In 1995, Chaosium released Ramsey Campbell's Goatswood, a supplement for The Call of Cthulhu rpg. Being both a fan of Ramsey Campbell's Cthulhu Mythos work and into roleplaying, this was something I had been long anticipating. Sadly (and for reasons I won't go into here), the finished product was massively disappointing. Released alongside it, however, was this far superior collection paying tribute to Campbell's Severn Valley tales of cosmic horror - with a contribution by Ramsey Campbell himself (representing his first return to Mythos writing in some time). Unfortunately 'The Horror Under Warrendown' - basically a comedic pastiche of Lovecraft's 'The Shadow Over Innsmouth' - is my least favourite of Campbell's Severn Valley/Cthulhu Mythos tales; even so, it was great to be able to explore Campbell country one more time, if only through the eyes of authors other than he. In addition to which, Chaosium's revitalisation of the Mythos scene with books such as this seems to have subsequently encouraged Ramsey Campbell to return to writing in a Lovecraftian and Mythos-inflected vein - more of which we look forward to in the future.
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