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Harlan Ellison on Ramsey Campbell, 1980: “Ramsey Campbell is very strange. Whenever I go to England, Ramsey Campbell shows up, somehow. I’ll be walking down the street and allofasudden Ramsey Campbell will pop out of a doorway and say (adopts an eerie, soft, whispery voice), ‘Will you write something for my new anthology, about sewers,’ and I scream and run. Really eerie.”
I just love the mental image this creates.
— Sep 17, 2024 01:52PM
I just love the mental image this creates.
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Sep 17, 2024 01:57PM
Been going through my old Fantasy Newsletters, and came across this gem. Ellison was having an “autograph party”/book signing at a sf bookstore following a speaking engagement at a college, and he was answering questions from fans, and when someone mentioned Mr. Campbell offhandedly, this was his response.
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Per Stephen King, his speaking voice is virtually indistinguishable from a Beatle's; so, he's a polite, quintessentially liverpudlian Pennywise by all accounts.
Jordan wrote: "Per Stephen King, his speaking voice is virtually indistinguishable from a Beatle's; so, he's a polite, quintessentially liverpudlian Pennywise by all accounts."When I watch YouTube clips of old convention appearances and such by Campbell, he never sounds like I’d expect. There’s one video that’s a roundtable discussion with a bunch of horror writers and they’re all very serious while he’s just munching away loudly on various snacks. I’d be creeped out though if he just appeared and started talking about sewer anthologies.
(I just looked up the video, called Horror Cafe, hosted by Clive Barker and featuring Lisa Tuttle, Peter Atkins, John Carpenter, Campbell, and Roger Corman, from 1990. I’d forgotten that it’s a dinner party setup, so they’re all eating here and there, but Campbell is really going for it in spots.)
I would definitely watch a My Dinner With Ramsey; this is something I've come across before- think it was posted at the Ligotti forum at some point - but don't believe ever seen any of it, although from the random clip I landed on of John Carpenter discussing the fundamental uncertanity of life is intriguing for sure.
It’s good, but I do remember Roger Corman droning on and on at times, when I wanted to hear more from Ramsey and Tuttle. Definitely worth checking out, though, as is “The State of Modern Horror Fiction” from ‘83, featuring Karl Wagner, King, Straub, Etchison, Alan Ryan, Yarbro, Charles Grant, Streiber, and David Drake at some horror convention. No Ramsey there, unfortunately.
