Scan barcode
A review by ravenbait
Dark Companions by Ramsey Campbell
2.0
I got this for a specific story ("The Trick"), which turned out not to be in it, but never mind.
By halfway through the book I had Campbell's plot structure figured out.
Angst-ridden protag sees/feels/experiences things that are a bit odd. Dismisses them out of hand. Spends 5 or more pages bleating on about husband/wife/colleague/lunch/job/pet goldfish/next door's cat/Beethoven while odd things get odder, continues to dismiss them as either not being real OR being irrelevant. Protag gets eaten. The end.
This described every story in the book, and I found the protagonists largely unlikeable, so the highlight of each story was the part where he or she was eaten. I would not recommend this as an introduction to Campbell's work, even though there are a couple of genuinely creepy stories in it ("Mackintosh Willy" and "Above the World"). I'd say this was more for existing fans.
By halfway through the book I had Campbell's plot structure figured out.
Angst-ridden protag sees/feels/experiences things that are a bit odd. Dismisses them out of hand. Spends 5 or more pages bleating on about husband/wife/colleague/lunch/job/pet goldfish/next door's cat/Beethoven while odd things get odder, continues to dismiss them as either not being real OR being irrelevant. Protag gets eaten. The end.
This described every story in the book, and I found the protagonists largely unlikeable, so the highlight of each story was the part where he or she was eaten. I would not recommend this as an introduction to Campbell's work, even though there are a couple of genuinely creepy stories in it ("Mackintosh Willy" and "Above the World"). I'd say this was more for existing fans.