|
The Grin of the Dark - Ramsey Campbell.
Much underrated horror writer, in fact I only started reading him in the 80s because he was name-checked by Stephen King.
I can only assume he doesn't sell in huge quantities because his books almost never turn up in charity shops. Unless the people who buy them are like me and hang on to them!
Even the books of his that haven't had an immediate impact on me, have lingered in my memory. I'll often think of some description or plot twist at a later date. He has a sly sense of humour and and understated (almost spare) way with description. He evokes loneliness very well - wonderful when building suspense.
This one is about a music hall comedian who went on to make silent films - loads of them, all featuring his name - but seems to have been completely forgotten. There is something very sinister in the scraps of information a researcher is able to find and certainly something very wrong with the clip of film he unearths. Effectively (so far at least) it is about the fine and bloody lines between funny ha ha, funny peculiar and just plain sinister. Drawn with a scalpel rather than an axe.
Have just read The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
What?
I'm a completeist.
I love Rowling's illustrations - she knows her own limits. She's not an artist, but she's a fair doodler. For the record I cannot draw at all, but know many people who can - my whole group of friends in school and college years were studying art one way or another.
I got a good haul from the charity shops this week - in really good condition too! AND cheaper than London. I think parents are having a clearout before Christmas because there are some suspiciously unread-looking books - my assumption is unwanted birthday presents.
I'll report back when I'm into them.
Oh and for the record, Beedle passed a pleasant half an hour. And I got it free on my loyalty card (it was half price, which I assume makes it a loss leader).
|