Ramsey Campbell - The Nameless

[sean]

(Excuse some of the vagueness over cover scan publicatins and dates, my notes are elsewhere - promise to fix them later!)

The Nameless
First published 1981. Slightly revised 1985.

(Fontana 1981)


(Early ?)


(Tor 1985)


(Panther 1985)


(Warner 1992)


BLURB (from the Panther 1985 edition):

THEY HAD TAKEN HER DAUGHTER INTO A NIGHTMARE WORLD OF BLOOD AND TERROR...

One phone call from her daughter reawoke all the horrors of Barbara Waugh's past. Because Angela had been brutally murdered years ago: shot in the head at point blank range.

So if she was still alive after all, where was she? Who had her in their power?

Who can help Barbara as she strays into the evil world inhabited by those who have abandoned their names?

For this is a world of inhuman torture and bloody murders, of gruesome initiations, locked doors - and unheard screams...

'Easily the best horror writer working in Britian today'
- Time Out


This is one of Mr C's earlier novels, thus it is unremittingly grim, which is nice. Although much of the violence happens off stage, The Nameless is second only to The Claw (aka Night of the Claw) in the nastiness stakes.

The book starts a bit strangely. It jumps about a little too much, going from events in 1940, forward to 1979, then back to 1966, forward to 1968, 1970 and then settling back down to 'the present', 1979 (again). The 1940 section deals with Kasper Ganz (or is it Jasper Gance?) who is caught interviewing a death-row murderer by pretending to be a psychiatrist. The rest of the too-ing and fro-ing tells of Barbara's young daughter Angela (whose father dies just before she is born) who seems to have some strange, but 'good' powers - she also appears to communicate with her dead father. Angela is abducted from school, and a while later a body of a four year old girl, shot at close range with a shotgun, is found and presumed to be the missing girl, although a medium (well, a psychometer - finds people by handling their possesions) is certain that she is alive somewhere.

Barbara gradually pieces her life back together, that is until, nine years after her daughters (presumed) death, she receives a phone call from somebody calling her 'mummy'. Barbara becomes convinced that a vicious group of nameless nutters who believe they are merely the tools of a higher (evil) power and that their role in life is to commit hideous atrocities for this evil force to experience vicariously. As the search for her daughter continues, it appers that almost everyone may be against her...

No imaginary bands in this one, although there is a book auction firm called Straub, Tessier and King (all of which at one time shared an agent with RC, if I recall rightly). Some of the offhand descriptions of violence here are quite chilling, such as the fact that the group make their victims last a long time so as not to have to kidnap too many, and the casual cutting of arm and leg tendons to ensure that an investigative journalist that falls into their hands doesn't escape.

The ending of the book is almost as bleak as everything that has gone before, the one ray of sunshine being a rather bitter one. Enjoyably gloomy stuff. Recommended (surprise surprise!)

[bushwick]

Yeah, I have the Panther one, read it a few months ago. Some great covers there - I prefer the Fontana I think. Greatly enjoyed this book - thought the details in characterisation were really nice, and the setting in the publishing industry was really well observed and I assume pretty accurate. The little bit of Campbell I have read seems to sit somewhere between pulp and 'proper' literature - I remember this and 'The Face That...' being fairly soberly written and constructed, with some evocative prose, but pulpy endings.

[sean]

Might have to give 'Face' another read actually, now you mention it.

Have you read his first novel, 'The Doll Who Ate His Mother', Bushwick?

[bushwick]

No, never have, but I mean to - have always liked the title. Like I say, haven't read much by him. Have always enjoyed any essays and non-fiction bits by him - the piece in TFTMD about his mum is very honest, moving and brilliantly written. He comes across as a good sort, not pompous. I also have 'Scared Stiff', that collection of 'sexy' horror tales - read a couple and they're pretty good. Unfortunately I don't have the hardback though, which has some good illustrations.

[sean]

Those illustrations (by J.K. Potter) are pretty groovy. There's a lot of weird shit on his site as well:

www.jkpotter.com/

[Craig Herbertson]

groovy's the word Sean. Intriguing stuff.

But when I went on his m)space thing I found that it had been deleted - very possibly on the grounds that he was interesting and talented

[sean]

Someone probably saw a nipple and complained.

[thecoffinflies]

It's a funny thing about the endings, bushwick - his early books, yes, often have what feel like pulpy 'climaxes' tacked on, The Nameless seemed lifted from Stephen King and FaceMustDie from any number of mediocre thrillers - but then from Incarnate on, he changed and wrote books like The Long Lost, and The Count of Eleven, which don't have climaxes in the usual sense at all - they just come to rest quietly, and leave you almost hanging, like Hitchcock's The Birds.

[lemming13]

I got the feeling that the ending was tacked on to a degree - there was insufficient build-up to the sudden outbreak of awesome powers. To be honest though I enjoyed the story I can't helping feeling it was 'improved' by an editor somewhere, and shortened; it seemed to me there were segments missing from the story here and there. Maybe that's just me, though, and it was deliberate understatement. There was a lot I liked, though - the cult of the Nameless itself is a fascinating concept, and the nasty little throwaways really make it a nice shudderer.

[ramseycampbell]

Jul 1, 2011 13:14:44 GMT lemming13 said:

I got the feeling that the ending was tacked on to a degree - there was insufficient build-up to the sudden outbreak of awesome powers. To be honest though I enjoyed the story I can't helping feeling it was 'improved' by an editor somewhere, and shortened; it seemed to me there were segments missing from the story here and there. Maybe that's just me, though, and it was deliberate understatement. There was a lot I liked, though - the cult of the Nameless itself is a fascinating concept, and the nasty little throwaways really make it a nice shudderer.

No, the only person to edit the book was me. I think the problem may have been that it stayed too close to the plot outline I'd devised in advance (I never do that now). I do agree the ending is forced - I rather preferred Jaume Balagueró's ending.

[lemming13]

Well, still some darned good stuff in there, and I'm glad to own it.

[ltd]

Aug 3, 2008 9:24:34 GMT bushwick said:

Yeah, I have the Panther one, read it a few months ago.

I vividly remember reading the Panther edition of The Nameless on a dark winter night in 1990 while living on my own in a cold council flat in Exeter - scared the hell out of me. Nearly quarter of a century later I still think it's one of the most terrifying novels I've ever read.