Alone with the Horrors

Book excerpt: “A seminal collection of one of late 20th century’s most important horror writers . . . every horror fan should have on their bookshelf.” —SF Site Reviews Ramsey Campbell is perhaps the world’s most decorated author of horror fiction. He has won four World Fantasy Awards, ten British Fantasy Awards, three Bram Stoker Awards, and the Horror Writers’ Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Three decades into his career, Campbell paused to review his body of short fiction and selected the stories that were, to his mind, the very best of his work. Alone With the Horrors collects nearly forty tales from the first thirty years of Campbell’s writing, including several award winners. Campbell crowns the book with a lengthy preface—revised for this edition—that traces his early publication history, discusses his youthful correspondence with August Derleth, and illuminates the influence of H. P. Lovecraft on his work. Alone with the Horrors provides readers with a close look at a powerful writer’s development of his craft. “The marrow-chilling tales in this comprehensive, chronologically arranged collection, selected from Campbell’s 30-year career, demonstrate the ways this sophisticated British writer inspires fear without resorting to blood and gore.” —Publishers Weekly