8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Disjointed creepiness from page 1, and never lets up., August 17, 2008
This review is from: The Grin of the Dark (Hardcover)
This is the most unusual horror novel I have read in a long time. There's practically no violence, none of blood and guts that is so ubiquitous in the horror genre, but there IS an absolutely unrelenting sense of impending dread and the climax of the book is far more satisfying than any gratuitous splatterfest. Half-seen, suggested weirdness pervades the book's atmosphere, and you're never quite sure if the narrator is completely off his rocker. This book is deft, subtle, and absolutely masterful, a needle driven in the ear rather than a roaring chainsaw.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book by a great author!, May 31, 2007
This is a very good book by Mr. Campbell. There are a number of very surrealistic and spooky scenes in it, such as disembodied faces that slid along the floor, a bunch of bizarre clowns that put on a strange almost threatening performance just to name a couple. It involves a man writing a book about a long forgotten silent film star and his supressed films. The search takes the main character to several places where he encounters people who seem unnaturally agressive towards him. A very intriguing section deals with a person on a messageboard whose screen name is Smilemime. Smilemime is a major thorn in the main characters side throughout and creates a mystery as to who he is. This is a fun and concise read that has short chapters, so it reads pretty quickly. My favorite Campbell book remaines Incarnate, but this one isn't far behind.
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A horror-comedy par excellence!, August 2, 2008
This review is from: The Grin of the Dark (Hardcover)
As much as I admire Campbell's novels and stories, my enthusiasm isn't unconditional. For instance, despite being hailed as his best novel in recent years I found The Darkest Part of the Woods (2002) to be heavy - though admittedly excellent - on atmosphere, but considerably light on substance. There was nothing there for me to cling onto, to linger. It was like trying to grasp smoke.
I've not read many novels this year, finding few periods of extended free time in order to get into them. But last week I did and decided to give Campbell's latest a try, though not without trepidation: I ordered from Amazon UK where I saw that, out of nearly 70 reviews, many readers found it to be slow, dull, boring, snooze... zzzzzz.
Ah. Um. Oh well, I ordered it anyway as I planned on buying all of the Virgin Books horror titles.
And all I can say is DID I READ THE SAME BOOK?! Slow and dull, you say? Boring? I'm not a fast reader (one of the reasons I read so few novels) but I zipped through this in less than a week, a relatively short period of time for me. It is, quite easily, the funniest book Campbell has ever written! The dialogue zings, full of bards and slights, and some of the situations our main character finds himself in are nothing short of high comedy. Superb.
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