niytemare

I'd recommend the people who made The Watchmen. The movie pretty much followed the graphic novel (with a few tweaks here and there) almost word for word. If we had people like that, who LOVE the story and want to present it as it was written, we have a good chance of seeing all the elements come to life. Unfortunately, most Hollywood producers don't give a rat's ass about the original story, and want to change things so they can squeeze another dollar out of it. They may try to take the rating down to PG-13 to try to attract all the same viewers that attracted Twilight, and that in itself, would immediately ruin the movie. You can't tone Lumley down. It would be as stupid as having his vampire sparkle instead of sprouting tentacles and trying to violently propel itself from a burning host. And who do you think would make a great composer for the score? Or the soundtrack itself? The soundtrack should either be symphony or metal. Trying to use less violent popular music would not have the same effect. You want to scare someone? Show a Wamphyri on the battlefield, mangling corpses, with Slayer in the background. If that doesn't produce a disturbing image, throw in a few samples of "Cradle of Filth". It's inevitable that something this big will likely draw the marketing boys down to try to push an accompanying soundtrack. But if they do, they need to remember that this is a horror story and none of that bubblegum Top 40 crap will do. Even better is to have CoF compose a score for the film!

I see where the error was made earlier, and the online RPG would probably not work, even if Lumley approved it. So now what? I still want to find ways to get more people interested in the series, and not all of them will pick up the books just on simple suggestion, especially if their minds have been infected by "Twilight" syndrome. The game idea was originally intended just to draw new people, but I can see there's got to be a different avenue for this.

As interesting as the Wamphyri are, they still tend towards less than noble pursuits. While extremely powerful, they gain respect by instilling fear in all they encounter. The Szgany do not love them but yes they will obey. It's all they've known to do. Their own thralls seek the means to overthrow them and when a handful of them unite, it's not out of genuine respect, but instead only to eliminate a common enemy. There are enough positives to being Wamphyri, as several of you have pointed out, but I'd prefer to remain an uninfected Necroscope. To harness the knowledge of those who came before for the purpose of protecting the living from plagues and murderers. Certainly Harry was selfish in a few of his pursuits, but every person will submit to that on occasion, no matter what powers he or she has. The point, though, is Harry asked the dead to give him knowledge and they did, knowing that in the end, lives would be saved and wrongs would be righted. Once Harry became infected, even the dead feared him. I'd prefer to keep all vampirism at bay and out of my system.

I don't really know many Russian bands. Oh, and this is 100% just for my own amusement, and a few friends. It's merely a music compilation centered around a specific theme, that of what songs I would like to hear in a Necroscope film. Nothing intended to cause an uproar. As far as that game goes, I think I will try to get my hands on the Official books and simply see if I can stir some interest in some players here at home. Trying to take it online would be one hell of an undertaking, and by doing so that may even kill it because you have to make a few adjustments that are different from the original rule sets when you go online. Once you do that, the probability of Brian approving it is very slim, and it would be better off sticking to the one he does like. I still intend to look for additional means of drawing new fans to the series. Simply putting the books in front of them does not guarantee they will read it, especially if they are in thrall to the Twilight plague. One thing I do want to propose to Brian is a crossworld version, using the rules from the RPG he has approved. The Titus Crow and Necroscope universes have so much to offer one another, and it would be great to find a way to bring them together without causing problems. Any ideas how to make this work? I think Titus Crow would operate best on Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu RPG system. I have no idea if we can apply Necroscope rules to it until I've looked over the WEG books. Any thoughts on that?

Never mind about it then.

I had the disturbing idea to develop a soundtrack of sorts to listen to while reading the first Necroscope novel. In fact, I presented my friend Travis a copy of this cd, and gave him a pdf of the currently out-of-print graphic novel to pique his interest. A few days later, he asked if he could borrow the book. I gave him my copy and purchased a new one later. Now he plans to read the rest of them and enjoys the soundtrack as well. I need ideas for the second volume of the soundtrack, but there are only certain styles of music I will allow to even come NEAR my speakers. The following should give you a clue on my preferences. This the unofficial soundtrack for book 1. Any suggestions on epic metal/gothic/industrial songs that would be appropriate for the rest of the series? I'm thinking a few younger bands like Trivium or Throwdown would match Yulian Bodescu's temperament nicely, while throwing back to Danzig and Judas Priest will cover Thibor's transformation. Any thoughts? 1. Testament - D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate) (3:33) 2. Moonspell - Shadow Sun (4:23) 3. Rob Halford - Light Comes Out Of Black (4:57) 4. Slipknot - Purity (4:25) Thibor's dilemma perhaps? 5. Slayer - Beauty Through Order (4:36) 6. Pantera - Avoid The Light (6:27) 7. Cradle Of Filth - No Time To Cry [sisters Of No Mercy Mix] (4:19) 8. Type O Negative - Everyone I Love Is Dead (6:11) Fits Harry Keogh well 9. Judas Priest - Burn In Hell (6:42) Damned Russian stepfathers! 10. Slayer - Bloodline (3:20) 11. Chimaira - Impending Doom (6:05) 12. Property - Prince of Darkness (5:27) 13. Arch Enemy - The Immortal (3:47) 14. Shadows Fall - Embrace Annihilation (5:10) 15. Disincarnate - Deadspawn (4:27) Yes the lyrics are directly related to book 5. 16. Vader - Rise Of The Undead (3:52) Why did I include this? Hmmm. Let me count the reasons. 17. Behemoth - Be Without Fear (3:17)

Working game mechanic? Hell yes. I think that if done well, some form of interactive game environment would treat this series well. It would serve to renew interest from current readers and possibly attract new ones. I have been in the process of working out a class-based character system from which players can create a new series of characters through which to explore different realities in the Necroverse, thus expanding the story beyond its pages. It would have a very detailed rule system to achieve a power balance between the character types so the newbies can enjoy the action without being enthralled and pwn'd by Necroscope veterans before their abilities even develop beyond stage 1. But now what? What gaming platform would best suit Mr. Keogh? An online rpg? A future console venture? Table-top deadspeakery? Let's have a meeting of minds here and open up a portal so that we may attract new fans and also show Mr. Lumley how much we love his creations by bringing them to life through discussions and interactive adventures! Perhaps even introduce Titus Crow into the Necroverse? or David Hero? The possibilities are endless, and perhaps our conjectures will inspire our favorite author to explore some of the life thread crossings we propose. There is undoubtedly a wealth of brilliance here and of course as fans, we collectively know the works almost as well as the author himself. So, who's with me on this?

Harry Keogh and other Weird Heroes is HIGHLY recommended because it introduces another of Lumley's best creations: the occultist Titus Crow. I have all of that series as well and anyone who enjoys H.P Lovecraft or Robert E. Howard's Hyperborean landscapes should of course read the entire Titus Crow saga. In fact, my favorite characters in horror literature of all time include Keogh and Crow and have each had major influence on some of my own writing.

You know what? Just forget it.