Ramsey Campbell (born 4 January 1946 in Liverpool) is a
pulp fiction horror writer who has been publishing things
morbid, monstrous and malevolent for fifty years. Two of his novels have
been filmed for non-English-speaking markets. None have been
filmed for the English-speaking market.
Robert Hadji has described him as "perhaps the finest living
exponent of the British weird fiction tradition" (The Penguin
Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, 1986). Yet there is a
side to Campbell every bit as dark and disturbing as the fantasies in print that have sprung from his mind.
David Farrant (born 23 January 1946 in London) is nineteen days younger than Ramsey Campbell. They have never met, but share a kindred ambition as far as the author and exorcist Seán Manchester is concerned. Those who use Farrant's propaganda against Seán Manchester also support Campbell and at least two, namely Anthony Hogg and Carl Ford, have assisted Campbell with additions to his reprint of a collection of essays in which the author of The Highgate Vampire and the case he investigated almost half a century ago is seriously misrepresented.
A Farrant flunkie and general dogsbody wrote the following on Facebook on 2 November 2015:
"In a development that is sure to give Seán Manchester nightmares worthy of Hallowe'en, horror supremo Ramsey Campbell has revisited his cult title - a collection of essays on the genre - for this new reprint. Originally published by PS back in 2002, Campbell has since expanded some of his essays, added others and generally tinkered around with the general running order for this new edition. This book is of special interest to Highgate Vampire enthusiasts due to the inclusion of 'The Strange Case of Sean Manchester' - an essay first published in the fanzine Shock Xpress in which Campbell critiqued both editions of Manchester's [The] Highgate Vampire book and listed a shocking number of revisions and outright contradictions in his narrative. Manchester, naturally was none too pleased by this level of academic scrutiny and threatened both author and publisher with legal action. Well our mole has reliably informed us that Campbell has also expanded his Highgate Vampire piece - thanks in the main to the provision of rare and previously overlooked material by case researchers Anthony Hogg and Carl Ford." - Redmond McWilliams (Facebook, 2/11/2015)
If Seán Manchester has any concern at all it would be due to the fact that Ramsey Campbell quite obviously harbours exceptional hostility towards him; so much so that he libelled Seán Manchester's wife in Stefan Jaworzyn's Shock Xpress, 1 (Titan, 1991) to which Campbell made a contribution. Not only were Seán Manchester's books in print attacked and misrepresented, but the most outrageous allegations imaginable were levelled against his wife whom Campbell does not know and has never met. Seán Manchester threatened to take legal action. Titan promised to make it right, and extracted a written apology from Ramsey Campbell whose anti-Seán Manchester articles in Shock Xpress comprise some of the essays in the recently enlarged collection referred to by McWilliams.
On 3 November 2015, Seán Manchester wrote to the founder of PS Publishing, Peter Crowther:
"Mr Campbell has not once consulted me to iron out anything he might require clarification on, but, according to those in touch with him on the internet, has consulted and used material provided by people with an axe to grind. Those who have apparently been most influential in my denigration all have a connection, directly or indirectly, with a man who was found guilty and sentenced to a term of imprisonment for satanic crimes at Highgate Cemetery in the 1970s. He is the source of the majority of antipathetic material where I am concerned. My being a Christian traditionalist has made me a target. All the aforementioned share a sympathy for the dark occult. Therein lies the agenda.
"I have only met Ramsey Campbell once, which was on 26 April 1990 when I featured throughout the morning on BBC’s 'Open Air' and did a concentrated interview with Eamonn Holmes around 10.00am. Mr Campbell appeared in a slot on the same morning to talk about his books that I witnessed him carefully assemble out of a case and display in readiness. However, I cannot remember any conversation taking place between us. He was totally preoccupied with arranging his paperbacks and didn’t want to be distracted, or at least so it seemed. The second and ony other time to my knowledge that I have been in the same space as Mr Campbell was on the occasion of my Central Weekend Television appearance before a studio audience on 14 September 1990, which audience included Ramsey Campbell among its number. I did not meet Mr Campbell on that occasion, as I was the featured guest with scant opportunity to talk to any audience members. I was afterwards whisked away via the stage on which I entered
"I am puzzled, therefore, in view of this total lack of communication between us why Mr Campbell harbours such exceptional resentment toward me."
Peter Crowther ignored a request from Seán Manchester to see the publication in question and indeed did not respond to emails to the publisher's office or the private message from which a section appears above courtesy of its author. On November 5th, however, Seán Manchester managed to reach Crowther via the publisher's office telephone and calmly raised his concerns. He was brusquely told to speak directly to Ramsey Campbell. The publisher did not regard the matter his responsibility and, after telling Seán Manchester to buy the book, abruptly put the telephone down.
Ramsey Campbell had confirmed his conspiracy to further denigrate Seán Manchester by publishing the following comment on one of Anthony Hogg's anti-Seán Manchester Facebook groups:
"If I may indulge in self-promotion, this considerably expanded and revised reprint includes a longer Highgate Vampire piece, thanks to both Anthony Hogg and Carl Ford, who supplied me with rare material I'd previously overlooked."
It was posted prior to Redmond McWilliams' commentary and was probably the inspiration for it. Hogg has trolled Seán Manchester on the internet for a decade with incitements, plus propaganda sourced to David Farrant. Carl Ford has openly promoted Farrant and disseminated Farrant's self-published pamphlets and books - all of which infringe Seán Manchester's copyright and defame him.
David Farrant (born 23 January 1946 in London) is nineteen days younger than Ramsey Campbell. They have never met, but share a kindred ambition as far as the author and exorcist Seán Manchester is concerned. Those who use Farrant's propaganda against Seán Manchester also support Campbell and at least two, namely Anthony Hogg and Carl Ford, have assisted Campbell with additions to his reprint of a collection of essays in which the author of The Highgate Vampire and the case he investigated almost half a century ago is seriously misrepresented.
A Farrant flunkie and general dogsbody wrote the following on Facebook on 2 November 2015:
"In a development that is sure to give Seán Manchester nightmares worthy of Hallowe'en, horror supremo Ramsey Campbell has revisited his cult title - a collection of essays on the genre - for this new reprint. Originally published by PS back in 2002, Campbell has since expanded some of his essays, added others and generally tinkered around with the general running order for this new edition. This book is of special interest to Highgate Vampire enthusiasts due to the inclusion of 'The Strange Case of Sean Manchester' - an essay first published in the fanzine Shock Xpress in which Campbell critiqued both editions of Manchester's [The] Highgate Vampire book and listed a shocking number of revisions and outright contradictions in his narrative. Manchester, naturally was none too pleased by this level of academic scrutiny and threatened both author and publisher with legal action. Well our mole has reliably informed us that Campbell has also expanded his Highgate Vampire piece - thanks in the main to the provision of rare and previously overlooked material by case researchers Anthony Hogg and Carl Ford." - Redmond McWilliams (Facebook, 2/11/2015)
If Seán Manchester has any concern at all it would be due to the fact that Ramsey Campbell quite obviously harbours exceptional hostility towards him; so much so that he libelled Seán Manchester's wife in Stefan Jaworzyn's Shock Xpress, 1 (Titan, 1991) to which Campbell made a contribution. Not only were Seán Manchester's books in print attacked and misrepresented, but the most outrageous allegations imaginable were levelled against his wife whom Campbell does not know and has never met. Seán Manchester threatened to take legal action. Titan promised to make it right, and extracted a written apology from Ramsey Campbell whose anti-Seán Manchester articles in Shock Xpress comprise some of the essays in the recently enlarged collection referred to by McWilliams.
On 3 November 2015, Seán Manchester wrote to the founder of PS Publishing, Peter Crowther:
"Mr Campbell has not once consulted me to iron out anything he might require clarification on, but, according to those in touch with him on the internet, has consulted and used material provided by people with an axe to grind. Those who have apparently been most influential in my denigration all have a connection, directly or indirectly, with a man who was found guilty and sentenced to a term of imprisonment for satanic crimes at Highgate Cemetery in the 1970s. He is the source of the majority of antipathetic material where I am concerned. My being a Christian traditionalist has made me a target. All the aforementioned share a sympathy for the dark occult. Therein lies the agenda.
"I have only met Ramsey Campbell once, which was on 26 April 1990 when I featured throughout the morning on BBC’s 'Open Air' and did a concentrated interview with Eamonn Holmes around 10.00am. Mr Campbell appeared in a slot on the same morning to talk about his books that I witnessed him carefully assemble out of a case and display in readiness. However, I cannot remember any conversation taking place between us. He was totally preoccupied with arranging his paperbacks and didn’t want to be distracted, or at least so it seemed. The second and ony other time to my knowledge that I have been in the same space as Mr Campbell was on the occasion of my Central Weekend Television appearance before a studio audience on 14 September 1990, which audience included Ramsey Campbell among its number. I did not meet Mr Campbell on that occasion, as I was the featured guest with scant opportunity to talk to any audience members. I was afterwards whisked away via the stage on which I entered
"I am puzzled, therefore, in view of this total lack of communication between us why Mr Campbell harbours such exceptional resentment toward me."
Peter Crowther ignored a request from Seán Manchester to see the publication in question and indeed did not respond to emails to the publisher's office or the private message from which a section appears above courtesy of its author. On November 5th, however, Seán Manchester managed to reach Crowther via the publisher's office telephone and calmly raised his concerns. He was brusquely told to speak directly to Ramsey Campbell. The publisher did not regard the matter his responsibility and, after telling Seán Manchester to buy the book, abruptly put the telephone down.
Ramsey Campbell had confirmed his conspiracy to further denigrate Seán Manchester by publishing the following comment on one of Anthony Hogg's anti-Seán Manchester Facebook groups:
"If I may indulge in self-promotion, this considerably expanded and revised reprint includes a longer Highgate Vampire piece, thanks to both Anthony Hogg and Carl Ford, who supplied me with rare material I'd previously overlooked."
It was posted prior to Redmond McWilliams' commentary and was probably the inspiration for it. Hogg has trolled Seán Manchester on the internet for a decade with incitements, plus propaganda sourced to David Farrant. Carl Ford has openly promoted Farrant and disseminated Farrant's self-published pamphlets and books - all of which infringe Seán Manchester's copyright and defame him.
CLICK ON INDIVIDUAL SCREENSHOTS TO READ:
"Ramsey Campbell had confirmed his conspiracy to further denigrate Seán Manchester..."
ReplyDeleteTwaddle. Anthony and Carl both referred online to rare essays Sean had written that bear on the Highgate Vampire business, and I was able to obtain this material from them. That's why I thanked them - no "conspiracy" was involved.
You are not on first name terms with Seán Manchester, so don't use the same tactic as trolls like Hogg. You are purposely discourteous to a man older than you who you do not know. If you acted like a professional you would have contacted Seán Manchester for balancing comments on any material you are about to publish from such biased sources.
ReplyDeleteGood heavens, any number of young folk who haven't met me call me by my first name, and that isn't discourteous at all. You're still blurring the issue. The material I commented on was written by the man himself, as I have already said above, and it was not altered by anybody. I had no need to contact him, any more than anybody reviewing my written work needs to contact me.
DeleteNobody expects to be addressed by their first name when someone antipathetic is doing the addressing. Young fans are obviously not being discourteous if they do so when addressing someone they like.
DeleteThose with a negative agenda who refer to their target using his or her first name do so to create a false and certainly unwelcome sense of familiarity.
How does Ramsey Campbell know that the material was "written by the man himself"? What material is he talking about? Even now he fails to identify anything. Seán Manchester has had material and quotes falsely attributed to him down the years. Surely an author who is a researching something properly would want to contact the subject and ask if (a) the material he has seen is accurate, and (b) is correctly attributed.
At the very least it would be common courtesy to invite Seán Manchester's balancing comment, something Ramsey Campbell has *never* done in all the years he has been referring to Seán Manchester, whether in print, at public events or the internet.
The very fact that Campbell has gone out of his way to attack Seán Manchester in fanzines, books, blogs groups and even at the British Fantasy Convention some years back, while never once having a bad word to say about Farrant tells you all you need to know. That he accepts ammunition from those whose vitriol originates with the same offender while avoiding all contact with Seán Manchester also speaks volumes.
DeleteA comment made by Ramsey Campbell has been removed because it addressed nothing while providing an unabashed advertisement for his collection of essays.
ReplyDeleteCampbell's response was "buy the book," accompanied by a link to enable the purchase.
In other words, Campbell's interest is purely the sale of his paperback. Nothing else.
He addressed absolutely nothing raised by FoBSM or BOS. He exploits the interest other people clearly have in Seán Manchester and *his* work to help sell his own efforts in print. Yet there does seem to be particular enmity for Seán Manchester who has been singled out down the years by Campbell in a way others have not.
Indeed, why does Campbell exclusively dwell on the author of The Highgate Vampire while avoiding another man who was sentenced to almost five years' imprisonment for satanic crimes committed at Highgate Cemetery in the 1970s? What makes Seán Manchester, who has no criminal record, always the target? Could it be his traditional faith with an acceptance of the supernatural? Is it because he stands for everything Campbell does not? There has to be some reason. What has Seán Manchester done to Ramsey Campbell to merit such treatment? How would Campbell react, apart from having a fit, if Seán Manchester attacked him and his work in much the same way?
The fact is that Ramsey Campbell refuses to identify the material provided by Seán Manchester's enemies - now published in his paperback of essays. Not only did he not have the common decency to contact the man he is exploiting to see if the material is safe, but he also categorically refuses to discuss it. He wants you to pay him money for the privilege of knowing what skullduggery he has resorted to. He says we must buy the book if we want to know. That is the morality of Ramsey Campbell.
I'm perfectly willing to identify the material. The two items appear in Witchcraft (vol. 2, no. 8, 1973, pp. 52–5) and New Witchcraft (volume 1, number 4, 1975, pp 51-5).
ReplyDeleteSeán Manchester asked the following on Ramsey Campbell's Facebook page:
ReplyDelete"Would Ramsey Campbell kindly identify the articles attributed to me in these magazines by their titles?"
Ramsey Campbell responded:
"Seriously, don't you know if your writing appeared in those issues of those magazines? I find that most unlikely, given the care you take to record the precise dates of any publication you're involved in. Please explain."
To which Seán Manchester made the riposte:
"You presume I 'record the precise dates of any publication' I'm involved in, Mr Campbell. Where is your actual evidence for that curious statement which strikes me as pure conjecture?"
Seán Manchester then repeated his request for the titles of the articles:
"Forty years ago, which is what we are talking about, I wrote scores of articles and it would occasionally be the case that two would appear in the same edition of a magazine. I have a vague notion of what the 1975 magazine article might have been because it coincided with Peter Underwood's anthology wherein I made a large contribution. Both Peter and I agreed that his anthology should stop at 1970 with content about the Highgate Vampire case, and any articles I wrote would not relate directly to case details, as I was already preparing an account of my own that would tell the full story. The case was finally closed in 1982 and my unexpurgated account was first published in 1985. That is the context of what I suspect the latter article in question might be about, but I cannot bring to mind the 1973 magazine article(s), as so much was going on at the time. Would it really hurt Mr Campbell to identify the titles of the magazine articles which comprise additional material, no doubt spun out of recognition as well as out of context with much help from the troll who provided it?"
When Ramsey Campbell somewhat reluctantly identified the two titles of the articles in the magazines from all those years ago, Seán Manchester commented:
"I vaguely recall something of that sort, but it might be Shock Xpress I have in mind because I have never set eyes on your collected essays. I have already explained the context for The Haunting of Hell House which I felt at the time I wanted to say something about due to the media attention it had received owing to neighbours complaining about "strange happenings" etc. Though I was always careful to omit what was most essential from the article so as not to pre-empt my potential book. The case was still not resolved, even if we had hoped it might have been, and my account (The Highgate Vampire) was only in its early stages. That is how and why the magazine article took the form it did at the time. If you had made contact with me prior to publication of your essay I could have made this lucid. The World of the Vampire is something I will have to try and track down in order to elaborate on. I am its author because I recall using the same model used for my book about the Highgate case. I did so to protect the identity of the real person, so close to the events themselves, and purposely did not make this apparent at the time, as it would have defeated the whole stratagem."
http://the-vampirologist.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/lusia.html