- Selected by Nicholas Royle
John Burke edited three excellent volumes of Tales of Unease and finally had a collection of his own stories published in 2000. ‘Lucille Would Have Known’ was one of the strongest stories in that collection and one of the highlights of the anthology in which it first appeared. Lucille organises an annual Getaway Weekend Study Tour for a group of couples of a certain age. This year’s tour is of Romantic Castles of the North-East, but the organiser passes away before the date comes around. The tour goes ahead nevertheless. “Lucille would have wanted us to make the trip,” says Madge, Lucille’s “natural successor”. Be careful what you wish for, Madge. Second-hand copies of the New Terrors volumes are worth tracking down for Campbell’s story introductions alone. Of ‘Lucille Would Have Known’ he writes, “In the context of this book his tale may seem a reassuringly traditional ghost story – but there is one detail which may look reassuring but which, in retrospect, grows worse and worse.”
First published in New Terrors 2, edited by Ramsey Campbell, Pan, 1980, reprinted in New Terrors Omnibus edited by Ramsey Campbell, Pan, 1985. Collected in We’ve Been Waiting For You, Ash-Tree Press, 2000
You can read Nicholas Royle’s own personal anthology and other contributions here
A Personal Anthology 