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The Horror at Oakdeene and Others
The Horror at Oakdeene and Others is another of Brian Lumley's collections of short stories, with many of them involving the Cthulhu Mythos. Stories included in this The Viking's Stone Aunt Hester No Way Home The Horror at Oakdeene The Cleaner Woman The Statement of Henry Worthy Darghud's Doll Born of the Winds
222 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 1977
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169 people want to read
About the author
Brian Lumley
444 books1,354 followersBrian Lumley was born near Newcastle. In 22 years as a Military Policeman he served in many of the Cold War hotspots, including Berlin, as well as Cyprus in partition days. He reached the rank of Sergeant-Major before retiring to Devon to write full-time, and his work was first published in 1970. The vampire series, 'Necroscope', has been translated into ten languages and sold over a million copies worldwide.
He was awarded the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award in 2010.
He was awarded the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award in 2010.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 27 reviews
October 8, 2024
Lumley's second short story collection and third book from Arkham House, a publisher formed to print Lovecraft's work posthumously and then other fantasy and horror and specializing on the Cthulhu Mythos. Since Lumley's debut, he saw additional success with novel published by DAW, and two of the stories in this collection concern Titus Crow and Henri Laurent de Marigny, stars of The Burrowers Beneath and The Transition of Titus Crow, although the short stories precede the events of those novels which were published earlier. I attribute this to Arkham House's long delay in printing the material they had accepted; they seemed to have a years-long backlog.
Alongside those two Crow tales are some excellent Lovecraft pastiches, some stories that refer to Lumley's brand of the Mythos but didn't need to, and some unrelated general horror stories. They're all at least decent, and the most impressive stories are the most Lovecraftian ones. Lumley doesn't crib on H.P.'s writing style though, his own is less erudite but still deliciously evocative when the Cthulhoid horror peaks.
Only 4000 copies of this book were printed, and Arkham house rarely reprinted their titles; they were always on a shoestring budget. Fortunately many of the stories were reprinted in Lumley's many short story collections in subsequent decades, and most fortunately of all, this collection recently received an e-book re-release and is now readily available to all.
None of these stories were published prior to this collection and are presented here in the order they appear:
The Viking's Stone: After reading Lumley's first two Titus Crow novels from DAW I looked forward to more diverse material. Enter this story: a Titus Crow story. Doh. It's serviceable, and the core story about a curse invoked by disturbing a viking's tomb, could have been told with any other framing.
Aunt Hester: This is a straightforward body-swap horror story with a twist ending in the tradition of Poe. It adds details from Lumley's Mythos but it didn't have to, it works perfectly well on its own.
No Way Home: I think I generally prefer to read of horrible things happening to likeable protagonists, rather than to jerks as in this story. With the latter, when they die in terror it's like, oh well, no great loss. This story has an odd late transition. Most of it is about inadvertently wandering into another dimension, a place that doesn't exist or normally isn't accessible from the normal world, but at the end it converts into a completely different kind of horror.
The Horror at Oakdeene: Ostensibly the centerpiece of the collection, it's a heart-pounding tale of madness, cultism and indoctrination, set in that most wondrous of settings: the Oakdeene Sanatorium, prison for the insane. Some of Lumley's earliest stories (see The Caller of the Black) made reference to this location, the Arkham Asylum of his own creations. A respectable Lovecraft pastiche.
The Cleaner Woman: Despite what I said about likeable protagonists two stories ago, I enjoyed this one's burly, boil-laden criminal. His ingenuity in the commission of crime was more interesting than the ghostly jump-scare that completes this shorter story.
The Statement of Henry Worthy: Wow! This was Lumley's most powerful tale yet. It could be interpreted as a Lovecraft pastiche, although unlike his prior such this makes no specific mention of any Mythos element. I feel as though Lumley's confidence in his writing was improving such that he no longer needed that crutch. With its mad botanical horror rooted in pre-history (pun noted and left intact), this story also hints at Lumley's later 'Primal Lands" tales, to be seen in The House of Cthulhu and Tarra Khash: Hrossak!. It stands on its own as a relentless tale of mounting horror. (I almost said "growing" for the plant pun but it was a weaker word.)
Darghud's Doll: Yikes, the colonial racism is strong here, portraying "savage" South African tribes extremely unfortunately. It calls to mind T.E.D. Klein. The dismissive colonialist gets his comeuppance, at least. Other than that, it's another goofy, typical horror tale using Titus Crow as a framing device.
Born of the Winds: The longest story in the bunch, it could easily have also been the headliner. Another excellent Lovecraft pastiche, focusing on Ithaqua, the Wind Walker. Lumley developed a love affair with this being at this stage of his writing. Beyond this story, Ithaqua made brief appearances in The Burrowers Beneath and The Transition of Titus Crow, and later returns as the primary antagonist in Spawn of the Winds. The story makes great use of its northern Canadian setting, with cold and snow as much of a threat as the otherworldly being and its worshippers.
THE END
Alongside those two Crow tales are some excellent Lovecraft pastiches, some stories that refer to Lumley's brand of the Mythos but didn't need to, and some unrelated general horror stories. They're all at least decent, and the most impressive stories are the most Lovecraftian ones. Lumley doesn't crib on H.P.'s writing style though, his own is less erudite but still deliciously evocative when the Cthulhoid horror peaks.
Only 4000 copies of this book were printed, and Arkham house rarely reprinted their titles; they were always on a shoestring budget. Fortunately many of the stories were reprinted in Lumley's many short story collections in subsequent decades, and most fortunately of all, this collection recently received an e-book re-release and is now readily available to all.
None of these stories were published prior to this collection and are presented here in the order they appear:
The Viking's Stone: After reading Lumley's first two Titus Crow novels from DAW I looked forward to more diverse material. Enter this story: a Titus Crow story. Doh. It's serviceable, and the core story about a curse invoked by disturbing a viking's tomb, could have been told with any other framing.
Aunt Hester: This is a straightforward body-swap horror story with a twist ending in the tradition of Poe. It adds details from Lumley's Mythos but it didn't have to, it works perfectly well on its own.
No Way Home: I think I generally prefer to read of horrible things happening to likeable protagonists, rather than to jerks as in this story. With the latter, when they die in terror it's like, oh well, no great loss. This story has an odd late transition. Most of it is about inadvertently wandering into another dimension, a place that doesn't exist or normally isn't accessible from the normal world, but at the end it converts into a completely different kind of horror.
The Horror at Oakdeene: Ostensibly the centerpiece of the collection, it's a heart-pounding tale of madness, cultism and indoctrination, set in that most wondrous of settings: the Oakdeene Sanatorium, prison for the insane. Some of Lumley's earliest stories (see The Caller of the Black) made reference to this location, the Arkham Asylum of his own creations. A respectable Lovecraft pastiche.
The Cleaner Woman: Despite what I said about likeable protagonists two stories ago, I enjoyed this one's burly, boil-laden criminal. His ingenuity in the commission of crime was more interesting than the ghostly jump-scare that completes this shorter story.
The Statement of Henry Worthy: Wow! This was Lumley's most powerful tale yet. It could be interpreted as a Lovecraft pastiche, although unlike his prior such this makes no specific mention of any Mythos element. I feel as though Lumley's confidence in his writing was improving such that he no longer needed that crutch. With its mad botanical horror rooted in pre-history (pun noted and left intact), this story also hints at Lumley's later 'Primal Lands" tales, to be seen in The House of Cthulhu and Tarra Khash: Hrossak!. It stands on its own as a relentless tale of mounting horror. (I almost said "growing" for the plant pun but it was a weaker word.)
Darghud's Doll: Yikes, the colonial racism is strong here, portraying "savage" South African tribes extremely unfortunately. It calls to mind T.E.D. Klein. The dismissive colonialist gets his comeuppance, at least. Other than that, it's another goofy, typical horror tale using Titus Crow as a framing device.
Born of the Winds: The longest story in the bunch, it could easily have also been the headliner. Another excellent Lovecraft pastiche, focusing on Ithaqua, the Wind Walker. Lumley developed a love affair with this being at this stage of his writing. Beyond this story, Ithaqua made brief appearances in The Burrowers Beneath and The Transition of Titus Crow, and later returns as the primary antagonist in Spawn of the Winds. The story makes great use of its northern Canadian setting, with cold and snow as much of a threat as the otherworldly being and its worshippers.
THE END
October 30, 2020
Buena colección de relatos de terror, algunos lovecraftianos y otros que tocan otros temas. Muy variado y entretenido, algunas historias tienen una ambientación excelente. A destacar:
Horror en Oakdeene(*****): Puro Lovecraft y ambientado en un sanatorio. Un joven encargado de seguridad se verá arrastrado a una secta que han formado entre algunos residentes del sanatorio. Tono lugubre y acción, cosa que usualmente se echa de menos en los relatos del genio de Providence.
La declaración de Henry Worthy(****): Un chico interesado en la botánica descubrirá una extraña planta que nadie jamás ha catalogado. La planta tendrá unos efectos no deseados en el estudiante. Horror y asco excelentemente mezclados.
La tía Hester(***): Un chico visita a su vieja tia, a la cual los padres del chaval siempre han evitado. La tia le contará sobre un extraño poder.
Imposible regresar a casa. (*****) El relato que más me ha gustado. El protagonista, que viaja en coche a su casa, decide parar en una cafetería, donde un tipo está dispuesto a darle una gran cantidad de dinero si encuentra la manera de devolverle a su hogar. Pero no es nada fácil, porque según él se encuentra en otra realidad.
La mujer de la limpieza. (****) Un ladrón decide volver a robar en el mismo lugar que saqueó hace apenas un año. Pero allí encontrará un sorpresa esperándole.
Horror en Oakdeene(*****): Puro Lovecraft y ambientado en un sanatorio. Un joven encargado de seguridad se verá arrastrado a una secta que han formado entre algunos residentes del sanatorio. Tono lugubre y acción, cosa que usualmente se echa de menos en los relatos del genio de Providence.
La declaración de Henry Worthy(****): Un chico interesado en la botánica descubrirá una extraña planta que nadie jamás ha catalogado. La planta tendrá unos efectos no deseados en el estudiante. Horror y asco excelentemente mezclados.
La tía Hester(***): Un chico visita a su vieja tia, a la cual los padres del chaval siempre han evitado. La tia le contará sobre un extraño poder.
Imposible regresar a casa. (*****) El relato que más me ha gustado. El protagonista, que viaja en coche a su casa, decide parar en una cafetería, donde un tipo está dispuesto a darle una gran cantidad de dinero si encuentra la manera de devolverle a su hogar. Pero no es nada fácil, porque según él se encuentra en otra realidad.
La mujer de la limpieza. (****) Un ladrón decide volver a robar en el mismo lugar que saqueó hace apenas un año. Pero allí encontrará un sorpresa esperándole.
June 7, 2017
Del británico Brian Lumley solo había leído sus Crónicas Necrománticas, unos libros que disfruté mucho en su momento y que me gustaría releer en un futuro. Lumley es un muy buen escritor de terror, cuida el lenguaje y su obra posee la imaginación suficiente para atraer al lector asiduo al género. Tenía ganas de leer al autor escribiendo relatos, y además escribiendo relatos basados en los Mitos de Cthulhu, y la verdad es que no me ha decepcionado en absoluto.
Estos son los ocho relatos incluidos en ‘Horror en Oakdeene’ (The Horror at Oakdeene and Others’ (1977):
La declaración de Henry Worthy. (*****) El narrador nos cuenta lo que le acaeció a su sobrino Matthew tras haberse caído en un pozo perdido, lleno de extrañas fungosidades.
Imposible regresar a casa. (****) El protagonista, que viaja en coche a su casa, decide parar en una cafetería, donde un tipo está dispuesto a darle una gran cantidad de dinero si encuentra la manera de devolverle a su hogar. Pero no es nada fácil, porque según él se encuentra en otra realidad.
La tía Hester. (****) El protagonista decide visitar a su excéntrica tía Hester, alguien de quien sus padres le apararon de niño. Será entonces cuando su tía le cuente las razones.
Horror en Oakdeene. (*****) Martin Spellman decide trabajar en el sanatorio mental de Oakdeene para documentarse para un libro que está escribiendo. Pero lo que menos le gusta es cuando ha de vigilar la planta inferior, llamada El Infierno, donde se encuentran los pacientes más perturbados.
La piedra del vikingo. (***) Titus Crow, un ocultista, le cuenta a su amigo De Marigny un caso en el que estuvo implicado, el de la piedra de Ragnar Hacha Sangrienta.
El muñeco de Darghud. (****) De nuevo, Titus Crow nos acerca a otro de sus casos, esta vez ambientado en África, donde dos hermanos gemelos se ven enfrentados a la magia negra de lugar.
La mujer de la limpieza. (****) Un ladrón decide volver a robar en el mismo lugar que saqueó hace apenas un año. Pero allí encontrará un sorpresa esperándole.
Nacido de los vientos. (*****) El protagonista, meteorólogo de profesión, viaja a Manitoba en unas vacaciones. Allí entablará conocimiento sobre la obra de Bridgeman, un profesor de antropología, y de su obsesión por Ithaqua, Señor de los Vientos.
Estos son los ocho relatos incluidos en ‘Horror en Oakdeene’ (The Horror at Oakdeene and Others’ (1977):
La declaración de Henry Worthy. (*****) El narrador nos cuenta lo que le acaeció a su sobrino Matthew tras haberse caído en un pozo perdido, lleno de extrañas fungosidades.
Imposible regresar a casa. (****) El protagonista, que viaja en coche a su casa, decide parar en una cafetería, donde un tipo está dispuesto a darle una gran cantidad de dinero si encuentra la manera de devolverle a su hogar. Pero no es nada fácil, porque según él se encuentra en otra realidad.
La tía Hester. (****) El protagonista decide visitar a su excéntrica tía Hester, alguien de quien sus padres le apararon de niño. Será entonces cuando su tía le cuente las razones.
Horror en Oakdeene. (*****) Martin Spellman decide trabajar en el sanatorio mental de Oakdeene para documentarse para un libro que está escribiendo. Pero lo que menos le gusta es cuando ha de vigilar la planta inferior, llamada El Infierno, donde se encuentran los pacientes más perturbados.
La piedra del vikingo. (***) Titus Crow, un ocultista, le cuenta a su amigo De Marigny un caso en el que estuvo implicado, el de la piedra de Ragnar Hacha Sangrienta.
El muñeco de Darghud. (****) De nuevo, Titus Crow nos acerca a otro de sus casos, esta vez ambientado en África, donde dos hermanos gemelos se ven enfrentados a la magia negra de lugar.
La mujer de la limpieza. (****) Un ladrón decide volver a robar en el mismo lugar que saqueó hace apenas un año. Pero allí encontrará un sorpresa esperándole.
Nacido de los vientos. (*****) El protagonista, meteorólogo de profesión, viaja a Manitoba en unas vacaciones. Allí entablará conocimiento sobre la obra de Bridgeman, un profesor de antropología, y de su obsesión por Ithaqua, Señor de los Vientos.
December 2, 2012
The book is an anthology of eight stories written by Brian Lumley, whose early horror writings are among my favorites in the world of weird fiction and cosmic horror. As is true in many anthologies, you take the excellent with the good with the not so hot in this collection, but when all is said and done, it's a pretty good conglomerate of weird fiction. Lovecraft's influence can be felt throughout, but there is plenty here to mark Lumley's own writing style as well.
The eight stories in the book (with a brief intro to each and asterisks by the titles of my favorites) are:
**"The Viking's Stone" -- featuring Titus Crow, Lumley's very own creation, about whom Lumley writes:
"he is one to whom, in his unending search for mysteries and discoveries of marvels, the occult has been simply a passage down which his wanderings have taken him; where he has learned, on more than one occasion, outre things unheard of in the more mundane world of ordinary men. Crow may, in that snese, be called an occultist -- but so is he a most knowledgeable man and something of an expert in many fields."
In this story, Crow and his partner de Marigny get involved with a fellow scholar who is messing about with things he shouldn't and removes the "bautastein" (tomb marker) of a bloodthirsty Viking when the runes say not to; **"Aunt Hester" finds a young man going to visit his black-sheep aunt shunned by the rest of his family and in the process and to his detriment discovers why no one even speaks of her any more; "No Way Home"is an eerie tale of a man who has been trying to find his way home for 15 years; this one is somewhat marred by its ending and although it started out like a hackle-raising ghost story it lost me at the finish. The title story The Horror at Oakdeene," finds Martin Spellman, an aspiring author who wants to do a compilation of "rare or outstanding mental cases," soaking up atmosphere in training as a nurse at Oakdeene Sanatorium. Spellman tries to avoid the basement ward known as "Hell," where a fellow nurse may or may not have had anything to do with a patient's bizarre death. Burglar William "Spotty" Morton decides to go back and finish something he'd started a year ago in "The Cleaner Woman," but the perfect crime may still be out of his reach. One of my favorites in the entire collection is **"The Statement of Henry Worthy," a little reminiscent of HPL's Innsmouth adventures but with a clever and creepy twist. This one takes place in the moors of Scotland, when Matthew Worthy, Henry's nephew, comes down to visit his uncle and to also follow in the footsteps of a lost botanist who had disappeared after finding a very unusual species of plant. "Darghud's Doll" is another Titus Crow story, where Crow is not really involved in the action but shares a bizarre story about the power and long reach of supernatural revenge. Ending this collection of stories is "Born of the Winds," a rather long, drawn-out account of a determined woman seeking her son in the frozen Canadian north. This story started out fine but got kind of bogged down as Lumley combines a mix of mythologies that imho didn't match the state of hovering horror as much as the other stories in this book were able to.
All in all -- a pretty good volume of tales of terror influenced largely by HP Lovecraft; a highly-recommended must for collectors if you're into Lumley or Lovecraft or this brand of cosmic horror/weird fiction.
The eight stories in the book (with a brief intro to each and asterisks by the titles of my favorites) are:
**"The Viking's Stone" -- featuring Titus Crow, Lumley's very own creation, about whom Lumley writes:
"he is one to whom, in his unending search for mysteries and discoveries of marvels, the occult has been simply a passage down which his wanderings have taken him; where he has learned, on more than one occasion, outre things unheard of in the more mundane world of ordinary men. Crow may, in that snese, be called an occultist -- but so is he a most knowledgeable man and something of an expert in many fields."
In this story, Crow and his partner de Marigny get involved with a fellow scholar who is messing about with things he shouldn't and removes the "bautastein" (tomb marker) of a bloodthirsty Viking when the runes say not to; **"Aunt Hester" finds a young man going to visit his black-sheep aunt shunned by the rest of his family and in the process and to his detriment discovers why no one even speaks of her any more; "No Way Home"is an eerie tale of a man who has been trying to find his way home for 15 years; this one is somewhat marred by its ending and although it started out like a hackle-raising ghost story it lost me at the finish. The title story The Horror at Oakdeene," finds Martin Spellman, an aspiring author who wants to do a compilation of "rare or outstanding mental cases," soaking up atmosphere in training as a nurse at Oakdeene Sanatorium. Spellman tries to avoid the basement ward known as "Hell," where a fellow nurse may or may not have had anything to do with a patient's bizarre death. Burglar William "Spotty" Morton decides to go back and finish something he'd started a year ago in "The Cleaner Woman," but the perfect crime may still be out of his reach. One of my favorites in the entire collection is **"The Statement of Henry Worthy," a little reminiscent of HPL's Innsmouth adventures but with a clever and creepy twist. This one takes place in the moors of Scotland, when Matthew Worthy, Henry's nephew, comes down to visit his uncle and to also follow in the footsteps of a lost botanist who had disappeared after finding a very unusual species of plant. "Darghud's Doll" is another Titus Crow story, where Crow is not really involved in the action but shares a bizarre story about the power and long reach of supernatural revenge. Ending this collection of stories is "Born of the Winds," a rather long, drawn-out account of a determined woman seeking her son in the frozen Canadian north. This story started out fine but got kind of bogged down as Lumley combines a mix of mythologies that imho didn't match the state of hovering horror as much as the other stories in this book were able to.
All in all -- a pretty good volume of tales of terror influenced largely by HP Lovecraft; a highly-recommended must for collectors if you're into Lumley or Lovecraft or this brand of cosmic horror/weird fiction.
January 27, 2011
Where to start with this book. By the time I was able to locate (and afford) a copy of this book I head read many of his works. There were a lot of references to this time and more importantly the short story of the same name. Unfortunately this copy the Arkham press edition was long out of print and very sought after. thankfully i was able to locate one and here it is. These stories represent two of Lumley's strengths, the first is his affinity to the Mythos and the other is his ability to tell macabre and haunting stories with all the style of Lovecraft yet able to connect with current reading styles (if you have ever read Lovecraft you will know what i mean) all in all a great book that could do with being a little more available.
September 23, 2022
En esta genial colección de relatos, Lumley nos invita a participar de los clásicos horrores innombrables relacionados con los mitos de Cthulhu, pero en su estilo, agregando una idea de enorme maldad en estos "renovados" Antiguos.
Los tres relatos que forman la columna vertebral del libro son:
"La declaración de Henry Worthy", excepcional cuento fungoide que mezcla el asco y el horror de manera perfecta.
"Horror en Oakdeene", ambientado en un sanatorio, relata las desventuras que sufre un enfermero al interiorizarse en el culto de la temible entidad Yibb-Tstll
"Nacido de los vientos", cuento más largo que trata sobre el culto a Itaqua en los desiertos helados de Canadá.
También me agradaron "Imposible regresar a casa", con un final de dibujos animados, y " La mujer de la limpieza". Los relatos de Titus Crow, cazador de misterios de Lumley, entretienen pero sin grandes cotas de terror. (2.2.2005)
Los tres relatos que forman la columna vertebral del libro son:
"La declaración de Henry Worthy", excepcional cuento fungoide que mezcla el asco y el horror de manera perfecta.
"Horror en Oakdeene", ambientado en un sanatorio, relata las desventuras que sufre un enfermero al interiorizarse en el culto de la temible entidad Yibb-Tstll
"Nacido de los vientos", cuento más largo que trata sobre el culto a Itaqua en los desiertos helados de Canadá.
También me agradaron "Imposible regresar a casa", con un final de dibujos animados, y " La mujer de la limpieza". Los relatos de Titus Crow, cazador de misterios de Lumley, entretienen pero sin grandes cotas de terror. (2.2.2005)
July 3, 2024
De los relatos que contiene HORROR EN OAKDEENE y NACIDO DE LOS VIENTOS son los mejores. Muy buenos relatos de los mitos, haciendo de Brian Lumley un maestro del terror y digno heredero (incluso diría superando, por ser más entretenido y medir bien el tempo) del mismo Lovecraft
October 18, 2014
another hard to find lumley book, this one full of older cthulhu mythos type horror stories. second best only to lovecraft himself, lumley has crafted some of the most frightening and mind twisting stories of the mythos and some of those are in this volume. many have been reprinted in fancier looking books of late, but there is something delicious about these old arkham house editions, something fitting for the subject matter, like stumbling upon some ancient secret tome hidden in the back of a dusty used bookstore...
March 1, 2018
Una historia corta, clásica del terror clásico, y donde mejor que se desarrolle que en un manicomio.
April 20, 2020
The Horror at Oakdeene and Others is my first venture into the worlds of Brian Lumley, a writer I heard about way back when I was a schoolboy obsessed with the books of Stephen King. I never read any Lumley then, and – amazingly – it has taken me a further (cough!) thirty years to get around to it, and only when – I have to admit – I was offered a free audiobook to review.
I'm glad I didn't read Lumley back when I was a teenager. I was very much into more grounded storytellers back then and the horrors I preferred may have been fantastical but they took place in worlds of school kids and realities I could see unfolding around me. I think back then Brian Lumley would have left me cold, and this may have put me off him for life; and that would have been a stone-cold sin because Brian Lumley is, in a word, awesome; and Joshua Saxon, the man narrating this collection of stories, is no less so.
The Horror at Oakdeene and Others consists of eight stories of vastly varying lengths and with the opening tale, called The Viking's Stone, I was initially thinking that this would be less than an enjoyable book to get through.
I think now that this may have been an adjustment I required to get into Lumley's world. I was not expecting an amalgam of Lovecraft and Poe (two authors I respect greatly) and I certainly wasn't expecting someone to be so successful at it (which as I writer myself I found more than a little irritating).
As The Viking's Stone gave way to the second story, Aunt Hester, I found myself in more comfortable ground and steadily my enjoyment of Lumley's strange though oddly familiar world grew; but it was when I heard the next tale, No Way Home, that I knew that this wouldn't be the last Brian Lumley book I would be experiencing.
Of the eight tales No Way Home was my favourite and The Viking's Stone was my least; but I suspect that another reader would feel differently; in fact I believe it a firm possibility that my next listen to The Horror at Oakdeene and Others my thoughts may be completely different.
Lumley creates rational arguments on the irrational occurrences within his tales that sit in the readers mind long after the book is closed. Rational arguments that whisper of eldritch horrors with the same maddening combination of plausibility and absurdity that a physics professor talking about string theory may have. Enjoyment of Lumley's work takes the ability to release oneself from what that same physics professor might call “traditional reality”, and be willingly led by an author who might just be a madman down a road far less travelled than most.
This is certainly not my last excursion into the lands of Lumley which means, unfortunately, I have to decide where next to go in his considerable catalogue of works.
I'm glad I didn't read Lumley back when I was a teenager. I was very much into more grounded storytellers back then and the horrors I preferred may have been fantastical but they took place in worlds of school kids and realities I could see unfolding around me. I think back then Brian Lumley would have left me cold, and this may have put me off him for life; and that would have been a stone-cold sin because Brian Lumley is, in a word, awesome; and Joshua Saxon, the man narrating this collection of stories, is no less so.
The Horror at Oakdeene and Others consists of eight stories of vastly varying lengths and with the opening tale, called The Viking's Stone, I was initially thinking that this would be less than an enjoyable book to get through.
I think now that this may have been an adjustment I required to get into Lumley's world. I was not expecting an amalgam of Lovecraft and Poe (two authors I respect greatly) and I certainly wasn't expecting someone to be so successful at it (which as I writer myself I found more than a little irritating).
As The Viking's Stone gave way to the second story, Aunt Hester, I found myself in more comfortable ground and steadily my enjoyment of Lumley's strange though oddly familiar world grew; but it was when I heard the next tale, No Way Home, that I knew that this wouldn't be the last Brian Lumley book I would be experiencing.
Of the eight tales No Way Home was my favourite and The Viking's Stone was my least; but I suspect that another reader would feel differently; in fact I believe it a firm possibility that my next listen to The Horror at Oakdeene and Others my thoughts may be completely different.
Lumley creates rational arguments on the irrational occurrences within his tales that sit in the readers mind long after the book is closed. Rational arguments that whisper of eldritch horrors with the same maddening combination of plausibility and absurdity that a physics professor talking about string theory may have. Enjoyment of Lumley's work takes the ability to release oneself from what that same physics professor might call “traditional reality”, and be willingly led by an author who might just be a madman down a road far less travelled than most.
This is certainly not my last excursion into the lands of Lumley which means, unfortunately, I have to decide where next to go in his considerable catalogue of works.
October 18, 2022
Tengo que admitir que, hasta el momento, nunca he sido muy fan de Brian Lumley. Su Titus Crow me resulta pedante y relamido, un sabiondo que cansa con sus genialidades "a la Holmes", que resultan algo forzadas y que parece siempre tratar con condescendencia al narrador (y al lector) de sus relatos.
Tampoco me gusta como, a menudo, aplica paños calientes sobre el horror, introduciendo fuerzas positivas que resultan demasiado humanas frente al horror cósmico (por ejemplo, la existencia del "hermano bueno de Cthulhu", Kthanid, siempre ha sido un problema para mi).
Sin embargo este recopilatorio tiene una gran virtud para mi, presenta relatos más en el modo Lovecraftiano (solo hay dos relatos de Titus Crow, para mi los menos interesantes) con personajes enfrentados al horror de los mitos sin medias tintas ni ángeles de la guarda.
El relato que da título al recopilatorio es adecuadamente terrorífico, con un interesante uso del escenario del sanatorio mental.
"Imposible regresar a casa" es una pequeña historia al estilo de En los límites de la realidad (también tiene algo de eso otro de los relatos, "La mujer de la limpieza") que tiene su gracia, aunque quizás el título (y más en la traducción castellana) sea demasiado transparente.
También me ha resultado muy interesante, "Nacido de los vientos", donde hace un magnífico uso de Ithaqua (creado por August Derleth pero inspirado por el Wendigo de Algernon Blackwood) y amplía su mitología. Aunque al final termine pecando, en menor medida, de humanizar demasiado las reacciones del ser primordial, la construcción del ambiente es fascinante.
Los relatos pecan de ser algo derivativos (aunque tiene gracia como introduce las referencias a relatos clásicos de Lovecraft en algunos de ellos), pero en conclusión una colección muy interesante.
Tampoco me gusta como, a menudo, aplica paños calientes sobre el horror, introduciendo fuerzas positivas que resultan demasiado humanas frente al horror cósmico (por ejemplo, la existencia del "hermano bueno de Cthulhu", Kthanid, siempre ha sido un problema para mi).
Sin embargo este recopilatorio tiene una gran virtud para mi, presenta relatos más en el modo Lovecraftiano (solo hay dos relatos de Titus Crow, para mi los menos interesantes) con personajes enfrentados al horror de los mitos sin medias tintas ni ángeles de la guarda.
El relato que da título al recopilatorio es adecuadamente terrorífico, con un interesante uso del escenario del sanatorio mental.
"Imposible regresar a casa" es una pequeña historia al estilo de En los límites de la realidad (también tiene algo de eso otro de los relatos, "La mujer de la limpieza") que tiene su gracia, aunque quizás el título (y más en la traducción castellana) sea demasiado transparente.
También me ha resultado muy interesante, "Nacido de los vientos", donde hace un magnífico uso de Ithaqua (creado por August Derleth pero inspirado por el Wendigo de Algernon Blackwood) y amplía su mitología. Aunque al final termine pecando, en menor medida, de humanizar demasiado las reacciones del ser primordial, la construcción del ambiente es fascinante.
Los relatos pecan de ser algo derivativos (aunque tiene gracia como introduce las referencias a relatos clásicos de Lovecraft en algunos de ellos), pero en conclusión una colección muy interesante.
April 21, 2020
I don’t often read short story collections. Brian Lumley may change that fact for me. This collection was all around a winner. The stories were well crafted and had very little exterraneous material to slow down the creeping terror that continues on the dark blueprints that were laid dowN by Algernon Blackwood and H.P. Lovecraft. The writing was crisp and did a good job giving you the sense you are being watched by some unknown thing in the shadows. Not all of the stories in this collection are winners though, there are more great ones that poor ones. My favorite is Aunt Hester.
I completed this in audiobook form. The narration by Joshua Saxon through Crossroads Press. They are a small company that releases a large amount of old and out of print books(largely horror and suspense in my experience) onto the digital and audio market. The production values were high. The voice for the stories was correct and a good fit for Lumley’s Cthulhu Mythos style works. His accent and pronunciation was pristine, and his pacing was superb. I look forward to more from this talented narrator and of course more books from my favorite small audiobook publisher.
I left this honest review In return for a free copy of this audiobook. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.
I completed this in audiobook form. The narration by Joshua Saxon through Crossroads Press. They are a small company that releases a large amount of old and out of print books(largely horror and suspense in my experience) onto the digital and audio market. The production values were high. The voice for the stories was correct and a good fit for Lumley’s Cthulhu Mythos style works. His accent and pronunciation was pristine, and his pacing was superb. I look forward to more from this talented narrator and of course more books from my favorite small audiobook publisher.
I left this honest review In return for a free copy of this audiobook. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.
September 30, 2023
There are a few things that Lumley is extremely good at. One is creating characters who the reader comes to care about. The second thing is that he creates such a divine sense of dread that continues to build throughout the story. This book was no exception. My heart always starts beating a bit faster when I’m reading his stories. The eight short stories here are very imaginative and good. While reading Born of the Winds my hands were freezing and I was shivering just imagining being in a blizzard with the characters (and also about how much my friend Lisa N. would enjoy this story). There is a Titus Crow story in this book, too. I don’t know Titus very well, so I’m going to have to remedy that.
May 23, 2020
To me, Brian Lumley is such a unique author. Maybe I don't read/listen to enough stories in this genre? Who knows. I love his stories because he's able to create such great imagery.
As for Joshua Saxton, he always kills me with his "American" accent. It's like a different person takes over the narration. I love his accents and he's an awesome narrator. What more can be said?
While I love this batch of stories, unfortunately, I'd already listened to several of them so it didn't take me long to "finish."
As for Joshua Saxton, he always kills me with his "American" accent. It's like a different person takes over the narration. I love his accents and he's an awesome narrator. What more can be said?
While I love this batch of stories, unfortunately, I'd already listened to several of them so it didn't take me long to "finish."
October 25, 2018
This is an awesomely good collection of stories. It includes two Titus Crow stories, a ghost story, and several that show obvious influence from H. P. Lovecraft, but none are outright pastiche. These stories include great atmosphere and characters. A great collection from a master of horror story telling.
February 22, 2024
4 stars is probably the average but I’m giving this 5 stars because 4 of the 8 stories are great, and 2 of those 4 are stone cold masterpieces.
The 4 are:
Aunt Hester
The Horror at Oakdeene
The Statement of Henry Worthy
Born of the Winds
The 2 are:
The Horror at Oakdeene
Born of the Winds
Two of the finest mythos tales I’ve ever read.
The 4 are:
Aunt Hester
The Horror at Oakdeene
The Statement of Henry Worthy
Born of the Winds
The 2 are:
The Horror at Oakdeene
Born of the Winds
Two of the finest mythos tales I’ve ever read.
May 20, 2020
I thought an english narrator for this anthology was a good choice. A definite Lovecraft influence, which has me curious to read more of Lovecraft's work itself in future.
Note: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Note: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
August 5, 2020
audible:I truely enjoyed the main story.The eerie scene setting was wonderful!I also liked another,though I can not recall the name. Narration by Joshua Saxon was terrific! I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.'
November 23, 2020
More Lovecraftian horror from Lumley
Turns out I had previously read about half of these short stories in anthologies, but that did not detract from the eldritch horror of these tales. Enjoyed all of them. Good collection of Lovecraftian lore.
Turns out I had previously read about half of these short stories in anthologies, but that did not detract from the eldritch horror of these tales. Enjoyed all of them. Good collection of Lovecraftian lore.
June 5, 2018
An excellent collection of short stories.
June 3, 2022
Classic Lumley
Great collection of short fiction from Lumley's earlier works. The title story being my favorite. Not a loser in the bunch though.
Great collection of short fiction from Lumley's earlier works. The title story being my favorite. Not a loser in the bunch though.
May 3, 2024
A couple of so-so tales here and there but also 3 absolute bangers. It feels like Lumley had to stretch to get those three goodies polished and it shows.
December 25, 2024
Every story is solid but the final novella particularly good
May 6, 2020
This was a pretty good group of stories. I really enjoy Born of the Winds. The rest were good, but not great IMO. I may need to back off these types of stories for a while to appreciate how good they are once again.
This audio book was given to me at my request for my free and unbiased review.
This audio book was given to me at my request for my free and unbiased review.
January 3, 2012
This was my introduction to Brian Lumley, and I have to say that I certainly don't regret having purchased a couple other Lumley titles on a hunch that I would enjoy THE HORROR at OAKDEENE and OTHERS.
The only let down I took from this Arkham House collection were the Titus Crow stories (and there are a couple of them in this collection). I certainly do like my fair share of occult detective yarns, but overall, the two tales included in this collection were weaker than some of the other highly enjoyable tales. Perhaps there are stronger Crow stories that Lumley has written
Lumley does a wonderful job expanding on the Lovecraft Mythos and weaving some highly competent tales. Whether we call them pastiche, tribute, homage, is hardly important. Clearly Lumley is not providing us with the kind of innovation that Ligotti, Barron, Samuels, and others bring to the table when they write their own tales that exhibit a Lovecraftian influence. Nevertheless, Lumley's stories are well told and very enjoyable as a Lovecraft mythos tale.
Some of the stories that really stood out were:
1)Born of the Winds: Interesting take on the Wendigo folk tale, ultimately expanding it into cosmic horror territory.
2) Horror at Oakdeene: Wonderfully told mythos story, focusing on the terror that a young psychiatric ward employee experiences as he learns the ropes at the nut house.
3)No Way Home: This one fell more in the SF realms than anything else, although the ending takes on a a bit of a cosmic horror twist. This tale might have been my favorite. You really feel the desperation of a man who feels truly displaced by unnatural events.
Highly enjoyable!!
The only let down I took from this Arkham House collection were the Titus Crow stories (and there are a couple of them in this collection). I certainly do like my fair share of occult detective yarns, but overall, the two tales included in this collection were weaker than some of the other highly enjoyable tales. Perhaps there are stronger Crow stories that Lumley has written
Lumley does a wonderful job expanding on the Lovecraft Mythos and weaving some highly competent tales. Whether we call them pastiche, tribute, homage, is hardly important. Clearly Lumley is not providing us with the kind of innovation that Ligotti, Barron, Samuels, and others bring to the table when they write their own tales that exhibit a Lovecraftian influence. Nevertheless, Lumley's stories are well told and very enjoyable as a Lovecraft mythos tale.
Some of the stories that really stood out were:
1)Born of the Winds: Interesting take on the Wendigo folk tale, ultimately expanding it into cosmic horror territory.
2) Horror at Oakdeene: Wonderfully told mythos story, focusing on the terror that a young psychiatric ward employee experiences as he learns the ropes at the nut house.
3)No Way Home: This one fell more in the SF realms than anything else, although the ending takes on a a bit of a cosmic horror twist. This tale might have been my favorite. You really feel the desperation of a man who feels truly displaced by unnatural events.
Highly enjoyable!!
December 31, 2017
more detailed review to come when I damn well feel like it.
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