The Official Brian Lumley Homepage

Okay, if you're on this website, reading these words, and you haven't heard of Brian Lumley, there's something lacking in your reading library. And that something is one hell of a fine collection of novels and short stories. Brian Lumley is a bear, in the nicest way imaginable. Brian's skills with words and story are only second to the man's actual physical presence. I'm a big man, physically. There are remarkably few people who can intimidate me. This statement isn't meant as a challenge and it isn't my way of saying I'm tough as nails, it's just a fact. I stand 6'1" tall and weigh in at a decent bit over 200 pounds. Thankfully, most of it is muscle and bone, despite a decent share of cellulite.

Brian Lumley is a striking presence. When the man comes into a room, you notice. Perhaps it was his years as an MP in the Britain. Perhaps it is the fact that he's as tall as I am, but there is something about him that draws the eyes and makes you know in no uncertain terms that he could break large portions of your body without working up a sweat. Brian Lumley has presence. Now that I've made that clear, I should point out that he's also a really nice guy.

Brian is, and I say this without telling him in advance, a gentleman. There. It's said. He's a nice guy and a gentleman. I hope he doesn't take offense, should he manage to find this site, but it needed saying. Despite his size, despite his sheer physical presence, Brian's the sort who can make you comfortable with a word, or with a gesture. When he's talking to you, he's talking TO YOU. You are the center of the universe for that moment, even if he's also talking to a dozen others. It's a talent that I admire and envy.

But enough about that, lets get to the actual point here, Brian Lumley's writing. It's disgusting, I tell you. I'm a published author, I've got over 40 books in which I've been published, many of them published in several countries at once, and still I look at Lumley's work and feel humbled. The man is beyond good. He's talented in a way that is unique and stands out in my memory. Years before I ever considered doing any writing of my own, I was walking around with my nose in books and ignoring the world around me. I read countless volumes of fantasy, full libraries worth of science fiction, and enough horror to choke Stephen King. Through all of that reading, I discovered the unpleasant fact that an astonishing number of bad authors have seen print. I also learned that mediocrity is an easy goal to achieve. Despite all the flotsam and jetsam out there, I still managed to run across a few names that stuck in my head. Oddly, it was normally the titles of the books I remembered, not the names of the authors.

So, it was with great surprise that I ran across one of Lumley's books that I had foolishly loaned out and never seen again. Spawn of the Winds was the book, and I remembered it fondly. When I happened across it at a dealer's table at the World Horror Convention, I was thrilled to find it. Doubly thrilled when I saw the name of the author. At that point I'd already devoured most of Brian's Necroscope series. I just had never made the connection to the book I held in my hands. It was worth the bloated price the dealer made me pay. You see, Brian was at that convention, and it was my pleasure to revert into a fan long enough to have him sign it for me. Brian is a consummate writer, and one of the few who has ever written a story that could scare me. I love reading and writing horror, but very little of it has ever given me a true chill down my spine. Don't take my word for it. Read Necroscope some time, and see how well you sleep when it's all said and done. But I should point out that Brian Lumley doesn't just write horror, though when he does, it's powerful stuff. He also writes fantasy, science fiction and political thrillers. More importantly, he writes them all in the same story in many cases. The man's skill at blending, mixing and breaking the rules of genrefication are admirable and, again, enviable.