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Ramsey Campbell (1946-) is one of the world's leading and most critically acclaimed writers of horror fiction. Horror captured Ramsey Campbell's imagination from a young age and growing up in the blitzed landscape of post-War Liverpool, he avidly consumed the work of Lovecraft, Bierce, Kafka and the cinema of film noir. Encouraged by August Derleth, Campbell published his first short story in 1962. In the following decade he refined his style, harnessing his Lovecraftian tendencies and developing a particular strength for psychological characterisation. In his first novels, The Doll who Ate his Mother (1976) and The Face that Must Die (1979), Campbell began to fully explore the enigma of evil, touching on the psychological themes of possession, madness and alienation which feature in many of his subsequent novels. He also continued to write short stories, mainly supernatural, receiving the World Fantasy Award for The Chimney (1977) and Mackintosh Willy (1980). Campbell's later short stories have more in common with the bulk of his novels, whilst his most recent novels have begun to explore the complexity of mankind's relationship with his surroundings. In addition to writing, Ramsey Campbell is President of the British Fantasy Society and film critic for BBC Radio Merseyside.

The Ramsey Campbell Archive is on deposit with the Science Fiction Foundation Collection at the The University of Liverpool Library. It consists of manuscripts, typescripts and correspondence relating to Ramsey Campbell's literary career for the period 1966-1996, as well as some of his non-fiction. There is a small amount of critical material about the author and a large number of typescripts of other writers' work, such as Clive Barker and Jonathan Carroll, sent to Campbell. There is also correspondence and newsletters relating to societies, clubs and conferences he has been involved with, as well as a small number of miscellaneous personal items.

Finding Aid

The archive is fully listed and an online Finding Aid including further biographical information is available for browsing or searching.

Access

All material in the Ramsey Campbell Archive is available to researchers for consultation in the University of Liverpool Library's Special Collections and Archives Reading Room by prior arrangement. Please read Using the Collections if you are considering visiting us.

Copyright

Reproduction and Licensing rules are available upon request.

Related material

Search the SF Catalogue for Ramsey Campbell's works and related critical material. A small amount of material is contained in our Offprints Collection. The Official Ramsey Campbell website contains much useful information.