Ghosts Know
Graham Wilde is an opinionated and troublemaking talk-radio host, and he’s just been told to kick it up a notch by his producer in the interest of impressing the station’s buyers. Inviting Frank Jasper, a so-called psychic, to be on his show seems like the perfect opportunity to do just that. When Wilde uses Jasper’s fake psychic tricks, and a shared history, to expose him as a charlatan on air, he enrages many of his listeners—and entertains others. He’s gone too far, though: when he next encounters Jasper, the “psychic” manipulates circumstantial evidence to apparently point to Wilde as a murderer. Wilde’s reactions to this perceived threat—and the reactions of his colleagues and fans—all lead to increasing alienation and despair for Wilde. Ghosts Know is an interesting exploration of a very particular, internalized type of psychological horror; Wilde’s spiral into paranoia and rage is abrupt and unnerving. Campbell’s prose is sure enough to pull the story along steadily, despite the unreliability and confusion of the narrator. --Regina Schroeder