Necroscope by Brian Lumley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My expectations were blown away with this. Can you actually believe I thought this might have been some B-level light horror?

Indeed, it actually pulled off something rather spectacular. Look beyond the vampire mythos for just a moment and see the setup: decades of years in a cold-war spy setup with people using ESP, clairvoyance, and necromancy. Get deep into the Russian camp and feel yourself get sucked down the dark side, step by step seduction to the darkest paths. And get fascinated by his opposite, a person whom the dead love and whom they'd do anything for.

The eighties were a very special time for horror books. They all came in wonderfully large packages, exploring amazing levels of characterization, slow build-ups, and action that turned them into epics in their own right. It's not just King who did it. McCammon and Simmons are a couple more that come to mind.

I don't know why the practice died off. I'd LOVE to see huge horror tomes again.

At least I can still taste those that were already written. Lumley is a great surprise and definitely pleasing. I don't even care that it's cliche stuff. We're given a lot of time to settle into those roles and I cared about the characters.

Ah, the 80's horrors... *sigh*

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