The H Word: H for Honesty

[dem bones]

A most interesting article by Mr. Campbell at John Joseph Adams' Nightmare. Ostensibly a true confession - Ramsey proudly nails his colours to the horror mast - The H Word: H for Honesty doubles as a commentary on the pre-Pan British horror anthology, with much praise lavished upon, among others, Dorothy L Sayer, John Keir Cross and Anne Ridler. From a purely selfish point of view, would have welcomed the great man's take on Birkin's no-budget Creeps series, and I think he is maybe a little harsh on Christine Campbell "that quote" Thomson - for me, the Not At Night's have slightly more to commended them beyond services rendered to Weird Tales - but it would only be to the good if The H Word were to return as introductory essay to a new horror anthology, preferably one edited by Mr. Campbell himself.

[nsturm451]

Good article, it always irritates me when people who produce horror try to shrink from the label, though I'll allow that "dark fantasy" and "psychological thrillers" and "weird fiction" and certain types of science fiction can be their own things. Basically, though, if it's supposed to be scary, I say just call it "horror," and Wikipedia seems to agree with me.