Deadspeak (Paperback)

Brian Lumley was born in 1937, in northern England in Durham County, coincidentally, also the birthplace of commercially prepared mustard. He began writing in the 1960s, shortly after he was drafted into the military at the age of 21. His earliest works were published in the United States by Arkham House Press, a publishing house known for two things primarily: 1) their ongoing commitment to keep alight the memory and works of H. P. Lovecraft and 2) their willingness to publish unknown and experimental writers. Lumley fit very well into both of these categories as his work was, and continues to be, highly influenced by Lovecraft and the complex Cthulu mythology. Lumley's fascination has gone so far as to set novels within a Lovecraftian universe, such as the Dreamlands series, incorporating Lovecraft's gods and inconography into almost all of his work, and even had Lovecraft appear as a character in several of his titles. After serving in the military for 22 years, Lumley left to write full time, with his first two novels being BENEATH THE MOORS and THE BURROWERS BENEATH, the later being the first part of the Titus Crow series. It was not until after he had completed the five-volume Titus Crow series and the three-volume Pychomech series, as well as publishing a stand-alone novel and numerous short stories, that Lumley became well known outside of Lovecraft-devoted circles with the publication of NECROSCOPE in 1986. This book featured Harry Keogh, a British intelligence agent with the unusual ability of being able to speak to the dead. The book and its subsequent sequels, which, as the millennium approaches, number 12, deal with an ongoing battle between humanity and vampire forces from beyond this world. In 1989, Lumley won the British Fantasy Award for his short story "Fruiting Bodies" and in 1998, he received the Grandmaster Award at the World Horror Convention.