This was a dark, chilling and intense reas with a creepy atmosphere all the way through. A great read for spooky season.

Fellstones by Ramsey Campbell.
Fellstones takes its name from seven objects on the village green. It’s where Paul Dunstan was adopted by the Staveleys after his parents died in an accident for which he blames himself. The way the Staveleys tried to control him made him move away and change his name. Why were they obsessed with a strange song he seemed to have made up as a child?
An intriguing read. Different. I did like the cover. 4*.

Michael Paul Dunstan is performing the daily drudgery of his day job, buying music for the bookstore Texts when his dimly recalled past catches up to him. When he was a child, Paul's parents died in an auto wreck and he went to live with the Staveley family, music teachers and enthusiasts. Until that family's daughter Dell comes hunting after him, Paul doesn't realize just how many of the details of that childhood he's lost. She comes with bad news, that his guardians might not have much time left and wish to see him. Being a good lad, he of course agrees to drive out and see them, and so takes a road trip to a town named for the eerie standing stones found on the greenery of Kingseen Field within its borders. The guardians don't seem the worst for wear after all, and Paul winds up getting pulled into a mystery.

The longer Paul remains in his family's company, the more details he begins to recall. Some of these are good, of course. Some of them are pleasantly eerie, such as the childhood stories Dell told about Mr. Jellyfingers and his weird family. Some of them are downright unsettling, such as the lengths Rafe and Winifred Staveley went to keep Paul under their control and guide him toward a career they wanted for him, which he did not want for himself.

As the pieces fall into place, a festival looms and the role Paul has been subtly groomed for begins to take real shape. One by one, his family will strip away the safe life he built for himself in Liverpool, guiding him back into their sphere of influence. Will Paul be able to assemble the clues and understand the fate intended for him before it is too late to escape?

I've said it before, and I'll happily cry it from the rooftops for the rest of my days: a new book from Ramsey Campbell is a cause for celebration. He's a master of many branches of horror, dark fantasy, and suspense. He's got a terrific understanding of these fields' histories, but he's also developed his own style and approach. This is not simply Arthur Machen redux or cribbed notes from giants like Algernon Blackwood or M. R. James. Campbell has synthesized all the greats into his own visions, and his latest book Fellstones invokes a trifecta of terrors: folklore frights, cosmic creepiness, and acutely drawn psychological horror. It's a set of lovely ingredients for a flavorful story stew, and Campbell constantly surprises with the way these elements relate not only to one another but to assumptions that horror readers might have about how such stories can and do operate.

The psychological angle asks a lot of questions about memory, agency, and purpose. All of these get wrapped up in similar questions about identity that informed Campbell's previous book, Somebody's Voice. Paul Dunstan has been living under his parents surname, and when Dell comes asking for him as Michael Staveley her inquiries cause ripples in his work and love lives. Do his coworkers really know him? Why should Paul operate under an assumed name? If he can't bother to tell his girlfriend about his name and past, how much of what he has told her can she trust? It's a clever way to start drawing Paul away his safe and comfortable world and into a realm of instability.

This is only heightened when Paul returns to Fellstones, meets up with the family, has a relatively good time (with occasional spikes of WTF eeriness) and finds his day-to-day lifestyle choices challenged by people who claim to have his best interests at heart. None of the attacks are overtly malicious, but they are certainly pointed, and a few of the arguments are based on assumptions too spurious to be believed. Then again, shared history sometimes makes people blind to manipulation and deception.

The folk horror elements found in Fellstones are unlike some of the more scenarios readers may be accustomed to. Sure, the town of Fellstones has an unusual history, particularly surrounding those massive hunks of rock from which it draws its name. The townsfolk, however, are not overtly cruel, mad, or even standoffish people willing to kill in order to keep ancient traditions alive. On the surface, Paul's guardians and neighbors are generally welcoming, sociable, and considerate sorts. Everyday folks. However, they have an unspoken agenda, which emerges in dribs and drabs over several visits …

Few writers can pen passive-aggressive dialogue that rings with so much sinister intent as Campbell. It's one of the charms of his longer works, especially, that the people who talk often refuse to show their real motivations, couching them in false concern for another's wellbeing.

Imagine the worst relative you have, that uncle or aunt who seems well meaning but is really only interested in getting her own way for petty, seemingly inconsequential purposes. Now take that behavior to the nth degree, make a whole little corner of town filled with that personality type, and you have some idea of the adversaries of this book. They are not stock horror villains, but they are nevertheless awful buggers. Turning loose an honestly well-meaning and rational person amongst them makes for some fascinating and appropriately frustrating drama.

Finally, the cosmic horrors have nothing to do with Lovecraft's entities. There is a mythos at work underneath the titular stones, Kingseen Field, and the house overlooking them, but Cthulhu's all-too-familiar tentacles are not to be found here. Instead, Campbell's book invokes the ineffable in ways that recall M. R. James at his best.

Music is the connective tissue for this angle. Paul was a gifted singer as a child, who grew to hate the constant push into that field for his career, his life. He pushed back and veered into the realm of music history. A few bars are all he needs to recognize a piece's name, composer, and general length. He's still got a talent for singing, and that talent is what's getting him in trouble. There are cosmic vibrations, you see, which can tap into old powers. Paul alone seems to possess the right qualities to activate those, and the songs required are sunk deep in his memory (possibly in his DNA), but to what terrible, dare we ask fell, purpose?

Readers looking for heavy duty doses of more familiar family beset by an ineffable monstrous horror (ala Midnight Sun) or the skulking presences found in Campbell's earlier stab at folk horror, Ancient Images, may be somewhat disappointed. There are plenty of strange occurrences and unexplainable phenomenon (particularly when our protagonist interacts with the stones), but they often take a backseat to how those things affect the people who live in close proximity to them. It's a literary horror approach to the subject. One fixated on this poor schlub dealing with his insufferable guardians and their equally insufferable neighbors.

Folks who judge horror based on how many bloodlettings can be fitted between the covers will be left wondering what all the fuss is about and those looking for creepy creatures probably won't appreciate the Staveleys for the monsters they really are underneath those well-meaning guises.

Fellstones offers another welcome visit to Ramsey Campbell's personal and peculiar corner of horror fiction. It's perhaps not as continuously chilling as earlier works from the author such as the exemplary The Hungry Moon, but it's a page turner with something to say about the often toxic ways people interact with one another, and the narrative builds to an appropriately eerie supernatural conclusion that ranks among Campbell's best. It's a pleasure to see a master storyteller spinning his surprising and uncomfortable yarns.

Aghhhh, creepy people being super creepy. A little muddled in the beginning but the story ramped up well and turned uncomfortable very quickly. Unsettling and eerie. A perfect fall read for those of us who regularly reread Something Wicked This Way Comes.

Sadly I wasn’t a huge fan of this book despite being very excited to be approved for an arc. The trope is too similar to ones he’s done before and the concept felt a little old fashioned and tired. I know he can still pull one out the bag as he did with The Wise Friend which was released a couple of years ago and was subtle, creepy and very true to his old horror style. I wanted something a little fresher and more genuine rather than a rehashing.

Fellstones follows a young man, Paul, who lives and works in Liverpool with his girlfriend, Caren. One day while at work, he is summoned by his adoptive sister, Adele, to his childhood village to visit their parents. At the heart of the village, named Fellstones, stand seven mysterious stones. A village that, once Paul returns to, is reluctant to allow him to leave.
Fellstones is driven by a sense of creeping paranoia, of family drama, and of ancient secrets and conspiracies. Fellstones is yet another great work by Ramsey Campbell, one of horror’s masters, and will appeal to fans of H.P. Lovecraft’s The Colour Out of Space, Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby, and Thomas Tryon’s Harvest Home.

Fellstones, by Ramsey Campbell, is an interesting combination of cosmic and folk horror that takes place in Great Britain.

The story begins with the protagonist standing alone at the top of a building. He is at peace until someone comes to fetch him. “Someone wants you down here, Paul.” This clever element of foreshadowing sets the stage for mystery, or perhaps even better, danger emanating from below. Then to add to the tension, the voice adds, “She says she knows you. Knows your name.” As the legends go, knowing the true name of something or someone confers ownership. Does this visitor have some sort of hold on Paul? He treads down the stairs to the book shop where he works, and the adventure begins.

Why did Paul change his name? Could he be hiding from something or someone?

The protagonist, Paul Dunstan, is a person who has not reached his full potential. He is college educated, has a profound knowledge of classical music, and perfect pitch. He admits he has dreams of owing his own business, but instead, he appears to be hiding in someone else’s bookstore, where he is exploited by the owner. He is in a relationship devoid of depth, loyalty, and true intimacy. It’s as if he is sleepwalking through life. Why is he hiding in this unfriendly, defeatist situation?

Paul’s past has finally come calling. His real name is Michael Staveley. He must return to his hometown of Fellstones to face his past and to attend the Fellstones festival. When he gets there, the community raises their glasses to Paul, saying, “Here’s to maintaining our community.” Something just isn’t right.

The tale begins slowly, carefully, but gains speed and complexity when Michael begins to research the history of the town, a magician who once lived there, and the seven fellstones that supposedly fell from seven stars. As he stumbles toward his future while trying to come to terms with forgotten past and traumatic childhood, readers will come to root for him.

As always, Campbell’s writing, especially the realistic dialogue, is a pleasure to read. His style is consistent, especially with his use of metaphors. As in the great and wonderful The Wise Friend where Campbell introduces readers to the fantastic feminist surrealism of Leonora Carrington, in Fellstones he creates a motif via a repeated use of references to classical music. It would be interesting to find that any of those classical works harmonize with the tenor of the plot line.

Fellstones comes highly recommended as a fine and traditional example of cosmic horror that builds the intensity at a leisured pace where the past and present must come to terms with each other. In addition, due to the fact that the townspeople lust after a return of the glory from their collective past, Campbell offers an element of folk horror.

Will Michael overcome childhood trauma and become victorious, or will he end up like the storied straw man, sacrificed by the community.

This book had so much promise but unfortunately for me it did not deliver. It did nothing for me and infact did not even raise my pulse. A ver slow burner and I can see some readers not finishing this book I nearly did. You know something bad is going to happen but when??? Reminds very much of a child's tv programme back when I was a child called Children of the Stones and that was aimed at a youth audience say no more.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

Years after moving away from his adopted family and intentionally losing contact, Paul Dunston is tracked down by his adoptive sister Dell. Convincing him to return home to Fellstones, Paul reluctantly visits his now sick adoptive parents. Through repeated visits or for reasons he can't get away during these visits, he begins to have flashbacks of his games with Dell and his adoptive parents' obsession with classical music and his musical lessons.
I made a concerted effort to start reading more books of Ramsey Campbell's. Fellstones is only the second and unfortunately, it was not one I enjoyed.
The central character felt too naive and the use of convoluted excuses to get him to go back home or to get him to stay did not increase any of the intended tension. Admittedly as a reader, we have an almost God-like view of events but still, I found no sense of dread for the central character and almost stopped caring. Additionally, the more I read the more I kept thinking of the TV series 'Children of the Stones' which has a similar premise.
I have not been deterred from reading more Ramsey Campbell but Fellstones was not for me.

Oh man! Talk about nightmare fuel with the lore that surrounds the legendary Fellstones in this story. Mr. Jellyfingers? No thanks!
This is a solid and unique horror story from an author I haven’t gotten the pleasure of reading yet.
The characters were all terribly ominous and frustrating which helped to give the book a heavy tension from the beginning. The feeling of dread continues to amp up as the story processes.
I feel like this book would be great for fans of cosmic horror with a dash of Misery vibes thrown in for good measure!

4 stars--I really liked it.

This book uses one of my favorite tropes--creepy English villagers doing creepy things. There's also a stone circle, and the plot combines folk and cosmic horror. I really enjoyed the story.

The villagers are truly suffocating, and the narrator--bumbling and closed off--plays right into their hands. Sometimes Campbell's dialogue is hard for me to understand (not sure why), but that contributed to the sense of confusion the narrator felt.

I received this review copy from the publisher on NetGalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review; I appreciate it!

This had all the makings for a good one , having all the fun tropes. But for me it didn't really work. I didn't have any sense of dread and it was a bit of a slough just for me to get into it

I’ve been a fan of the work of Ramsey Campbell from as far back as I can remember. Back in the day I always felt his novels had a rather different style to that of his short stories, however I’ve noticed more recently that this style seems to have spread across his output, giving him a very distinct tone and feel. This is to be celebrated, because I consider Campbell to be one of the most unique voices to come out of the British horror genre.

Fellstones tells the story of Paul Dunstan, who was adopted by the Staveleys following the sudden death of his parents (for which he blames himself), who moved away and changed his name in an effort to escape their strictly controlling ways. When his adopted sister Adele finds him and persuades him to journey back to Fellstones, the small north-western village named after the seven stone monoliths marking the village green, he reluctantly agrees. What purpose do the Staveleys have in store for Paul, and what is real significance of those sinister standing stones?

As with much of Campbell’s fiction, the dialogue is quite brilliant, at times laugh out loud funny. He has such an ear for phrasing and a skill at building up layers upon layers of detail until the characters’ psychological torment is palpable. This novel blends folk horror with cosmic horror, and is a great example of how ‘less is more’ subtlety works to greater success in the genre of weird fiction. Whilst I was provided with an advanced reading copy of this novel in order to review, it’s worth noting that the formatting was so poor that it made the experience a very difficult one, and at times I considered giving up. It was only my awareness of Campbell’s writing quality that persuaded me to continue. Perhaps other readers might not have been so determined.

Fellstones is published in September 2022 by Flame Tree Press. It’s a solid entry to the genre, and won’t disappoint fans of Ramsey Campbell or weird fiction in general. Recommended.

Thanks to Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review 'Fellstones.'

I've been reading Ramsey Campbell for years and am a big fan. This has all the finest aspects of a classic Campbell novel - cosmic horror, English folk horror, unease and off-kilter characters and situations which weave contemporary settings and ancient events.

The pluses all come from that list - you wonder why the main character Paul/Michael accedes to some of the ridiculous situations in which he finds himself but because of the atmosphere Campbell creates you buy that even though you wouldn't ever find yourself in them, it's not that odd that Paul/Michael would and that he doesn't question them more.

The characters are also classic Campbell - polite and beige middle-Englanders with a highly respectable public face but with all sorts of sinister hidden lives.

The setting, also classic. What's more English folk-horror than standing stones in the middle of a bucolic village? If you grew up there in the 1970s you won't be able to stop yourself connecting this with the classic children's TV show, 'Children of the Stones' which was filmed in Avebury, Wiltshire. That too had a cosmic aspect and was steeped in ancient lore.

The main negative is that the book is too long - we could've gotten to the end at least a third quicker and not lost anything. Counter to that, the origin of the stones and the rituals could've gotten a bit more coverage - I'd have enjoyed that.

Glad that Campbell is still writing and that Flame Tree Press are publishing, thank you!

This is more of a 3.5 stars than a 4 but I feel it doesn't deserve as low a rating as a 3.

We are lucky in the UK to have so many Neolithic stone circles. These ancient megaliths, built by our ancestors some 4000-5000 years ago, have proved an endless source of speculation, legend and folklore for artists and writers down through the centuries. Now, horror writer Ramsey Campbell- himself a legend in his field - has taken up the gauntlet and penned a story centreing on a group of seven standing stones in the fictional village of Fellstones.

The main character - Paul Dunstan - has not had the easiest of lives. His parents were killed in a car crash for which he has always felt responsible. He was adopted and brought up by a family called the Staveleys but years before the story begins, he broke off all contact with them. Their controlling influence had become too great to bear. Now, with a troubled personal relationship increasing his vulnerability, the sudden reappearance of the Staveleys' natural daughter - Adele - kicks off a chain of events that sees him back in Fellstones for the first time in years. Not merely back there, but trapped.

The stones have their purpose and their ancient secrets. Paul's future is inextricably woven in and, as the tension mounts and the danger becomes ever more real, Campbell's unsurpassed talent for creating mounting, creeping dread is at the forefront. Let's just say that the Fellstones are not as friendly or benign as dear old Stonehenge or Avebury.

This was a fantastic read, demonstrating yet again that the master of horror has lost none of his power to entertain, thrill and surprise. More please!

An intriguing read, worth checking by readers interested in imaginative worldbuilding, solid characterization, and clever plots. Highly Recommended.

I have spoken with the publicist regarding my upcoming review of this title, which will appear on my website, social media, Amazon, and Goodreads soon.

This was a DNF finish for myself and I found it to be a real slog. I have read many of Campbell's recent novels, including all of run of books on Flame Tree Press (his current publisher) and this was not up to his usual standard. Paul Dunstan has cut himself off from his adopted family, but after a chance encounter with his sister Adele goes to visit the family for the weekend. Everybody is delighted to see him and it was very obvious that they had an ulterior motive for welcoming him back into the bosom of the family, but I struggled to muster up any enthusiasm for what the reason was. The family were loud and annoying, whilst Paul was cranky and confrontational and very slow on the uptake that the family were up to no good, all of which connects to this song from his childhood and the Fellstones of the title, which dominate the village green. It was all about secrets and memories, but it took much too long getting there and the characters were just no fun to spend any time with.

Very much a slow burn, although for me it doesn’t ever quite catch fire. Fellstones feels like classic Campbell in its setting of an air of unease and potential cosmic horror, but doesn’t build the tension as much as I’d have liked. There’s rather a lot of repetition rather than of ratcheting up of the threat, and ultimately I was left a little frustrated. Worth a read, but a minor work overall.

Fellstones (Ramsey Campbell)

Paul Dunston tries to distance himself from the Staveley family, the people who adopted him after the tragic death of his parents. He tries to distance himself but he does not know why, and it’s only when his adoptive sister - Dell - tracks him down that he begins to remember strange moments from his house near the Fellstones. Remembering half seen creatures, and a string of musical notes that begin to haunt his waking hours. He remembers his parents' collection of classical music, the lessons they taught him, and their single minded insistence that his talent for music had some esoteric meaning.

But Paul has no idea the things that await him when Dell convinces him to return to his old home to visit his sick adoptive parents. The Fellstones is far closer to how he remembers it, with strange tunes and monsters intact.


Ramsey Campbell is widely considered one of the great living horror authors, but this is only the second of his books I have read, even though I have read a great many horror novels. In my defence there are lots of novels I have never read, and a great many authors, but I acknowledge this isn’t much of a defence.

For me Fellstones is a vindication of his position at the top of the literary horror food chain. A slow burn read that eases the reader into dark places without the need for the spilling of blood or mindless violence. Campbell is as classical a writer as the composers that grace the pages of Fellstones, orchestrating his effect on the reader with no less skill. He eases Paul into a place where he has few allies, while ensuring that his villains do not descend into two-dimensional villainy.

I am so very glad that Flame Tree Press allowed me to review a copy of this excellent book. Leading me to the simple conclusion that I have neglected this wonderful author for far too long.