Necroscope by Brian Lumley
Product Details
Web ID: 14966515Necroscope
A reread of a book that I believe I originally read in 1986. First in a series of 14 books of which I plowed through in the intervening years as they were published. I remember them as being my favorite horror books at that time. Starting to reacquaint myself with the series once again. Definitely five stars back then but now almost 40 years later I think it's more like 4.5 stars for this one. It's a completely unique kind of vampire story with lots of other creatures and characters mixed in. I'm not going to go into the details of the story at this time, maybe I'll update my review in the future.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
See what sticks
This left me flat, just did, and I love vampire stories, just love them. But not this one. ‘Cause, despite appearances, this is not a vampire story. It’s a monster/ESP/Armageddon/Cold War/superhero/mutant story, but the vampire is one of those “new” types, you know, like the sparkly ones? This monster is vampire-like, but definitely not a vampire. Yes, yes, I am fully aware that Bram Stoker’s Dracula, who serves as the model of all things vampiric, is, itself, a made-up creature. An actual folklore vampire was a Greek or Macedonian ghoul more kin to what we now call a zombie- a recently deceased jagoff that digs its way out of its grave and seeks human flesh, usually from former family members. Just hit it with a shovel and rebury it, job over. Crosses, garlic, flitting about like a bat, not part of the original story. BUT … those are elements found in other vampire traditions, and Stoker’s genius is bringing them all together into a fully fleshed, so to speak, creature. What Stoker did is not unlike piecing together an ancient language from various Rosetta stone fragments. Tie it all up in Vlad Drakul, who was not a very nice guy, and you have the vampire. Anything else is a deviation which is fine if done properly, like Let the Right One In. But no sparkles. Stop that. So what is this about and what is it about this vampire that irritates me? Well … first, it starts with a prologue where a ghost or an astral projection or whatever the heck it is appears to the new head of a super-secret British spy organization of psychics and mediums and mind readers and oh good Lord what the heck is all this? Well it's a tidal wave of occult sledgehammers and anvils sweeping you right out to sea. The ghost/astral then tells the newly appointed director, who is newly appointed because his predecessor was killed with the Evil Eye by a member of a super-secret Soviet spy organization of psychics and mediums and mind readers and oh good Lord what the heck is all this? You’ll meet Evil Eye later on, along with the Soviet necromancer who is in touch with the aforementioned vampire thing which has vampire powers, like mind control, but don’t be fooled by that. It ain’t a vampire. It’s a lamprey, which teaches the necromancer how to be a necromancer. And when you discover how the necromancer necromances, have your vomit bucket nearby. Oh good Lord what is all this? It’s too much, is what it is. Lumley is throwing every possible supernatural cliche against the wall to see what sticks. And given the stickiness and ickiness of what’s thrown, it all clumps together in a pretty disgusting manner. It’s like visiting your pal who plays video games all day. You just don’t want to sit down anywhere. I did finish this. Pushed it away from me with a ten-foot pole and probably won’t read any more Lumley. Not that you shouldn’t; if you’re into nuclear level supernatural phenomenon then this will please. But if you like your vampires vampires, and like to keep your lunch after you've eaten it, then you should probably skip this.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com