Creepy English lake (5)
I believe the answer is:
eerie
'creepy' is the definition.
(eerie can mean strange or creepy)
'english lake' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'E' (abbreviation as in OED).
'lake' becomes 'erie' (Lake Erie is one of the Canadian/US 'Great Lakes').
'e'+'erie'='EERIE'
(Other definitions for eerie that I've seen before include "Oddly frightening" , "Awesome" , "Uncannily strange" , "Spooky, weird" , "Sinister" .)