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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 92.237.187.186
Posted on Friday, February 07, 2014 - 08:58 pm:   

Thought folks here might like to see this essay from Ramsey - about why 'horror' isn't (or shouldn't be) a bad word in fiction.

www.nightmare-magazine.com/nonfiction/the-h-word-h-for-honesty/
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Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.31.66.109
Posted on Saturday, February 08, 2014 - 08:38 am:   

Couldn't agree more.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 85.255.235.175
Posted on Saturday, February 08, 2014 - 04:58 pm:   

That reads almost like a manifesto of my own lifelong beliefs, Ramsey. Eloquently put!

The prime motivation in any form of fiction is to engage the reader by communicating one's own world view to the best of one's ability. The secondary motivation of true writers is to be successful and earn a living with their gift. Fear is the most primal and instinctive response common to all human beings. It is what connects us most strongly with the rest of life on Earth and its daily battle for survival. Fear of hunger, fear of loss, fear of change, fear of the unknown and the ultimate fear of death. Love and humour and all the more pleasant responses to life are for times when we feel safe and comfortable... fear outweighs them all. Yet we human beings are alone on this planet in our deliberate courting of the frisson of dread and thrill of danger that contemplating fear and imagining the most horrible of circumstances brings. That is why the tale of terror, whether it be round a campfire or between the covers of a book or presented on a stage or a screen, will always rule supreme in the worlds of entertainment and Art.

Horror is tragedy and comedy combined in the most powerful form of expression. Boo!
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Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 99.126.164.88
Posted on Sunday, February 09, 2014 - 02:42 am:   

Great article, Ramsey!
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Hubert (Hubert)
Username: Hubert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 141.135.213.43
Posted on Sunday, February 09, 2014 - 05:11 pm:   

I like to think I'm part of an elite. And I'm certainly proud of it! Very few people appreciate horror the way we do.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 85.255.232.183
Posted on Sunday, February 09, 2014 - 05:35 pm:   

What I really loved about that article was Ramsey's humility and the way he urged the rest of us to back him up in his passionately and rightly held views. He may be one of the best horror writers who ever lived but he also knows his place and his limitations. The man is an example to us all.
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Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey)
Username: Ramsey

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 92.13.48.113
Posted on Tuesday, February 11, 2014 - 10:58 pm:   

Hey, thanks, all!
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 85.255.234.94
Posted on Wednesday, February 12, 2014 - 12:53 am:   

And thank you, sir.

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