The American actor Jeffrey Combs (born 1954) is inextricably linked to cosmic horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. This is mainly thanks to director Stuart Gordon, who cast him in the leading role in 1985's Re-Animator; Combs plays Herbert West, a deranged medical student conducting experiments in reanimating corpses. This performance marked Combs' breakthrough into horror films and the splatter subgenre that was enjoying a resurgence in the 1980s. He would subsequently appear in eight further Lovecraft adaptations, including Bride of Re-Animator, Lurking Fear, a remake of The Dunwich Horror and Castle Freak. 

For this B-Z we have selected two other Lovecraft adaptations starring Combs. In Necronomicon, he plays H.P. Lovecraft himself in the framing device of this omnibus film. From Beyond, inspired by Lovecraft's story of the same name, is another collaboration with Stuart Gordon, with Combs playing a scientist's assistant confronted by slithery creatures from another dimension.