Influence Author:Ramsey Campbell In the world of the psychological thriller, where survival, the occult, and the powers that cling to the rim of the universe collide, there is but one acknowledged master. His name is Ramsey Campbell. — In an English town not far from Liverpool an old woman named Queenie finally dies. Her estate is divided among her heirs, but the pri... more »ze- her house- is willed to her niece Alison. It is an inheritance that carries a higher bounty than anyone could have anticipated. The family's world is shattered by yet another loss, the bizarre death of Alison's sister, Hermione, at the grave of their aunt. Hermione believed that not all of Queenie had died. But the events seem to have a deeper, more enduring, more frightening effect on Alison's seven-year-old daughter, Rowan, who had been Queenie's favorite. Was it Hermione's mysterious death or the power of Queenie reaching from beyond the grave that changed Rowan? To discover the truth Alison must make a leap of faith that every parent fears in the worst of nightmares.
The Influence is surely Ramsey Campbell's finest, most haunting novel yet. Before you are finished Campbell will take you places you don't want to go and he will make you think thoughts you'll pray to forget. And most of all, his vision of the unknown- what some call heaven, others hell- will grimly awaken the most elemental fears rooted in us all.« less