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The influence ramsey campbell5/22/2023 ![]() ![]() He can convey more spectral terror in a single glancing phrase than most authors manage in a paragraph or a book. No writer better demonstrates how, at its best, the ghost story or supernatural horror story (either term fits his work) achieves its effects through the eloquence and skill of its prose style – and, I think, no writer in the field has shown greater willingness to convey dread. Many of his most effective moments are inseparable from his style. He was among the first to make the tale of supernatural terror as frightening as possible, an effect he achieves by an inspired and precise selection of language. ![]() Sometimes everyday objects take on or harbour hideous life, and at times the juxtaposition of these elements borders on surrealism. Far from being cosy, his stories frequently present a reassuringly ordinary setting that is invaded by the malevolent and terrible. I would say all this underrates and misrepresents the author’s contribution to the genre. ![]() I’ve seen them praised for their cosiness, their atmosphere of academia and Edwardian male camaraderie, and their reputation for providing a comfortable shiver or two. ![]() His ghost stories are a British institution. He refined the tale of supernatural terror and, given his fondness for narrative play and overt references to generic tropes, can be cited as one of the field’s first modernists. Montague Rhodes James (1862–1936) is one of the absolute masters of the British tale of terror. ![]()
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