Review: Ramsay Campbell's The Tugging

There's always strange lingo used in British stories. I was swept in Campbell's shortly only to be comically reminded that it took place in England. The Tugging follows a reporter named Ingles who has trouble sleeping and wakes to find himself troubled when he looks at the morning sky. At an art exhibit he's covering, a strange painting of Atlantis catches his eye. Ingles recalls a strange dream where he entered a city on an island with a planet or moon behind it. During this dream he feels his eardrums burst at the sound of something. He sees a plae figure, probably Yog-Sothoth behind the doors. Throughout the story, Ingles picks up more clues from reports about a strange planet coming close to the earth and students on LSD dreaming of sunken cities. This leads Ingles to confront his father about the bad dreams they shared and discovers his grandfather may have been part of a cult. Tracking down the cult's meeting place, Ingles finds ancient books and a special telescope that let's him see a planet that opens a single gigantic eye. The event causes him to lose his mind and as his girlfriend tries to comfort him, neither feel the earth tremble.

I'm skipping over the wonderful details Campbell's uses to paint his world. The star, pun intended, of the story is the planet god Groth. Ingles ties it to astronomy compares it to how people took comets to be a sign of something to come. There's also this comparison between Ingles and his father and their dreams disturb the ones they love. Its strange how the final few pages only hint at the volumes about these gods and the people who studied them. In fact, the story only describes Groth as "powerful," without explaining any more. It adds some mystery to this planet god. But what is going on here? Is Ingles inheriting his father's dreams or is he sensitive to Groth due to his grandfather's actions? What does Atlantis rising have to do with Groth coming? None of these questions are answered which sends the mind reeling wondering what will happen next. As always, it's fascinating how the true reality is hidden from ordinary people.

I loved this story. The build up, the pacing, the pay off, all fantastic. I think I should read it again to get a better grip on what I just read. Lovecraftian work seems to have that effect in me.