Introductions

Barker, Clive.  "The Bare Bones."  Scared Stiff . London MacDonald, 1986.

Notes the taboo-breaking function of horror fiction and praises Campbell for the way his "brooding, utterly unique vision renders an act familiar to us all so fretful, so strange, so chilling."

Brite, Poppy Z.  "Introduction."  The Face That Must Die. Lakewood, CO: Millipede Press, 2006.

This revised version of Campbell's serial killer novel is praised for the believability of the character Campbell creates. She regards Campbell's character Horridge as "a character wholly his own and utterly memorable, and who teaches us something about the darker side of human nature."

Newman, Kim.  "Introduction."  Thieving Fear.  Hornsea: PS Publishing, 2008.

Places the novel in what Newman calls the "four friends" subgenre;  compares Campbell's sense of landscape to that of M.R. James, and notes his skill at depicting everyday horrors as well as supernatural ones.

Rees, Eleanor.  "Introduction."  The Book of Liverpool: A City in Short Fiction.  Ed. Eleanor Rees and Maria Crossan.  Liverpool:  Comma Press, 2008.

Contains Campbell's story "Mackintosh Willy," which Rees notes, is set in Liverpool's Newsham Park.  Conveys how a place "can hold on to our memory as a focus for our fears."

Smith, Michael Marshall.  "Introduction."  The Grin of the Dark.  Hornsea: PS Publishing, 2006.

Notes Campbell's "fearsome and outrageous precision of language and intent" and compares his work to the cinema of David Lynch:  "They share a rare and extraordinary ability to draw characters into situations that do not make sense, and yet which feel truthful, which resonate."

Sullivan, Jack.  "Introduction to 'The Scar' and 'The Invocation.'"  Lost Souls:  A Collection of English Ghost Stories.  Ed. Jack Sullivan.  Athens:  Ohio University Press, 1983.

Comments on Campbell's prose style and the themes of fantasy versus reality and man's innate paranoia.  Sullivan says that Campbell modernizes classic ghost stories by Le Fanu, Blackwood, M.R. James, and Aickman without sacrificing quality.  "It is not merely ghosts that terrify us in these taut, exciting stories;  it is the modern world."

Winter, Douglas E.  "Ramsey Campbell, Absolutely."  Ramsey Campbell, Probably.  Ed. S. T. Joshi. Harrogate, England:  PS Publishing, 2002.

Fond, appreciative commentary on Campbell's non-fiction that simply asserts "Ramsey Campbell writes horror fiction."  "Absolutely."