OFFICIAL
BRIAN LUMLEY NEWSLETTER

COLUMNS:

FEATURES:

Change comes to us all - like it or not. Over the last year - myself alone - has seen me uprooted from my first home (after 10 years) and redeposited in a much larger house and city, something I never thought would happen. I've been remarried to a wonderful woman - again, something i never thought would happen. I'm driving a new car and have new duties at my job - completely out of line of what I was hired for (goes without saying - didn't figure on that one either!). And now - I'll only publish this Newsletter four times a year instead of six. I never - ever - thought that the publishing schedule would change. But, lives become busy, people get stretched too thin, and well, you have to stop and enjoy it every once in awhile or what is the purpose of being here? Hopefully you can all enjoy the newsletter still, and we will continue to bring you interesting little tidbits that you can't find anywhere else.

I stopped to sit down and actually think about the Newsletter over the start of the new year and wondered if it was losing it's relevancy. After 10 years of existence, was it needed anymore? The Forum, or MessageBoard if you prefer, on Brian Lumley's website has evolved into a creature of it's own. With posts dating from today back to 1999, including every type of discussion from Latest Releases to what music everyone listens to - it is an unbelievable repository of information on everyone's favourite author and the lives that surround him. Did someone need to 'subscribe' to a publication that had a lot of the same information already out there? But then I caught myself - while the "important" information from the Newsletter is posted on the site for all to see - no matter what - the other mundane (if you could dare call it that!) pieces of information, namely the columns from the contributors, are found here every issue - and ONLY here. Granted, the free issue gives everyone a chance to catch up, albeit an issue behind, on what every columnist had to say, but then when the next issue comes along - POOF! - they still only have one issue to see. That made me smile. Not that everyone only had access to only one issue - but the fact that as a subscriber, you have the opportunity to go back and access 10 years worth of information and columns from Brian Lumley, Silky, and all of the wonderfully talented columnists, both regular and guest that we have had share their minds and their lives with us. Over 65 issues and special features (and counting) with multiple articles and notes inside each one! I for one get a small amount of joy when I take the time to go back and reread the 'events of the day' from years past to see what came to pass and how we viewed it in the World of Lumley back then. And how each new issue keeps us current with how we view that World today. Welcome one and all the Necroscope News...

Now that we've established this publication IS important - I'm going to share some important news. There will be a new Necroscope figurine coming out this year - a brand new sculpture for one and all to own and admire that captures the essence of the first Necroscope book with Bob Eggleton's amazing skull in living three-dimensional glory. The release of the piece is schedule for late April, to tie in with the Fangoria convention that is being held in L.A. Fri., Sat. & Sun. April 25-27, 2008 at the LA Convention Center. These will be limited to 1,000 pieces and should be retailing for $55. You will be able to purchase them online through the producers website in conjunction with us. If you know where to dig - this info has been online for a bit, but for the lazy in us - here is the link: http://hauntedhouseproductions.com/ That link is why I'm sharing the information with you all now - about a month earlier than I was supposed to - their website messed up and put the info on too soon - so you could find it if you looked hard enough. I am making it easy as a thank you to all of you for continuing to support this site and newsletter - and c'mon - what is Necroscope News without, well - some Necroscope news?! Our website won't release the details officially until we are supposed to, in a few weeks time.

As far as the site goes, things have been running smooth. I've updated the content management system to a more stable release. If you were having any troubles on the main page of the site or the forum pages, hopefully that has made things easier for you - if not, please let me know what problems you have had so I can get them addressed as soon as possible. I also plan on upgrading to the latest version of the Forum software when it releases later this year that will allow some extra special features and more customization than ever before to hopefully make your visit here even more pleasurable.

Time for me to get on my way and let the real writers take over. We've got some great news and insights this issue - so read on and enjoy!

This is your Wolfe signing off.....

A horrid thing to report this time around, and I'm not talking about one of my stories here.

Sue, the boss-lady at our annual Shedden Hall Hotel KeoghCon venue, has sold up and is moving to Portugal. I think Silky may well have mentioned this in her bit. Well that sort of kills it for me; Shedden Hall wasn't top class accommodation, but it was perfect for our get-togethers and it didn't cost the earth. And of course, Sue became one of the gang and made friends with any number of our regulars. She has been and is a personal friend, and I hate to lose her.

But on my birthday last December I turned seventy (Jesus, I don't believe it!) and being way too long in the tooth now I've decided to call it a day. By which I don't mean I'm moving into a cave somewhere -- I will still be available for the occasional meet-up in London or elsewhere, that is if I'm not knocking myself out with work -- but Silky and me won't be looking to find a new location. We were lucky the last time but ... time stands still for no man and that was four years ago when I was (ahem!) that much younger.

So to cut a long sad tale short: KeoghCon as a "real" event is no more. But I thank all of you who have become our friends, our extended family. I've enjoyed your company so much over the years in which you've truly made my life that much brighter and all the better for knowing you...

And hey, you Newsletter columnists out there: don't you go thinking you're off the hook. The Newsletter won't be quite so frequent in the future, but as witness me typing this right now, it will go on.

So what's happening in the rest of Lumley space-time?

Well my agent is talking to both TOR in the US of A, and to Solaris in UK, about Necroscope: Harry & the Pirates. She hopes for a decent offer from my long-time publisher across the Pond, or if not that might have to sell North-American rights to Solaris. We must wait and see. But the manuscript is corrected now and in the editorial hands of both publishers.

Necroscope, Wamphyri!, and The Source have all resold to a new publisher in France; the contracts are signed on that deal. And the Japanese have followed up on The Burrowers Beneath and bought The Transition of Titus Crow. Our Polish publisher appears to be intent on doing all of my books; we've sold Hero of Dreams and the Beneath The Moors collection. And I've recently signed new contracts with our Russian publisher.

Then there's my new 2,000 word introduction to a prestige small press edition of the original Dracula in the USA; I'm not sure when it will be available from Full Moon Press, but the publisher is interested in doing some of my books in similar editions.

I will be visiting Glenn Hetrick -- the special effects man on Heroes -- some time in the not too distant future, I hope. I have a permanent invitation to the studies in LA but don't know for sure when I can make it. I do know, however, that Glenn has been chasing up the Big Players in Hollywood. (Fingers crossed, guys!)

Meanwhile, we've had a new security system installed after the old one (which incidentally was very, very good) cashed in its chips after fourteen years of service, and the damned thing has only broken down a dozen times and cost us a small fortune in calls. I won't name the company because it could well be I'm taking them to court. Christ, I'm up to here with it! I have an insecure security system!

Sometimes I wish I was Harry Keogh; it would be so good to be (instantly) somewhere where the sun is shining and I don't have to be calling someone in India or some other daft foreign place that I really don't want to be speaking to! On the other hand I count my blessings, hope that everything will work out, and wonder how -- if things can go so very wrong for me --  how the hell you folks deal with this screwed up world?

But hey, enough moaning, and be good to each other till the next time. Okay?

Fellow Lumlians...

Blimey! Where did the time go? Tempus fugit, indeed.

The Business End...

Well, here we are ... the first quarterly issue of 2008. Yes, we decided that with the busy schedules of all the contributors that we would do four issues a year rather than six. Better than no NL at all. We'll give this a go for a year or two and see what happens.

Brian is supposed to be semi-retired but he's still working like a mad man ... not that he wasn't already a madman ... but offers keep coming in and most of them too good to refuse.

You'll also see that the monthly update is really now a bi-monthly update. Reasons being that I'm really bogged down with work ... when Brian is busy that doubles my work load as well. But not to worry, that's what I get paid for. Naturally if anything of importance comes up it will be added to the current update and it will be easy to spot in "blue."

Lots of stuff going down in the Foreign publications but I've left that to Brian.

KeoghCon Yes, as you all know by now we've had our last Con/Gathering. Shame ... we'll be sorry to see Sue and Martin of the Shedden Hall Hotel sell up and move to Portugal. But I tell you, the place they are trying to obtain is absolutely gorgeous ... and it has two apartments attached. I can see Brian, myself and Keith & Sarah going out there for a trip next year if the sale comes to pass.

I am anticipating a new project which I believe I mentioned on the MessageBoard already. A no frills MP3 CD of Brian's convention readings. MP3 makes it easier these days as I can get more on a disk and most anyone who now has a DVD player can play it. Not to mention all the MP3 stereos and the like. Easy to transfer on to your iPod or Zen players. But that probably won't get done until summer if I can get to it.

I'll probably dig out the Ebay stuff again for this summer. We've decided that we are going to really reduce the price of many items because we need the space. All the previous items' prices, but for a few, will be really cut. But do keep in mind that we have to make enough profit on the sale to cover fees ... and fees on Ebay.co.uk these days are really rough. And, naturally, Royal Mail prices are going up in April ... so that's me sitting here for a few hours and redoing my postage calculations. Ah, well ... we are sent these things to try us...

By request, you'll see on the board ... I'm doing a mailing list for those of you who want to be informed of where Brian will be appearing. All the info you need you will find there if you are interested.

The Lighter Side:

End of March I'm off to visit my parents ... going on my own so that should be very interesting leaving Brian "home alone." Just the thought of leaving Brian alone in my kitchen makes the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up! I'll just make sure he's got plenty of food cooked up for him so that the least amount of time he has to spend cooking will be limited. Phew, she says with a sigh...

Don't know yet about Greece or Vegas this year. We want to get there but we just don't know when. Brian meant it when he says he isn't doing much travelling these days and that's why I'm off to my parents on my own. Well, at least I'll get plenty of work done there. Got to get up into the attic and clear it out. Ugh, just the thought of that is frightening ... haven't been up there for years. At least it will be the right time of the year. The attic is a great place to be in the summer if you want a sauna ... and I don't ... so it will still be a time of year when I can bear it, barely! Mom needs some stuff from up there brought down 'cos she can't get up the ladders anymore.

This will be the first time Brian and I have been separated in 14 years, except for two weeks when I had to stay and wait on my visa from the British Embassy. After that, well, we've been glued together. No, I'm wrong. Brian did go up to Leeds one time for a weekend when he went to meet up with Mobius Entertainment.

I'm already dreading the gardening detail. But at least now I have more help when I have someone in twice a year for major cut backs ... I also get them to do some of the things I used to do to help me out. Not doing all the planting of veggies I normally do this year. Just going to put in more strawberries and grapevines. Might do a few tomatoes but the runner beans are out. By the time I do all the work on the runner beans I can buy them reasonably enough. I do like to do my own tomatoes though, nothing beats your own home grown stuff. You know where it's been and who's touched it.

And the pool, well, let's just hope we get more enjoyment out of it this year than we did last year. One can but hope. Right now as I write this the sun is shining, miracles never cease!

We met up with Keith and Sarah end of January for a party at the Shedden Hall Hotel. It was really great to see them again. We went to the Devon Dumpling for a meal, which is always enjoyable. And on the Saturday evening we went for a bit of food at Applebys next door. They have a new menu and it's better than it was before. Keith got a huge plate of bbq ribs and they looked fantastic! They'll be coming to see Brian in Derby for the one day Alt.Fiction convention run by the Council. And Brian looks forwarding to seeing any others of you who decide to join him there.

Of course, for all you Lovecraft buffs ... there's the Lovecraft Film Festival ... where Brian is a GoH...

I'm busy trying to get my study back into shape again. What a mess! First there was all the Ebay stuff I had to put away before Christmas ... then there were all the Christmas deccies to be packed up and put away ... and then once proofs came in for us to read for Mythos Volume Two ... well, everything else just came to a standstill.

I guess this pretty much covers me for now ... we'll see what happens between this NL and the next one...

Until next time....

Note to the reader: "This is my second run at writing this as the first submission was not only rife with my usual level of typos but I'd explained some theories so poorly that they weren't only obtuse but often bordered on the plain inaccurate. So you have here my second attempt, and I ask that you bear in mind that whilst the truths contained herein are true, the theories are also just that - theories - and people much clever than me and maybe some of you dispute them. but I'm not going to let that get in the way of a good punch line..." (PG, 2008)

The Universe is a large and magnificent place. So unimaginably huge that we cannot see all of it but we could never see all of it even if we tried.

I've been engaging in that most dangerous of pursuits lately - reading. One of the books I've been reading is "The Goldilocks Enigma" by Paul Davies. In it he talks about how the universe is just right for life - not too much matter, not too little, not too much heat, not too cool and so on. A passage in the early part of the book that has captured my imagination. It is something that talks about the beginnings of the universe, and how we can observe that beginning now.

But I won't start there, I'll start with something else to do with the speed of light or rather about the colour of light.

Our eyes are only capable of seeing a small range of colours - this is called the visible light spectrum. For the most part we can see red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet - the colours of the rainbow. We can distinguish between the colours because each colour has a different frequency. Frequencies are basically waves, the more waves over a specific period the higher the frequency and the fewer the number of waves the longer the frequency. The redder the light the fewer waves it has and the bluer the light the more waves it has.

So, light is just waves in space just like sound is just waves in air. What happens when you hear a fire engine siren getting closer to you and then moving further away from you? The siren increases in pitch as it approaches and lowers as it departs, right? It's called the Doppler Effect. What's happening is as the siren gets closer the waves of the noise are being forced together, the more waves there are the higher the pitch. and obversely as the siren speeds off to its emergency (tea getting cold?) the sound of the siren is being stretched, fewer waves, lower pitch.

And so it is with light, only instead of pitch it is the colour that shifts - if there is a light moving towards us the frequency of the waves are pushed together making the light seem bluer, and if a light moves away from us the frequency is stretched making the light redder.

We can quite plainly hear the effect of sound being squeezed and stretched as in the example of the siren, this is because the speed of sound is relatively low as a speeding vehicle (or indeed a hyperactive child) can demonstrate. With light it isn't so easy - as fast as we can move we can only ever move at a tiny fraction of the speed of light. But there are bodies in the heavens that are moving so quickly that changes in frequency, the colour shifts, are observable and demonstrable.

A fine example of blue-shift, something getting closer to us, is the galaxy Andromeda. It is a galaxy which is moving ever closer to us and could, one day, merge (collide is also a good adjective, but since the distances between stars is so vast I think merge works better) with our own. The light from Andromeda is bluer than we'd expect it to be and measurements over long (in human terms) or short (in cosmological terms) have shown that the distance between us is, as we'd expect, reducing.

And as for red shift, things moving away from us... Well there's plenty to choose from. Whenever we point our telescopes (we as in humankind that is) at the most distant objects we can find they are all red-shifted. But that is what we'd expect in a universe that's getting bigger and started with a single event - the Big Bang; everything, after a certain level, is moving further away from each other.

So where does all this take us, what understanding can we draw from it?

Well, so the theories go, the universe is around 16 billion years old, observing the red shift of the most distant objects would seem to confirm this. In addition looking at objects that are billions of light years away we are, in effect, looking at them as they were billions of years ago. Observing deep space objects is as close to time travel as we can currently get (more of that in a future article) so if we could see something that is 16 billion light years away we'd be looking at the first moments after creation.

Prior to the Big Bang there was no light to observe so we cannot see beyond that point because beyond that there is nothing to look at. The next question should be what would happen if we teleported ourselves 10 billion light years thatta way, so we could at least get a closer look at these moments after creation?

If we had the technology to do that what might we expect to find, what would we expect to see from that view point?

Easy, if you were 10 billion light years further away from Earth and you looked up into the universe you would see the edge of the universe 16 billion light years away, you would see Earth as it was 10 billion years ago and 6 billion years after the Big Bang. From any point you care to look, from every direction it has taken light from the very beginnings of the Universe 16 billion years to get there.

Wherever you are you are 16 billion light years from the edge.

You, dear reader, truly are at the centre of the universe.

HAPPY NEW YEAR…

It’s been a weird year so far.  I’ve been more busy this year that ever before.  Work is racking up, wedding plans should be getting easier, social life is also a bit mad.

My plan for this year was meant to be an easy one.  I should have had all my plans laid out, and all my social events sorted out until July –that’s really not happening right now.   It doesn’t upset or annoying me, it’s just a bit stressful.

Then when everything was starting to look up and get easier, Sue sold the hotel in Torquay, which means no more KeoghCons.  I will miss them – I’ve been there from the start, only missing one because of personal issues I just couldn’t avoid.

So what’s to be done about this terrible news?  Go back in time, that’s what, and see where they came from, and how we can do it again.  Well that’s what we’re doing, we’re going back to Manchester, where the first ever meet of people from this board happened, the infamous Woodford 6.  Ok we’re staying in the same hotel as the first 3 cons, but it’ll still be in Manchester.

I wonder what ever happened to some of the originators, we had me, Goth Girl, Scarlet, Jase, Shroom, and Potempkin.  I can tell you about that, and then what happened to people.

I met up with Shroom in uni, but in this instance on Saturday morning (Sept 2000) in Manchester at Piccadilly station, not really knowing anything about Manc or what it was all about.  So whilst waiting for the man, I had my head shaved for the first time (I kept it like that until late last year…).

So, I have a catch up chat with my good friend, as we decide to go and meet the potential axe murderers that ended up friends.  We met them in a pub behind Deansgate. 

We walk through the door, to a mostly empty pub, but it was easy to spot our group as Debs was in her best gothic garb.  So we headed to the bar (my favourite aloof pastime when seeing people for the first time), got a couple of beers (Dutch courage) and headed on over.

We knew Debs (Goth Girl), Layla (Scarlet), and Dave (Potempkim) through the board already, so it was odd at first, and possibly a little strained as we realised people were the same offline as online.  Jase was a new addition, he’d signed up to the board that morning at work, and decided to come along – a good call.

We spent a good deal of time getting to know each other, and moved on to a coffee house, where I think someone was ill, and someone couldn’t order coffee – to be honest, true to form I was a little drunk by that point…

The rest of it is a bit hazy, but I do remember Jase forcing payment of a taxi on me and Shroom, which was the end to a perfect day and the start of many good friendships.

Where are they now?

Shroom, he recently got married to his long term girlie – it was a great wedding, he’s dropped off the board as he has many varied interests, and can’t fit them all in.

Goth Girl, she’s still about, and is drumming more than reading these days!

Jase,  working in Bury, and still living in the same area of Manchester – still loves the books, but seems to have fallen off the board.

Scarlet, she’s married with a kid now – she pops up from time to time.

Pote, no idea, he just disappeared, which is a shame.

Me, I’m back living in the same city where I was when I first met these ungodly people.  I’ve lived in London, Leicester, and Manchester during the time.  I’ve made various changes in life, and am happy now.

For now that’s all, I wont be adding anything to the next newsletter as I’ll be in the final phase of my wedding preparations, wish me luck!

See you all soon, some of you sooner than others,

Tom

Happy New Year!  I know, we're now in March and it seems a bit late but this is the first Necroscope News of the year so I wanted to begin by wishing you all a happy new year, I hope 2008 is a good one for all of you.  You might think that as this has become a quarterly newsletter instead of the bi-monthly one that you've been used to I would have had so much more time to prepare, and you would be right.  I have had so much more time to prepare, but as usual I've left it to the very last minute, just like when I was back in school and doing my homework on the morning of the day it was due in!  Well some things never change, I've been meaning to do it for the last 2 weeks but somehow even with all my good intentions I didn't get the time. 

I have to admit I was very disappointed to learn that there would be no Keogh Con or Gathering this year.  I've been going for years and it just doesn't seem right not to have a gathering of some sort, it's become tradition!  Unfortunately it couldn't be helped I know, sometimes there's just nothing you can do in a situation but we are going to try and organise other opportunities for people to get together which is a consolation.  If you're an elite member you'll be able to find details of when and where in the retreat if you're interested.

The reason I left it so late to write this is that I've recently come back from seeing the Tutankhamun exhibition which is showing at the O2 in London at the moment and I wanted to tell you about it.  The exhibition was shown in London more than 35 years ago and has recently returned, but with more in it this time.  There were over 130 pieces to see that all belonged to Tutankhamun or his relatives, unfortunately his funeral mask wasn't part of it as that's not allowed to leave Egypt but there were a lot of other things including a canopic coffinette which is like a mini version of the coffin just for his organs. There were separate ones for each major organ, the one in the exhibition used to contain his liver.  There was jewellery, statues, furniture, containers, even the coffin of one of his relatives.

I was struck by how amazingly well preserved these items are, the colours are so bright and the engravings still sharp and clear and some of the pieces so small and delicate yet still intact after thousands of years.  That was until I registered that these things had been in his tomb, so of course not being used, in a constant environment and protected from the elements so the excellent condition actually isn't as surprising as I first thought, though still amazing.  There was even information about the politics of the time, how the country was in chaos because of the changes his predecessor had made and how he managed to stabalise it during his short reign of only 10 years, he was only 9 years of age when he became king of Egypt yet he achieved so much, when I was 9 I was pleased if I managed to achieve tying my shoe laces properly! 

I was thoroughly impressed by the whole thing and would recommend to anyone to go and see if you get the opportunity, apparently it's on until 30th August 2008. 

As soon as I learnt it was in England I was interested in seeing it partly because it's a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a major part of history and also, because whenever I think of Egypt I think of Khai of Ancient Khem.  In my opinion it's one of Brian's best and is certainly one of my favourite stories.  It has prompted me to re-read it which I intend to start doing very soon and to be honest I can't wait.  It's been such a long time since I read it last and I'm really looking forward to it.  It's so well written, really makes you feel like you're there and that the characters are real. It's a fantastic story that takes you right through from Khai's childhood, the joys and horrors that he experiences as a boy including escaping from Asorbes, to being a general in Kush's army and fighting against the alien Pharaoh Khasathut and all his evil.  It's set in ancient Egypt, way before Tutankhamun, and is also set in the modern day, if you haven't read it that might be confusing but trust me, it makes sense and is a brilliant part of the plot. 

So, if you haven't already read Khai of Ancient Khem I suggest you do, and if you have I expect you enjoyed it so go and re-visit it, enjoy it all over again.

Well I’m late for this newsletter as there just does not seem enough hours in the day, or days in the week. I haven’t even been on E-bay for months, which definitely proves that I’m busy as I’d normally be on there trying to procure Brian Lumley items for my collection. I feel so ashamed that I haven’t even been on the website recently (well until today) but working seven days a week has taken its toll. Paul likewise is working a six day week so is only off every Thursday at present, when he collapses and sleeps for a day. Hopefully all the work will pay off and we’ll be able to relax soon and get back into building up our collections which are threatening to take over the entire house. We have Brian Lumley prints all over the lounge with Dave Kendall artwork interspersed for good measure. The whole of the loft area is like a museum of Lumley books, magazines, comics, and manuscripts, artwork from the books, posters, games and busts. My parents worry about a fire because they know that we’d be dragging out every book before we got to safety, if there was!

Sue and Martin have sold the Shedden Hall Hotel for to be adapted into holiday apartments, the KeoghCon is no more, am I in an episode of The Twilight Zone? I was hoping so but apparently not! One thing for certain is that Paul and I have enjoyed holidaying in Torquay for a few years now and have no intention of stopping that practise so at some point we’ll be down there for our holidays and no doubt pestering Brian and Silky as we always do. Silky and Brian say we should produce a book on all the restaurants in Torquay because we do like to sample a good selection of food while we are there, including the Devon Dumpling.

The television at present seems inundated with one after the other crappy vampire series which would be blown out of the water by an adaptation of the Necroscope novels, I really am in hell! But through it all I remain positive that things happen for a reason and that someday soon we are going to be blown away by a fantastic Necroscope movie which is then going to create enough demand to bring back the KeoghCon and well before Brian becomes an Octogenarian, I hope.

I’m due at conference tomorrow for a couple of days and one of the directors of the company, a close friend of mine, is a tremendous Brian Lumley fan so I look forward to discussing lots of Lumley stuff with her. I bought her the Vasagi the suck bust a few years ago for Christmas and it takes pride of place in her house, along with all the other signed goodies I buy in Torquay and save until every Christmas for her, which must make for some interesting conversations from visitors. There really are a lot of dedicated Brian Lumley fans out there and as Brian has said on numerous occasions they’re like a family. The people are all so different and yet so alike in other ways. I’d like to wish all of you the best if we don’t manage to see you again, for unlike some of you, we only managed to make the KeoghCon each year and not other meetings. How do you sum up a diverse group of people as we are? ‘Nutters’ comes to mind, but nice nutters at that!!

When collecting books by an author, it is easy to overlook proofs, so this column is going to concentrate on a few proofs that I found on my bookshelf.

Beneath the Moors and Darker Places
Paperback,
TOR Books, February 2002.

On Abe Books UK, there are none available.

On Ebay UK, there were no copies of this edition available at the time of writing.

The Brian Lumley Companion
Paperback,
TOR Books, October 2002.

On Abe Books UK, there are none available.

On Ebay UK, there were no copies of this edition available at the time of writing.

Necroscope:  Deadspeak
TOR Books, December 2001 – note:  this date is the publication date for the official release.  This proof did not have a date in the book for the proof itself.

On Abe Books UK, there are none available.

On Ebay UK, there were no copies of this edition available at the time of writing.

Freaks
Paperback,
Subterranean Press, November 3rd, 2004 – note:  this date is the publication date for the official release.  This proof did not have a date in the book for the proof itself.

On Abe Books UK, there are none available.

On Ebay UK, there were no copies of this edition available at the time of writing.

Collectors should look out for the Freaks proof as it is rare indeed.

Now, I can guarantee that not even the most ardent Lumley collector has the following two proofs, for not even Brian and Silky have seen them.  There are only a handful of each, and despite intending to send them out to reviewers, they never left my bookshelf.

From the Vaults – Volume One
Hardback,
Calvin House (Lighthouse Media One), 2007.

Unavailable.

From the Vaults – Volume One
Paperback,
Calvin House (Lighthouse Media One), 2007.

Unavailable.

As you can see, proofs are not that easy to come by, but they do pop up every so often on either Abe Books or E-Bay, so keep your eyes peeled and buy them when you see them.

Until next time,

Paul Calvin Wilson
In a Dark Place
www.lighthousemediaone.co.uk

Other Titles Coming Soon...

• June 2008. Necroscope, the original. Tor will be doing this on their new Orb imprint, which is the tradepaper side of TOR. So as it stands now … they are starting the Necroscope series up in a special tradepaper edition. It will have new lettering and new style. Bob Eggleton will be doing the cover.

• November 2008 Solaris publication date for Mythos Novel Volume One. Title: The Taint and Other Mythos Novellas. Contents: The Horror at Oakdeene, Born of the Winds, The Fairground Horror, The Taint, Rising with Surtsey, Lord of the Worms, The House of the Temple.

• September 2008 Marvin Kaye The Ghost Quartet will include the new novella The Place of Waiting. TOR Books is the publisher

OUT NOW!!

September 2007. Necroscope: The Touch, TOR Books, mass market paperback. The title has gone back to the “old” Necroscope style that we all know and recognize. Available Now.

To test of the power of God, an insane triad of malevolent aliens decides to become so evil that God himself will have to stop them. They have already destroyed their homeworld, an entire solar system, and most of their own race. Their next target: Earth!

In addition to advanced science mankind can only dream of, the Mordri Three have the unique ability to forever alter skin, bone, and muscle with a simple touch. Once this powerful touch was used only for healing, but the Mordri Three use it as a weapon, literally turning people inside out, mutating them in front of their horrified loved ones, or seeding them with cancer.

Scott St. John is mourning the painful death of his beloved wife when he is struck by a golden arrow of light—a fragment of the soul of Harry Keogh, the original Necroscope—and gains powers he does not understand. Soon after, a mysterious, beautiful woman begins appearing everywhere he goes. She warns him to keep silent—about what, he does not know—and keeps trying to tell him something critically important, but each time, she vanishes before she can fully explain. And Scott begins to dream of a very unusual Wolf, who begs Scott—in human speech—to rescue him before the hunters come.

A fledgling Necroscope, a telepathic Wolf, a beautiful woman from beyond the stars, the ghost of Harry Keogh, the best of E-Branch’s psychic fighting forces, and a dead girl who is not yet ready to seek her just reward must defeat three impossibly strong, psychically gifted monsters whose touch literally melts flesh from bone.

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