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Beneath the Moors and Darker Places
In addition to his stellar Necroscope series, Brian Lumley is highly regarded for his short fiction, for which he has won the British Fantasy Award. Beneath the Moors and Darker Places , a companion to The Whisperer and Other Voices , collects nine of Lumley's best long short works, many of them unavailable for decades in any form.
The Cthulhu Mythos of the immortal H. P. Lovecraft provides inspiration for much of Lumley's work, including "Dagon's Bell" and "Big C," both included here. The explosive creation of a new volcanic island off Iceland in 1967 led to "Rising with Surtsey," an homage not just to Lovecraft but to the great August Derleth. "David's Worm"-which takes an interesting view of "you are what you eat"-was published in a Year's Best Horror Stories and later adapted for radio in Europe.
The collection also includes the macabre "The Second Wish," published here for the first time with the author's original, intended ending, and "The Fairground Horror," first published in The Disciples of Cthulhu twenty-five years ago and not seen since save for a small press edition.
The title tale, Beneath the Moors, a complete short novel, has been unavailable in the US since its first publication by Arkham House in the early 1970s. It is considered to be one of Lumley's strongest short works; Tor is proud to restore this and the other pieces in this volume to Lumley's growing readership.
The Cthulhu Mythos of the immortal H. P. Lovecraft provides inspiration for much of Lumley's work, including "Dagon's Bell" and "Big C," both included here. The explosive creation of a new volcanic island off Iceland in 1967 led to "Rising with Surtsey," an homage not just to Lovecraft but to the great August Derleth. "David's Worm"-which takes an interesting view of "you are what you eat"-was published in a Year's Best Horror Stories and later adapted for radio in Europe.
The collection also includes the macabre "The Second Wish," published here for the first time with the author's original, intended ending, and "The Fairground Horror," first published in The Disciples of Cthulhu twenty-five years ago and not seen since save for a small press edition.
The title tale, Beneath the Moors, a complete short novel, has been unavailable in the US since its first publication by Arkham House in the early 1970s. It is considered to be one of Lumley's strongest short works; Tor is proud to restore this and the other pieces in this volume to Lumley's growing readership.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
23 people are currently reading
362 people want to read
About the author
Brian Lumley
444 books1,359 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 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 7, 2020
DAVID’S WORM
The kind of Horror story that if you are new to the genre you will love and give the chillz, but if you are an oldhead and have read a lot of this stuff will find it kinda predictable and see the end coming from the very beginning. Nice atmosphere tho.
DAGON’S BELL
In the Lovecraftian legacy, Lumley gives us one more little diamond. Insmooth and Mounts of Madness feeling is strong here, and it also reminded me a story from the Nocturnes/Connolly collection. The classic story of unhollow ground that poisons the new occupants, but written oh so beautifully!
THE SUN, THE SEA, AND THE SILENT SCREAM
Faroupos and Graham Joyce vibes in this one! A small and remote greek island, two british tourists and whole lot of weird! I don’t wanna spoil it, especially for greeks it would be an amazing read, but the summer mood man… ah, great writing!
THE SECOND WISH
Cthulhu mythos meets the Monkey s paw! A golddigger and his wealthy cougar learn that sometimes mundaine is better than the ideal and you better be careful what you wish for cause you just might get it! Niiice.
A THING ABOUT CARS!
Weird and kinda f’ed up. I didn’t like the ending bt way better than Kings treatment of haunted cars…
RISING WITH SURTSEY
Evil omens of Cthulhu rising! The agony of a man watching his brother descent into madness (Julia, what a creepy name) is familiar ground and the whole unraveling waz immensely compeling! Slime, tentacles, monsters of enormous size made the end cinematic as hell!
BIG ‘C’
More on the scifi based horror, vibes with Psychomech a little in the beginning. Alien parasite that destroys a man, cliché but always nice. Also, could the big C be something else than the obvious?
THE FAIRGROUND HORROR
The story of two brothers and how the ey found their doom seeking Cthulhu. Meh… I really like the Titus reference tho…
BENEATH THE MOORS
To my excitement it wasn’t a s short story but a full novel! Straight from the beginning the hero has a very compelling mental condition that gets hooked off the bat. A professor and a mysterious figurine set on a chase for its dreadful origins and the search gets darker and more perplexed with every turn! The Lovecraftian atmosphere and mythos combined with the nightmarish dreamscapes (or ‘’phases’’) were just amazing, but what I liked the most was the many documentations of the tale, as though many people were involved (kinda difficult from the technical side of an author but it was kept under control and he didn’t overdo it).
The kind of Horror story that if you are new to the genre you will love and give the chillz, but if you are an oldhead and have read a lot of this stuff will find it kinda predictable and see the end coming from the very beginning. Nice atmosphere tho.
DAGON’S BELL
In the Lovecraftian legacy, Lumley gives us one more little diamond. Insmooth and Mounts of Madness feeling is strong here, and it also reminded me a story from the Nocturnes/Connolly collection. The classic story of unhollow ground that poisons the new occupants, but written oh so beautifully!
THE SUN, THE SEA, AND THE SILENT SCREAM
Faroupos and Graham Joyce vibes in this one! A small and remote greek island, two british tourists and whole lot of weird! I don’t wanna spoil it, especially for greeks it would be an amazing read, but the summer mood man… ah, great writing!
THE SECOND WISH
Cthulhu mythos meets the Monkey s paw! A golddigger and his wealthy cougar learn that sometimes mundaine is better than the ideal and you better be careful what you wish for cause you just might get it! Niiice.
A THING ABOUT CARS!
Weird and kinda f’ed up. I didn’t like the ending bt way better than Kings treatment of haunted cars…
RISING WITH SURTSEY
Evil omens of Cthulhu rising! The agony of a man watching his brother descent into madness (Julia, what a creepy name) is familiar ground and the whole unraveling waz immensely compeling! Slime, tentacles, monsters of enormous size made the end cinematic as hell!
BIG ‘C’
More on the scifi based horror, vibes with Psychomech a little in the beginning. Alien parasite that destroys a man, cliché but always nice. Also, could the big C be something else than the obvious?
THE FAIRGROUND HORROR
The story of two brothers and how the ey found their doom seeking Cthulhu. Meh… I really like the Titus reference tho…
BENEATH THE MOORS
To my excitement it wasn’t a s short story but a full novel! Straight from the beginning the hero has a very compelling mental condition that gets hooked off the bat. A professor and a mysterious figurine set on a chase for its dreadful origins and the search gets darker and more perplexed with every turn! The Lovecraftian atmosphere and mythos combined with the nightmarish dreamscapes (or ‘’phases’’) were just amazing, but what I liked the most was the many documentations of the tale, as though many people were involved (kinda difficult from the technical side of an author but it was kept under control and he didn’t overdo it).
March 2, 2021
February was short story month for me where I would read a bunch of short stories from random collections. However, the plan changed a bit after I picked up and started reading Beneath the Moors and darker places. Once I started reading Lumley's chilling and fantastic weird tales I decided to read the entire book. Most of the stories are Lumley's take on telling Lovecraftian tales of Cthulhu related stories. Men who get swept away in dangerous and mysterious worlds that drive them crazy or worse. The last story "Beneath the Moors" is nearly novel length and while bizarre, should have stuck with the short story format as it could have easily been edited down some. Overall, I quite liked this diversion and it's stories like these I find the most frightening. For the Conan fan in me there was even a mention of Cimmeria.
August 16, 2021
A pretty decent collection of largely Lovecraft-based horror, with a few fun or engaging completely original entries. Lumley's writing seems to suit period pieces, with even those stories set in the 1950s or later coming off as if the narrator were from a much earlier time period, while the voice of the more contemporary entries might lean a little towards hokey.
More specifically, I especially liked David's Worm and Dagon's Bell, and the titular "Beneath The Moors" was a good story, but probably a bit overly long, while The Fairground Horror was especially long as well as uninteresting.
More specifically, I especially liked David's Worm and Dagon's Bell, and the titular "Beneath The Moors" was a good story, but probably a bit overly long, while The Fairground Horror was especially long as well as uninteresting.
January 30, 2026
Oof, this was remarkably bad. It was in dire need of an editor (and not that geeky kid in your 7th grade study hall). I don't think I've ever seen so many exclamation points liberally applied throughout the body of a text; not the conversations of the characters, mind you, but rather the author's descriptions of various scenes (i.e., ''The room was dark!") If you need an exclamation point to tell your readers that something is exciting, perhaps you've failed at actually making it exciting.
YOU KNOW?!?!
How in the heck did I pick this book? Well, off to the Little Free Library you go.
YOU KNOW?!?!
How in the heck did I pick this book? Well, off to the Little Free Library you go.
Read
December 16, 2022LUMLEY!!!
July 1, 2024
Another wonderful collection from one of the undisputed masters of Lovecraftian fiction. A must-read for fans of the subgenre.
July 9, 2015
An interesting and mostly great collection of Cthulhu Mythos-inspired fiction. There's a lot of body horror here, which is good as I always find the most effective horrors are when someone's own substance turns against them. You can't run from the monster when it's you.
'David's Worm' is an effective short story and a good opener. The ending comes as no suprise, though.
'Dagon's Bell', a tale of the Deep Ones, is one of the strongest stories in the book, primarily because it has a very strong sense of place and a real sense of panic when down in the tunnels.
'The Sun, The Sea and the Silent Scream' is exquisite. You can feel the heat and smell the taint and it's exquisite.
'The Second Wish' is my favourite piece in the collection. Again, the ending is telegraphed way ahead of time, but it develops so satisfyingly it doesn't matter.
'A Thing About Cars!' is a different kind of horror tale, something to change the pace and the style at the mid point of the book. It works well.
'Rising With Surtsey' didn't do a lot for me. I found it just too familiar, too similar to 'The Call of Cthulhu'.
'Big 'C'' was perhaps the ultimate in body horror and a damn fine tale, horrible and fascinating.
'The Fairground Horror' just didn't gel with me. The idea was good, the writing style was fine, I just couldn't reconcile it at all with the Old Ones of Lovecraft's tales. Didn't work.
The titular novella, 'Beneath the Moors' was well written, but I didn't really rate it till quite near the end, as it trod familar themes a little too closely. The ending raised it up a bit, though, leaving me with a positive feeling about it instead of the 'meh' one I'd had up to the mid point.
Over all, a strong collection, with just a couple of lesser entries.
'David's Worm' is an effective short story and a good opener. The ending comes as no suprise, though.
'Dagon's Bell', a tale of the Deep Ones, is one of the strongest stories in the book, primarily because it has a very strong sense of place and a real sense of panic when down in the tunnels.
'The Sun, The Sea and the Silent Scream' is exquisite. You can feel the heat and smell the taint and it's exquisite.
'The Second Wish' is my favourite piece in the collection. Again, the ending is telegraphed way ahead of time, but it develops so satisfyingly it doesn't matter.
'A Thing About Cars!' is a different kind of horror tale, something to change the pace and the style at the mid point of the book. It works well.
'Rising With Surtsey' didn't do a lot for me. I found it just too familiar, too similar to 'The Call of Cthulhu'.
'Big 'C'' was perhaps the ultimate in body horror and a damn fine tale, horrible and fascinating.
'The Fairground Horror' just didn't gel with me. The idea was good, the writing style was fine, I just couldn't reconcile it at all with the Old Ones of Lovecraft's tales. Didn't work.
The titular novella, 'Beneath the Moors' was well written, but I didn't really rate it till quite near the end, as it trod familar themes a little too closely. The ending raised it up a bit, though, leaving me with a positive feeling about it instead of the 'meh' one I'd had up to the mid point.
Over all, a strong collection, with just a couple of lesser entries.
July 2, 2013
Appeal: mostly plot (what is happening and the imaginative descriptions of how things happen).
This is horror as in 'murder of teenagers' type horror (at least from the story I read 'The Fairground Horror' - this is more fantasy type horror, with a very wild, imaginative and paranormal dimension. Lumley also takes time to establish context and some character background before things get very horrific - you have to give the book time and you have to want to take in the story - it's not really a quick thrill.
Lumley has other short story collections including 'Fruiting Bodies and other Fungi'; 'The Whisperer and other Voices'.
This is horror as in 'murder of teenagers' type horror (at least from the story I read 'The Fairground Horror' - this is more fantasy type horror, with a very wild, imaginative and paranormal dimension. Lumley also takes time to establish context and some character background before things get very horrific - you have to give the book time and you have to want to take in the story - it's not really a quick thrill.
Lumley has other short story collections including 'Fruiting Bodies and other Fungi'; 'The Whisperer and other Voices'.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 26, 2010
I'm finishing this up right now. My first experience with Lumley has been very enjoyable. I'll be reading more very soon.
My favorite stories from this collection:
1.Big "C"
2.Beneath the Moors
3.David's Worm
For some of the stories, you may wish to catch up on your Cthulu Mythos as they are pretty thick with Lovecraft-spawned writing.
My favorite stories from this collection:
1.Big "C"
2.Beneath the Moors
3.David's Worm
For some of the stories, you may wish to catch up on your Cthulu Mythos as they are pretty thick with Lovecraft-spawned writing.
February 22, 2014
An enjoyable and classic collection of original and pastiche tales. Imaginative, dark, and filled with the adverb-laced descriptions of the master he so eloquently emulates. It was an interesting blend of the best lovecraftian tales and themes.
November 2, 2014
a great collection of lumley's short stories along with the main novella, which is a classic lovecraftian tale. the arkham version of the novella, although very collectible, only has the title novella, this has other short stories as well that are all pretty scary and weird.
September 24, 2008
So far, this is a great, lovecraftian set of short stories.
February 6, 2012
More great 'short' stories by a man influenced by Lovecraft.
August 15, 2014
Cthullu and others, driving people made.
All the stories are basically lovecraftian.
No Happy Endings.
All the stories are basically lovecraftian.
No Happy Endings.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews