Ramsey Campbell - Thoughts?

[Fried Egg]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

Yes. Campbell has been quite prolific, and out of all that, these are the ones I'd suggest first....

Good, I actually saw a few of these. He would appear to be one of those authors who's books are quite plentiful at my usual haunts...

[littlemissattitude]

I read The Doll Who Ate His Mother years ago, and apart from recalling that I quite liked it I really don't recall much about it. Probably the reason that I've never read any of his other work is that I haven't run across it.

Perhaps I need to look more closely for something of his to read.

[Fried Egg]

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

[Mouse]

I hadn't heard of Ramsay Campbell before, but I'm in an anthology with him now so when I get my copy I'll read his story 'The Hands.' I'm not sure what it's about. Hands, I suppose.

[GOLLUM]

Not heard of Campbell....HMMM....you've got to get out more Mouse.....

[Mouse]

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

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Fried Egg

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...

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. :P