Cold Print is not an Arkham House book but two thirds of the contents were originally published by Arkham House. Ramsey Campbell was another of August Derleth’s discoveries. Cold Print is a collection of Campbell’s “Cthulhu Mythos” stories from 1962 to 1985. Cold Print was first a Scream Press hardback from 1985. Tor reprinted it as a mass market paperback in late 1987. I remember seeing the Tor paperback at the local Dairy Mart spinner rack. I did not pick it up at the time debating whether to buy it or not. I didn’t. I did pick up a nice condition paperback at the local library booksale last year.

Contents:

I burned out on bad imitations of H. P. Lovecraft a long time ago. I have read Mythos fiction sparingly for a long time. The emphasis was often on using Lovecraft’s names as if that would create a sense of unease or horror. I can gladly say that Cold Print is not the case. Campbell created his own locale of eldtritch horror set in the Severn River valley of western England. Places like Brichester and Goatswood were his own Arkham and Dunwich. A few Lovecraft names are used but most of the time Campbell uses his own creations. You have the gothic decay with cosmic intrusions from the outside.

Campbell can be a difficult read for some people. His syntax is a little off which adds to the building unease in his stories. “The Faces at Pine Dunes” is disturbing with its revelation. Before the ending is life in Lancashire and young man working at the bar at a local club while he discovers his family’s secret .

You see Campbell grow as a writer from a teenager to one of the main stars of 1980s horror as you read through the contents. If you come across Cold Print and like Mythos fiction or Ramsey Campbell, give this one a read. My all time favorite Campbell story is “Heading Home” which is not Mythos (and not in this collection).