Review: The Overnight

The Overnight by Ramsey Campbell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Grand Master Ramsey Campbell is unfailingly a genius. THE OVERNIGHT is a strong and stirring example: an unputdownable, unforgettable, novel of a group of individuals close-knit not by genetics or friendship, but by the confines of their employment situation. An American expat (again, not by choice or by design, but by the demands of his employment) is shipped to a nearly-rural small strip shopping mall between Liverpool and Manchester, to manage the new branch of the bookshop chain Texts. Woody is a rather odd individual, apparently, even prior to the events of the novel. If there is one character arc in this novel which is more extensive in evolution than any others, that is Woody, American among a passel of Brits, and well aware of it. His is not the only character evolution, but it is perhaps his which preys most extensively on my mind. Among the secondary characters, possibly my favourite is the local historian who appears intermittently, both through the local history he wrote, sold in the shop, and in person and over the phone as well. His is the backdrop narrative, and he provides (parceling the history out little by little) the backstory of why that locality is as it is, and a horrifying story and outcome it is.

I cannot highly enough recommend this perfect horror novel!

View all my reviews