The Darkest Part of the Woods by Ramsey Campbell

James as art (and yes, it is), heap praise on the late Robert Aickman.Ĭoming across the concept of 'the weird' greatly changed my perception what literature was, what you could achieve with writing in different genres.

Though even that wasn't true, quite: it was acceptable to read ghost stories by Dickens, discuss the work of M.R. That's what I'd always been told via the various channels I'd had literature taught to me. The horror genre was a base thing, a bit silly, not real writing. As someone who finds weird fiction and horror to be most effective when in rooted in real locations with a deep sense of place, I knew I had to pick up some more of his books.Ĭreatures of the Pool was the immediate answer, from all four people sat around me, with a great deal of lager-fueled enthusiasm. In the pub, I was chatting about the bits of his fiction I had to date read, and was asking what was the best Liverpool novel of his (him being a Merseyside native, of course) to read, as I kew he'd used the city extensively in some of his fiction.

The headline speaker at the event the next day was the veteran horror writer Ramsey Campbell. It could be enough to drive your barmy, that weight of history and information, but I find it (usually) invigorating and exciting. There's so much more to learn about the other cities and areas of my own country let alone the rest of the world.

After a decade I feel like I just about have a good grasp on my native city of London, and some of the parts of Kent I grew up in. Not having to explain a deep interest in literature, landscape, folklore, horror, comics, weird fiction, history and place felt great. John and Richard were goldmines of information about Liverpool, fascinating to listen to, and it made me realise just how big and interesting the world can be. We were all speaking the next day at Calderstones Park at the Spirits of Place event, and being surrounded by people who were all into the same stuff was a good feeling (something that spilled over and was magnified tenfold the next day). I was sitting in a pub around Penny Lane, Liverpool, armed with a pint after the journey up from London, chatting with John Reppion, Ian 'Cat' Vincent, David Southwell and Richard MacDonald.

The Darkest Part of the Woods by Ramsey Campbell