STOP PRESS:

Brian has now signed contracts with Tor Books for two huge collections of stories. The first of these is titled:

BENEATH THE MOORS & Darker Places

which will contain the stories: David's Worm; Dagon's Bell; The Sun, the Sea, and the Silent Scream; The Second Wish; A "Thing" About Cars; Rising With Surtsey; Big "C"; The Fairground Horror and the complete novel Beneath the Moors. Four of these stories, and the novel are set in Lovecraft's, Cthulhu Mythos. This is a the first time the stories have been collected thus and this book, like its companion (which follows) will fill many gaps on the Lumley completist's bookshelf.

The second collection is titled:

THE WHISPERER & Other Voices

and will contain the stories; Snarker's Son; Aunt Hester; The Whisperer; No sharks in the Med; Vanessa's Voice: The Statement of Henry Worthy; The Disapproval of Jeremy Cleave; The Luststone and the complete novel The Return of the Deep Ones. Again, several of the tales are set in the Cthulhu Mythos, including the 60,000 word novel.

NOTE: The main titles are provisional and subject to change, in which case visitors to this web site will be the first to know. (Just as you are the first to know of this.)

So raise a cheer, gang, for it's highly likely that you've been waiting for many of these stories for a long time!

Just thought you might like to know that little bit of info before you got to read my rambling about how the site keeps getting bigger and better. I know you all love to sit down and read my self-praise, but without stories like the ones mentioned above - this site wouldn't be. So this time I'll give the big guy his due and give him first news of the letter.

I have completed all the additions to the Biography page that were planned. The new Photo Gallery is up with pictures of the Lumley feline, Holiday shots, and at-home pics. There is also a section up regarding Brian's Steady State Theory (discussed in the last issue), along with the comic strip found in that issue as well. I hope you enjoy Brian's new Biography section. Oh, yeah, did I say I had completed that section of the site? Well, close - there is one more thing that will be going up there but you'll find out about that later.

The Necroscope Area on the site has been updated with content and looks for the new millennium. Check it out and find out the upcoming titles in the E-BRANCH trilogy if you didn't know them already. The new cover for Defilers is up in the Necroscope area as well as a description going up soon. And not to confuse any of the UK visitors to the site - the cover for Invaders in the US will be the cover for Defilers in the UK. I'll have it up on the site as soon as I get a copy. Don't forget, you can also order any of the series right from the pages if you are missing some in your collection. The paperback of Invaders is not out in paperback in the US yet and it won't be until Defilers comes out this summer.

To finish off my column this issue, I'll give you a real quick preview into the upcoming year here at the site:

• New design and look coming in June
• Streaming audio and video from Las Vegas and Corpus Christi in November
• And many more things that I don't even have a clue about yet!

I hope that sparks your interest and wets your appetite. As always, anything new and exciting will be found here on the site first so keep on swinging back for more..and if you haven't yet, loan a copy of Necroscope to one of your friends..they'll thank you - if not in this life - then the next...

A FAQ FACT:

Recently someone complained about the way I answered a question regarding the Cthulhu Mythos. Now, a fan is a fan whether he's into the Mythos, or Psychomech, or Necroscope, or anything I've written. And I'm as protective of my fans as they are of me. On the other hand -- and speaking about Mythos fans in particular -- they often appear to be more fans of the sub-genre itself than they are of the authors. Maybe that's because the Mythos is so diverse, and maybe because so many authors have contributed to it.

But here's the fact:

I haven't written a "real" Mythos story in more than twenty years. My older books have been reprinted, yes, and anyone coming to them for the first time might think they are new, but for the last twenty years I've mainly been doing Psychomech, Necroscope, Demogorgon, The House of Doors, and etc.

And the reason I don't writhe Cthulhu Mythos tales any more is simple: the ideas had all been kicked over so many times -- and more often than not parodied to death -- that even the few really good stories, not only by me but other writers, tended to get overlooked working in a genre that was generally considered "dead." (Yes, I know, for the last couple of years the Mythos has enjoyed a certain renaissance, mainly of tales written by Lovecraft himself, and rightly so since he was the original source and inspiration, but as for the rest of the Mythos it lies mainly ignored.)

I had some early successes. I honestly don't know how many times The House of Cthulhu has been reprinted, or in how many languages, since its first appearance in Whispers -- but House was written in '71, almost thirty years ago! Born of the Winds first saw light of day in The Magazine of Fantasy & SF in 1975 or '76. I was still in the army so didn't know it had a nomination for a World Fantasy Award until ten years later! It lost to a story by Fritz Leiber. (Who can complain about that?) And then there was Haggopian, also in F&SF. These stories are remembered, but many others -- despite that they were as good as I could make them -- disappeared along with all the junk that was being churned out in the name of the Mythos.

So that by the time I began to make the transition from a military life to that of a writer in the early eighties, I had come to accept the fact that nobody was going to make it as a purely Mythos writer. The old Mythos themes were already stagnant -- no, they'd been stagnant for a long time -- and if I was going to make a good or decent living from my writing it would have to take a different direction.

So try to see it as I saw it: most publishers just weren't interested in that dusty old Cthulhu Mythos. The days of things shambling down from the stars were long gone -- at least in the fashion and style that Lovecraft wrote about them...

Also, I can see S. T. Joshi's point when he says that "the wrong people are reading Lovecraft." (I think he's been quoted as saying some such.) But a better way to put it would be that the wrong people are not reading Lovecraft ... they are playing The Call of Cthulhu RPG, instead of reading Lovecraft! And it strikes me as possible that because of that game a lot of misconceptions have come into being.

For example:

Despite many award nominations, appearances in magazines, like F&SF, the Paul Ganley Books (Paul has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his publishing house, which published in the main my books), Years Best Horror Stories, etc, I had one clown on a certain web site who declared that I "deserved death" for my Mythos stories ... it appears he was serious, because he never retracted this bloody stupid fatwah. Other subscribers to the same site argued with me about what the CCD could and couldn't do, what they were and were not capable of. Apparently they had forgotten that I "created" the term CCD (Cthulhu Cycle Deities) and they consistently used it incorrectly. One cannot say FBIs, or Wamphyris, or CCDs. One says he or they are "members" of the FBI (or Feds), or this or that monstrosity is a "member" of the CCD, or this or that blood-sucker is Wamphyri!

Some other utter dimwit -- one assumes a Lovecraft "purist" -- had it that humanity would stand no chance against Cthulhu and his spawn. But H. P. Lovecraft himself had written how the Dunwich Horror was banished, or blasted, out of our space-time continuum back to wherever ... by a mere man.

I pointed this out and was told, "Huh! But that was easy! The thing on Sentinal Hill was a mere infant!"

Oh, really?

Wrong, it wasn't a baby; it was the twin of its eight-foot tall, goat-like, entirely alien brother Wilbur, and it ate cows for breakfast while wandering across the countryside destroying farmhouses! All of which had been conveniently "forgotten" -- or maybe it had never been remembered? Maybe the original "Dunwich Horror" had never been read, or had lapsed into an RPG-induced limbo, where the game was more real than the stories that inspired it.

And finally there was the moron who thought I was probably a racist because I had used Lovecraft's Dylath-Leen in a story, and Lovecraft's moonbeasts ate the fat black men of Parg! This same guy came to me with books to sign at NecronomiCon III. He might have been forgiven if he hadn't stood there like a cretin cursing and swearing (calling himself a bastard, and effing and blinding, in front of a crowd of women and children.) I needn't add that if he'd called me a bastard, or if his swearing hadn't been self-directed, he would have been shitting books for many a month to come.

So now we come to why I'm so abrupt when it comes to answering questions about the Mythos. Or rather, we don't, because I believe I've just covered it in full.

But on the other hand ... I'm about to sign contracts with Tor Books for two huge collections which do include many of my early Mythos stories, as well as a couple of complete Mythos novels. And I'm really pleased to be able to provide you with some stories you probably haven't seen before...

But on the other other hand ... God, it'll most likely lead to a whole other world of Mythos-related questions.

And you know how I feel about those, and why...

Fellow Lumlians...

Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday Season since the last newsletter and, here we are with one month gone in the new year.

First, let's deal with the business at hand.

Defilers is coming along nicely, the 400 page barrier has been broken..... A couple days from now the book launch signing in London ... we are looking forward to meeting Goth Girl, Chiller and ZuZu, Rixy and possibly Licheloathe and Quail. I'll be updating the UK Signing on the message board today with the answers to any questions you have had.

We are very near the end of the sets of Paul's artwork. Once the sets I have are gone I won't be having any more made. The price, unfortunately, had to be raised because the printer I used went out of business. The new owner decided to substantially raise his prices. I only passed on a small percentage of the cost to the fan, which meant I took the rest of the loss. Then the matter of payment came along. I have outstanding orders from 8 months ago, from fans who have said that "they definitely have to have the set," and I have still not received the money. Once the sale of artwork is canceled, only those who have ordered within one month prior to the notice will still be able to get their art. So, if any of you fans out there are reading this that have long, outstanding orders, this will be your last opportunity to send your money in before the one month notice comes into effect. Not to worry, all the relevant information about this will be posted at the time the art goes off sale in the Store section of the site.

However, I am now working on a new project in which I will be doing all the work myself. So, I won't be dependent on any printers or outsiders. I'll be able to personally buy all the supplies I need myself. And there are more than enough suppliers that can meet my needs. The only organization that I'll have to depend on is the Postal Services ... oh, dearie me. The joys of international mailing ... Anyway, if this comes to pass you will be the first to know. It will appear on the site, the message board, monthly update, and of course, the Store.

Now for the lighter side.

May I say ... never, ever go to the dentist before Christmas ... you are just asking for trouble. (This was for work that did not have to be done at this time, I could have waited until after Christmas, my fault, not that of my dentist. I have a very good dentist, it was just bad timing.) I had a dental appointment scheduled for Dec. 21, way to close ... so I had it changed to the 9th. Well, I guess you know what's coming ... I came out of it worse than when I went in. After a week of having a toothache, which I didn't have before I went in, I put it down to having two needles stuck into my jaw and the ache would wear off. They wanted me to come in on the 22nd or 23rd. No way. Ache or not I wasn't having anything else done till after the holidays. Okay, got an appointment for Jan. 11. By then the ache was pretty well gone, but I did need to have an adjustment made on the work I originally had done. Well, back to the old toothache again. Ah, such is life.

I know it's only February but the weather is getting me down. Not enough of the old sun. Amazing how just a little sun can give you so much energy. This is the slack time of the year when there's nothing much to be done. The three month period when there's no work to be done in the garden. I don't mind really. Gives me time to catch up on my reading. For nine months it's doing different bits in the garden, fence painting, patio cleaning, planting, weeding, clearing. Then for four months its harvesting the vegetables and for 5 months pool maintenance, and if we are lucky we'll get to use the pool! We've been warned that global warming is going to bring us more rain in the summer. Fifty years from now we're told we'll have Mediterranean weather, great, too bad we can't have it now!

But there's always Greece to look forward to. Only three months away. And eight months away until World Fantasy Con and Vegas.

Well ... that's it for this time around. See you in April.

Until next time...

Before I begin this article I'd like to thank everyone who sent in a donation to the Make-a-Wamphyri Foundation. To date we've raised three bloodsons, although we've had to put down one of them. But hey, two out of three ain't bad!

Now then, as some of you know, I've been HAPPILY married for four months now. In some circles of my friends that is a lifetime. My wife and I rent a house, which we were very lucky to catch. It has this huge living room with pine wood paneling around a brick and cinder fireplace. To the left and right of the fireplace are bookshelves that are not too tall and wide, and not too short and narrow.

Well, after four months of HAPPILY wedded bliss I finally got around to filling in the bookshelves. There I was on my knees, stocking the pine shelves with Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Michael Moorcock, Fritz Lieber, Anne Rice, Clive Barker, and of course, Brian Lumley when I found myself suddenly out of room! I sat back on my heels to get a broader view of my dilemma. How could I have run out of spaces for my books? Granted this wasn't my entire collection, but these were certainly the most important books in shaping my life. My eyes must be playing tricks on me, I thought. Almost imperceptibly, I began to see what was happening under my nose. The Lumley books were devouring the other books!

Hardcover and softcover, staple-bound and paperback-all were being swallowed whole by my assortment of Necroscope, Psychomech, Titus Crow, and short story collections. The other books didn't have a chance against the vast catalog of novels that Brian has created during his prolific career. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser soiled themselves before Titus Crow and De Marigny. The eternally rapacious Wamphyri Lords and Ladies ravished the Vampire Lestat and his effeminate sidekicks. The Eternal Champion and the Multi-verse were erased in the blink of an eye by the omnipotent power that is Psychomech! And words do not exist to describe the abhorrent ministrations that the Deep Ones, under the command of Those-Who-Shall-Forever-And-Evermore-Remain-Nameless, committed upon the corpses of the fallen. Blast my eyes!

Thankfully, I have copies of the King James Holy Bible, the Anton LeVay Satanic Bible, and the anonymous Necronomicon. The wards and protections I found in those three tomes of ancient magick and wisdom saved my entire neighborhood and the world, as we know it.

Since then things have been fine. I am fine. My wife is fine. We are still HAPPILY married. Occasionally, on cold nights when we lay in each other's arms, I hear gouts of demonic flame roaring from the fireplace. Always I check, but there is no raging hellfire chewing down my humble home. So I climb back into bed and I am in the Dreamlands with Hero and Eldin once again before I can realize that there seemed to be a few more Lumley books on those pine shelves than the night before….

What will be, has been.

Here we are again, another newsletter. Well we made it into the year 2000 without too much ado. None of the earth shattering events took place and the site is still here. So now that we are past that, we can look forward to the future and peek at the things to come. (Of course we must be careful because as Mr. Lumley always says the future is a devious thing).

So what is in store for us in the future? Well the main thing that I am looking forward to is the release of Defilers. (Can't wait, can't wait!!) It looks as though we can expect it sometime in May or June. I for one am looking forward to see what happens, and maybe to get to know Jake a little better. While reading Invaders I was constantly looking for Harry, Harry Jr., or Nathan, talk about the blood is the life, now that was good blood. But alas no Keogh kin, could it be true, yes it was, there were no Keoghs in the book with the exception of a very brief appearance by Nathan. I had trouble with this at first, I mean Keogh was Necroscope to me. Who was this upstart Jake in the first place? To think that he could take the place of Harry in our hearts, well it seems we might just have to make room for him. (Maybe he's a really distant cousin, who knows?) But seriously I wasn't sure what to think about Jake, so Defilers will allow me to get to know him a little better. By the end of "Invaders" I had to admit that I was cheering for him as well as biting my nails worrying about what might be happening to him.

Alas we have reached the point of no return. If you do not want any Lumley plot lines ruined for you then read no further, because if you do, you enter of your own free will.

I'm really not going to reveal too much in this issue I just really like saying that, it just has such a good ring to it. Now I know why the Wamphyri like to say it. What I was going to say about Jake though referring to my nail biting incident, was that when we left Jake at the end of "Invaders" he had a visitor in his mind. A most dangerous visitor, so in the end it looks as if I like Jake, at least enough to worry about him.

For the past month now I have been in a Lumley reading frenzy. I read the Psychomech trilogy, the Vampire world trilogy, and the Lost Years series. I'm not sure what came over me, I started one and then kept going, I couldn't stop. As I stated last issue, Hello my name is Peter and I am a Lumley addict. Speaking of which I just wanted to say something that occurred to me while reading the Psychomech series. As I have said many times, the first Lumley book I ever read was Deadspeak. At the back of the book there is a picture of Mr. Lumley in the Greek isles with some dark sunglasses on. I stole a glance at set picture before reading the book, and I'm not sure if he fits the description, but from then on that's how I pictured Janos Ferenczy. I think it was the dark glasses. (I hope you don't mind Brian) What pray tell does this have to do with the Psychomech series do you ask? (do I ever seem coherent?) Well it's just that there is another character that I always seem to equate with that same picture, Richard Garrison, of course. Yet again I am not sure if the description fits, but it is for whatever reason the person I see when thinking about Garrison. Maybe it is because both Lumley and Garrison worked for the Royal Military Police, who knows, certainly not I? Well that's that, and I hope that these associations of mine don't offend, its just how I've always seen the two characters in my head. Speaking of the Psychomech series, I read on the MessageBoard that Tor is going to be re-releasing the series in trade paperback. So for those of you who have not read that series look for it in the summer I think. (Tentatively of course, things can always change).

The other big thing looming in the future for those of you who are still listening, is the World Fantasy Con in Corpus Cristi this October. I think that it is going to be fun. As this will be my first ever Con, I am not sure what to expect. But with the view from the hotel, and of course Brian being there it should be very interesting to say the least. Look for an article about it to come after the con.

Well that's it for this issue I think that I will be writing about "The Lost Years" series next issue, but I'm not sure. As always I hope you enjoyed the stroll through the catacombs of my mind. Till then always have fun, and beware looking too far into the future, because it guards its secrets well.

THE THINGS BENEATH

Awaiting, awakening, aware:

The things beneath.

Constellations, aligning, releasing:

The things beneath.

Fumbling, frothing, fearsome:

The things beneath.

Searching, seeking, scheming:

The things beneath.

Cthulhu, the Old Ones, their spawn:

The things beneath.

Risen, among us, no longer:

The things beneath.

Above us, descending, devouring...

K.G.E.

• Note to the fans from Brian:

Silky recently supplied me with some facts and figures. In the past nine months we've sent out over three hundred signed stickers for your books, and well over a hundred color photographs -- all of this in airmail envelopes, (mostly to the USA) and the costs mount up ... not alone in time, gas for trips to the PO, and 1st class postage! An expensive business...

So ... I've had a letterhead of long-standing printed up on quality envelopes, also on stationery, and from now on we'll do a deal (at a small cost), news of which will appear in the site store in the near future. You will be able to purchase a signed photograph, a signed letter of acknowledgment, and four signed stickers -- all delivered in a Brian Lumley letterheaded envelope ... eventually. But until then, there can be no more freebies.

• Brian has been busy working on the third and final installment of the E-Branch trilogy, Avengers, which will complete the Necroscope Saga. The second installment of the new trilogy ... Necroscope: Defilers, will be out this summer

• The Greatest Horror Stories of the 20th Century. Contains the short story "The Viaduct." Although it's not read by Brian it is read by a Brit in keeping with the theme. One you won't want to miss. Available from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk Go to the Latest News page on the site for more info.

• Brian has some interviews online - They are now located on the site at his Bio page just in case they disappear from the other areas of the web..

--------2000--------

• FEBRUARY

• Friday, Feb. 4 - Book signing at Princess Louise pub in Holborn, UK at 6:00 PM Details can be found on the MessageBoard.

• OCTOBER

• October 22-25 ? (Date TBA) Possible signing session in Las Vegas, NV

• October 26-29- WORLD FANTASY CON - Corpus Christi, Texas - Brian will be appearing at the Con

--------1999--------

• FEBRUARY
• Titus Crow Volume I released in trade paper from Tor

• APRIL
  • April 16-18, 1999 - EerieCon One - a fantasy, horror and science fiction convention - Fallside Resort, Niagara Falls, New York - International Guest of Honor - Brian Lumley
• Ghoul Warning released at EerieCon, Niagara.

• MAY
  • New Necroscope novel E-BRANCH: INVADERS released in hardcover by Hodder & Stoughton, UK - US TITLE: NECROSCOPE: INVADERS from TOR
  • Maze of Worlds released by Tor in trade paperback

• JULY
  • E-BRANCH: INVADERS released in paperback in UK - US NECROSCOPE: INVADERS from TOR will not be in paperback until next year sometime

• SEPTEMBER
  • Titus Crow: Volume Two released in paperback in US by Tor. Stories included in this collection are The Clock of Dreams and Spawn of the Winds

--------1998--------

• FEBRUARY
• Necroscope comic book No. 1 released

• MAY
• Thursday May 7- Sunday May 10 - Brian Lumley was Guest of Honor at World Horror Convention in Phoenix and was presented the Grand Master Award of the genre
• MAZE OF WORLDS (sequel to House of Doors) (US Hardcover TOR) released at the World Horror Convention in Phoenix, AZ
• The House of Doors (US TOR paperback) reissued with a new jacket at the same time as the sequel Maze of Worlds
• A Coven of Vampires (Fedogan and Bremer limited hardback) released at World Horror Convention
• Necroscope comic book No. 2 released

• JULY
• www.brianlumley.com is launched! Now the official site is easier to find

• SEPTEMBER
  • release of the Dove Audio Greatest Horror Stories of the 20th Century. Contains Brian's short story The Viaduct

• OCTOBER
• UK paperback of A Coven of Vampires released
• UK paperback of House of Doors: Second Visit released

• NOVEMBER
• Necroscope III: The Source released by TOR in hardcover