**3.5 stars**

Ramsey Campbell is a very well known and prolific UK horror writer but I had never read him before, The Wise Friend is my first. I liked it. It had some genuinely creepy moments, especially some of the parts where Patrick is in deep woods and feels something watching him, sees faces in the trees, etc. I for one find woods very creepy and would think as old as the forests of England are there could definitely be something sinister in them.

If you’re the type of horror fan who loves jump scares and gore look elsewhere but if you like books with creepy atmosphere and slow well timed reveals with some occult demons then The Wise Friend may be perfect for you.

**Thanks to the author and Flame Tree Press for the e-arc I received in exchange for my honest review.**

Another solid quiet-horror piece from Campbell, a master at what he does. If you're into Campbell's work then you know the vibe. I dug it.

I struggled to click with this one but I think that's more of an "it's not you, it's me" than anything to do with the book itself.

Thanks to the publisher for granting me access to an eArc via NetGalley.

This was such a slow burn I could not finish it. I usually enjoy slow burn horror books, but this couldn't keep my attention. Everytime I expected action, I was let down. The writing was great and this author is phenomenal, but this book fell flat for me.

This is the review which appears in Horrified magazine at

In The Wise Friend, David Allkins goes on Ramsey Campbell’s creepy trip to places where the traveller may find that they are not alone…

English Literature professor Patrick Torrington has found the journal of his aunt Thelma Turnbill – an acclaimed surrealist artist with an interest in the occult – who died after a fall from a tower block. It lists the places she visited, and he decides to visit them to connect with his teenage son Roy. When Roy finds a new girlfriend called Bella, the two continue to visit the locations in Thelma’s journal. But Patrick is beginning to suspect that something strange is going on, and that his aunt’s interest in the occult may have led to something older and darker – and related to Roy and Bella’s interest in traveling to the sites. Thelma’s paintings had a recurrent theme of a hidden figure, and Patrick wonders if something similar is coming after his family.

While Campbell’s Three Births of Daoloth trilogy can be seen as a progression of the work of H.P. Lovecraft, this novel is in the tradition of another influential writer, M. R. James. Admittedly the most obvious point of reference is the protagonist being involved in academia; however, Campbell brings James’ skill in conveying the sense of being watched, and the growing conviction that something is following the characters.

The choice of the settings – woods, abandoned tower blocks, hotels, and train stations – adds to this. Campbell is able to give these places a sense of wrong-ness through the perceptions of the narrator and his choice of description and language. The details and hints are what make it frightening.

In this scene, for example, Patrick sees a girl on a swing, behind a fence, who starts to talk to him while he and Roy are about to enter Third Mile Wood:

‘I was about to follow the path into the woods when a head reared up above the fence.

It belonged to a child on a swing in the back garden, but the sight reminded me of a remark Roy had made at Thelma’s wake. I was making to ask him about it when the little girl sailed up again. Her pigtails were the last of her to vanish, and she left her voice behind. ‘You’ll get lost in the puzzle,’ she said.

I wasn’t sure if I’d heard correctly. ‘Are you talking to us?’

Her voice reappeared before she did, pigtails flailing. ‘Get lost in the woods.’

The use of the language, ‘a head reared up’, the strange comments, the association back to Thelma’s death. All these touches turn this simple scene into one of foreboding. Anybody can make something sound scary when it’s designed to be (like a rotting zombie), or keep stressing in prose how frightening something is. Campbell’s trick is to give the impression of something being wrong when you know it should just be something ordinary: he gives the reader enough hints to make them uneasy.

By choosing to write in the first person, Campbell raises the additional question of what is really happening in the narrative. Is Patrick being shadowed by a supernatural presence, or are the ‘signs’ he increasingly observes just related to his own paranoia and possible mental collapse? This growing ambiguity adds another level to the story, making the possibilities of the outcome even more disturbing.

In territory very relevant to Horrified, the novel also relates to English occultists and their relationship to the land. This is territory Campbell has explored before, in the novel Ancient Images (1989), but here it’s used to add to the sense of the past intruding on the present and the weight of accumulated history. The use of older documentation is another pleasing reference to M. R. James and also H. P. Lovecraft – characters confessing their knowledge of magic – and in the idea of a search for knowledge opening up a can of worms.

Speaking of references, the ones brought up in-text are interesting choices that relate to the themes of the story. The art of Leonora Carrington, The Master and Margarita (Mikhail Bulgakov, 1967), the film I Married a Witch (USA, Rene Clair, 1942): Patrick is preparing lectures on the idea of magic in contemporary mainstream literature. These stood out to me simply because the story is bothering to refer to cultural works produced before 1977.

The Wise Friend may not be among the most radical or expansive of Ramsey Campbell’s works. However, it is a skilled, chilling story that keeps you interested and gives you chills from the implications and possibilities inherent in what is happening. A worthy addition to the range of English supernatural horror fiction.

This is a mostly sedate, slow-burn horror story.
It is a specific style of book - very slow burn, so if you want a story that is all flashbang, this really isn't the story for you.
I didn't get through the book on the first two attempts, I had to get to other books, and I was spending a bit of time on other books and I needed to read up, but I did finish it in the end, and I'm glad I did. Echoes of the best gothic and old horror are replete in this book - Lovecraftian issues and other references are a bit interesting and tantalising. So, if you like it all slow build, and truly creepy, this is a good book, from a great author.

I was given a copy of this book to review on Netgalley by the author or publisher, in exchange for an honest opinion. Thank you for the opportunity.

It's the great Ramsey Campbell, what do you expect?! A slow, psychological horror tale from an author we can trust to bring us a steady yet tense tale, beautifully written and vividly detailed.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2021 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2021/02/2021-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

An atmospheric tale that is all build up and no pay off. The writing is great, the story, not so much. A shame.

Patrick Semple was a very successful artist, and his late work turned toward the occult.
When he was in his teens, he stayed with his Aunt and during his time there he found evidence she used to visit magical sites. People believed she had committed suicide, after her paintings, especially when there was a painting with a show figure with no face.
As he got older, he found her journal off all her investigations, with mysterious locations and poetry. Patrick and his son, Roy, visit these sites and it is not what they expected.... Patrick thinks they have uncovered something they should not have and gets scared away.... But Roy wants to carry on with his new girlfriend, but has he helped unleash something into the world?

Wow..... this is a very dark, brilliant horror story! Great characters, brilliantly evil..... and a great read for Halloween coming up!!

Thanks to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for the free e-book copy. The Wise Friend has a plot that includes old paintings, a journal, and an overarching love of books—three ingredients that become even more winsome and irresistible against a creepy background. And it does pass the chill test, though one must try to overlook, then tolerate, the dialogue format, which makes for an onerous reading experience.

This review also appears on Goodreads.com via the following link:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3203716237

*I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Ramsey is an icon of horror. Considered one of the masters in the genre. Sadly, I have only read a few of his books. He is one of those authors I’m always telling myself I need to read but then never get around to do just that! I do own several of his books, but they sit with all the other books in my mountainous piles of TBR books. Thanks to Flame Tree Press and Netgalley for giving me his newest books and giving me a kick in the butt to actually get them read sooner rather then later! If it wasn’t for them, I probably still wouldn’t have read anything by this icon. -.-

So, I’m going to just jump right in there and get to the point with this review. The Wise Friend was a very strange book, and it took a lot of time to figure out exactly what I thought of it. There are a lot of ups but also some downs. By the time I got to the end of the book, I honestly wasn’t exactly sure what I had just read….?

Good things: Ramsey did an amazing job of showing the relationships of people. I know a lot of other reviewers have complained about this, that all the family did was argue and not trust each other. Well, to that I say, ” Have you never witnessed a marriage falling apart? Have you never sat in an uncomfortable room where the family hates each other? Have you never listened to a couple that has broken up trying to talk to each other?” It is often , not always, but often filled with rage. It could be loud and filled with screams, or it could be silent and filled with laser looks and a tension so toxic in the air you feel like you might drown in it. Lots of hate. Lots of mistrust. Lots of arguing. ” Look at that blue sky, it’s so pretty.” ” That’s not blue! It’s purple and it’s overcast! STOP TALKING!!! 😡 ” Stupid stuff like that. So yes, Patrick and his family had a lot of mistrust and just about every conversation was toxic, but the way the author wrote it, it felt very realistic.

Some reviewers complained that all the arguing became too repetitive. But again, that felt very real. Couples who end up hating each other often will just argue over the same stupid topic over and over….and OVER again because one or the other, or both, have decided that THIS is the hill they are going to die on. It’s stupid and repetitive… but it happens all the time in life. Yes, maybe it did slow the book down a bit in the middle, but I really can’t complain because again, it just felt like a very realistic description of a divorced couple. So I have to give that a gold star.

The premise is a really good hook. What happened to the aunt? We have creepy shadows, unreliable characters, scary woods, investigations falling down rabbit holes of some really old, dark magic. For a long time, the creepiness of the story wrapped around you like sneaky, twisty vines slowly getting tighter, and most of the time you had zero idea of where this was leading you.

BUT….

Good thing / Bad thing: Because the path was so slow and winding and not exactly forthcoming with answers, it sometimes did feel like it dragged a little bit. I don’t think I would call it filler, but sometimes it just felt like the story kept going and going and nothing really got resolved. Yes, Patrick got some clues here and there that moved the story forward some, but… I don’t know. Something was just off with it. I don’t know if it was the flow, or the transitions from point A, B, C, etc, or what.

Like, when I read something, I don’t mind not knowing where I’m going, that’s a good thing! But when I’m reading a story and I feel like I have zero theories of what is maybe going on, it leaves me feeling more frustrated then suspenseful. I want more small revaluations to help me puzzle it out as I go. The Wise Friend had a little bit of that, but *shrug* I don’t know. Something about it was more frustrating then fun. Maybe it felt like with every “revaluation” there were too many questions? I don’t know… I can’t really explain it well. Can’t exactly put my finger on it. *Shrug* I just know that I felt a little less enthusiastic to continue reading because it sometimes felt like it was going nowhere.

When I got to the end, I wasn’t exactly sure what just happened. I’m not even exactly sure WHAT Bella and the final boss (sorry, I forgot his name, it was long and complicated) actually were? :/ We had a great tension filled time getting to the final show down and then….. ummm….. what? Did I miss what was going on? Did I forget an early part of the book? WTF just happened? I want to rant more, so I’m going to put up a spoiler tag….

Ok, so…… WHAT?? We get to the climatic ending. Bella is getting jars of mud… which I also never fully understood why we were collecting mud. Something about becoming human? Or getting power? Or…….uhh……? But it’s never explained satisfactory, or I forgot that part of the book that explained it? And then we have this epic bug filled final boss show up… a guy we have been hearing about through a lot of the book… and he is only there for like, 7 SECONDS! He just points. Literally… he just points at Bella, and she dies… WHAT?? Why?? I get it, he is this powerful…er…. dark wizard…? or something… but you gotta give me some sort of explanation other then finger point of doom, ok? -.- And Bella talked cryptically about these magic (??) people using her, and when she dies she crumples into mud in the river…. so WTF is Bella? Was she some sort of golem? But… that is more Jewish folk lore then UK. So is she more of a homunculus? That would fit more with UK old time alchemy. Is she some sort of witches familiar? I don’t know! :/ See, too many questions! *Shrug* I don’t know. I don’t get it. I know at one point they explain Bella is really Bal or something but…. I don’t really get it. Maybe everything was just waaaaay too subtle? My brain isn’t really wired for extremely subtle things. -.-

The Wise Friend left me feeling like my cool new jigsaw puzzle I just finished was missing pieces and I was too stupid to figure out where I dropped them on the floor. That, my friends, is not a great feeling to have at the end of a book I just spent a lot of energy and time on. :/ I don’t think this was a bad book. I just…. guess I didn’t exactly understand what was going on? :/ And the dragging slow burn kind of hurt this book a little. I’m even a fan of slow burns but this was perhaps way too slow burny, if you know what I mean?

This book had me on the edge of my seat!! I was gripped within a couple of pages. I like that we are given more clues as a reader and that we come to many conclusions of what is going to happen before the characters do. I enjoyed watching the characters work things out that I already knew. I almost felt smug at this idea!

I really liked the writing style and the first person perspective. I found that this made the hook very easy to read and made me want to continue reading even when adulthood made me put it down.

It was definitely a spooky read and a few times I had to stop reading it at night because I was spooked. This does not happen very often at all!

I would recommend this book and I can’t wait to discover more from this author.

Full review appears exclusively print in Fangoria magazine. PDFs of said review were sent directly to the publisher and/or author.

Ramsey Campbell strikes again. Campbell is a master at writing subtle horror that lingers in the mind after the final page of the book is read and he does not disappoint in his new novel The Wise Friend from Flame Tree Press. I am always happy to read a new Campbell novel and was eager to dive into this one.

Patrick Semple had always admired his aunt, Thelma Turnbill. She was a successful artist whose work had slowly evolved toward the occult as she got older. When her life came to a jarring end, it was commonly believed that she had committed suicide. Patrick, however, had seen evidence that she was able to visit magical places, sometimes dark places, and did not believe that she would kill herself. Patrick is determined to find the truth and begins to dive into her works and journals with the help of his son, Roy.

As the father and son begin to dig deeper into Thelma’s life, Patrick soon begins to suspect a darkness that he did not want to face again and pull back from the investigation into her life. Roy, however, continues undaunted and seemingly fueled by his girlfriend, Bella. In fact, it almost seems as if the investigation has shifted from Thelma to Bella and Patrick soon begins to suspect the true nature of the young woman and her connection to Thelma's death. Unfortunately for Patrick, Roy and his ex-wife do not pick up anything out of the ordinary and the normally strained relationship he has with his son becomes even more strained as he tries to save Roy from the darkness he perceives in Bella. If Patrick is right, he will need to figure out how to uncover the secret of Thelma’s death and convince his son that the darkness he sees is real before it is too late to save him.

Ramsey Campbell is a master of subtle horror and The Wise Friend is a great example of his mastery of the genre. The book is heavy on atmosphere that kicks in on the first page and grows as the story advances. The story starts dark and with a hint of witchcraft hanging over it. The reader quickly assumes that he knows what is coming but Campbell keeps the twists and turns of the story well hidden. There were many times when I thought I had things figured out only to have something new thrown my way. That Campbell can accomplish this without extreme action speaks to his ability to carry a story with craft and subtle influence. The story does not race long but advances at a creepy crawl and the reader is sure to glory in the dark substance of this tale.

The Wise Friend is not a book for everyone. Those who are seeking nonstop action are sure to be disappointed by the psychological horror that Campbell fills the story with in lieu of action. Campbell takes the reader through the dark chasms of the characters minds to create a horror much deeper and darker than mere action would be able to impart. The true terror of this story lies in the mind of the reader and Campbell feeds that darkness and allows it to grow unchecked throughout the novel. The true power of this novel is the emotion that it builds in the mind of the reader. This is not a novel that is simply read. This is a story that will make the reader reflect on the darkness all of us have within and haunts the reader’s mind for days after the last word is read. The Wise Friend is Campbell at his best and a novel that is not to be missed.

I would like to thank Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for this review copy. The Wise Friend is available now.

I was drawn to this book as I have read other books in the past by Ramsey Campbell. I feel he has a style of writing similar to people like Dennis Wheatley. Mr Campbell writes about 'old school' magic and the occult. About Summoners, Witchcraft and Ancient Sites. I really enjoyed reading it.

I knew nothing about this book going in, nor have I read his others. I really enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Dark, creepy and a bit of a slow burn; luckily I like all those things. Took me a little while to get into but once I did it wouldn't let go. I'll sleep with the lights on tonight, thank you very much! ;)

I really enjoyed this. I have such an affinity for occult and interesting site based stories a la M.R. James, and this definitely ticked that box for me.

Newly released The Wise Friend from Flametree Press is a surreal and mystifying horror fantasy novel. Flametree Press is releasing excellent and unique horror, very exciting for a fan of the genre like myself.

Despite hearing of horror writer Ramsey Campbell, this is the first novel I’ve read by the author. The premise and the cover of this book drew me in immediately. The language used however took me a while to get used to.

The novel focuses on Patrick and son Roy. We find out early in the novel that Patrick’s aunt Thelma has committed suicide. Patrick as a teenager had a close relationship with his deceased artist aunt, who had a fascination with dark, magical sites and the occult. We know that Patrick had obsessions with her life and work. Teenage son Roy, also develops a fascination with Thelma and her journals.

Son Roy becomes involved in a romance with the strange and beautiful Bella. Bella and Roy start a journey of exploration of Thelma’s life through her journals. Bella is a mature quirky girl who uses quaint language and completely entrances Roy. But as their relationship progresses, so does Patrick’s unease. Was there something behind his aunt’s ramblings and portrayals of the occult?

The descriptions of the sites Thelma obsessed over are cloying and claustrophobic. They are creeping and like dark characters in their own right. Those scenes are trancelike and captivating. The dread builds slowly in The Wise Friend like a crescendo. There are some jumpy and dreadful scenes but the author uses suggestion, rather than smacking us in the face.

To summarise, this is a slow burning and twisted horror with fantastical elements. The language made sense to me as the crux of the story was revealed, adding to the ancient feel of the evil revealed.

Patrick's painter aunt has killed herself. No one knows why, but it has affected Patrick growing up. Patrick's son becomes interested in his relative and her famous paintings. These paintings sound scary, with a figure showing up partially concealed. Patrick's son meets a girl who is also interested in the paintings and what they mean. As the book goes on, the reader finds the girlfriend isn't who she says she is, and this causes a rift between Patrick and his son.
Interesting book, not nearly as scary as some of the Ramsey Campbell books. No blood or gore, the horror is mostly finding out who the girlfriend is and why she is interested in the son. Hint- it's not for his personality. Not my favorite Ramsey Campbell- maybe for those who prefer their horror more subtle.