Comments on: The Grin of the Dark by Ramsey Campbell

By: Murray

Murray — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 06:30:21 +0000

Now it’s been a while, I can’t remember exactly what happened at the end. I do remember being satisfied, at the time, that it tied everything up to my satisfaction, and that the ending was quite Lovecraftian. In that, it was the very nature of the universe itself which was revealed at the end to be a sort of malicious, dark joke at mankind’s expense, and Tubby was just the figurehead for it, or the one who had connected with this spirit of cosmic black humour.

By: Miscellaneous Fugitive

Miscellaneous Fugitive — Mon, 31 May 2010 20:05:46 +0000

Would you care to comment on what actually happens at the end? I’m used to Campbell’s style, and so the slow-build up and darkly repetitive hints were always leading somewhere, but I kind of reached the end and felt… ‘oh, okay, that explained very little’ rather more than usual.

Was Tubby possessed by some kind of malevolent entity which was attempting to use mass media to break through and spread its influence, eventually finding the anonymity of the internet a perfect foil for its desires?

By: Murray

Murray — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 18:04:46 +0000

Thanks James! I’m feeling like a re-read of the book, now, too.

By: James Armstrong

James Armstrong — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 12:12:01 +0000

Great reiew. I read it a year ago and I still find myself thinking about it regularly. In fact I’ve just picked it up again to find its potency has increased upon a second reading. Surely no other writer could use the cumulative effect of the medium to distort and damage one’s faith in reality to such a degree. Capmbell will have a hard time bettering himself but I’m not ready to doubt that he can.

Keep up the reviews, Campbell deserves far more recognition.