Ramsey Campbell (born 4 January 1946) is an English horror fiction writer, editor and critic. He was author of over 30 novels and hundreds of short stories, and a contributor to the Cthulhu Mythos (among others, he created Y'golonac, who debuted in 1969's "Cold Print").
Trope Namer of Campbell Country.
Campbell works with their own trope pages include:
- Ancient Images
- The Hungry Moon
- Midnight Sun (1990)
- "The Chimney"
- "Midnight Hobo"
- "Mackintosh Willy"
- "Cold Print"
Campbell's other works provide examples of:
- Botanical Abomination: The Green God from "The Horror Under Warrendown" is a sentient plant-like entity dwelling within a series of subterranean caverns, where it is always served by mutant rabbit-like worshippers.
- Brown Note: One of Campbell's more notable additions to the Mythos was Y'Golonac. Part of the reason why was how easily Y'Golonac could be summoned: if you just read his name — not even aloud, but on the printed page,
as you've already done twice — there was a chance you could end up possessed by him. Seeing as he's a god that represents every act that could be viewed as depraved by all individuals sane or mad, this is not a pleasant fate. - Campbell Country: As the Trope Namer, Campbell set many of his stories in the Severn Valley, a fictional region in Gloucestershire. Some notable towns located in the Severn Valley include:
- Brichester, a university town that appears to be a counterpart to Lovecraft's Arkham, and, by Campbell's own admission, is heavily based on Liverpool.
- Goatswood, an isolated town whose people are known for their distinctive look. This seems to be a Shout-Out to Innsmouth.
- Temphill, a decaying town that has a sinister church located at the center of the town.
- The Little Shop That Wasn't There Yesterday: Sam Strutt from "Cold Print" has a yen for esoteric literature. His search for forbidden knowledge leads him through dingy backstreets to a basement bookshop advertising "American Books Bought and Sold". On his second visit... a macabre many-mouthed creature makes an occult proposition that cools his blood.
- Mechanical Abomination: The Outer God Daoloth, the Render of Veils, when summoned to our dimension, looks like an incomprehensible jumble of every piece of machinery/technology imaginable (or unimaginable) that is constantly moving and expanding in physically impossible ways. Seeing it is just as hard on the human psyche as seeing any Outer God, and its goals seem to be the advancement of scientific/technological knowledge without any regards to the consequences (imagine giving the secrets to easily make nuclear-powered rayguns to bronze-age people but without caring enough to warn them of the potential dangers or to give them radiation shielding).
- Rogue Planet: The Outer God Ghroth from "The Tugging" is a rogue planet that drifts through space. Its song, the "music of the spheres", can awaken every Eldritch Abomination on each world it passes.
- The Sociopath: Y'golonac, created by for his short story "Cold Print", is the God of Depravity and Perversion who seeks those who read forbidden literature in the hopes that they would read a chapter of The Revelations of Gla'aki that bears his name and release him so he could freely rape and kill all in his path.
- Town with a Dark Secret: Almost every town in the Severn Valley has some dark evil lurking somewhere, in various degrees. Some are hidden and the inhabitants ignorant, other evils are trapped, and then there's the whole towns in on the secret.
- You Just Ruined the Shot: Subverted in The Grin of the Dark. The protagonist at one point passes by a bedroom and sees two beautiful young women about to have sex. They beckon to him, he enters the bedroom, and when he sees a camera crew recording the girls for an adult film, he apologizes for ruining the shot. The director chides that he didn't ruin the shot by entering the room, it was because he looked into the camera instead of joining the girls without hesitation. Then she offers him a retake, which he politely declines.
