| Author | Message | ||
     Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 |
... by Ramsey Campbell (1983). Need I say "spoilers"? I've read this before, and as before, very, very much like it—to me, it feels closest in style to Gene Wolfe; and partially, because it leaves the reader with un-spelled-out answers to its questions. And though it's awfully short, the questions are many! So I'll just pose them: What exactly happened here? Okay, so the unnamed therapist has projected false memories upon the patient, Clive Bent: a scene of domestic unrest that was supposed to explain Bent's cravings for raw meat, his fear of sunlight, and garlic, his seeing of a face in flames (the Devil?)—all code of course for vampirism. But those were the therapist's memories, in fact. So is the therapist a vampire himself? Are all those in "The Sunshine Club" (a regular gathering of former patients of the therapists), are they all vampires? "Mullen was another who approached me to be cured, not knowing that the only cure was death"—so these fellows are not alive then. And the spiders? They're "just blood," as the therapist says (?)—at the end, after the therapist scares the cat (literally) to death, the hatching spiders all fly onto the therapist's face... is there a deeper significance to this?...  | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 |
Sounds like vintage Ramsey in surreal mode to me, Craig. Haven't read it. His dream logic type stories are the ones that always creep me out the most. Have you read the 'Needing Ghosts' novella? Try fathoming that one! | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 |
No, Stevie, I don't think this is a case of Ramsey's surreal tales (like say, "The Companion" is surreal); all the pieces feel like they're here, only I can't quite put them in the right order. I was hoping someone else might have some insights. I've not read "Needing Ghosts," not yet. But I will. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 |
Ramsey doesn't seem to like 'The Sunshine Club' much – he included it in Inconsequential Tales with a fairly negative comment. Him and vampires don't seem to mix, possibly because of his fondness for garlic-based cuisine. It seems to be about a support group for vampires, helping them to accept themselves. There are two ideas at work here: that vampires can't be defined by any simple formula, each one is unique; and that everyone has trouble getting a clear view of their own past, so if your sense of identity depends on that then you're fucked. The ending is a beautiful poetic image but I think it's more metaphor than plot component: the spiders being "like a rain of blood", neither individual nor collective, as vampires (and by extension, any demographic with an overriding 'problem') are neither individual nor collective. The story works in that it gets you thinking about stuff like that – not a bad achievement for five pages. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 |
Ah. That clears up some things, Joel. The line about the spiders is the single best moment of the story, as well as its most intriguing, but your explanation rings true. Thanks. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 |
Re-reading this thread, I'm as confused as ever.- |