Midnight Sun [Mass Market Paperback]

Ramsey Campbell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1992

Ben Sterling brings his wife and children to his childhood village, where in a great forest, an old house holds the promise of all their dreams. But among the pines something seems to be gathering, glittering in the icy air. "A masterpiece. . . ."--Kirkus. HC: Tor.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Trees grow," wrote the dying Edward Sterling in the frozen earth of the forest in Stargrave, England, that became his burial ground. As his grandson Ben learns, in Campbell's beautifully poetic horror novel, the elder Sterling was answering a call from a primordial species of snow that devours humans. Ben becomes a conduit for the gluttony of this creeping arctic cold, slowly losing his reason with each victim that the entity claims, as he succumbs to its promise of immortality in exchange for the lives of his neighbors. This icy menace can succeed only through manipulating Ben's consciousness, and he cooperates--until it hunts his family. Campbell's ( Ancient Images ) artful use of metaphor paints a frightening portrait of a world tilting into chaos and the price that must be paid to save it. This absorbing novel again demonstrates the author's mastery of the horror genre.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

YA--Midnight Sun is not of the slasher, gorefest variety that passes for horror in much of the genre today. Instead, Campbell has skillfully crafted an intellectual, poetic, yet very readable thriller. Children's book writer Ben Sterling has returned to his boyhood home in the remote English country town of Stargrave. It was there that his grandfather, folklorist Edward Sterling, was found frozen to death and Ben's parents died under mysterious circumstances. Ben, now married with children, is drawn back to Stargrave by an ancient, alien lifeforce that takes possession of him as a gateway to control the world. Campbell expertly uses language to create a coiled, tense atmosphere and produce a chilling tale in the tradition of John Wyndom's Midwich Cuckoos (Ballantine, 1957; o.p.) or John Christopher's Possessors (S. & S., 1964; o.p.) A welcome addition to any horror collection.
- John Larson, Fairfax County Pub . Lib . , VA
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 374 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (January 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812518039
• ISBN-13: 978-0812518030
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,839,835 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Something Frigid This Way Comes..., August 21, 2002

By 

Bruce Rux (Aurora, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Midnight Sun (Mass Market Paperback)

Ellen is worried about her husband, successful children's book author Ben Sterling. Ever since inheriting the family house in isolated Stargrave, his old childhood demons have been reemerging. Ben's father was crazy - he traveled to the ends of the earth researching legends of the midnight sun, and committed suicide by stripping naked in a snowy clearing - and Ellen is beginning to be afraid Ben might just be a chip off the old block.

But soon something starts scaring her worse - Ben's insistence that an eldritch god is awakening in Stargrave to reshape the planet in its image seems less a fantasy than when he and his crazy father first started spouting the idea. Stargrave is changing. It's getting colder. More isolated. The trees, the snow, the very frost itself, increasingly appears to be rearranging itself into that god's own image. Which means, perhaps, that Ben isn't a madman at all, but a genuine prophet - and if that is the case, then the end of the world is at hand...

This is one of Campbell's best, and that's saying a lot. The novel is uneven, and could have been structured better, but overall it's a steadily mounting masterpiece of menace. It's most reminiscent of Algernon Blackwood and H. P. Lovecraft, in that its horror is genuinely cosmic and never truly seen except for the effects of its presence. Dramatically, it's highly reminiscent of Stephen King's The Shining, in that a snowbound woman protects her children from her increasingly unstable (and quite possibly dangerous) husband, with an unseen supernatural being influencing events from the frozen shadows.

Sadly - like most of Campbell's best work - this book is out of print, but it's well worth trying to find anyway if you're a fan of well-crafted, creep-up-behind-you horror.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Feel the chill of the Midnight Sun, March 28, 2006

By 

Deejaytee "Troy Palmer" (Bonnyville, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Midnight Sun (Mass Market Paperback)

A creepy chilling tale of supernatural horror. Perhaps not one of Campbells best but still very good. This tale will have you bolting your doors and locking your windows- as well as turning the furnace up to ward off that evil chill in the air that this book is sure to deliver.I found that this book is a great read but does have some slow parts. Definitely worth reading.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars very good horror, June 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Midnight Sun (Mass Market Paperback)

Outstanding horror novel. Campbell has a gift, and, when he's on, he can write some of the most subtle, exquistely unsettling horror around. This novel is an excellent showcase for his skill. Things don't make sense in Campbell's world. Even when the beasties come out of the closet, you won't get a sense that you understand the forces at work, or that you can somehow predict what they're going to do next. This has a way of keeping you on your toes, and keeping you scared.