Editing Ramsey Campbell (section)

=== Style and themes ===
Campbell's style is characterised by an idiosyncratic use of language. His fictional worlds feel unusual, threatening, and dislocated. Such an approach prompted [[Peter Straub]] to write in a blurb for one of Campbell's early novels: "Horrors in his fiction are never merely invented, they are felt and experienced, and affect the reader for days afterward." The horrors Campbell evokes are commonly suggested to the reader by ambiguous allusions to events his characters are not always mindful of. In this regard, his approach is similar to that of [[M. R. James]]. Indeed, Campbell celebrates James's concentrated prose, choice of detail, and ability to hint at disquieting material much larger than what is explicitly revealed. Campbell has described much of his own later work as "comedies of paranoia",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/why-i-write/article/48631-why-i-write-ramsey-campbell.html|title=Why I Write...Ramsey Campbell|last=Campbell|first=Ramsey|date=9 September 2011|website=Publishers Weekly|access-date=18 October 2019}}</ref> as his characters experience an existential bewilderment that borders on the absurd.

Campbell himself has cited the following themes as recurrent in his work: "the vulnerability of children, the willingness of people to espouse a belief system that denies them the right to question, and the growing tendency to create scapegoats for the ills of the world."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lounge-books.com/award-winners-we-lov/ramsey-campbell-horror-author-interview|title=Meet Ramsey Campbell, 'Britain's Most Respected Living Horror Writer'|last=Walker|first=Luke|website=Lounge Books|date=14 August 2018 |access-date=18 October 2019}}</ref> However, his work has addressed a wide range of issues, including censorship (e.g., ''The One Safe Place'', 1995), the impact of the internet on consciousness (e.g., ''The Grin of the Dark'', 2007; ''The Seven Days of Cain'', 2010; ''Think Yourself Lucky'', 2014), corporation-led consumerism (the recurrence of a global organisation called Frugo in his later work, especially ''The Overnight'', 2004, and ''Thieving Fear'', 2008), fatherhood (''The House on Nazareth Hill'', 1996), and older age (''Thirteen Days by Sunset Beach'', 2015). Abnormal human psychology is also a major recurring theme in Campbell's work (e.g., ''The Face That Must Die'', 1979; ''The Count of Eleven'', 1991; ''The Last Voice They Hear'', 1998; ''Secret Stories'', 2005; ''Somebody's Voice'', 2021).