Campbell puts on a 'Horror Show'

Foreboding figures, sinister shadows and unnerving noises were up for discussion as Creative Writing students at Edge Hill were encouraged to pen some spine-chilling tales by none other than the Grand Master of horror himself Ramsey Campbell. Ramsey, a native of Liverpool, paid his first ever visit to the Ormskirk Campus for an evening of storytelling at the Rose Theatre before hosting a Creative Writing workshop the following day.

"I was delighted to follow up my performance with a session in horror writing," said Ramsey, 59, who is currently working on a new novel entitled The Communications.

"I asked the students to write as honestly as they could about what frightens them and their responses ranged from noises in the night to the state of the world today.

"All-in-all it was refreshing to come into direct contact with horror writing enthusiasts and share my experiences with them."

Ramsey?s work is distinctive and unsettling, often combining the familiar landscapes of Liverpool with a half-glimpsed nightmare world where you can?t afford to let anything disappear from the corner of your eye.

Ailsa Cox, lecturer in Creative Writing studies at Edge Hill, said: "It was great to have such a widely published and prolific writer as Ramsey on-campus to offer guidance to English students.

"Through his sheer enthusiasm he held a captive audience who will go on to develop their ideas for their coursework."

Ramsey has written many novels during a career that has spanned five decades, including The Face That Must Die and The Darkest Part of the Woods, while his bibliography of short story collections includes Ghosts and Grisly Things and Alone with the Horrors.

Picture: Ramsey makes a point to the Creative Writing students.