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Obsession
The deal seemed too good to be true. Until it came time to pay.
The letters said, “Whatever you most need, I do. The price is something that you do not value and which you may regain.� To four teenagers, it seemed an offer too good to pass up. They filled out the enclosed forms. Indeed, they soon got what they needed most, but in shocking ways they never imagined. Twenty-five years later, they have never been able to forget the horror. But it’s not over yet. In fact, it’s about to get much worse. Now it’s time to pay the price.
The letters said, “Whatever you most need, I do. The price is something that you do not value and which you may regain.� To four teenagers, it seemed an offer too good to pass up. They filled out the enclosed forms. Indeed, they soon got what they needed most, but in shocking ways they never imagined. Twenty-five years later, they have never been able to forget the horror. But it’s not over yet. In fact, it’s about to get much worse. Now it’s time to pay the price.
280 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1985
4 people are currently reading
423 people want to read
About the author
Ramsey Campbell
826Ìýbooks1,567ÌýfollowersRamsey Campbell is a British writer considered by a number of critics to be one of the great masters of horror fiction. T. E. D. Klein has written that "Campbell reigns supreme in the field today," while S. T. Joshi has said that "future generations will regard him as the leading horror writer of our generation, every bit the equal of Lovecraft or Blackwood."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
November 1, 2017
One of my first Horror novels!
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS THIS BOOK?!
I had some trouble to locate this particular novel on GR due that when I read this book, I did it on a translated-to-Spanish edition and the publishing house who managed that edition, they decided to become creative with the title, and in Spanish, this book was marketed as "Cartas Malditas" (Cursed Letters), so from Cartas Malditas to Obsession, it was quite a "lost in translation" leap!
BUT when you read the novel, you have to admit that it's not so farfetched option for a title, but when they changed it so much a title of a book, it can become a mess to pinpoint the book, specially if the author is one so prolific as Ramsey Campbell.
CURSED LETTERS... ER... I MEAN OBSESSION!
I loved this book.
I am kinda shocked that it was rated here so low, because I really think that it's an exceptional horror novel, at least in my humble personal opinion, true, it was one of my first Horror novels (back then in 1991), but I still think that if I'd re-read it again, it would still remain as a great reading experience again.
The premise is kinda cliché, a group of friends get the chance to make a wish and you can bet that those wishes will be fulfilled but the outcome will be something unexpected and terrible.
Since wishes always come with a price.
But, it's just the very reason to read a novel like these one.
You may know the type of story and you may have a pretty good idea of how it will developed, however you still want to read it.
Because this kind of Horror novels is so much creepy fun!
I think that the grand master Ramsey Campbell designed a great cast of characters.
Each one with a very particular personal background and he gave them believable motivations for the wishes that they asked.
If you like horror novels and/or you are fan of Campbell, you should give to this book a chance...
...who knows?
Maybe you get...
...obsessed with it!
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS THIS BOOK?!
I had some trouble to locate this particular novel on GR due that when I read this book, I did it on a translated-to-Spanish edition and the publishing house who managed that edition, they decided to become creative with the title, and in Spanish, this book was marketed as "Cartas Malditas" (Cursed Letters), so from Cartas Malditas to Obsession, it was quite a "lost in translation" leap!
BUT when you read the novel, you have to admit that it's not so farfetched option for a title, but when they changed it so much a title of a book, it can become a mess to pinpoint the book, specially if the author is one so prolific as Ramsey Campbell.
CURSED LETTERS... ER... I MEAN OBSESSION!
I loved this book.
I am kinda shocked that it was rated here so low, because I really think that it's an exceptional horror novel, at least in my humble personal opinion, true, it was one of my first Horror novels (back then in 1991), but I still think that if I'd re-read it again, it would still remain as a great reading experience again.
The premise is kinda cliché, a group of friends get the chance to make a wish and you can bet that those wishes will be fulfilled but the outcome will be something unexpected and terrible.
Since wishes always come with a price.
But, it's just the very reason to read a novel like these one.
You may know the type of story and you may have a pretty good idea of how it will developed, however you still want to read it.
Because this kind of Horror novels is so much creepy fun!
I think that the grand master Ramsey Campbell designed a great cast of characters.
Each one with a very particular personal background and he gave them believable motivations for the wishes that they asked.
If you like horror novels and/or you are fan of Campbell, you should give to this book a chance...
...who knows?
Maybe you get...
...obsessed with it!
July 20, 2012
Continuing Samhain Horror's line of re-printed Ramsey Campbell novels is "Obsession", a novel hinging on one of the most classic of all cautionary themes, be careful what you wish for...you may just get it. In this novel, half-hearted, juvenile wishes are granted in horrible, unimaginable ways, but - as always in these tales - there's a price to pay. A terrible one, which is visited years down the road, after the wishes have long been forgotten.
A group of friends are faced with a fantastic, impossible scenario: wishing away their adolescent problems. Peter's grandmother has recently moved in, changing he and his family's way of life. Jimmy's father is forever throwing money away at the horse races, even as their little family-run cafe is failing. Steve - a budding communist - faces persecution at school from a teacher because of his beliefs. And Robin's single mother must constantly deal with sexual harassment in the workplace.
These are problems of life. And like all problems, there are no easy answers. Or are there? Because one day, Peter receives in the mail a form and a very simple letter reading the following:
Whatever you most need, I do. The price is something that you do not value and which you may regain.
Thinking the whole matter a hoax, the four friends fill out their forms and make their wishes on a bluff overlooking the coast. However, at an inopportune - and eerie - moment, the forms are all torn from their grasps by the wind and blown out to sea, and they are quick to chalk the whole thing up to exactly what they'd imagined it to be: a prank.
But the wishes come true. In some ways horrible, in others unexpected, but looming behind them all is the second stipulation of the letter: the price. But of course they are children, flexible and adaptable and very willing to forget, which is exactly what they do. Forget, separate, grow up and live their own lives. And, really - could the price be so bad? Especially considering that it would be something that they "do not value"?
However, twenty-five years later, they realize a terrifying truth: that what they value NOW very likely was something they did NOT value when they made the pact. So what they'd have no fear of losing as adolescents...may now be the most important things to them.
As always, Campbell mines feelings and emotions from the deep well of the human condition. And, especially in this work, his supernatural touch is very light. It's there, in the letters and some hauntings, but so much of this novel is about the characters themselves: how their lives may or may not have turned out how they wanted, (Peter's dull, bland life), how they deal with tragedy, (Jimmy's wife's death), adversity, (Steve's marital problems) and illness (Robin's mother slipping deeper into dementia and Alzheimer's). The real horror in this novel is life and mistakes and failure and desperation, which very much lift it above normal horror fare.
A group of friends are faced with a fantastic, impossible scenario: wishing away their adolescent problems. Peter's grandmother has recently moved in, changing he and his family's way of life. Jimmy's father is forever throwing money away at the horse races, even as their little family-run cafe is failing. Steve - a budding communist - faces persecution at school from a teacher because of his beliefs. And Robin's single mother must constantly deal with sexual harassment in the workplace.
These are problems of life. And like all problems, there are no easy answers. Or are there? Because one day, Peter receives in the mail a form and a very simple letter reading the following:
Whatever you most need, I do. The price is something that you do not value and which you may regain.
Thinking the whole matter a hoax, the four friends fill out their forms and make their wishes on a bluff overlooking the coast. However, at an inopportune - and eerie - moment, the forms are all torn from their grasps by the wind and blown out to sea, and they are quick to chalk the whole thing up to exactly what they'd imagined it to be: a prank.
But the wishes come true. In some ways horrible, in others unexpected, but looming behind them all is the second stipulation of the letter: the price. But of course they are children, flexible and adaptable and very willing to forget, which is exactly what they do. Forget, separate, grow up and live their own lives. And, really - could the price be so bad? Especially considering that it would be something that they "do not value"?
However, twenty-five years later, they realize a terrifying truth: that what they value NOW very likely was something they did NOT value when they made the pact. So what they'd have no fear of losing as adolescents...may now be the most important things to them.
As always, Campbell mines feelings and emotions from the deep well of the human condition. And, especially in this work, his supernatural touch is very light. It's there, in the letters and some hauntings, but so much of this novel is about the characters themselves: how their lives may or may not have turned out how they wanted, (Peter's dull, bland life), how they deal with tragedy, (Jimmy's wife's death), adversity, (Steve's marital problems) and illness (Robin's mother slipping deeper into dementia and Alzheimer's). The real horror in this novel is life and mistakes and failure and desperation, which very much lift it above normal horror fare.
December 18, 2020
A meandering and uninvolving story traps a great Faustian idea.
I want to declare that I love slow burn/quiet horror. It is a type of horror that is derided nowadays for being too "artsy," tedious, and uninteresting, with works in this subgenre often ending up unread, unwatched, or just remaining unknown. If you work in this genre, it's an uphill battle to financial success.
But none of that is a problem when you are Ramsey Campbell, an author touted by many as the successor to M.R. James. Campbell has always indulged in this style, creating non-straightforward tales filled with tons of insinuations of unutterable horrors. He also has characters who lose their grip on reality with the requisite endings that make the reader ponder whether the madness was because of real supernatural horror or the result of a character losing his grip on reality. (Campbell does mention that he counts as one of his influences Alain Resnais, who directed the classic headscratcher Last Year at Marienbad (1960))
This discussion brings us to his tale of Faustian Horror, Obsession. Campbell was influenced by the scene in Rocky III (1982) wherein Rocky accepts a favor from Creed to help Rocky regain the "eye of the tiger" without knowing the price to pay for this favor. Campbell crafts a plot out of this unnoticed dilemma while adding the ambiguity of the benefactor's identity. In this case, four friends with pressing family and social problems (Peter, Jimmy, Steve, and Robin) decide -out of innocent fun- to fill out a set of forms sent anonymously to Peter.
The forms contain these statements:
WHATEVER YOU MOST NEED I DO.
WHAT I MOST NEED IS
Without a signature this form is invalid
Your price is something that you do not value and which you may not regain.
The four friends then transcribe their most immediate and pressing needs and, before they have a chance to reconsider, the pages are blown away by the wind and fall into the sea. After that, their wishes come true, but one of them gets to regret his request for a long time.
Flash forward 25 years later, and the gang of four all have different jobs and confronted with personal and professional problems. Peter, on the other hand, sees things in a different light. Haunted occasionally by the ghost of his dead grandmother (a consequence of his wish?), he believes the time to pay the price for their childishness is now. After Jimmy's wife suffers a fatal accident by following the supposed voice of a child calling for help in an abandoned theatre, Peter might not be wrong after all.
The premise of the story is pure gold; Campbell combines a fresh take on the Faustian theme with Magical Realism, with the mysterious forms being the primary fantastical element as opposed to the grittiness of the character's lives in their dead-end seaside town.
I was excited by the initial concept and ideas of Campbell; their execution, on the other hand, was entirely lacking and underwhelming, as it was a chore to read through the rest of the book. I prefer suggesting rather than showing a more tangible threat, but I barely read any "threat" in Obsession. I was 64% done with the book, and all I have read were the never-ending lamentations of the various characters on their sorry state of life. Instead of piling up and building on the dread, we have what seems to be lost scenes from BBC family dramas or those Ken Loach middle-class life-is-so-hard films. Also, because of the constant bemoaning of the characters of their problems, I would often think of them as caricatures and mouthpieces for Campbell's pet peeves rather than well fleshed out characters.
I can criticize Campbell because I have read better things from him. "" had an incredible and slow buildup that led to a satisfying ending. Campbell's short story "Through the Walls" was a masterclass in quiet horror: every scene pregnant with suggestive horror despite the leisurely pace. Compared to those works, Obsession is too mild and tame, even by Campbell's standards.
It does pick up near the end of the book, with its non-traditional way of resolving the conflict at hand. Even if it was meandering, the work surprised me with its unpredictability, a quality lacking from most films and books in the genre. I also appreciated Campbell's sense of restraint when it comes to horrific scenes. Often, writers would over-describe, killing any sense of mystery and dread. Here, Campbell does the opposite by having the supernatural perceived for a fleeting moment before making it disappear. The scene that best embodies this is when Peter realizes that his horrible wish is happening, and there is nothing he can do about it.
If you are an absolute fan of this type of story, then you will enjoy this. But if you are not willing to endure having great horror ideas slammed inside bland domestic drama, then stay away.
I want to declare that I love slow burn/quiet horror. It is a type of horror that is derided nowadays for being too "artsy," tedious, and uninteresting, with works in this subgenre often ending up unread, unwatched, or just remaining unknown. If you work in this genre, it's an uphill battle to financial success.
But none of that is a problem when you are Ramsey Campbell, an author touted by many as the successor to M.R. James. Campbell has always indulged in this style, creating non-straightforward tales filled with tons of insinuations of unutterable horrors. He also has characters who lose their grip on reality with the requisite endings that make the reader ponder whether the madness was because of real supernatural horror or the result of a character losing his grip on reality. (Campbell does mention that he counts as one of his influences Alain Resnais, who directed the classic headscratcher Last Year at Marienbad (1960))
This discussion brings us to his tale of Faustian Horror, Obsession. Campbell was influenced by the scene in Rocky III (1982) wherein Rocky accepts a favor from Creed to help Rocky regain the "eye of the tiger" without knowing the price to pay for this favor. Campbell crafts a plot out of this unnoticed dilemma while adding the ambiguity of the benefactor's identity. In this case, four friends with pressing family and social problems (Peter, Jimmy, Steve, and Robin) decide -out of innocent fun- to fill out a set of forms sent anonymously to Peter.
The forms contain these statements:
WHATEVER YOU MOST NEED I DO.
WHAT I MOST NEED IS
Without a signature this form is invalid
Your price is something that you do not value and which you may not regain.
The four friends then transcribe their most immediate and pressing needs and, before they have a chance to reconsider, the pages are blown away by the wind and fall into the sea. After that, their wishes come true, but one of them gets to regret his request for a long time.
Flash forward 25 years later, and the gang of four all have different jobs and confronted with personal and professional problems. Peter, on the other hand, sees things in a different light. Haunted occasionally by the ghost of his dead grandmother (a consequence of his wish?), he believes the time to pay the price for their childishness is now. After Jimmy's wife suffers a fatal accident by following the supposed voice of a child calling for help in an abandoned theatre, Peter might not be wrong after all.
The premise of the story is pure gold; Campbell combines a fresh take on the Faustian theme with Magical Realism, with the mysterious forms being the primary fantastical element as opposed to the grittiness of the character's lives in their dead-end seaside town.
I was excited by the initial concept and ideas of Campbell; their execution, on the other hand, was entirely lacking and underwhelming, as it was a chore to read through the rest of the book. I prefer suggesting rather than showing a more tangible threat, but I barely read any "threat" in Obsession. I was 64% done with the book, and all I have read were the never-ending lamentations of the various characters on their sorry state of life. Instead of piling up and building on the dread, we have what seems to be lost scenes from BBC family dramas or those Ken Loach middle-class life-is-so-hard films. Also, because of the constant bemoaning of the characters of their problems, I would often think of them as caricatures and mouthpieces for Campbell's pet peeves rather than well fleshed out characters.
I can criticize Campbell because I have read better things from him. "" had an incredible and slow buildup that led to a satisfying ending. Campbell's short story "Through the Walls" was a masterclass in quiet horror: every scene pregnant with suggestive horror despite the leisurely pace. Compared to those works, Obsession is too mild and tame, even by Campbell's standards.
It does pick up near the end of the book, with its non-traditional way of resolving the conflict at hand. Even if it was meandering, the work surprised me with its unpredictability, a quality lacking from most films and books in the genre. I also appreciated Campbell's sense of restraint when it comes to horrific scenes. Often, writers would over-describe, killing any sense of mystery and dread. Here, Campbell does the opposite by having the supernatural perceived for a fleeting moment before making it disappear. The scene that best embodies this is when Peter realizes that his horrible wish is happening, and there is nothing he can do about it.
If you are an absolute fan of this type of story, then you will enjoy this. But if you are not willing to endure having great horror ideas slammed inside bland domestic drama, then stay away.
September 15, 2021
I really took to this one. My #1 favorite writer Ruth Rendell writes stories like this, where obsession and madness weave coincidence from among a varied cast of characters into unbearable suspense. Mr. Campbell's story has more supernatural echoes than Rendell usually includes but I could not help thinking of Minty from her ADAM AND EVE AND PINCH ME, who was terrified by visions of ghosts.
Anyway Campbell's writing is in top form here. There are just enough stylistic flourishes to serve the story rather than distract (as I complained about THE PARASITE) and every time I picked it up I became completely absorbed.
This book stands out in the horror genre for the maturity of its scares, because the characters are terrorized by means of damage to their reputations while they endure the pitfalls of middle age. I have never read a book so concerned with the weight of reputation before. And there are no writers or pre-teens here, free to roam at leisure- these characters seem like everyday people with normal daily-grind jobs, caught in between caring for children, strained marriages, and small town careers. There are some heartbreaking scenes such as one family's grief and another character's depression, caused by caring for a parent suffering attacks from a brutal dementia.
Mostly this is a well-executed suspense thriller, but there are a few chills as the social worker finds himself hounded by the "price" of that long-ago bargain:
"Absurdly, what sent him back under the trees was the threat of being drenched. At least he might still be struck by lightning. His skin was crawling with electricity, the endless forest was exploding from the center of his brain. He wished he hadn't shouted, for he felt as if he'd called something that was rushing toward him, at his back now, in his brain. Perhaps he was screaming as he ran, screaming at the headache his skull could no longer contain, or perhaps that was the forest shrieking past him, the squeal of wooden needles underfoot. Was that the forest road ahead, the crossroads where highwaymen were buried? Why did he want to be in the open if what was driving him onward was only the storm? Yes, it was a crossroads, though one he'd never seen before. He staggered out between the roads, and the lightning struck him ...
Anyway Campbell's writing is in top form here. There are just enough stylistic flourishes to serve the story rather than distract (as I complained about THE PARASITE) and every time I picked it up I became completely absorbed.
This book stands out in the horror genre for the maturity of its scares, because the characters are terrorized by means of damage to their reputations while they endure the pitfalls of middle age. I have never read a book so concerned with the weight of reputation before. And there are no writers or pre-teens here, free to roam at leisure- these characters seem like everyday people with normal daily-grind jobs, caught in between caring for children, strained marriages, and small town careers. There are some heartbreaking scenes such as one family's grief and another character's depression, caused by caring for a parent suffering attacks from a brutal dementia.
Mostly this is a well-executed suspense thriller, but there are a few chills as the social worker finds himself hounded by the "price" of that long-ago bargain:
"Absurdly, what sent him back under the trees was the threat of being drenched. At least he might still be struck by lightning. His skin was crawling with electricity, the endless forest was exploding from the center of his brain. He wished he hadn't shouted, for he felt as if he'd called something that was rushing toward him, at his back now, in his brain. Perhaps he was screaming as he ran, screaming at the headache his skull could no longer contain, or perhaps that was the forest shrieking past him, the squeal of wooden needles underfoot. Was that the forest road ahead, the crossroads where highwaymen were buried? Why did he want to be in the open if what was driving him onward was only the storm? Yes, it was a crossroads, though one he'd never seen before. He staggered out between the roads, and the lightning struck him ...
November 6, 2018
The premise of this novel is simple: a group of four teenagers, all with what seem insurmountable problems in their home life, fill out and sign forms which have been sent anonymously to one of them - from someone who claims to be able to solve their most pressing problems in return for something they do not value. Then those forms are snatched by the wind and blown out to sea, and soon afterwards events occur which seem to be in direct relation to the problem they each described. The trouble is, in some cases that solution is fairly horrible - especially in the case of Peter's slightly senile grandmother.
Move forward 25 years to the, in some cases, unsatisfactory adult life each of them has built and the problems start coming home to roost - because the things they didn't care about at the time, such as reputation or success in business, start to be destroyed. There is a creepy atmosphere to all this, although the only overt supernatural element is the return of Peter's grandmother who is bent on revenge. The most horrific part of the story is probably the portrayal of senile dementia/Alzheimers in the character of the mother who sets about systematically destroying her daughter's reputation as a doctor and even trying to get her put into jail for drug dealing (which she is not doing). The story does succeed in creating sympathy for at least three of the four, although I found some difficulty relating to Peter who is the most damaged of the grown characters. For that and the occasionally too over the top aspects I would rate this story as 4 star.
Move forward 25 years to the, in some cases, unsatisfactory adult life each of them has built and the problems start coming home to roost - because the things they didn't care about at the time, such as reputation or success in business, start to be destroyed. There is a creepy atmosphere to all this, although the only overt supernatural element is the return of Peter's grandmother who is bent on revenge. The most horrific part of the story is probably the portrayal of senile dementia/Alzheimers in the character of the mother who sets about systematically destroying her daughter's reputation as a doctor and even trying to get her put into jail for drug dealing (which she is not doing). The story does succeed in creating sympathy for at least three of the four, although I found some difficulty relating to Peter who is the most damaged of the grown characters. For that and the occasionally too over the top aspects I would rate this story as 4 star.
July 29, 2015
This was my second book from Ramsey Campbell, and honestly I'm still not sure how I feel about the author. Obsession starts out interesting enough, then it gets really slow. Then it speeds back up. Overall it wasn't bad. There are ghosts in the story, but you aren't quite sure if they are real or in the character's head. (Seems to lean more towards real, but it still makes you wonder.) Also, I felt as though some things were left unexplained that I would much rather have had a clear cut explanation. It is an interesting character study as the main characters all have wide and varied issues which are fascinating at times. Overall though, I was still left with a "blah" feeling once I finished.
I have mixed feelings about the book. I did enjoy it, so I suppose I would recommend it. If you enjoy twisted character studies, this is the book for you.
I have mixed feelings about the book. I did enjoy it, so I suppose I would recommend it. If you enjoy twisted character studies, this is the book for you.
June 10, 2023
2,5 Sterne
July 18, 2024
Ah, the little town of C-Word (Seaward). Never has a town been more aptly named, everyone in this book is trash. Remind me to never visit where Ramsey Campbell grew up, too many C-Wordians for my taste.
May 10, 2022
I had a real hard time with this book. First Ramsey Campbell book I've read ever. While reading it, it just felt like "back ground noise", nothing really particularly exciting, nothing keeping me going. Just felt it was blah. I had high hopes based on the summary.
May 28, 2015
This was a book that was was sometimes an irritating read--not because it was badly written but because you're stuck with characters who are being tormented so you're tormented with them. But it's definitely compelling--I know that because twice I was surprised to look up and discover I was almost at my stop on the subway.
Basically: four kids make a wish on a mysterious form. Each one wants to get rid of someone in their life. The price, according to the form, is something they don't value, and something they can get back. Only years later does the payment seem to come due--at which point their values have, of course, greatly changed.
Basically: four kids make a wish on a mysterious form. Each one wants to get rid of someone in their life. The price, according to the form, is something they don't value, and something they can get back. Only years later does the payment seem to come due--at which point their values have, of course, greatly changed.
April 10, 2011
I have a soft spot for Ramsey Campbell and have liked Obsession for years. The novel twists and turns, the pages fly by and you aren't certain precisely who is behind the ominous letter. The conclusion was shocking.
July 23, 2022
Engrossing story of the consequences of a Faustian bargain struck by a group of friends - and the extremes they go to when they want to keep what the bargain brought them. Full review:
February 11, 2022
This is the first Ramsey Campbell I have read it a wee while, and the absence certainly made my heart grow fonder his ! The sinister spectral granny is a trip!!!! There's a marvellously macabre moment where this suppurating apparition blithely eats the haunted, toupee tormented dude's soup; diabolically dripping foul fleshly grot hither and thither! I LOVED the dour seaside setting of Seahaven, got me dewy eyed as it saltily reminded me of home! All the hyper-malevolent octogenarians were vividly rendered, their deliciously mischievous antics were a delight to behold! And there are some truly inspired, Joan Crawford-style squalls of delectably melodramatic overkill in 'Obsession' which happily allowed me to forgive the book's frequent lapses into pseudo-Taggart tedium. While ultimately a trifle tepid, as always, maestro Campbell writes beautifully, his enviable gift for ably constructing a fine, filigree phrase sets him apart from the multitude of formulaic, fumble-fingered fear-makers. 'Obsession' is an amusingly schizophrenic, supernaturally-singed, Faustian tract!
July 12, 2022
There’s something a little bit different about Obsession, Ramsey Campbell’s iteration of the “be careful what you wish for� subgenre. It's still dark and dreary and very British, and it’s all framed around one inexplicable occurrence, but, overall, it loses its supernatural flair and no longer feels saturated in a ghostly phosphorescence. Actually, for Campbell, it feels downright conventional. It may have something to do with the fact that the story follows a small group of estranged friends who must deal with an ambiguous matter from their childhood, and, at this point, that’s pretty much Stephen King territory.
As horror, the book is kind of a failure. Numerous chapters end cryptically but lead nowhere. The few lingering phantoms are mundane. Some of the character interactions pick things up, harrowing moments that involve the disruption of families–divorce, elderly parents with exasperating paranoia, kidnapping, and murder–are quite compelling at times. But even these touches don’t last and end up amounting to little more than the paper-thin scares sprinkled throughout.
As horror, the book is kind of a failure. Numerous chapters end cryptically but lead nowhere. The few lingering phantoms are mundane. Some of the character interactions pick things up, harrowing moments that involve the disruption of families–divorce, elderly parents with exasperating paranoia, kidnapping, and murder–are quite compelling at times. But even these touches don’t last and end up amounting to little more than the paper-thin scares sprinkled throughout.
December 21, 2021
That unfortunate penchant for somewhat broad caricatures that marred Ancient Images absolutely throttles this book from developing in the way it should do. The weirdly passive aggressive afterword rather suggests Campbell knows this too. The central idea, that the cause of each character’s obsession isn’t necessarily something supernatural is a strong one, but rather spoiled by a heavy handed ambiguity. But even that’s quite sprightly compared to the clunking bag of cliches that most of the characters endlessly demonstrate. It’s quite annoyingly full of straw men figures, where a better and subtler book is always very close. That broadness - typified by Peter’s bloody wig, as if we hadn’t already grasped he’s a figure of genuine pathos - just lumbers the narrative with a sense of hoariness, and even well observed stuff like the Star Trek convention suffers from the same broadness that he gave to the fanzine people in Ancient Images. Close to very good but not quite close enough
July 18, 2020
While there is a hint of the supernatural in this thriller, it's more a study in suggestion and the power it has over young minds, and how it can follow into adulthood if the seed is planted deeply enough and nurtured.
Then, when the right catalyst comes along, all of a sudden, that seed bursts forth and into bloom.
Obviously, not all blossoms look like and smell as sweet as roses, as is the case in Obsession.
Ramsey Campbell's amazing capacity to portray believable characters and scenarios carries this novel, with rivalries, love, hate and jealousy leaving the reader open to all manner of surprises.
Is Obsession Campbell's best? No. But, with such a natural flair for turning the mundane slices of everyday life into truly terrific scenes, even when he's not on top form, he's head and shoulders above many others in the field. Great read.
Then, when the right catalyst comes along, all of a sudden, that seed bursts forth and into bloom.
Obviously, not all blossoms look like and smell as sweet as roses, as is the case in Obsession.
Ramsey Campbell's amazing capacity to portray believable characters and scenarios carries this novel, with rivalries, love, hate and jealousy leaving the reader open to all manner of surprises.
Is Obsession Campbell's best? No. But, with such a natural flair for turning the mundane slices of everyday life into truly terrific scenes, even when he's not on top form, he's head and shoulders above many others in the field. Great read.
November 26, 2023
.....WHATEVER YOU MOST NEED, I DO....
If I could have anything I needed and the Devil would give it to me, I would ask to win the lottery. I wouldn't ask to become rich because then you get the whole Monkeys Paw thing happening and nobody wants that....
4 young friends get this chance and make their wishes....
.....all of course come true. Great.
.....well, not great because the Devil wants paying, but for some reason he waits 25 years to collect.......
There are a couple of real creepy moments here but that's all.... I didn't really feel for the characters much, mainly because we meet them very briefly when they are youngsters and then have to adapt to what they have become as very sensible adults with responsibilities ---- also, its too long, it drags --- and this just made me care even less for them.....
If I could have anything I needed and the Devil would give it to me, I would ask to win the lottery. I wouldn't ask to become rich because then you get the whole Monkeys Paw thing happening and nobody wants that....
4 young friends get this chance and make their wishes....
.....all of course come true. Great.
.....well, not great because the Devil wants paying, but for some reason he waits 25 years to collect.......
There are a couple of real creepy moments here but that's all.... I didn't really feel for the characters much, mainly because we meet them very briefly when they are youngsters and then have to adapt to what they have become as very sensible adults with responsibilities ---- also, its too long, it drags --- and this just made me care even less for them.....
January 7, 2024
I thoroughly enjoyed my very first Ramsey Campbell read! Great cast of characters, fantastic storyline, and just enough suspense! You can call it a “quiet horror�, which is one of my most favorite types of horror to read. I did have a hard time getting some of the characters straight, but kept sticking through, and it eventually made sense.
There’s much more to the story than meets the eye. Each character wishes upon something to happen when a document magically appears to one of them. But that “something they wish for� comes with a price- 25 years later. Almost making all of them forget about the payment- almost.
There’s much more to the story than meets the eye. Each character wishes upon something to happen when a document magically appears to one of them. But that “something they wish for� comes with a price- 25 years later. Almost making all of them forget about the payment- almost.
June 21, 2024
De momento, el unico fracaso que he leido de Ramsey Campbell. Pese a su intento de revisar el mito del pacto diabolico, no lo consigue en ningun momento, los personajes son planos cargantes, aburren. Es un drama todo el tiempo con las vidas de mierda, y las historias tristes de los protas, y encima no te llegan, no te dan pena, porque como los personajes caen mal, pues es que te la pela sus destinos. Encima que el final se ve venir en todo momento, no sorprende, al final todo era una psicosis.
July 29, 2024
Started off good, a group of young friends make wishes on a mysterious piece of paper.
Fast forward 25 years later and they’ve all grown up and got boring jobs, most of it is mundane day to day activities with a little creepy bits here and there.
Mr Campbell spent so long concentrating on the characters bad luck and none on where the paper came from, by the end still didn’t know where or what it was.
It was like a bad soap opera lots of characters and no main plot line anywhere.
Fast forward 25 years later and they’ve all grown up and got boring jobs, most of it is mundane day to day activities with a little creepy bits here and there.
Mr Campbell spent so long concentrating on the characters bad luck and none on where the paper came from, by the end still didn’t know where or what it was.
It was like a bad soap opera lots of characters and no main plot line anywhere.
October 6, 2019
One of Campbell's best. The prose overreaches for effect in scattered spots, but the strengths of the work far outweigh its minor flaws. Campbell's sense of place is superb and his credible characters are well rounded without striking readers as belabored. His similes are often breathtaking and the use of such devices is measured; Campbell may be many things but self indulgent isn't one of them.
March 24, 2019
Quite a gripping tale. Campbell is a master of the genre for a reasons. He weaves backwards and forwards between his protagonists with ease and blends their various arcs into a tidy story that delivers some great horror and some well-worked scares. Good stuff.
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December 24, 2022Four children in a quiet seaside village answer a mysterious letter than promises to grant them a wish...at a price.
Obsession is the seventh novel by Ramsay Campbell. A well written horror novel which I enjoyed.
Obsession is the seventh novel by Ramsay Campbell. A well written horror novel which I enjoyed.
October 27, 2020
Didn't finish...
May 6, 2022
A good one
November 20, 2023
More of a black comedy caper than a horror novel, save for some sporadic appearances from revenants. Mild Campbell, but enjoyable nonetheless.
June 9, 2024
Didn’t work for me. I like my supernatural horror more horrific.
April 14, 2008
Horror
March 25, 2010
Overall, I enjoyed this. Well written, but forgettable.
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