THE HOUSE ON NAZARETH HILL by Ramsey Campbell The man who is rightly respectedas one of the greatest ever writers in the field of supernatural fiction hasdelivered here a masterpiece, one that I think nudges even the brilliantMIDNIGHT SUN into second on my list of Ramsey's best.Amy Priestley is returning from church with her parents when they pass theburnt out shell of the "Spider House" on Nazareth Hill. Amy has always beenafraid of this building and in an attempt to overcome her fears Oswald, herfather, lifts her to a window to see inside. Something unspeakable looms fromthe dark and she nearly topples in fright from her father's grip. Amy vows neverto return.Ten years later, 16 year old Amy and her now widowed father move intoNazarill, the luxury flats that have been created from the ruins of the "SpiderHouse". Amy has, she thinks, outgrown her fears and is happy to have a placethat many in Partington might envy.Soon though, things start to go wrong. A photographer dies whilst developinga shot of the residents, and the negative contains an image of a ghostly figuresupplementary to the original group. One night Oswald stumbles into what hethinks is a huge spider hanging from an oak tree off the driveway. It isactually a mutilated cat. The oak is chopped down and discovered in the roots ofthe tree is an old Bible with some curious scribblings in the margins. "Mustsurvive until they take me from this place" reads one ominous line. Amy beginsto suspect some awful past buried in Nazarill's history. A past, as the bookjacket says, that won't stay buried.And this is the heart of the novel. Ramsey has created a haunted house storythat towers above most of the other work in this sub-genre. It has beenfavourably compared to THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE. A fair statement, but Ramseyadds layers that Jackson could never have achieved. There is a dream sequence inthis book that rivals any by other such masters of the surreal as Aickman,Ligotti and Etchison. There is a growing sense of literary excellence inRamsey's work and this book is no exception. There is a real desire to not onlyscare the hell out of the reader, but to do it in a way that satisfies ourcraving for intelligent work. Schlock writing is OK if that is where you getyour kicks, but you can't tell me that there is any substitute for literarycraftsmanship. Let me tell you, Ramsey has craftsmanship in spades.In the afterword to the recent memoir of Frank Belknap Long, Ramsey says "Ioften wonder if I am as wrong as Frank to feel that my work is improving". Letme say now that not only is Ramsey improving with each book, but for me he hasno near rivals in the field of contemporary supernatural horror. Truly, the manis an awesome writer, and one we should be proud to have among us.