Fear Across the Mersey III: The Christmas Present | review by Rafe McGregor

Fear Across the Mersey by Ramsey Campbell

PS Publishing, hardback, £25.00, August 2024, ISBN 9781803943701

The first story in the collection narrated in the first person, with all the challenges and opportunities that brings, and the first where I was familiar with much of the geography (though I’m sure it’s changed considerably in fifty years). ‘The Christmas Present’ is indeed about Christmas in terms of its thematic content and succeeds in exploring the meaning of the holiday in an intellectual and even philosophical way without ever becoming either didactic or dull. This is a signal achievement, given the story’s brevity, and the change of pace in the last two pages creates a rising crescendo with a sudden sense of urgency as Christmas (and who knows what else) approaches at breakneck speed. The conclusion is particularly satisfying, presenting a neat rather than contrived twist, a twist that is both expected and not quite what one was expecting, bringing closure in spite of ending in medias res.