The Hungry Moon

I was over half way through this book when I started skimming. Once I realized that I had still 100 pages to go, I abandoned it.

What's the deal with Ramsey Campbell, one of the most honored of all horror writers? Maybe if you grew up reading these as a child in England they continue to have some hold over you. But the characters are all types, mostly small-minded village types with a few liberal-thinking city dwellers thrown in. There's a religious fanatic that seizes control of a town known for its Moonwell -- cue spooky music here -- a sinkhole on the moors that is tied into Druid mythology and the Roman invasion. The fanatic, with the none too subtle name of Godwin Mann, determines to go into the well and purify it. Unless you have never seen a horror movie in your life, you know from the start that this will not go well. Halfway through the overlong novel, he makes his descent and creepy things, make that, predictably creepy things, start to happen.

At one point I counted twenty characters in Campbell's novel. For the first half you get to know them and find out how uninteresting and either unpleasant or victimized they are. When the crisis occurs, you then have to endure these people's predictable and boring responses to the spook show going on around them.

I can't spoil the ending since I didn't make it that far, but there is a prologue of sorts that lets you know things do not go well. Good riddance.

I also wonder why the Horror Writers Association chose this book from Cambell's 30 some odd novels to represent his best.