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The Grin Of The Dark (2007)

by Ramsey Campbell(Favorite Author)

3.35 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

076531939X (ISBN13: 9780765319395)

languge

English

genre

Horror

publisher

Tor Books

review 1: Down on his luck film critic Simon Lester takes on a job from a University Press to write a book reintroducing silent film star Tubby Thackery to the world. It appears that Thackery's movies and live appearances were noted to cause hysteria in his audiences and it appears that all traces of his work have been expunged. As the immensity of the task settles upon him and the stakes of his potential failure loom large, Simon appears to be cracking under the pressure . . . or is he? Perhaps Thackery's work is instead a portal to allow a chaotic cosmic terror into our world. I really wanted to love this novel but despite some nice chilling touches and a generally decent tone throughout, I never found it that compelling. Fair warning, Campbell's work is always hit or miss wi... moreth me. There's something about his writing style that I often find hard to engage with and that was certainly the case here. He does a fine job with the narrator's growing paranoia and when he finally gets to them he does a nice job presenting the cosmic horrors, but Simon is such a distant, passive and generally unlikeable character that it's hard to really have any stakes in his ultimate fate. Overall, as with much of Campbell's writing, it just wasn't my cup of tea - which is sad because I love a good story of cosmic horror.
review 2: The name of the book and having read the back cover, I was always going to read this book. I'm glad I've read it & I'm glad I own it, but I will never read the book again nor recommend it to anyone else. I loved this book and wouldn't argue against it deserving the full 5 stars in the slightest, but the strain it takes on you to get through it I feel the need to refrain from doing do. Maybe it works/plays with your mind a little to well, Maybe ill check back later and he'll have changed it to 5 stars, Maybe he's watching. less

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