Aleister wrote:Thanks for the info I will probably eventually at least check out the first one.. but Titus first..
My problem with Lumley as a mythos author is that he's one of those fan writers that exchanges atmosphere and originality for name dropping. I think he relies too much on what the reader already knows about famous mythos icons as a means to raise a sense of horror, instead of giving proper attention to atmosphere.
It's worse in Titus Crap, where Lumley definitely removes a key element of good mythos horror, the protagonist struggling with the unknown.
Aleister wrote:Thanks for the info I will probably eventually at least check out the first one.. but Titus first..
My problem with Lumley as a mythos author is that he's one of those fan writers that exchanges atmosphere and originality for name dropping. I think he relies too much on what the reader already knows about famous mythos icons as a means to raise a sense of horror, instead of giving proper attention to atmosphere.
It's worse in Titus Crap, where Lumley definitely removes a key element of good mythos horror, the protagonist struggling with the unknown.
now i do agree with that partly.
if someone were to pick up titus without knowing the mythos already...they would be utterly lost.
but if you know your mythos stuff, i think it is absolutly wonderful.
Aleister wrote:I still will give it a chance I suppose. I doubt there has ever been an author that was liked by 100% of the readers.
It's the only way you're going to know.
Now that I've thought about it a little longer, I think what frustrates me most about Lumley is that he probably has the ability to write (judging by the narrative skill he exhibits in the first Necroscope books) some of the greatest mythos tales of all time, but fails miserably (IMO).
Aleister wrote:Plus, Lovecraft fans are seemingly pessimistic, since they no that no one else can compare to him anyway *grin*
You think so? I've always been amazed at how eager Lovecraft fans are to snap up anything mythos related.
I do not think anyone comes close to Lovecraft, BUT I am at least interested in anything even slightly Lovecraft/Mythos related. Not neccesarily because it is true to it, or always even good, but just because it is somehow connected.
Even though someones book or story or artwork is a complete mockery of Lovecraft, it at least lets you know that more and more people know about him, albiet slightly..
Well.. forget that last paragraph.. I am just slightly Lovecraft obsessed, so anything is at least fairly cool by association
It does about 9 years I read "The Burrowers Beneath" and although the style is not very lovecraft, the narration manages to catch somehow. For me is a fine author, maybe a little bit explicit but fine.
I read his vampire stuff which does have Lovecraftian elements, and I thought it was excellant if a little unfaithful to the vampire tradition ( which I assume would be the case with his mythos stuff too) I would probably read his Mythos stuff if I came across it, but I've only seen a collection called 'Dagon's Bell' which was gone from the store the next day. Oh well.
A monkey riding a dog is probably the awesomest thing that could ever happen.
Contributors wanted! Fantastic Horror — Original Works of Disturbing Imagination
I will probably eventually at least check out the first one.. but Titus first..
