Ramsey Campbell - What am I missing?

I just finished The Height of the Scream by Ramsey Campbell. I found the stories childish at best, threadless at worst. I find from poking around on the Web that he is recognized as one of the best in the genre. What am I missing?

Those were quite early stories - The Height Of The Scream was his second non-mythos anthology. He hadn't had his first novel published when these stories were written so his talent was still developing. Try something more recent.

Personally I find his novels to be better. But it all depends on what you are looking for. Campbell excels in 'quiet' horror - the psychological dread of something. If that isn't something you are looking for then Campbell isn't for you.

Not much I don't think. As he's always been hailed as a master, I read one novel. Hated it. Yes it was quiet, so quiet nothing happened and it bored me to tears. The plot and "build up" to the "climax" were choppy and inconsistent. The characters were all jerks and so failed to engage me in a way that would make me care at all about what happened to them. I LOVE psychological thrillers and read a bunch of them, but Campbell just completely failed to deliver. I was surprised.

I've never understood all the praise for him either, and I've tried several of his books, both novels and short stories. I couldn't get through any of them, except Nazareth Hill. The Overnight is one of the worst books I've ever read. The dialogue was so lame, the characters were flat and/or boring, and the suspense totally fizzled out by the 50-page mark. Like Bookmarque, I love psychological horror, and I generally like quiet horror, but I just can't stand his writing. It's disappointing, because I really like the plots he comes up with. I wanted to like The Overnight, but after the fifteenth eye-rolling I had to give up.

The Overnight is the book I read. yes, I trudged through the whole thing with hopes that it would get better. It didn't and I kind of wish I hadn't.

I remember reading Midnight Sun and being disappointed. The premise was fantastic and the beginning was strong, but then the story just sort of dragged on and on. It was well written, but aside from a few bits it was kind of dull. The end picked up a bit, but by then I was just trying to finish the book.

I also read Charles L. Grant's (another quiet horror master) The Hour of the Oxrun Dead and didn't like that much either.

I figured quiet horror just maybe wasn't my bag, but then read T.E.D. Klein's The Ceremonies and enjoyed it quite a bit. Now I think it isn't that I have a problem with quiet horror, it's just that those two books lacked something.

I have picked up a few more Ramsey Campbell books, because Midnight Sun was well written and had its moments. Maybe I just picked a bad book to start with.

I read The Face That Must Die. It was disturbing but not horror. IMO

I can't speak for the novels, though I own a few, which are sitting on my TBR pile. The one Campbell book I've read was Waking Nightmares which did impress me as being quite good, although it was only when I went back and re-read the stories (to write a review of the book) that I really enjoyed them. I was impressed with the way they built up slowly, but I can see how that kind of thing might be hard to pull off in a novel. (Then again, I could think of examples of it being done well.)

I haven't read too many Ramsey Campbell novels, just The Count of Eleven (didn't like) and Scared Stiff: Seven Tales of Seduction and Terror (surprisingly good, but then I love erotic horror anyway). I have to agree with most everyone above--he's not one of my favorite horror writers. If you're just starting to read horror or aren't into the whole blood and guts thing, then I'd recommend him; but (imho) he's not a writer you just have to read.

The only thing I've read was Nazareth Hill--I thought it was well done, but I didn't really enjoy it and I've tended to avoid the rest of his stuff. In some ways reminiscent of The Shining it had a cold, dull feeling about it.

I am starting on my first Ramsey Campbell novel tonight with Nazareth Hill. I decided to go for this one rather than The Grin of the Dark, as the latter hasn't received as good of reviews. Plus, I am in the mood for a spooky asylum tale than a creepy clown story. =P

#11: Good luck with Nazareth Hill. I may give that one a try if I find a copy. I went to high school next to a mental hospital, so I'm always fascinated with places like that.

I don't know that I'd call Campbell's work quiet horror so much as surreal horror. I love when he pulls literary tricks like describing a pale, slug-like appendage writhing in a gutter which on a second, panicked look turns out to be nothing more than a breeze-blown scarf. And yet, even after such a realization, there often remains a heightened sense of malignancy to the general atmosphere. Now, to me, that's just good writing. Slowly building an atmosphere of dread and helplessness is a Campbell specialty - it takes its time but it is usually worth the wait.

His work can be frustrating at times, I'll admit, and it's chock full of VERY British colloquialisms. The reader needs to pay closer attention than usual, and the payoff isn't always where it's expected to be. Also, his work runs the gamut from crime-suspense to psychological, and outright supernatural horror, so he's kind of hard to peg.

Campbell is also one of the few writers in the horror genre to have fully understood Lovecraft's concept of cosmic horror, re-working it into a unique, contemporary vision.

As a starting point, I'd recommend The Doll Who Ate His Mother or The Parasite before tackling one of the later novels. Even better, start with the short story collection Dark Companions.

I agree. Dark Companions scared the hell out of me, epecially the story about the pink monkey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I read The Announcement (I think it was called) in Dark Delicacies,that short story collection by Del Howison and Jeff Gelb, and it was the only story in there that I didn't like. It had a nice surreal feel, as apparently most of Campbell does, but I just wanted to be through with it. I felt like he was trying too hard.

Ramsey Campbell is one of my favourite authors. I realise he's an acquired taste but novels like The Doll Who Ate His Mother and Incarnate cannot fail to bring build a deep sense of fear as the story builds.