The Wise Friend: Fiction Without Frontiers

I've been reading Ramsey Campbell since the early Seventies, and he remains one of my favorite authors. I have just finished Ramsey's latest THE WISE FRIEND, and wow. Just wow. This is a truly magical piece of folk horror that conjures a threat that is simultaneously winsome and menacing, awe-inspiring and pitiable, while at the same time it is also a Bildungsroman that shows how a failed father and husband rises to the threat and becomes master (Magister?) of his own destiny. I liked the sly Easter egg to THE HUNGRY MOON therein as well. Highly recommended.Addendum. I have read several reviewers here who appear greatly put out that this novel is not "horror," by which I suppose they meant it is not horrific enough for them (ie, no disembowelments or dismemberings or similar exercises in gore). As Pinhead said to the priest in HELLRAISER III who threatened him with eternal hellfire, "What a limited imagination!" "Horror" is a marketing label that covers a wide range of authors ranging from Ray Bradbury and Robert Aickman to Clive Barker and Ray Garton, and including a wide range of sensibilities. Would these reviewers decry Arthur Machen's "The White People" for not being horror? I much prefer the term H. P. Lovecraft popularised, "weird fiction," which covers those works in which it is suggested that somehow the nature laws of our world have been violated, which in turn evokes a sense of the numinous: something that is truly awful, in the original sense of "AWE-full" or "full of awe." Lovecraft was one of Campbell' main influences, and the other one, Aickman, wrote what he called "strange stories" in which ordinary, often domestic, life is subtly subverted until the result is quite disconcerting. If one is looking for gore, Ramsey Campbell is certain capable of providing such cheap thrills--read the opening of ANCIENT IMAGES, or the conclusion of NAZARETH HILL--but THE WISE FRIEND is richer fare than their palates are accustomed. It is subtle, conveying much through the gradual build-up of atmosphere and suggestion, until the denouement, which I found to be reminiscent of Lovecraft's admonition in "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" not to call up that which one cannot put down. As for me, I was unable to put down THE WISE FRIEND. If you want gore and violence, you're barking up the wrong tree. If you happen to see faint suggestions of faces and movements in those trees, you're at the right place.

I enjoyed this book very much. Since I'm just an avid reader and not a polished reviewer like many of you who post reviews on Amazon, please bear with me as I struggle through telling you why I liked this book so much. In the days and years after I read my first Stephen King novels and was hungry for more, I remember going to a local Book Exchange and also The Book Bag (remember those?) and searching the stacks for other books to read. This was the early 1980s and the big names back then were Charles E.Grant, Robert McCammon , Peter Straub, Richard Laymon, Thomas Tryon, Dean Koontz, Frank Herbert and Ramsey Campbell. I'm sure there were more, but my memory can't call them up. I never ventured to read any of Ramsey Campbell's work then because Stephen King and my Dad shaped my love of horror. Stephen King's stories start out quietly and by that, I mean usually you are an observer into the main character's life for a time as he or she goes about their day-to-day routine and then-BAM!, the scary stuff starts! I wasn't sure if Ramsey Campbell wrote like that. Back then I also wasn't sure if it was ok to read some of the book to find out! Anyway, with the advent of eReaders, I can preview books! Yay! And I have discovered that some of Ramsey Campbell's books start out quietly! "The Wise Friend" is a story that starts out quietly. For me, it almost seems like a Victorian Ghost story, but it isn't a ghost story. Having said all that, I really enjoyed this book and I am thankful I finally gave Ramsey Campbell's books a read. I've read several and each one is different. Mr. Campbell has shown he is very versatile in how he tells a tale.

I rarely ever pre-order books. I make an exception, however, whenever there’s a new one by Ramsey Campbell. Ramsey’s most recent release is his novel The Wise Friend published by Flame Tree Press.Patrick Semple is a divorced teacher who shares custody of his teenaged son. He also has a strained, yet cordial relationship with his ex-wife. This story begins following the recent death of Patrick’s aunt Thelma whose death came about under strange circumstances. She fell from the top of a vacant building in a dangerous area. Why she was there and what caused her fall are initially unknown. Thelma was a talented artist whose evocative paintings adorned the covers of several classic books. Her interest in the occult was reflected in her art which always contained a shadowy figure hidden in the landscapes she painted. While he was still a teenager staying at her house, Patrick discovered she’d been traveling to various locations which she believed to be magical in nature to collect samples of the earth in jars.Shortly after the funeral, Patrick’s son Roy becomes interested in learning more about Thelma and coaxes his dad to take him to a gallery that’s exhibiting some of her paintings. While there, they meet a girl roughly Roy’s age named Bela who’s a huge fan of Thelma and her paintings. The two of them hit it off immediately and soon begin dating. They spend all their time researching Thelma’s life and attempting to locate and travel to the magical places she painted.Despite her friendliness, Patrick becomes concerned about Bela’s influence on his son and their shared obsession with investigating Thelma and her travels. He ends up conducting his own investigation of Thelma’s occult past. Patrick’s quest to learn more about Bela begins to strain his relationship with his son as well as brining down the ire of his ex-wife as they question his motives in complicating his son’s new love interest.This is a fantastic novel! At numerous points in the story I felt a glorious chill run down my spine as Patrick’s research uncovered disturbing revelations. I found myself pleasantly reminded of another favorite Campbell novel of mine in The Kind Folk. They tell different stories of course, but I felt they would pair well together in a shared universe sort of way. There are nods to some other Campbell novels mentioned in the book as well, The Darkest Part of the Woods for one, as well as a masterfully chilling reference to Hungry Moon, which filled me with glee. It’s only a couple sentences, but it’s very ominous. I loved following along with Patrick’s investigations into his aunt’s occult interests which take him to library archives, on the road to obscure forests locations, and more. His exploration of an abandoned hotel is flat-out amazing! Then there’s the final third of the book when the cosmic horror ramps up even more as Patrick finds himself dealing with a supernatural force he has no idea how to handle. If you love folk horror intertwined with cosmic horror, mingled with a touch of the surreal, you’ll love this The Wise Friend. Believe me, Ramsey is at his full power with this one!

One of the finest novels Ramsey Campbell has written. Up there with The Darkest Part of the Woods, The Influence, Ancient Images and The Hungry Moon.As with all of Campbell's stories, the horror is gradually applied in hints, suggestions, and wordplay. It starts at the periphery and slowly moves to centre stage. The final few chapters are genuinely nightmarish. There is one brief scene involving a pillow which actually caused me to set the book aside for the night.If you haven't read Ramsey Campbell before then I'd say this is a perfect place to start.

Ramsey Campbell has won more awards than any other writer in his field and there's a good reason for that - he knows how to create an original, frightening tale, grabbing you from the first page and transporting you, scare by scare, through to the conclusion. The Wise Friend shows him in relentless top form. No one does 'creeping dread' better than Campbell and this novel positively oozes it. It will have you switching all the lights on - and dragging more lamps into the room just to make sure there isn't one single shadow where something not-of-this-word could hide, waiting to possess you when you least expect it.The Wise Friend is a masterclass in horror writing. Never grotesque or dripping with blood, the author's writing style leads your mind to form images of pure demonic horror and the darkest, most terrifying of atmospheres. A must-read for any horror fan - along with fans of suspense and fine, modern writing

I must say that I am absolutely awestruck by this chapter. Not only in its intrinsic subtle power as vintage Ramsey Campbell, perhaps even outdoing any other vintage. But also by its power over me in the context of this book,...The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long to post here.Above is one of its observations.

I've been reading Ramsey Campbell since I was in short trousers, and his best work is among the best horror fiction ever written by anyone. Happy to say that THE WISE FRIEND is a masterful novel and one of his VERY best books. That is saying a lot. I'll never forget reading it. THE WISE FRIEND is up there with THE GRIN OF THE DARK, and ANCIENT IMAGES, and so many of his others. I'm not too keen on doing plot summaries in reviews -- you can scroll down to others if they are doing that -- but I will say it's a novel concerning itself with witchcraft and the insidious ways in which the dark arts infect and disturb a particular family. I thoroughly enjoyed the first-person narrator's voice, his central relationship with his teenage son, his fraught encounters with his ex-wife, and the creeping influence of the "wise friend" of the title. Every note was pitch perfect. Atmospheric, creepy, disturbing, and even thought provoking. A mature, brilliant work that ranks among the best of Ramsey Campbell, an utter master. Brilliant!

Creeping horror, more like creeping boredom getting more boring every turn of the page. I love horror, I love creepiness, I love slow burners........this doesn't even get to slow burn stage. Boring characters with no depth, lengthy, boring conversation going over the same thing but said differently in every chapter I've yawned through. Save yourself money and time by avoiding this big book offering boredom.