Editing Ramsey Campbell (section)

===Early life and work===

Campbell was born in [[Liverpool]], England, to Alexander Ramsey and Nora (Walker) Campbell. He was educated by [[Congregation of Christian Brothers|Christian Brothers]] at [[St Edward's College]], Liverpool. Campbell's childhood and adolescence were marked by the rift between his parents, who became estranged shortly after his birth. Campbell's father became a shadowy presence more often heard than seen.<ref>S.T. Joshi, "[John] Ramsey Campbell" in Joshi and Stefan Dziemianowicz (eds). ''Supernatural Literature of the World'', Westport CT: Greenwood Press, 2005, p. 203</ref> Campbell states, "I didn't see my father face to face for nearly twenty years, and that was when he was dying." Years later, Campbell's mother degenerated into paranoia and [[schizophrenia]], rendering his life a living hell—an experience he has discussed in detail in the introduction and afterword to the restored text of ''The Face That Must Die''.<ref>Campbell, Ramsey. "At the Back of My Mind: A Guided Tour", introduction to ''The Face That Must Die'' (1990), pp.vii-xxv, and Afterword (pp.236-238). {{ISBN|0-7088-4394-8}}</ref> Other autobiographical pieces regarding Campbell's life are available in Section V, "On Ramsey Campbell" in his essay collection ''Ramsey Campbell, Probably: 30 Years of Essays and Articles'' (ed. [[S. T. Joshi]]), as well as in the novella ''The Enigma of the Flat Policeman'' (2020).

Campbell's mother "wrote a great deal, novel after novel, but was largely unpublished aside from a handful of short stories in writer's magazines." She encouraged her young son to send his writing off from an early age.<ref name="catalystmedia.org.uk">{{Cite web|url=http://www.catalystmedia.org.uk/issues/misc/articles/ramsey_campbell.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303171313/http://www.catalystmedia.org.uk/issues/misc/articles/ramsey_campbell.php|url-status=dead|title=Mark Langshaw, "Interview with Ramsey Campbell", ''Nerve'' online|archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref> Growing up in the blitzed landscape of post-war Liverpool, Campbell avidly consumed the work of [[H. P. Lovecraft|Lovecraft]], [[Ambrose Bierce]], [[Franz Kafka]], [[Fritz Leiber]], [[Graham Greene]], and the cinema of [[film noir]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=admin |date=2023-05-15 |title=Celebrating Our Elders: Interview with Ramsey Campbell |url=https://horror.org/celebrating-our-elders-interview-with-ramsey-campbell/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230515120935/https://horror.org/celebrating-our-elders-interview-with-ramsey-campbell/ |archive-date=2023-05-15 |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=Horror Writers Association |language=en-US}}</ref>