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    The Grin of the Dark
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    The Grin of the Dark
    Unavailable
    The Grin of the Dark
    Ebook478 pages6 hours

    The Grin of the Dark

    By Ramsey Campbell

    3/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    A former professor offers film critic Simon the chance of a lifetime—to write a book on one of the greatest long-lost comedians of the silent-film era, Tubby Thackeray. Simon is determined to find out the truth behind the jolly fat man's disappearance from film—and from the world.

    Tubby's work carries the unmistakable stamp of the macabre. People literally laughed themselves to death during his performances. Soon, wherever Simon goes, laughter—and a clown's wide, threatening grin—follow. Is Simon losing his mind? Or is Tubby Thackeray waiting for him to open the door back to the world?
    Ramsey Campbell has won a dozen British Fantasy and World Fantasy Awards and three Bram Stoker Awards. A new Campbell novel is an opportunity to delight in the craftsmanship of an extraordinary writer.



    At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateJul 8, 2008
    ISBN9781429949927
    Unavailable
    The Grin of the Dark
    Author

    Ramsey Campbell

    Ramsey Campbell has been given more awards than any other writer in the field, including the Grand Master Award of the World Horror Convention, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Horror Writers Association, the Living Legend Award of the International Horror Guild and the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award.

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    Reviews for The Grin of the Dark

    3/5

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    • 2/5
      The Grin of the Dark has a great basic plot line, but the way it is told just couldn't keep my attention. The basic plot is that a film student is researching a forgotten silent film star, a comedian named Tubby Tackeray. Supposedly nearly all copies of his films were destroyed for being "objectionable". In fact, they were banned in the UK all together. There are also stories of people in the audience going mad or laughing themselves to death. There is a sense that there is just something really wrong with the films and that Tubby Tackeray may have been using film to transmit certain occult currents (shades of The King in Yellow). So as the student researches Tubby he finds himself becoming obsessed with the films and strangeness ensues. Yawn. It would have been a FAR better short story or perhaps a novella. However, at 400 pages the whole thing collapses under its own weight. You can only suggest something is creepy so many times before the reader simply stops caring. The book meanders around and has far too much filler. I don't care what the protagonist's had for breakfast. With a plot like this I want atmosphere and style. What I got was endless pages of the protagonist's annoying internal dialog and paranoia. It sounds workable, but it just ended up tedious and boring. The last 100 pages were a chore; I just wanted to get it over. It's really too bad. I generally like Ramsey Campbell's short stories, but when stretched out like this, it just falls apart and loses sight of its original purpose. I know others who love this book and claim it's one of Campbell's best. However, it wasn't for me at all. There was one allusion to a Thomas Ligotti story that gave me a chuckle -- sort of an in-joke, but too little too late.
    • 2/5
      I found this to be a particularly cruel story; by the time I was halfway through it I could only stand to read one chapter a day. It lacks (unless you've read the dust jacket) any suggestion of supernatural horror until the last chapter or two; prior to that it's basically a mystery, and when the horror is finally revealed you discover that it began earlier in the story that you suspected. The resolution is not believable and every last one of the characters is unlikeable. I did give it an extra star because the words are put together extremely well, but even that's not enough to recommend the book.It brought to mind F. Marion Crawford's short story "The Dead Smile" (1899).
    • 4/5
      Simon Lester is a film critic trying to restore his reputation by writing a book about forgot silent film comedian Tubby Thackeray. Tubby’s performances are legendary. They are said to have caused riots with some audience members even laughing themselves to death. Lester’s investigation into the comedian leads him to strange places and people. Simon’s life changes as he is altered mentally and physically. Was Tubby just a clown or an ancient evil that is trying to break through into our world?This story was written in first person perspective. You see the action through Simon’s eyes and understand his struggle to find information about the performer. The reader also comes to appreciate Lester’s efforts to gain the respect of his girlfriend’s parents. You also read what the main character is thinking, which becomes more and more disturbing. At the beginning of the book, it is hard to understand if the people he meets are being serious or just joking. Are they purposefully being cruel to him or is it just how he interprets what they are saying? After a while, you get into the swing of the writing and realize that everyone Simon meets is against him. This may or may not be a good thing. Of course, to Simon it’s just aggravating. His feelings of frustration are so intense that it was hard to sit down and read the novel for very long without a break.This is both a horror story and an intense mystery. The horror is based on the fear of losing ones reason and being absorbed by the occult. For example, a group gathers in an unconsecrated church for a kind of laughing orgy. The mystery is the search for Thackeray Lane aka Tubby Thackeray. Campbell drops clues throughout the book and you need to watch for them. I had to reread a few passage to understand what was implied.
    • 4/5
      This is the first Ramsey Campbell book I’ve read and I have Amazon Vine to thank for that. I don’t know how typical of his work this book is but in my opinion it was too long for what it was. When I first saw the blurb for the book I thought the premise was excellent and I was very much looking forward to reading, it seemed to have something chilling about it in the way that [Henry James]' [Turn of the Screw] chilled me. Instead it took a long time to get going and I wondered whether I would actually complete the novel.The fact that the writing is brilliant is what inspired me to keep going and I’m pleased I did, the ending looked like it was going to be great and it was. I felt like I was really invited into Simon Lester’s life, mainly through the use of first person which doesn’t always work for me. I remember feeling as involved in a character’s life when I read [House of Leaves] by [Mark Z. Danielewski]. I could imagine all of the characters but I really couldn’t imagine Simon, I couldn’t visualise what he looked like, which unsettled me at the beginning but is actually important as he goes through so many different changes as a person during his search for information about Tubby Thackeray. As a reader I went through moments where I forgot I was actually reading a piece of fiction and suddenly felt that the author was actually Simon Lester, it was quite bizarre; all the signs of a good writer I suppose.It was a very readable and really enjoyable novel overall. I would consider reading something else by this author just for comparison. I read this in two sittings to try to keep the momentum going, I have a feeling I might have been lost off if I hadn’t because so many different things are happening at the same time. I can’t confess to completely understanding it, if I’m honest, and if I was a re-reader I’d have to read it again to try to find clues as to what was happening. If it was to be a novella I’d suggest losing all the unnecessary arguments between Natalie’s parents and Simon – they were pointless, the relationship was important to explore but it went on and on detracting from the plot.