Necroscope, by Brian Lumley. A whirling story of Vampires, psychics and Thatcher's Britain. One of the most brilliant and bizarre books to come across my path.

 

Necroscope, by Brian Lumley. A quick review.

    I love horror stories, which is something of a given, as this is a blog about horror and such. More than anything, I love stories that gross out, marvel, and surprise the reader in equal measure. Necroscope is one of those books that caught me utterly by surprise. I went into it expecting a certain kind of horror story and got something else entirely. The book follows Harry Keogh, a unique individual, with a talent, unlike any other. It is pretty obvious, from the outset, that this is a book about vampires, but the setting and characters are not the usual ones. The story is set during the time of the cold war, and we are introduced to the Soviet Union's Necromancer as he digs through a corpse to gather details from his 'interrogation'. It is a vivid encounter that paints a detailed picture of what lengths this man will go to. This is the world of psychics and espionage, of men and women with abilities that their countries use to give them an advantage over their enemies. This is where we are introduced to E-branch. A place in London where their leader speaks with a spectral figure, the aforementioned Harry Keogh, who relays the events that play out in this story. It is made clear that Keogh is unlike anyone else, he possesses a singular ability to speak to the dead. The dead do not pass on to another world in this book but exist in a space where they continue on. The dead do the things they did in life but are now free from the constraints that life put on them. Until Harry's arrival, they have dwelt alone, lost to their own thoughts. His coming rekindles something in them, awakens them to the rest of the dead around them. The dead are Harry's dearest friends, they will do all they can to protect him, even going so far as to scramble free of their burial places to save him. Harry is a unique character shaped, as much by the dead, as by the living. The book is filled with interesting characters, the living, with their goals and desires, the dead who exist only through Harry's interaction with them, and the undead.

    Ah, the undead. The version contained within these pages is unlike any I had come across up until this point.  Here the undead is a hybrid species, a parasite that infects the host and twists them into something akin to a living disease. Forget the night dwellers of old, these creatures are foul perversions that live off the desires of their hosts and heighten them beyond anything in life. Even those long dead still cling to a sort of unlife, forever looking for a way to infect others, and gain some semblance of a life back for themselves. This plays into how the story unfolds, how the main antagonist pursues his own goals, and the events that will lead E-branch to clash with their soviet counterparts. Lumley does the horror and mystery well, a tension kept throughout the novel, as Harry builds to his confrontation with Boris Dragosani. The manipulation of Boris by, the Wamphyri, Thibor Ferenczy, is one of the highlights of the book and hints at just what the Wamphyri are capable of. I hate to give too much away, it spoils the read, in my opinion, but the unusual nature of the Wamphryi hints at them being something other than a supernatural entity, despite how highly they think of themselves. 

    The book is worth a look for any fan of cosmic horror, espionage thrillers, and vampire novels. It is set during the cold war and takes an alternative look at those events. I enjoyed the unique spin on the Wamphyri, how they came to be, and the look at the creatures that inspired the vampire myths of old. Harry Keogh is a strange, almost sad, character and isn't your typical protagonist. The whole story unfolds well, there is little unnecessary filler, and the tension remains throughout. I would recommend this to any horror fan, but with a caveat. Like others in the genre, Lumley does not hide from the explicit, in many forms, and is thoroughly meant for adults only. If such things don't put you off, then it is worth delving into the realm of the Necroscope.