Many folk have asked who/what is a Necroscope. Well, here is the answer.

Years ago this definition was used on the original Necroscope printing in the UK by Grafton. (The one with the nasty cover and red spine.)

Why this definition never appeared in the US editions I don’t know … it would have certainly answered the question to all the US readers who wanted to know then and still want to know now.

Here is Brian Lumley’s definition of a Necroscope as taken from the inside of above mentioned book.

The following material is copyright © Brian Lumley (2008 and beyond). It is not to be used in any other publication without express permission from Brian Lumley. Necroscope® is a registered trademark of Brian Lumley.

DEFINITIONS

Tele- (Gk. tele: ‘far’.) A telescope is an optical instrument which enlarges images of distant objects. For example: the surface of the Moon may be viewed as from only a few hundred miles away.

Micro- (Gk. mikros: ‘small’) A microscope is an optical instrument which makes small objects visible to the human eye. Through a microscope, a drop of ‘clear’ water is seen to contain countless unsuspected micro-organisms.

Necro- (Gk. nekros: ‘a corpse’) A Necroscope is a human instrument which permits access to the minds of the dead. Harry Keogh is a Necroscope – he knows the thoughts of corpses in their graves.

The main difference between these instruments is this: the first two perform purely physical, one-way functions. They are incapable of changing anything. The Moon cannot look back through the telescope; the amoeba does not know it is under microscopic scrutiny.

That’s Harry Keogh’s big problem: his talent seems to work both ways. The dead know – and they won’t lie still for it!