To date, RC's most recent collection (published in 2003) although the stories within date back as far as 1968. So far, it has only appeared as the (some may say over-priced) PS Publishing edition, which means the chances of picking up a cheap copy are virtually nil. Which is a shame, as it contains some tremendous stories...
Definitely worth getting hold of, all the same.
PS Publishing edition cover:
BLURBLE:
Told by the Dead is Ramsey Campbell's first short story collection for five years. Spectral terror abound, and monsters who might live next door or in our own heads.
We learn why we should never play cards with strangers, and the perils of attending press shows of films. We glimpse a book that may render all others redundant, and another that is too full of ghosts. A roadside mirror contains more than a reflection, and a bedroom mirror shows what may be in stall for us all. Telephone advertising gives rise to a nightmare, and so does a Mediterranean holiday. A nostalgic train journey ends in dread, but leaving a train leads there too. two street musicians may make the reader anxious to placate such entertainers with at least a coin. The author's wife exerts a calming influence in a collaboration, but his delerium is irrepresible, and readers with recherche preferences will be rewarded by a troupe of rampant midgets. All this, of course, is in the best possible taste.
The contents range from immediately after the completion of Demons by Daylight thirty-five years ago to the beginning of this century. here is a book not just for afficianados of horror but for anyone who relishes wit, language and the imagination Stephen King describes as "so uniquely Campbell that it might as well be trademarked".
With an introduction by Poppy Z Brite, and an afterword by the author.
Return JourneyA nostalgic train journey to a station made up to resemble itself back in the war years leads to something unpleasant in the past concerning a gas mask and an air-raid...
Cut from the same cloth as 'Second Sight' (which can be found in 'Waking Nightmares').
Twice by FireA tale of ghostly revenge when a former policeman awakes to fulfill the tasks that will allow him to rest easy.
Agatha's GhostA confused old lady contacts a radio phone-in to ask for help. She thinks she is being haunted by the spirit of her nephew. The thing is, he's still alive.
I like this one a lot.
Little OnesA collaboration with Jenny Campbell (who is also the daughter of A. Bertram Chandler - a name some of the SF-heads will probably recognise).
A young school teacher visits the home of an older colleauge, only to find that the companions she keeps are not what she at first thought they were.
The Last HandA train journey is enlivened by a few games of cards with some strangers. But who are they, and what exactly are they playing for?
Facing ItWha??? One of those which manages to cause unease without quite making it clear what the hell is going on. It's something nasty, though, involving faces and sharp objects...
Never to be HeardA boy's school choir are roped in to take part in a perfomance of a piece of music by a religious composer, this being his first (and somewhat mysterious) work. It includes notes which have to be played via computer, so deep that they cannot be heard.
Contains another imaginary band, 'Unlikely Orifice'.
The Previous TenantAn artist and his wife move into the flat where the previous tenant had committed suicide by jumping from the window. Her presence keeps attempting to make itself felt, only to be repeatedly (and accidentally) thwarted by the artist's wife.
Becoming VisibleA man makes the mistake of pissing off a tele-sales person (remind me to tell you about Capital One someday...) who also happens to be a bit of a loon. Soon, more calls are received, each more disturbing than the previous one.
No End of FunA dodgy old uncle comes to stay at a boarding house ran by younger members of his family. His visit does not go too well, what with old memories, unvoiced suspicions, and midgets...
After the QueenAnother entry fo the imaginary film file: The Dummies of Horror.
Whilst watching the above film in an empty cinema, a man witnesses several shots which show a man watching a film in an empty cinema, the camera viewpoint drawing ever nearer...
Creepy.
TattersGoldman, the boss of a small film company, runs into trouble when he repeatedly hears a strange, out of tune voice, singing little ditties about events around him.
Contains a cringeworthy scene containing Japanese business men, a contract, and a huge, messy sneeze.
Accident ZoneA mirror at the side of the road at an accident black-spot seems to contain something that could be making matters worse.
The EntertainmentMore than a nod in the direction of Robert Aickman's 'The Hospice', although this one goes far, far stranger.
A man finds himself at a small seaside hotel, where he finds that he is supposed to be entertaining the other guests.
Fears of aging abound in this one.
Dead LettersA seance proposed by an obnoxious drunk doesn't go exactly as planned.
Well, thats Pernod for you...
All for SaleA holiday in the Med doesn't go to plan when more than possesions end up taken away and sold.
No StringsA violinist leads a late night talk show DJ a merry dance which ends with something quite strange and horrifying.
The creatures at the end of this one are very disconcerting indeed.
The Worst Fog of the YearAnother film story, in which the watcher finds himself pulled into events on the screen.
This one comes with two endings. I like the 'arse' ending best.
The RetrospectiveA long delayed visit to his parents leaves a man stuck in a giant museum of his childhood.
Another classic tale.
SlowCool. A nice bit of SF here.
A man is left in a mysterious cottage in an alien landscape, his only companion a very very slow-moving creature with large teeth. He figures it should be easy to keep out of its way, but this does not prove to be the case.
This is probably the best of Ramsey Campbell's SF work (as far as I have read anyway).
Worse than BonesThis one features a second hand ghost story collection, which sprouts annotations which become more and more worrying, not least becouse the person writing them is already dead.
No Story in ItThe title is a play on the name of a John Brunner collection ('No Future in It') and it was apparently written with Brunner in mind. Taken in conjunction with the obituary for Brunner that appears in 'Ramsey Campbell, Probably' (which it more than likely shouldn't be, but anyway...) the story becomes even grimmer than it already is.
A now out of print SF writer is obsessed by a shadowy image as all his plans for a return to print fall apart around him. His daughter and her family are coming to him for financial help that he cannot give, and he has reached the end of his tether. It seems that there may be only one way out.
Moving and sad, this one is very uncomfortable reading...
The WordNot the TV show, thank Cthulhu!
A new book by a once-crap author ("You sent me the one about Frankenstein and the dead goat and the two nuns" one character states) looks set to take over the world, as everybody seems to be reading it, each getting some different meaning from it. Is the narrator in the mysterious book meant to be Christ? Is the author?
This one starts off in a humorous vein, before sliding into nightmare, as the entire world seems to be falling apart...
Kept me up with bad dreams, this one.
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(Quite a few of these stories have appeared in anthologies that Dem has done pieces on recently, so there are probably some more helpful blarblings about them around here somewhere...)
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