What's your opinion of Brian Lumley's books?

Cafe Society
1

I’ve read most of the Necroscope stories and the ones after them. They have a mixed place in my heart: on the one hand, he can certainly write a vivid and grotesque scene, almost pulp-ish in the intensity of it. A lot of horror and gore. On the other disgustingly mutated claw, he seems to repeat a lot of the same phrases and descriptions, and there’s a chunk of racism and use of his female characters, as well as his loving descriptions of them, that give me pause and prevent me from moving him up the list of favorite authors.

Your thoughts, Dopers?

2

Interesting that there’s no responses. Maybe they weren’t as popular as I thought?

3

It’s been a long time since I read the Necroscope books although I still have them on the shelf.

His Cthulu Mythos stories are quite good (The Burrowers Beneath, Hagopian, etc).

4

I’m meh on the Necroscope stuff - loved the setting, hated the actual stories, there was too much power creep.

I like what he did with the Mythos in the Titus Groan books, though - to me it felt like a return to the Weird Science of Lovecraft, and a step away from the excessive mysticism of Derleth.

5

I’ve read some of his Mythos and Primal Land works. The Titus Crow ones aren’t bad: he inverts the tragedy of the Mythos and has his heroes as monster-stompers. The Primal Land ones are rather juvenile and pulpish.

6

I am certain I read several of his works but I cannot recall any details. I am probably also conflating him with Clive Barker. (I went through a horror phase a few decades back.)

7

:smack: I meant Crow, of course

8

Damn.

I was hoping to find shoggoths in the cellars of Gormenghast.

9

No, the shoggoths are on the roof, of course :).