Pyramid Review
Ramsey Campbell's Goatswood and less pleasant places (for Call of Cthulhu)
Published by Chaosium, Inc.
Written by Scott David Aniolowski, Gary Sumpter, Richard Watts, J. Todd Kingrea, Clifton Ganyard, Rob Malkovich, Steve Spisak, Mike Mason, and Alan Glover
Illustrated by Matt Harpold, Drashi Khendup and Paul Carrick
256 pages; $27.95
Many of the stories written by H. P. Lovecraft take place in the fictionalized Northeast of the state of Massachusetts, centering upon the town of Arkham. If this area, lovingly detailed and prepared as a ready-to-run setting for Call of Cthulhu by Chaosium for their Lovecraft Country series of scenarios and sourcebooks, has an English analogy, it is in the works of British author Ramsey Campbell. His fictionalized setting, which he has been exploring since the 1960s, is that of the Severn Valley, centering upon the city of Brichester and the village of Goatswood. Now Chaosium have allowed us to explore this uniquely English setting with the release of Ramsey Campbell's Goatswood and less pleasant places, a campaign and sourcebook for Cthulhu Now.
This area lies in England's West Country, roughly Southwest of the city of Gloucester. Its mix of locations is mainly fictional -- most notably Brichester, Goatswood, and Camside -- leavened by the real town of Berkeley among others. With a history dating back to the time of the Roman occupation and beyond, its rolling hills and ancient forests hide communities with dark secrets and degenerate practices. . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: November 2, 2001
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