember the details too well now.

There was a crazy woman who kept her pet cat on a lead in her front room and she told the narrator that sometimes her dead husband's head would come and look through the window. I think it was set in Brichester. The stories greatest success was that most of it was set in the daylight. It made the daytime scary. And at the end... well, I don't want to ruin it.

Anyone know this one at all?

The Franklyn Paragraphs! I think its called that anyway...

(I'll have to read The Christmas Present)