Haggopian and Other Stories (Best Mythos Tales) by Brian Lumley

I received a free audio copy from the narrator in exchange for an honest review. This in no way imaginable alters my opinions.

I still remember enjoying the Necroscope series back in the dawn of my 20s. While I often wonder if my opinion of it today would be different to those of my salad days, despite it being nearly 30 years ago (gasp!) I still remember much of the series and I think that is a testament to Brian Lumley’s ability as a writer. So, when I got a chance to check out some of his audiobooks, I jumped at it. 

This is my second trip into a short story anthology by Brian Lumley in the last few months, the first being No Sharks in the Med and Other Stories. That anthology, like most, wasn’t perfect, and it stands to reason that this one isn’t either. In addition, while most of Lumley’s work has (at least) a faint whiff of the Lovecraft Mythos to it, this anthology is firmly rooted in said Mythos, where the author cut his teeth before his Necroscope days. Don’t let the ‘not being perfect’ tag put you off though, I have read everything by Lovecraft, and I can assure you his collection suffers the same fate. So, without further ado, here are my vaunted thoughts on the short story collection:

• This is the fourth anthology of massively popular authors (the others are by Kevin J Anderson) in the last six months, and I must be honest, my favourite part of all these anthologies was the little background pieces of the authors’ lives before each story. These tell a lot about the author, and also give some insight into the struggles they had at first, which can be a comfort to would-be authors today (like me)
• Joshua Saxon is a terrific narrator. When he reads each story, it’s exactly how I read Lovecraft Mythos in my head. A big part of these stories is capturing the bewilderment of the protagonist as everything they believed is rocked to the core. Saxon does this as well as, if not better than, my own internal narrator. For that alone, he’d get five stars, but he also has the kind of voice you would listen to, even if he was reading a telephone book
• As mentioned earlier, anthologies tend to  be inconsistent. As this one stretches back to some of Lumley’s earliest works, one can imagine that the quality of his earliest works would (and should) not equal the quality of those more recent. In saything that, in no part of this anthology did I ever doubt I was in the world of the Mythos – almost all of the staples are there, with some new wrinkles thrown in for good measure. Also, just because Lumley wrote a story fifty years ago, it just means it’s not written as well, not that isn’t any good.

Verdict   

One for Lovecraft fans. In saying that, even the most staunch of Lovecraft fans will find something to entertain them here.