RAMSEY CAMPBELL: SERVING HORROR FOR 60 YEARS.
In the final days of RAMSEY CAMPBELL: 60 YEARS OF SERVING HORROR, organised by Flame Tree Press, I add my humble postscript. But there are few better ways to mark such an impressive career milestone in horror, than by showing your collection of the author's books (in this case, a library). And I own more of Ramsey's books than I own books by any other author.
And after running some numbers, I calculated that I have read Ramsey for 40 years and known him for 20 years. Ramsey's not only a master of horror and the weird tale, but of language too. And consistently. He's also an inspiration, guiding light and friend to many of us in horror. It's been a privilege to read Ramsey, listen to his speaking engagements and to get to know him.
There are only a handful of writers of the weird who, purely by reading them, have altered or warped my perception, and long after I'd closed one of their books; as if I was then seeing the world through the writer's imagination, or the pages were laced with a hallucinogenic (or curse!). Ramsey is one of these writers. M. R. James, Robert Aickman, M. John Harrison and Thomas Ligotti have also succeeded in doing this to me. Only the very best in the field, in other words.
I also occasionally find myself stricken by Ramsey Campbell "moments". They can be baffling experiences and always occur when dealing with strangers. I feel that I have stepped into one of Ramsey's stories, or scenes, and have diminished control in a hyper-real situation, while I grasp for an understanding of what is happening around me. These moments feel uncanny, premeditated, often sinister.
The first Campbell book I read was Obsession, as a teenager; the last was The Lonely lands, as a grey bearded 55 year old. The new novel, The Incubations, awaits.
Can I pick a single favourite title? I may be asked for one. I cannot, but I do have favourites, and why does it always have to be one? All of the short story collections are a given, and of the novels:
The Nameless, Midnight Sun, The Darkest Part of the Woods, The Grin of the Dark, The Kind Folk, Born to the Dark, Seven Days of Cain.
Massive congratulations on your big 60, Ramsey!
[And now to the horror of reshelving my clumsy flat-lay of books. I hope to be finished by March '25].