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The Influence
Sometimes evil refuses to die.
Rowan's great-aunt Queenie is dead. After all the misery she caused her family while she was alive, most of them are secretly relieved. But Queenie did not want to die, and she will do anything to live again… including possessing young Rowan. She haunts the child's nightmares, taking her over bit by chilling bit. As her soul is drawn inexorably into a cold darkness, can Rowan hope to reclaim her life from the evil dead?
Rowan's great-aunt Queenie is dead. After all the misery she caused her family while she was alive, most of them are secretly relieved. But Queenie did not want to die, and she will do anything to live again… including possessing young Rowan. She haunts the child's nightmares, taking her over bit by chilling bit. As her soul is drawn inexorably into a cold darkness, can Rowan hope to reclaim her life from the evil dead?
312 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1988
59 people are currently reading
1758 people want to read
About the author
Ramsey Campbell
857 books1,591 followersRamsey Campbell is a British writer considered by a number of critics to be one of the great masters of horror fiction. T. E. D. Klein has written that "Campbell reigns supreme in the field today," while S. T. Joshi has said that "future generations will regard him as the leading horror writer of our generation, every bit the equal of Lovecraft or Blackwood."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews
August 3, 2025
Pues no me ha terminado de convencer, se me ha hecho incluso en algunos tramos, largo.
De ritmo lento y un claro ejemplo de libro que va de mas a menos y con un final muy light.
En fin, que de terror, terror, mas bien poco.
Valoración: 4/10
Sinopsis: La difunta Queenie manejaba a sus herederos mediante influencias de ULTRATUMBA. Ellos no lo sabían, pero eran marionetas de un juego macabro. Su ataúd no guardaba solo su cadáver, sino también un medallón con poderes sobrenaturales. Y Queenie no estaba dispuesta a permitir que la exhumaran ni que le arrebataran su maléfico talismán.
De ritmo lento y un claro ejemplo de libro que va de mas a menos y con un final muy light.
En fin, que de terror, terror, mas bien poco.
Valoración: 4/10
Sinopsis: La difunta Queenie manejaba a sus herederos mediante influencias de ULTRATUMBA. Ellos no lo sabían, pero eran marionetas de un juego macabro. Su ataúd no guardaba solo su cadáver, sino también un medallón con poderes sobrenaturales. Y Queenie no estaba dispuesta a permitir que la exhumaran ni que le arrebataran su maléfico talismán.
August 14, 2018
This is great. Remember all those horrible/wonderful 80s horror paperbacks? The ones with the puffy text and the die-cut covers that open to reveal a flyleaf scene like this:
Savvy friends have been telling me to read Ramsey Campbell, as one of the best examples of of this sort of thing, for years and they were entirely correct. This is pretty faultless vacation reading (literally picked up on vacation from the wonderful Green Hand Books in Portland Maine, in this edition, to the sound of the clerk sucking in her breath and saying "oooh, he's so creepy", and then read entirely on the car/train trip home. My annoyances with horror writing (enumerated in greater depth elsewhere against the lure of dread-inducing atmosphere and the freedoms of non-realist plotting) are that so much falls into predictable tropes, isn't scary, and overplays its hand into self-defeating ridiculousness. Despite the obviously ridiculous plot (malevolent dead aunt has designs on her grand-niece), and general lack of actual scariness, this does just ooze atmosphere all across the western-middle coast of England and Wales with a fantastic sense of eerie place, and one long unerringly dreamlike travel sequence that accomplishes exactly what I might ever hope it would. In the lead-up, a familiar (dangerously predictable) pattern is established, but by halfway the book has secretly jumped tracks from anything I could anticipate to its great enhancement. Campbell also moves between his family of cast members quite fluidly and manages to write a convincing enough mother-daughter story at the heart of this, while fleshing out the subtext with a study of toxic classism. The overriding goal here is clearly to entertain above all else, so Campbell never digs too deep, but it's not an empty exercise either. So I'm very pleasantly surprised and will definitely be seeking more dazzlingly die-cut Campbell artifacts whenever such should fall into my hands (which may not be often enough -- other readers have clearly caught on well before me, because I never see his novels second hand.)
Savvy friends have been telling me to read Ramsey Campbell, as one of the best examples of of this sort of thing, for years and they were entirely correct. This is pretty faultless vacation reading (literally picked up on vacation from the wonderful Green Hand Books in Portland Maine, in this edition, to the sound of the clerk sucking in her breath and saying "oooh, he's so creepy", and then read entirely on the car/train trip home. My annoyances with horror writing (enumerated in greater depth elsewhere against the lure of dread-inducing atmosphere and the freedoms of non-realist plotting) are that so much falls into predictable tropes, isn't scary, and overplays its hand into self-defeating ridiculousness. Despite the obviously ridiculous plot (malevolent dead aunt has designs on her grand-niece), and general lack of actual scariness, this does just ooze atmosphere all across the western-middle coast of England and Wales with a fantastic sense of eerie place, and one long unerringly dreamlike travel sequence that accomplishes exactly what I might ever hope it would. In the lead-up, a familiar (dangerously predictable) pattern is established, but by halfway the book has secretly jumped tracks from anything I could anticipate to its great enhancement. Campbell also moves between his family of cast members quite fluidly and manages to write a convincing enough mother-daughter story at the heart of this, while fleshing out the subtext with a study of toxic classism. The overriding goal here is clearly to entertain above all else, so Campbell never digs too deep, but it's not an empty exercise either. So I'm very pleasantly surprised and will definitely be seeking more dazzlingly die-cut Campbell artifacts whenever such should fall into my hands (which may not be often enough -- other readers have clearly caught on well before me, because I never see his novels second hand.)
April 24, 2020
Open graves, a creepy old lady and a big strange house. This was the perfect October read.
October 13, 2015
Me pasó con Chuck Palahniuk, y me pasó ahora con Ramsey Campbell: en el primer intento capturaron mi corazón por completo. Pero con Ramsey fue aún más fuerte el asunto, simplemente quería saber qué pasaba en cada capítulo que finalizaba. A pesar de haberme tomado mi tiempo para leerlo, lo disfruté al máximo y sin duda es de los mejores libros de terror que he leído, al menos en este 2015. La prosa del autor es directa y no va con vueltas, lo que me lleva a recomendarles a todos los ansiosos del horror que no lo piensen dos veces y lean éste libro. Es una trama truculenta y cargada de un ambiente sombrío como ninguno. Puede que resulte algo "predecible" en ocasiones, puesto que ya estamos acostumbrados a escuchar y leer miles de historias de fantasmas, pero no deja de ser una potente narración que dejará a más de uno con los pelos erizados.
October 3, 2019
Ramsey Campbell has done better.
November 1, 2022
Queenie is dead. Long live... Queenie?
Ramsey Campbell is consistently good for a thoughtful scare, and his book The Influence is a great example of his particular brand of horror.
While not for everybody, I enjoy Campbell's relaxed and dreamy style of nightmare.
How it spreads from the death of a wicked old woman leading to a terrifying influence on a young child as something beyond reaches out to take hold in our world.
One particular piece of writing displaying the young Rowan walking home culminates in one of the best developed emotional punches in horror fiction.
A terrific, slow-burn, that suffocates with tension and mounting dread and turns the world strange for one poor girl and her family.
7.5/10
Part of my big, yucky, Halloween review round up:
www.patreon.com/posts/74021554
Ramsey Campbell is consistently good for a thoughtful scare, and his book The Influence is a great example of his particular brand of horror.
While not for everybody, I enjoy Campbell's relaxed and dreamy style of nightmare.
How it spreads from the death of a wicked old woman leading to a terrifying influence on a young child as something beyond reaches out to take hold in our world.
One particular piece of writing displaying the young Rowan walking home culminates in one of the best developed emotional punches in horror fiction.
A terrific, slow-burn, that suffocates with tension and mounting dread and turns the world strange for one poor girl and her family.
7.5/10
Part of my big, yucky, Halloween review round up:
www.patreon.com/posts/74021554
November 24, 2018
Wonderfully written and at times emotional, shocking, and creepy. I thought the family dynamic was excellently done and each character was fleshed out and realistic. The supernatural elements were balanced out with so much of the normal everyday that it made it all the more believable. Some of the scenes were truly chilling.
February 11, 2022
I was along with Rowan for this horrific ride! The feel of being lost..This is Ramsey Campbell at his best.
May 25, 2020
Este libro es alucinante. Es una historia muy atrapante y con una atmósfera muy oscura con escenarios lúgubres y tenebrosos que permiten una lectura muy bien ambientada y completamente adictiva. Con personajes tan inocentes y otros tan macabros, con horribles intenciones, y personalidades muy bien desarrolladas que nos harán estremecer. La historia podría verse como simple e incluso predecible, pero posee elementos espectaculares dentro de la literatura del terror que la hacen una lectura absolutamente recomendable y excelente.
February 24, 2020
i listened to the audio book. It's read by Chloe Massey. I love her accent! She did really great reading this story. I didn't love this one but i didn't hate it either. It's easy to fugue out what's happening early on. I'd give Ramsey Cambell another try.
November 22, 2010
Wow! I read this in one night. A spooky page-turner ghost story starring a creepy old lady & an 8 year old kid. Wait for the amazing chase sequence through the abandoned train.
February 16, 2013
EXCELLENT. One of the smartest things Samhain has done is re-release Ramsey Campbell's backlist. Easily one of Campbell's best - emotional, horrifying - quietly - and satisfying resolution at the end. The best thing about Campbell's work is this: subtract the supernatural element, and you still have moving, tense emotional dramas. Just very, very good.
July 15, 2020
It is virtually impossible to recommend Ramsey Campbell to a newbie in horror. Think of him as the other end of the extreme, with fellow Brit Shaun Hutson on the other. (with Graham Masterton in the middle) The short stories that I have read from him (and they are everywhere, mind you) play out like brooding 1970s avant-garde psychological thrillers but with a distinct Liverpool flavor (Campbell’s home and the stomping ground of most of his characters/victims). That would perhaps excite the newbie but when he or she hears that Campbell has a tendency for pushing the boundaries of the English language to describe AT LENGTH how a seemingly innocuous thing is not what it seems or how he devotes numerous paragraphs to detail how the landscape traversed by the characters is infected by a new strain of strangeness, the excitement dies a little. Campbell is simply not newbie material. (more on that later)
But if I had a novel to recommend to willing readers to get them started on Ramsey Campbell, it would be The Influence (1988). Yes, Campbell’s aforementioned tendencies are present but they are accompanied by a host of engaging, if not likable, characters. The child character is not annoying and the adult characters are colored in enough shades of grey that they seem like real persons, not just cardboard cut-outs. Even the evil family matriarch (whom I found over-the-top in the beginning) is presented as having a very flawed human side and not overtly evil like a demon from a dusty 70s horror paperback.
The narrative may be bogged down at times from over-description (four long paragraphs for a woman digging a grave? An entire chapter for a surreal excursion in and out of Wales?) but you strangely aren’t bored and somewhat keep on pressing on because you care about the characters and want them to resolve their predicament. If you are one who sincerely enjoys Campbell’s prose, then you are in for a treat as Campbell doles out sentence after sentence with great literary style. (ex. “Perhaps life after death was an endless lonely dream, and whether it lasted for the moment of death or eternity didn’t matter: its kind of time would have nothing to do with life awake, even if one were to invade the other.”)
Going back to newbie horror expectations, I am saddened and infuriated by the current culture of horror, both film, and literature. A horror film nowadays (even great ones like The Babadook (2014) or The Wailing (2016)) is easily and summarily dismissed as “weak” and “boring” and not “having an ending”, and if asked what would be their alternative all they can do is draw blanks. Can you imagine what these waifs would comment if they read Ramsey Campbell or Laird Barron? Hell, they would be catatonic reading Guy N. Smith!! (no slight intended on this great and entertaining pulp author)
P. S. Oh, I forgot. Another interesting thing about Campbell’s writing is everything is too restrained, even the sex and the violence. A man getting eviscerated is given a sentence. A sex scene is like a patrician grandfather’s third-hand account. While this suits his style, it sometimes gets in the way of the story, as in having perverted characters for example. How are you going to let the reader know how bad he is if you don’t mention anything?!! But that’s just me having read too many Graham Masterton books. (Yes, I know that Campbell has written a bevy of erotic horror stories collected in Scared Stiff; I loved them.)
R. Campbell book read before this: Obsession (1983)
But if I had a novel to recommend to willing readers to get them started on Ramsey Campbell, it would be The Influence (1988). Yes, Campbell’s aforementioned tendencies are present but they are accompanied by a host of engaging, if not likable, characters. The child character is not annoying and the adult characters are colored in enough shades of grey that they seem like real persons, not just cardboard cut-outs. Even the evil family matriarch (whom I found over-the-top in the beginning) is presented as having a very flawed human side and not overtly evil like a demon from a dusty 70s horror paperback.
The narrative may be bogged down at times from over-description (four long paragraphs for a woman digging a grave? An entire chapter for a surreal excursion in and out of Wales?) but you strangely aren’t bored and somewhat keep on pressing on because you care about the characters and want them to resolve their predicament. If you are one who sincerely enjoys Campbell’s prose, then you are in for a treat as Campbell doles out sentence after sentence with great literary style. (ex. “Perhaps life after death was an endless lonely dream, and whether it lasted for the moment of death or eternity didn’t matter: its kind of time would have nothing to do with life awake, even if one were to invade the other.”)
Going back to newbie horror expectations, I am saddened and infuriated by the current culture of horror, both film, and literature. A horror film nowadays (even great ones like The Babadook (2014) or The Wailing (2016)) is easily and summarily dismissed as “weak” and “boring” and not “having an ending”, and if asked what would be their alternative all they can do is draw blanks. Can you imagine what these waifs would comment if they read Ramsey Campbell or Laird Barron? Hell, they would be catatonic reading Guy N. Smith!! (no slight intended on this great and entertaining pulp author)
P. S. Oh, I forgot. Another interesting thing about Campbell’s writing is everything is too restrained, even the sex and the violence. A man getting eviscerated is given a sentence. A sex scene is like a patrician grandfather’s third-hand account. While this suits his style, it sometimes gets in the way of the story, as in having perverted characters for example. How are you going to let the reader know how bad he is if you don’t mention anything?!! But that’s just me having read too many Graham Masterton books. (Yes, I know that Campbell has written a bevy of erotic horror stories collected in Scared Stiff; I loved them.)
R. Campbell book read before this: Obsession (1983)
July 8, 2014
-Nada nuevo bajo el sol… perdón, bajo las tinieblas.-
Género. Narrativa fantástica.
Lo que nos cuenta. La desagradable y dura Queenie, ya anciana, muere en su propia casa y es enterrada con un camafeo bastante antiguo y que contiene cabello de la hija de su sobrina Alison, Rowan, que tras el deceso casualmente conoce a una nueva amiguita, Vicky, bastante inquietante y con ideas contrarias a las que Alison y su marido, además de cualquier otra persona en sus cabales, tendrían.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Narrativa fantástica.
Lo que nos cuenta. La desagradable y dura Queenie, ya anciana, muere en su propia casa y es enterrada con un camafeo bastante antiguo y que contiene cabello de la hija de su sobrina Alison, Rowan, que tras el deceso casualmente conoce a una nueva amiguita, Vicky, bastante inquietante y con ideas contrarias a las que Alison y su marido, además de cualquier otra persona en sus cabales, tendrían.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
December 23, 2025
Tiene varias escenas interesantes, por eso le dejo tres estrellas.
Read
July 4, 2022Dnf 45%
Great cover but boring, whiny not scary plot.
Great cover but boring, whiny not scary plot.
December 29, 2014
This is indeed a horror story, of a will making itself stronger than death. It also draws on that fear in all of us of losing our identities, of being swallowed up by some unknown terror which replaces us so we're no longer recognizable by friends and family, becoming a stranger to those we love. It can also be seen as a metaphor for the transitions experienced in childhood, when a child grows and becomes more aware of himself in relation to the outside world, and becomes an individual no longer relying on merely his parents, when he can be influenced by the wrong elements.
Whichever interpretation you choose, it's another highly entertaining, if slightly disturbing Ramsey Campbell novel.
This novel is owned by the reviewer and no remuneration was involved in the writing of this review.
Whichever interpretation you choose, it's another highly entertaining, if slightly disturbing Ramsey Campbell novel.
This novel is owned by the reviewer and no remuneration was involved in the writing of this review.
April 5, 2021
This was just superb, the story, the writing, kept me reading till the end.
December 16, 2022
El libro más flojo que he leído de Ramsey Campbell hasta ahora. No he leído muchos pero este carece de todos sus elementos distintivos (que según yo son las atmósferas de irrealidad, paranoia y despersonalización en que caen sus personajes. Y el otro es la sexualidad desviadas o perversiones sexuales).
La historia esta llena de clichés, bastantes aburrido y la escritura solo se vuelve algo interesante como pasado dos tercios del libro con una huida llena de suspenso, terror y paranoia.
La historia esta llena de clichés, bastantes aburrido y la escritura solo se vuelve algo interesante como pasado dos tercios del libro con una huida llena de suspenso, terror y paranoia.
December 20, 2012
This is my third time round with The Influence and it remains one of my favourite horror novels. I first read this when I was doing my A-levels and it hadn't been long since I'd discovered Campbell's work. I also read it for my BA dissertation on modern horror.
The theme of possession is sensitively and intelligently handled. This, at its heart, is about the mistakes of adulthood being visited on the next generation and though it is overtly supernatural, this isn't a simple spook story. It is a story with heart, and all the more scary and effective for that. Classic Campbell.
The theme of possession is sensitively and intelligently handled. This, at its heart, is about the mistakes of adulthood being visited on the next generation and though it is overtly supernatural, this isn't a simple spook story. It is a story with heart, and all the more scary and effective for that. Classic Campbell.
June 14, 2016
Sometimes I am impatient and think ahead to how such a small book could get up to slow little for so long and then BAM! In typical Ramsey Campbell style, the action kicks in and becomes an unrelenting force all they through to the last few pages.
A real thriller and page-turner after the book sufficiently lulls you into a curious reading half-stupor. The final forty pages come with a crash to awake your senses and reveal the purpose to the earlier pacing.
A good time.
A real thriller and page-turner after the book sufficiently lulls you into a curious reading half-stupor. The final forty pages come with a crash to awake your senses and reveal the purpose to the earlier pacing.
A good time.
October 12, 2020
Pese a no ser nada nuevo dentro del género me ha gustado mucho. El hecho de que la protagonista sea una niña hace la novela mucho más sencilla y amena.
Su tía abuela está apunto de fallecer y se trae algo entre manos con la pequeña Rowan. A lo largo de las páginas veremos no solo la trama de terror sino también los problemas personales de sus padres.
Si os gusta el terror seguro que lo encontráis entretenido.
Su tía abuela está apunto de fallecer y se trae algo entre manos con la pequeña Rowan. A lo largo de las páginas veremos no solo la trama de terror sino también los problemas personales de sus padres.
Si os gusta el terror seguro que lo encontráis entretenido.
April 13, 2009
First published back in 1988, Campbell’s psychological horror ‘The Influence’ delves into the world of the spirit and the afterlife. He quickly sets the situation of the book down, with the introduction of the very close-knit Faraday family, then slowly builds the tension as the story unfolds. Campbell’s characterization of the family is superb, making the characters believable and their personalities involved. The character of Rowan in particular is easily liked and draws upon your emotions as she discovers the true secret to her new friend Vicky.
The novel is written with a changing perspective from chapter to chapter. Campbell shifts back and forth in time between the characters, allowing a situation to happen with one character, then the next chapter would shift backwards and replay the events of the previous chapter through the eyes of someone else. This well-established technique can work well if done in the right manner with the right novel, but often (as in this case), can become tedious and frustrating.
The book is slow-paced and never really grips you with the plot. Campbell does manage to build up some tension and an underlying suspense after a while, but this somehow doesn’t seem to get the reader any more involved with the book. The novel’s principal idea that the last dream you have will last an eternity, as this is all there is left once death takes you, is an interesting and thought-provoking notion.
I wouldn’t say that the novel is a particularly bad one, but compared with other such novels of a similar theme available, this one seems to fall short a little. A Campbell fan will enjoy this book, but I wouldn’t suggest it as an introduction to his work.
The book was originally meant to be fully illustrated with J.K. Potter’s dark and twisted use of photography creating the illustrations. Back in 1987, Potter even came to England to live with the Campbells and shoot photos of Ramsey’s then ten-year-old daughter. The photos were shot in all the locations where the novel takes place, and are available in Potter's photographic retrospective 'Horripilations'.
The novel is written with a changing perspective from chapter to chapter. Campbell shifts back and forth in time between the characters, allowing a situation to happen with one character, then the next chapter would shift backwards and replay the events of the previous chapter through the eyes of someone else. This well-established technique can work well if done in the right manner with the right novel, but often (as in this case), can become tedious and frustrating.
The book is slow-paced and never really grips you with the plot. Campbell does manage to build up some tension and an underlying suspense after a while, but this somehow doesn’t seem to get the reader any more involved with the book. The novel’s principal idea that the last dream you have will last an eternity, as this is all there is left once death takes you, is an interesting and thought-provoking notion.
I wouldn’t say that the novel is a particularly bad one, but compared with other such novels of a similar theme available, this one seems to fall short a little. A Campbell fan will enjoy this book, but I wouldn’t suggest it as an introduction to his work.
The book was originally meant to be fully illustrated with J.K. Potter’s dark and twisted use of photography creating the illustrations. Back in 1987, Potter even came to England to live with the Campbells and shoot photos of Ramsey’s then ten-year-old daughter. The photos were shot in all the locations where the novel takes place, and are available in Potter's photographic retrospective 'Horripilations'.
December 4, 2011
I'm done. I have now abandoned the second of the five Ramsey Campbell novels I read -- or didn't read as the case may be.
Lured in by the fact that the Oxford Companion to English Literature refers to him as "the most respected living horror writer," I gave him my best shot. Perhaps the stories neither age nor travel well.
This time out, the scary great aunt dies and attempts to take over the soul of her young grandniece. If this had been a made-for-tv movie now making the rounds of Chiller Network, I would have watched it assuming I had it on saved on the DVR and could fast forward the commercials. But as I book, I quit half way through.
Perhaps purchasing and reading this 1989 Tor paperback was a form or ritual humiliation. It sports exactly the kind of packaging I snorted at in derision for years in the used book trade. The black cover has an embossed silver mansion and embossed silver title outlined in gold and uses a a font that once advertised all night horror films at the drive-in. The cover is die-cut, and a spooky little girl looks out the attic window. Open the front flap and the that same spooky girl stands in in a big spooky hand with long fingernails. I'll go ahead and make those "long, spooky fingernails." This clearly comes from a period in publishing when looking as much like a V.C. Andrews' novel as possible was a wise commercial choice. A year or so ago, a fairly convincing article in The Believer suggested it is was time to re-evaluate V.C. Andrews. I am going to let some one else take the bullet on that one.
Lured in by the fact that the Oxford Companion to English Literature refers to him as "the most respected living horror writer," I gave him my best shot. Perhaps the stories neither age nor travel well.
This time out, the scary great aunt dies and attempts to take over the soul of her young grandniece. If this had been a made-for-tv movie now making the rounds of Chiller Network, I would have watched it assuming I had it on saved on the DVR and could fast forward the commercials. But as I book, I quit half way through.
Perhaps purchasing and reading this 1989 Tor paperback was a form or ritual humiliation. It sports exactly the kind of packaging I snorted at in derision for years in the used book trade. The black cover has an embossed silver mansion and embossed silver title outlined in gold and uses a a font that once advertised all night horror films at the drive-in. The cover is die-cut, and a spooky little girl looks out the attic window. Open the front flap and the that same spooky girl stands in in a big spooky hand with long fingernails. I'll go ahead and make those "long, spooky fingernails." This clearly comes from a period in publishing when looking as much like a V.C. Andrews' novel as possible was a wise commercial choice. A year or so ago, a fairly convincing article in The Believer suggested it is was time to re-evaluate V.C. Andrews. I am going to let some one else take the bullet on that one.
March 1, 2020
4* I truly enjoyed this one way more than I expected.
A family in mourning the loss of one of the matriarch. She has always been a strange woman that demanded to be buried with a very special locket.
A ghost story with a twist and great atmosphere where you do not see the big reveal until it is already there in front of you. Told through the perspective of different characters it might seem confusing at first but you catch up quickly and get to explore the different thoughts from several family members which makes you way more invested in the story.
A family in mourning the loss of one of the matriarch. She has always been a strange woman that demanded to be buried with a very special locket.
A ghost story with a twist and great atmosphere where you do not see the big reveal until it is already there in front of you. Told through the perspective of different characters it might seem confusing at first but you catch up quickly and get to explore the different thoughts from several family members which makes you way more invested in the story.
March 21, 2022
I’m always a fan of Ramsey Campbell and this one didn’t disappoint. Definitely an 80’s horror feel. I really like the development of the characters because they seemed very realistic. It’s obviously a possession story, you can read the synopsis for that, but I liked the viewpoint of the child especially. It develops a bit slowly but still kept my interest and lured me in. An enjoyable read.
October 17, 2017
Me considero una neófita en prácticamente todos los géneros de literatura, me hace falta muchísimo por conocer y explorar. Ramsey Campbell para mí es parte de la exploración, más concretamente del género de terror – horror. Siento que este libro fue una buena aproximación al género, y es que creo que, en estos tiempos modernos y post modernos, lo más difícil es asustar y hacer reír. El miedo que produce Ramsey Campbell no es del tipo que te va a catapultar el corazón del pecho, es un miedo construido lentamente desde la zozobra, pero al mismo tiempo se combina con la sobriedad y el sosiego en la narración.
Campbell recurre a los temores cotidianos, no al monstruo que espera en la oscuridad, y es por esto que su efecto es diferente sobre el lector. En influencia, se parte de dos opuestos, el final de la vida y el inicio de esta, los personajes principales son la tía - abuela Queenie y la niña Rowan, que ejemplifican el inicio y el fin del ciclo de la vida.
Ramsey crea una atmosfera de añoranza y abandono, en esta dinámica nos expone al olvido, porque Queenie encarna estos sentimientos y se vale de Rowan para hacerlos explícitos, Queenie no quiere morir, no quiere estar sola, pero más allá de la soledad no quiere ser olvidada, es egocéntrica y egoísta. Rowan por otro lado, es una niña dulce e inocente que apenas está empezando a vivir y que no comprende el mundo de los adultos, sus pesares o sus angustias.
Presentando el enlace de la anciana con la niña, Campbell nos lleva por los derroteros de la angustia a desaparecer, por la necesidad de preservar la identidad y no querer mirar al vacío. Campbell no suscita miedo, pero evoca la angustia de ese ser indefenso que fuimos de niños y la angustia ahora de adultos al pensar en nuestra futura vejez. Si bien, no hay una lucha evidente entre el bien y el mal, el autor si nos da esperanza, pues al menos la mezquindad puede ser derrotada.
Campbell recurre a los temores cotidianos, no al monstruo que espera en la oscuridad, y es por esto que su efecto es diferente sobre el lector. En influencia, se parte de dos opuestos, el final de la vida y el inicio de esta, los personajes principales son la tía - abuela Queenie y la niña Rowan, que ejemplifican el inicio y el fin del ciclo de la vida.
Ramsey crea una atmosfera de añoranza y abandono, en esta dinámica nos expone al olvido, porque Queenie encarna estos sentimientos y se vale de Rowan para hacerlos explícitos, Queenie no quiere morir, no quiere estar sola, pero más allá de la soledad no quiere ser olvidada, es egocéntrica y egoísta. Rowan por otro lado, es una niña dulce e inocente que apenas está empezando a vivir y que no comprende el mundo de los adultos, sus pesares o sus angustias.
Presentando el enlace de la anciana con la niña, Campbell nos lleva por los derroteros de la angustia a desaparecer, por la necesidad de preservar la identidad y no querer mirar al vacío. Campbell no suscita miedo, pero evoca la angustia de ese ser indefenso que fuimos de niños y la angustia ahora de adultos al pensar en nuestra futura vejez. Si bien, no hay una lucha evidente entre el bien y el mal, el autor si nos da esperanza, pues al menos la mezquindad puede ser derrotada.
August 2, 2025
La idea sonaba interesante, pero el que se centrara tanto en el drama familiar de los padres de Rowan, a que Alison se pasara diciendo lo malvada que era Queenie y nunca lo mostrara, y la forma en como termina creo que terminan tirando la historia a pesar de que si tiene dos muy buenas escenas.
Creo que si se hubiera enfocado más en tener esas escenas y ver como Queenie hacia esa influencia habría sido más interesante.
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Creo que si se hubiera enfocado más en tener esas escenas y ver como Queenie hacia esa influencia habría sido más interesante.
potencial tenia
spoiler
SPOILERS
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February 26, 2022
Ill have to try this one another time
July 31, 2016
When it comes to Ramsey Campbell, I don't read many reviews of his novels anymore, I just pick one based on whether I think the plot sounds interesting and read it.
I've read enough of his books to know I always enjoy them, even when I don't think they're masterpieces. And I've read enough reviews to know some people like him and some never will. I do, and it seems every six months or so I get an itch to read another of his books.
Unfortunately out of the seven novels I've read by him I'd have to put this one in the bottom two or three. I didn't feel it delivered all the creepy glimpses of suggestive horror Campbell is known for in his best work. There were certainly moments where it came through, but they were a bit scarce and often felt milder and less memorable. Also the end felt a bit "tacked on." This isn't a first novel I would suggest to a newcomer, mostly because I didn't think it represented his style at it's best.
In brief, the novel follows the story of Alison, her husband Derek and their daughter Rowan who move into the house of Alison's dead aunt Queenie who starts to take possession of Rowan.
It's a bit slow for the first half, but once it gets going about half through we start to get a lot of cliff-hanger chapter endings. A chapter will end with one character and the next picks up with another. The various storylines separate and intersect again, building tension skillfully. One thing I thought was effectively handled was how the rules we expect the evil force in the book to be bound by are at one point thrown out the window. It's at this point that we get a very well-handled, disorientating chapter where anything seems possible, and that introduces the possession which fully takes hold in the following chapters.
This novel feels different for Campbell. For one thing it has a more traditional ghost story/haunted house feel, and less of a weird fiction vibe. This novel also eschews the urban grit Campbell's early work is known for and has an almost semi-rural, seaside flavor.
Oddly, this book was written between what are probably my two favorite novels of his "Ancient Images" and "The Hungry Moon," books I enjoyed so much I'd like to re-read them. Unfortunately this one didn't impress me nearly as much.
I've read enough of his books to know I always enjoy them, even when I don't think they're masterpieces. And I've read enough reviews to know some people like him and some never will. I do, and it seems every six months or so I get an itch to read another of his books.
Unfortunately out of the seven novels I've read by him I'd have to put this one in the bottom two or three. I didn't feel it delivered all the creepy glimpses of suggestive horror Campbell is known for in his best work. There were certainly moments where it came through, but they were a bit scarce and often felt milder and less memorable. Also the end felt a bit "tacked on." This isn't a first novel I would suggest to a newcomer, mostly because I didn't think it represented his style at it's best.
In brief, the novel follows the story of Alison, her husband Derek and their daughter Rowan who move into the house of Alison's dead aunt Queenie who starts to take possession of Rowan.
It's a bit slow for the first half, but once it gets going about half through we start to get a lot of cliff-hanger chapter endings. A chapter will end with one character and the next picks up with another. The various storylines separate and intersect again, building tension skillfully. One thing I thought was effectively handled was how the rules we expect the evil force in the book to be bound by are at one point thrown out the window. It's at this point that we get a very well-handled, disorientating chapter where anything seems possible, and that introduces the possession which fully takes hold in the following chapters.
This novel feels different for Campbell. For one thing it has a more traditional ghost story/haunted house feel, and less of a weird fiction vibe. This novel also eschews the urban grit Campbell's early work is known for and has an almost semi-rural, seaside flavor.
Oddly, this book was written between what are probably my two favorite novels of his "Ancient Images" and "The Hungry Moon," books I enjoyed so much I'd like to re-read them. Unfortunately this one didn't impress me nearly as much.
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