The Inhabitant of the Lake and Other Unwelcome Tenants by Ramsey Campbell

Ramsey Campbell's best known volume of Lovecraftian stories is back in a new edition from PS Publishing, following a lengthy absence on the weird fiction market. The Inhabitant of the Lake and Other Unwelcome Tenants collects the notable UK horror author's early efforts at producing stories in the Cthulhu Mythos tradition. The new version constitutes a limited print run of signed hardcovers, with a classically Lovecraftian illustration by Randy Broecker.

Campbell's work is well known in the weird horror community today. He is one of the few writers to use Lovecraft as a launching pad to a full blown career in horror fiction. Campbell's relationship with Lovecraft's work has been famously volatile. He vigorously rejected any aping of Lovecraft during the 1970s, almost to the point of denouncing HPL's craftsmanship. Later, Campbell rehabilitated his Mythos based stories as he reached a much more balanced and mature view, and he has continued to produce new stories in a weirdly Lovecraftina spirit since.

Readers who are new to Campbell or on the fence about picking up The Inhabitant of the Lake should treat themselves to his mammoth paperback collection, Alone With the Horrors: The Great Short Fiction of Ramsey Campbell 1961-1991. Love him or hate him, this British author is sure to remain entrenched on the weird and Lovecraftian scene for decades to come. This newest reprinting of his old Arkham House collection only confirms that.

-Grim Blogger