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Ghosts and Grisly Things
Ramsey Campbell's novels have justly won him acclaim as one of the best writers of the age. A three-time winner of the World Fantasy Award and an eight-time winner of the British Fantasy Award, his writing has struck a chord with readers worldwide.
But throughout his career he has also written insightful, terrifying, and disturbing short fiction. Ghosts & Grisly Things is a collection of the best of Campbell's short works from the past two decades. This book also features the story "Ra*e" which appears here for the first time anywhere.
But throughout his career he has also written insightful, terrifying, and disturbing short fiction. Ghosts & Grisly Things is a collection of the best of Campbell's short works from the past two decades. This book also features the story "Ra*e" which appears here for the first time anywhere.
300 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
19 people are currently reading
628 people want to read
About the author
Ramsey Campbell
858 books1,593 followersRamsey Campbell is a British writer considered by a number of critics to be one of the great masters of horror fiction. T. E. D. Klein has written that "Campbell reigns supreme in the field today," while S. T. Joshi has said that "future generations will regard him as the leading horror writer of our generation, every bit the equal of Lovecraft or Blackwood."
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
September 9, 2018
This is the Tor hardcover edition.
Contents:
Introduction by Ramsey Campbell
“The Same in Any Language” (1991)
“Going Under” (Dark Love, 1995)
“The Alternative” (Darklands 2, 1994)
“Out of the Woods” (Dark Terrors 2: The Gollancz Book of Horror, 1996)
“A Street Was Chosen” (Weird Tales, Summer 1991, 1991)
“McGonagall in the Head” (Uncanny Banquet, 1992)
“Through the Walls” (Through the Walls, 1978)
“This Time” (Night Visions 3, 1986)
“The Sneering” (Fantasy Tales, Summer 1985)
“Between the Floors” (Destination Unknown, 1997)
“Where They Lived” (Phantasm #1, 1994)
“Root Cause” (Night Visions 3, 1986)
“Looking Out” (Night Visions 3, 1986)
“The Dead Must Die” (Narrow Houses, 1992)
“A Side of the Sea” (Borderlands 4, 1994)
“Missed Connection” (Night Visions 3, 1986)
“The Change” (Shayol #4 Winter 1980)
“Welcomeland” (Words International #4, February 1988)
“See How They Run” (Monsters in Our Midst, 1993)
“Ra*e” (original to this volume)
Contents:
Introduction by Ramsey Campbell
“The Same in Any Language” (1991)
“Going Under” (Dark Love, 1995)
“The Alternative” (Darklands 2, 1994)
“Out of the Woods” (Dark Terrors 2: The Gollancz Book of Horror, 1996)
“A Street Was Chosen” (Weird Tales, Summer 1991, 1991)
“McGonagall in the Head” (Uncanny Banquet, 1992)
“Through the Walls” (Through the Walls, 1978)
“This Time” (Night Visions 3, 1986)
“The Sneering” (Fantasy Tales, Summer 1985)
“Between the Floors” (Destination Unknown, 1997)
“Where They Lived” (Phantasm #1, 1994)
“Root Cause” (Night Visions 3, 1986)
“Looking Out” (Night Visions 3, 1986)
“The Dead Must Die” (Narrow Houses, 1992)
“A Side of the Sea” (Borderlands 4, 1994)
“Missed Connection” (Night Visions 3, 1986)
“The Change” (Shayol #4 Winter 1980)
“Welcomeland” (Words International #4, February 1988)
“See How They Run” (Monsters in Our Midst, 1993)
“Ra*e” (original to this volume)
January 23, 2008
Ramsey Campbell, Ghosts and Grisly Things (Tor, 1998)
I sometimes wonder where books get their titles. In this case, I have to lay the blame on some copy editor at Tor who hadn't even bothered reading the manuscript, or at best skimmed it a tad. There's the odd ghost in this collection of stories, and a grisly thing or two, but anyone who's read Ramsey Campbell before should be well aware by now that the horror which Campbell makes his stock in trade has far less to do with such external fear-inducing stimuli. Stephen King writes in the opening pages of Cujo about how our fears change as we grow older, how the monster in the closet becomes the horror of not knowing how you're going to pay the rent on time. Within that perspective, Campbell is very much an adult horror writer; while his characters find themselves in widely disparate situations doing widely disparate things, the horrors that plague them are usually those who invoke the same fear as not knowing whence the rent check. And perhaps this is why Campbell has yet to find the audience in America that King and his monsters or Koontz and his aliens have found. When the monster is something other than the average Joe (even if he's a serial killer or some other damaged version of humanity, he's still "other"), there's a cushion of safety against which the reader can lean. When the monster is a guy on a cell phone ("Going Under"), a return to one's hometown ("Welcomeland"), or the banal passengers you're stuck with on the train ("Missed Connection"), you can't help but identify. We've all been there and done that.
Campbell is probably better known as a novelist, but he's published a number of collections of top-quality short stories. Add this one to the list. He's the grand master of writing the type of horror that has fueled the recent careers of such lights as Kathe Koja, Lucius Shepard, and Patrick McGrath; fans of such writers should have no problems glomming onto what Campbell's doing, and those few who haven't discovered him yet deserve to. ****
I sometimes wonder where books get their titles. In this case, I have to lay the blame on some copy editor at Tor who hadn't even bothered reading the manuscript, or at best skimmed it a tad. There's the odd ghost in this collection of stories, and a grisly thing or two, but anyone who's read Ramsey Campbell before should be well aware by now that the horror which Campbell makes his stock in trade has far less to do with such external fear-inducing stimuli. Stephen King writes in the opening pages of Cujo about how our fears change as we grow older, how the monster in the closet becomes the horror of not knowing how you're going to pay the rent on time. Within that perspective, Campbell is very much an adult horror writer; while his characters find themselves in widely disparate situations doing widely disparate things, the horrors that plague them are usually those who invoke the same fear as not knowing whence the rent check. And perhaps this is why Campbell has yet to find the audience in America that King and his monsters or Koontz and his aliens have found. When the monster is something other than the average Joe (even if he's a serial killer or some other damaged version of humanity, he's still "other"), there's a cushion of safety against which the reader can lean. When the monster is a guy on a cell phone ("Going Under"), a return to one's hometown ("Welcomeland"), or the banal passengers you're stuck with on the train ("Missed Connection"), you can't help but identify. We've all been there and done that.
Campbell is probably better known as a novelist, but he's published a number of collections of top-quality short stories. Add this one to the list. He's the grand master of writing the type of horror that has fueled the recent careers of such lights as Kathe Koja, Lucius Shepard, and Patrick McGrath; fans of such writers should have no problems glomming onto what Campbell's doing, and those few who haven't discovered him yet deserve to. ****
January 11, 2021
Bluh. The most boomer book I've read in a long time. Literally every story is some middle class white guy being forced into interactions with lower class types, either through a charity walk he's inexplicably doing while trying to navigate a losing court case in real time, or them standing harmlessly outside his suburban front window waiting for a bus.
And the poor people's neighborhoods are always presented as some sort of primordial hive where these subhumans fall under the sway of like druid magic or whatever, but in practice it's always some fat idiot from the suburbs locking his car doors cause a chav on the street looked him in the face. Half the time the 'horror' is the Suburb Man going absolutely bugfuck and slaughtering a bunch of harmless poor people we're only made to fear and hate based on an unreliable first person description of them.
Miss me with any post-facto justification like irony or satire that requires a reading completely opposite to the actual words on the page. Practically every one of the stories follows that line and they were all written across an almost 20 year period from 1970-1990, and they exactly outline the obsessions and hatreds of a certain kind of dumb white asshole currently wrecking the Anglophone world.
They're not even scary. Even Stephen King, who manages to shoehorn an attractive barely legal girl to bang the old broke down author insert in like every other book, can at least tell a fucking scary story.
Fucking, people lined up for the bus on a public sidewalk where I have to look at them from my house, ooh the modern world is so dehumanizing! I'm so frightened I can't write my book and I'm fraying at the nerves! Oh no I went outside and I was under the sodium lamp vapor near the bus stop, now I am Bus Person! I'm killing my wife because poor people are bad, not the ones outside my house, they never did anything, but me and I'm one cause I stood near a bus stop! The End!
And the poor people's neighborhoods are always presented as some sort of primordial hive where these subhumans fall under the sway of like druid magic or whatever, but in practice it's always some fat idiot from the suburbs locking his car doors cause a chav on the street looked him in the face. Half the time the 'horror' is the Suburb Man going absolutely bugfuck and slaughtering a bunch of harmless poor people we're only made to fear and hate based on an unreliable first person description of them.
Miss me with any post-facto justification like irony or satire that requires a reading completely opposite to the actual words on the page. Practically every one of the stories follows that line and they were all written across an almost 20 year period from 1970-1990, and they exactly outline the obsessions and hatreds of a certain kind of dumb white asshole currently wrecking the Anglophone world.
They're not even scary. Even Stephen King, who manages to shoehorn an attractive barely legal girl to bang the old broke down author insert in like every other book, can at least tell a fucking scary story.
Fucking, people lined up for the bus on a public sidewalk where I have to look at them from my house, ooh the modern world is so dehumanizing! I'm so frightened I can't write my book and I'm fraying at the nerves! Oh no I went outside and I was under the sodium lamp vapor near the bus stop, now I am Bus Person! I'm killing my wife because poor people are bad, not the ones outside my house, they never did anything, but me and I'm one cause I stood near a bus stop! The End!
October 28, 2012
Although I cannot fault the writing, the subject matter is highly unpleasant. I am a horror fan, but this book of short stories is unrelenting in its nastiness. It's mostly about mental illness -- delusions, hallucinations, paranoia -- with some supernatural elements thrown in. It wears you down. In part this might be because one story goes a long way; after a half-dozen, it becomes repetitious and nauseating. After a few more, it feels like an exercise in self-torture. The structure of each tale is always the same. It begins with an ordinary character leading an innocuous life, doing mundane everyday things, until quite quickly the symptoms of madness appear, then intensify. I haven't finished the book yet and, rare for me, have little desire to continue to the end. It also doesn't make me want to read anything more by Mr. Campbell, which might be unfair. I believe he is considered one of the masters of his genre. But I don't plan to spend any money to find out.
August 11, 2018
I really didn't care much for this collection of short stories by Ramsey Campbell. Now I love a good ghost story and my goodness how I love a good collection of short horror stories. So when I picked up Campbell's "Ghosts and Grisly Things" this is exactly what I was looking for. I wanted the thrills and the enjoyment that should come naturally with short horror stories. Instead I got a bunch of stories which I not only spent most of the time wondering what the hell was going on (I had to read the pages sometimes over and over to make sense of what was happening and I was still left scratching my head still in the end) but I had to force myself to finish reading this book because the enjoyment factor was just not there. The only story in this collection I can honestly say I like was the one titled "Out of Woods" and the first story "The Same in any Language" was okay so I am rating this collection a 2 out of 5 which is in my opinion pretty generous. The rest of this collection is a waste of valuable reading time.
December 14, 2021
Wow. This is a fantastic collection of stories by the Merseyside horror author Ramsey Campbell. You often hear talk that his older stuff was better but this is my favourite collection of stories and there isn’t really a bad story with lots being amazing. Rankings are below (these are for my own reference for when I want to reread and not indicative of quality but only personal enjoyment, also I don’t give 10s)
- The Same in any Language - 8
- Going Under - 7
- The Alternative - 8
- Out of the Woods - 7
- A Street Was Chosen - 9
- McGonnagall in the Head - 6
- Through The Walls - 3
- This Time - 7
- The Sneering - 8
- Between the Floors - 7
- Where They Lived - 7
- Root Cause - 9
- Looking Out - 6
- The Dead Must Die - 8
- A Side of the Sea - 7
- Missed Connection - 7
- The Change - 6
- Welcome Land - 7
- See How They Run - 8
- R*ae - 8
- The Same in any Language - 8
- Going Under - 7
- The Alternative - 8
- Out of the Woods - 7
- A Street Was Chosen - 9
- McGonnagall in the Head - 6
- Through The Walls - 3
- This Time - 7
- The Sneering - 8
- Between the Floors - 7
- Where They Lived - 7
- Root Cause - 9
- Looking Out - 6
- The Dead Must Die - 8
- A Side of the Sea - 7
- Missed Connection - 7
- The Change - 6
- Welcome Land - 7
- See How They Run - 8
- R*ae - 8
March 11, 2014
This book was a bit difficult to get into, but I think this was more due to cultural differences than actual the writing.
Even though most of Campbell's stories took place after 1975, some of the references were as foreign to me as reading Poe or some other century old horror novel. Some things Campbell seems to focus on: fog, loss of control, mental insanity.
I suppose for him, the sense of losing oneself to insanity is a lot more horrible than anything that may be hiding in your closet or under your bed. The best stories (In my opinion) were 'A Street Was Chosen' (The lab report style of writing made this story super creepy), 'See How They Run', and 'Ra*e'.
Campbell is a talented writer, but as far as horror is concerned, I don't think we'd agree on what's scary.
Even though most of Campbell's stories took place after 1975, some of the references were as foreign to me as reading Poe or some other century old horror novel. Some things Campbell seems to focus on: fog, loss of control, mental insanity.
I suppose for him, the sense of losing oneself to insanity is a lot more horrible than anything that may be hiding in your closet or under your bed. The best stories (In my opinion) were 'A Street Was Chosen' (The lab report style of writing made this story super creepy), 'See How They Run', and 'Ra*e'.
Campbell is a talented writer, but as far as horror is concerned, I don't think we'd agree on what's scary.
March 15, 2008
A collection of Campbell's short stories. He's the master of dingy, claustrophobic horror -- these stories are peopled with petty, small individuals who get caught up in horrors they can't begin to understand, even though in most cases they've brought them on themselves. Often, the normal humans are almost as awful as the supernatural horrors haunting them. I utterly enjoyed this collection, even though I felt vaguely like I needed a shower afterward.
February 17, 2025
Ghosts and Grisly Things
"The Same in Any Language": This tale explores the theme of isolation and the breakdown of communication, as a young boy on holiday with his father feels increasingly alienated from his father and his new girlfriend, and ultimately witnesses his father's gruesome demise at the hands of spectral entities on a desolate island.
"Going Under": This story delves into the protagonist's paranoia and desperation as he becomes trapped in a tunnel during a charity walk and frantically tries to make a phone call to his girlfriend to prevent his ex-wife from having him imprisoned for unpaid maintenance.
"The Alternative": This tale explores the theme of guilt and the protagonist's uneasy relationship with the poverty and social decay he witnesses in a nearby housing estate, as he becomes obsessed with a dream in which his family has fallen into destitution and he desperately tries to make amends for his own comfortable life.
"Out of the Woods": This story delves into the protagonist's fear and paranoia as he is visited by a strange man who leaves him a book made of leaves, and then witnesses the disintegration of his books and the emergence of a menacing totemic figure from the nearby forest.
"A Street Was Chosen": This experimental tale presents a chilling social commentary in the form of a scientific report, as researchers manipulate events in the lives of residents on a chosen street, leading to paranoia, estrangement, and ultimately violence and death.
"McGonagall in the Head": This darkly humorous story explores the theme of language and the protagonist's obsession with a piece of doggerel submitted as a death notice, as he becomes increasingly compelled to speak in rhyme and ultimately suffers a mental breakdown.
"Through the Walls": This disturbing tale delves into the protagonist's paranoia and psychosis as he becomes convinced that he is being drugged by his neighbours and experiences disturbing hallucinations and violent urges, ultimately leading to a breakdown of his family relationships.
"This Time": This enigmatic story explores the protagonist's disorientation and unease as he recovers from a dental procedure and experiences disturbing dreams and hallucinations, ultimately leading to a chilling encounter with a mysterious figure in a darkened park.
"The Sneering": This poignant tale explores the themes of aging, change, and social alienation, as an elderly couple struggles to cope with the changes in their neighborhood and the increasing hostility and disrespect they face from younger people.
"Between the Floors": This darkly humorous story explores the protagonist's unease and paranoia as he becomes trapped in a malfunctioning lift with a strange attendant and experiences disturbing encounters and unsettling revelations.
"Where They Lived": This tale explores the themes of cultural clash and the breakdown of communication, as a British couple on holiday in Turkey encounters another British couple who embodies the worst stereotypes of British tourists, leading to awkward and unsettling interactions.
"Root Cause": This story delves into the protagonist's anxiety and alienation as he encounters a group of troubled youths and witnesses the consequences of their actions, leading to a chilling realization about the persistence of violence and the fragility of social order.
"Looking Out": This tale explores the themes of paranoia, isolation, and the challenges of aging, as an elderly man becomes increasingly suspicious of his landlord and neighbours and ultimately takes drastic measures to protect himself from their perceived threats.
"The Dead Must Die": This story presents a chilling vision of a dystopian future in which the boundary between life and death has become blurred, as the protagonist confronts the consequences of a medical procedure that has left his brother in a state of living death.
"A Side of the Sea": This enigmatic tale explores the protagonist's disorientation and unease as he embarks on a seaside excursion with a group of strange and unsettling companions, leading to a series of bizarre encounters and a growing sense of paranoia.
"Missed Connection": This unsettling story delves into the protagonist's anxiety and alienation as he becomes trapped on a train journey with a group of strange and disturbing passengers, leading to a series of unsettling encounters and a growing sense of paranoia.
"The Change": This tale explores the protagonist's struggle with his own primitive instincts and the fragility of social order, as he becomes increasingly obsessed with the theme of lycanthropy and witnesses disturbing transformations in himself and others.
"Welcomeland": This story delves into the protagonist's guilt and regret as he returns to his hometown, now transformed into a derelict theme park, and confronts the consequences of his estrangement from his family and community.
"See How They Run": This chilling tale explores the protagonist's fascination with a convicted murderer and the insidious influence the murderer's actions have on him, leading to a disturbing transformation and a descent into violence.
"Ra*e": This disturbing story delves into the protagonist's sexual obsession and the breakdown of his family relationships, as he becomes increasingly fixated on his teenage daughter and ultimately commits a horrific act of violence.
"The Same in Any Language": This tale explores the theme of isolation and the breakdown of communication, as a young boy on holiday with his father feels increasingly alienated from his father and his new girlfriend, and ultimately witnesses his father's gruesome demise at the hands of spectral entities on a desolate island.
"Going Under": This story delves into the protagonist's paranoia and desperation as he becomes trapped in a tunnel during a charity walk and frantically tries to make a phone call to his girlfriend to prevent his ex-wife from having him imprisoned for unpaid maintenance.
"The Alternative": This tale explores the theme of guilt and the protagonist's uneasy relationship with the poverty and social decay he witnesses in a nearby housing estate, as he becomes obsessed with a dream in which his family has fallen into destitution and he desperately tries to make amends for his own comfortable life.
"Out of the Woods": This story delves into the protagonist's fear and paranoia as he is visited by a strange man who leaves him a book made of leaves, and then witnesses the disintegration of his books and the emergence of a menacing totemic figure from the nearby forest.
"A Street Was Chosen": This experimental tale presents a chilling social commentary in the form of a scientific report, as researchers manipulate events in the lives of residents on a chosen street, leading to paranoia, estrangement, and ultimately violence and death.
"McGonagall in the Head": This darkly humorous story explores the theme of language and the protagonist's obsession with a piece of doggerel submitted as a death notice, as he becomes increasingly compelled to speak in rhyme and ultimately suffers a mental breakdown.
"Through the Walls": This disturbing tale delves into the protagonist's paranoia and psychosis as he becomes convinced that he is being drugged by his neighbours and experiences disturbing hallucinations and violent urges, ultimately leading to a breakdown of his family relationships.
"This Time": This enigmatic story explores the protagonist's disorientation and unease as he recovers from a dental procedure and experiences disturbing dreams and hallucinations, ultimately leading to a chilling encounter with a mysterious figure in a darkened park.
"The Sneering": This poignant tale explores the themes of aging, change, and social alienation, as an elderly couple struggles to cope with the changes in their neighborhood and the increasing hostility and disrespect they face from younger people.
"Between the Floors": This darkly humorous story explores the protagonist's unease and paranoia as he becomes trapped in a malfunctioning lift with a strange attendant and experiences disturbing encounters and unsettling revelations.
"Where They Lived": This tale explores the themes of cultural clash and the breakdown of communication, as a British couple on holiday in Turkey encounters another British couple who embodies the worst stereotypes of British tourists, leading to awkward and unsettling interactions.
"Root Cause": This story delves into the protagonist's anxiety and alienation as he encounters a group of troubled youths and witnesses the consequences of their actions, leading to a chilling realization about the persistence of violence and the fragility of social order.
"Looking Out": This tale explores the themes of paranoia, isolation, and the challenges of aging, as an elderly man becomes increasingly suspicious of his landlord and neighbours and ultimately takes drastic measures to protect himself from their perceived threats.
"The Dead Must Die": This story presents a chilling vision of a dystopian future in which the boundary between life and death has become blurred, as the protagonist confronts the consequences of a medical procedure that has left his brother in a state of living death.
"A Side of the Sea": This enigmatic tale explores the protagonist's disorientation and unease as he embarks on a seaside excursion with a group of strange and unsettling companions, leading to a series of bizarre encounters and a growing sense of paranoia.
"Missed Connection": This unsettling story delves into the protagonist's anxiety and alienation as he becomes trapped on a train journey with a group of strange and disturbing passengers, leading to a series of unsettling encounters and a growing sense of paranoia.
"The Change": This tale explores the protagonist's struggle with his own primitive instincts and the fragility of social order, as he becomes increasingly obsessed with the theme of lycanthropy and witnesses disturbing transformations in himself and others.
"Welcomeland": This story delves into the protagonist's guilt and regret as he returns to his hometown, now transformed into a derelict theme park, and confronts the consequences of his estrangement from his family and community.
"See How They Run": This chilling tale explores the protagonist's fascination with a convicted murderer and the insidious influence the murderer's actions have on him, leading to a disturbing transformation and a descent into violence.
"Ra*e": This disturbing story delves into the protagonist's sexual obsession and the breakdown of his family relationships, as he becomes increasingly fixated on his teenage daughter and ultimately commits a horrific act of violence.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 24, 2017
not very ghostly or grisly
October 13, 2020
Min uppskattning för Ramsey Campbell har kommit långsamt och är, samtidigt, lite förvånande. Lovecraft är förrvisso en av hans stora influenser, men en som spökar desto mer är landsmannen M.R James; en författare som jag inte kom så bra överens med. Så jag har liksom behövt närma mig Campbell i små steg - det var inte en blixtförälskelse som med Ligotti eller Vandermeer - men han har nog övertygat mig med den här samlingen. De flesta noveller hade kunnat komma undan med lite trimning (ett arv från James, skulle jag tro) men fördelarna är ändå i slutändan fler än nackdelarna. Det är nog bara två av novellerna, Where They Lived och The Dead Must Die som jag inte gillade på i alla fall något plan, annars så var det alltid något som lyfte. Campbell har en talang för att få paranoia, urbant förfall och bitvis en riktig känsla av övergivenhet - se Welcomeland - att fylla hela noveller på ett ypperligt sätt.
January 12, 2021
Ghosts and Grisly Things’, I think I have shown, is a g*stalt. I also hope I’ve shown, by strength of the synchronised shards of random truth and fiction, how this McGonagall-in-the head type of review can entice new readers to it and renew it for old readers. I’ve not broken down its walls but perhaps taken the old wallpaper off them. Each reader has his or her own ownership of the book they read. The author, equally.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.
September 9, 2021
I didn’t even finish this book because the story “Through the Walls” included such disgustingly sexualized descriptions of a 10 YEAR OLD GIRL from the perspective of HER FATHER. Are you serious??? This is unacceptable. Even if this had to do with the point of the story, I don’t want to finish it. I’m not even including direct quotes here because it’s awful. I’m done.
September 15, 2021
Based on the title and jacket, the publisher obviously didn’t read this book. There are no ghosts or ghouls in this collection. The stories are unnerving psychological terror rather than supernatural.
October 17, 2024
DNF
I read 6 and a half stories to give it a chance but big nope for me.
Too dated, too boring, and once father-daughter incest was suggested in a story I was out.
Glad I only paid $5 at a thrift store for this.
I read 6 and a half stories to give it a chance but big nope for me.
Too dated, too boring, and once father-daughter incest was suggested in a story I was out.
Glad I only paid $5 at a thrift store for this.
October 29, 2022
An okay enough collection of stories, but nothing really grabbed me. I've already forgotten most of them.
December 2, 2024
Pretty solid short story collection.
September 12, 2016
I've never been much of a fan of short stories. I mostly find them lacking and a little bit rushed, like a journey you've barely started to enjoy ending abruptly and leaving you wanting for more. Thus, I start this review saying to myself that it may have been a bad idea for me to read the short story compilation "Ghosts and Grisly Things" from an author as legendary as Ramsey Campbell, without having read any of his novels, nor been acquainted with his writing style.
To start off, Ramsey Campbell's writing is the kind of writing you don't read when you're tired or about to go to bed. His prose demands your fullest attention and imagination. You get sidetrack for one bit and you're left confused in a sea of words, slicing through drifts and waves with no direction; no sight of a distant shore. On the other hand, if you give his stories the attention and thought they deserve, you are going to experience spine tingling horror the likes of which you have never felt before.
Put simply, the genius behind Campbell is how he creates a vivid and fiendishly evil atmosphere and ambiance throughout his stories. As you read along, you fear the unseen malicious entity hiding beyond the protagonist's attention, always reminding you of its presence, but never fully revealing itself. Just when you think that this entity is about to reveal itself, in all its sadistic and horrifying glory, you are left staring at a blank page with your heart pounding, your mind scrambling, and your eyes flinching at that wordless space. Thus is the essence of Ramsey Campbell's horror, the fear of unspeakable horror that never really comes, which is perhaps one of the most potent and life changing horror you will ever experience.
To start off, Ramsey Campbell's writing is the kind of writing you don't read when you're tired or about to go to bed. His prose demands your fullest attention and imagination. You get sidetrack for one bit and you're left confused in a sea of words, slicing through drifts and waves with no direction; no sight of a distant shore. On the other hand, if you give his stories the attention and thought they deserve, you are going to experience spine tingling horror the likes of which you have never felt before.
Put simply, the genius behind Campbell is how he creates a vivid and fiendishly evil atmosphere and ambiance throughout his stories. As you read along, you fear the unseen malicious entity hiding beyond the protagonist's attention, always reminding you of its presence, but never fully revealing itself. Just when you think that this entity is about to reveal itself, in all its sadistic and horrifying glory, you are left staring at a blank page with your heart pounding, your mind scrambling, and your eyes flinching at that wordless space. Thus is the essence of Ramsey Campbell's horror, the fear of unspeakable horror that never really comes, which is perhaps one of the most potent and life changing horror you will ever experience.
April 5, 2014
Rather than detailing carnage and grue, Ramsey Campbell writes the sort of horror stories that slowly suffocate you to death all the while convincing you that this is perfectly normal and reasonable and why on earth are you frightened?
The tales which make up Ghosts and Grisly Things span Campbell's career from the early 1970s to the mid 1990s. A constant recurring theme is just how close the mundane, everyday world can exist to unimaginable terror when one considers how easily one may slip into nightmare. Campbell's characters often experience a surmounting fear which manifests itself through the play of shadows and light, creeping doubt and an abject belief in the existence of something outside the normal plane of existence.
The strongest tales, those narrated in the first person, reveal Campbell's ability to transform existential horror into visceral bloody terror. Fans of Thomas Ligotti should take notice, though Campbell's world is slightly more mundane than the lunatic geographies of Ligotti.
The tales which make up Ghosts and Grisly Things span Campbell's career from the early 1970s to the mid 1990s. A constant recurring theme is just how close the mundane, everyday world can exist to unimaginable terror when one considers how easily one may slip into nightmare. Campbell's characters often experience a surmounting fear which manifests itself through the play of shadows and light, creeping doubt and an abject belief in the existence of something outside the normal plane of existence.
The strongest tales, those narrated in the first person, reveal Campbell's ability to transform existential horror into visceral bloody terror. Fans of Thomas Ligotti should take notice, though Campbell's world is slightly more mundane than the lunatic geographies of Ligotti.
October 13, 2024
This is a wildly uneven collection of Campbell's shorter works. While some stories shine many are abysmal. Which is really unfortunate as I consider him an effective writer of the truly spooky short story normally. This collection includes:
The Same in any Language
Going Under
The Alternative
Out of the Woods
A Street was Chosen
McGonagall in the Head
Through the Walls
This Time
The Sneering
Between the Floors
Where They Lived
Root Cause
Looking Out
The Dead Must Die
A Side of the Sea
Missed Connection
The Change
Welcomeland
See How They Run
Ra*e
The Same in any Language
Going Under
The Alternative
Out of the Woods
A Street was Chosen
McGonagall in the Head
Through the Walls
This Time
The Sneering
Between the Floors
Where They Lived
Root Cause
Looking Out
The Dead Must Die
A Side of the Sea
Missed Connection
The Change
Welcomeland
See How They Run
Ra*e
February 16, 2024
If you love horror fiction that truly disturbs the reader, you owe it to yourself to read the work of Ramsey Campbell. While all of his books - novels and collections alike - are top notch, this collection is probably my absolute favorite, and has given me more than one sleepless night.
April 14, 2008
Horror,Anthology
December 12, 2020
Campbell’s horror looks askance, inviting us to perceive world in another light or no light at all. We haunt ourselves.
August 15, 2014
Another brilliant selection of dark and grim horror.
December 15, 2014
Nice stories, but not really my style.
April 25, 2017
I feel a bit bad because when I bought this book, the store clerk seemed very excited and had good things to say about the author. But I found the stories totally boring. The first was okay, but the next lacked any sort of tension or compelling narrative to keep me reading. The writing style itself is good, but these supposedly scary stories leave too much to be desired.
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