Brian Lumley The House of Cthulhu Review

Overall Rating

The House of Cthulhu
Brian Lumley
Tor, Sep 2005, $23.95, 256 pp.
ISBN: 0765310732

In 1967 a treasure of ancient secret tomes were discovered that shed a light on the great primal island continent of Theem'hdra where sorcery wars were the norm. As the scribe of these incredible documents, the White Wizard Teh Atht described a time when sorcerers like Mylarkhrion the most terrible stole or protected magical knowledge from one's peers and other hired hands; a time when summoning of Cthulhu The Great One doomed all.

This compilation is predominantly a reprint of a 1984 book. The current book contains the introduction and nine of the eleven tales (lacks "Isles of the Suhm-Yi" and "Curse of the Golden Guardians" for ye purists) in the 1984 book plus one other addition ("To Kill a Wizard). The tales are all well written as they come across as fantastic horror yet feel as if they historically happened and that the age of The House of Cthulhu existed, perhaps because of the clever set up by Brian Lumley possessing the works of noted but vanished 1960s scholar Thelred Gustau. This early Lumley shows his Lovecraft roots in a terrific collection.

Harriet Klausner