The Nonesuch and Others

by Brian Lumley

Normally, when readers seen Brian Lumley's byline on a book--especially one with the amazing jacket art of Bob Eggleton--the names of several colourful fictional characters spring to mind: heroes such as Harry Keogh, the eponymous Necroscope, or perhaps the occult investigator Titus Crow. While these may be the author's best-known heroes; however, they are only two of a large handful, which is why it may come as something of a surprise this time around to discover that the so-called hero of this current trilogy of tales...isn t!

No, for this lesser-known character isn't so much a typical Lumley hero as an innocent bystander who all too often seems to be standing by in the wrong place at the wrong time--a man in collision with various weird horrors who can never state definitely that the things he experiences are real. After all, someone who sees a few too many pink elephants may question almost anything he experiences, right?

So here he is--the neither hero nor anti-hero narrator of these stories--though in The Nonesuch he s at least seen to be brave if not actually heroic. However, when you've done reading this small trilogy, you might like to ask yourself this: pitted against horrors like those in these stories, just how much of a hero would you be?

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Audiobook, Fiction

86 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2009

About the author

Brian 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.

Reviews

[Γιώργος Μπελαούρης · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Thin People
OH MY GOD!!!!! I read this one so long ago and subconsciously waz always with me!!!! Reading it again I felt at home and I smiled with every page!!! Without being fully aware I wrote a homage of it even!!!! Yup, that iz why he is one of my faves!!!

Stilts
Cyprus again and a weird insect, England and a fair, a circus and its freaks, a childhood memory with another bug and a creepy clown on stilts. Are they stilts tho?

The Nonesuch
From Barrows Hill to Newcastle to Exeter. But the evil still follows!

An enjoyable ‘’trilogy’’ of a very unlucky man!

[Sylri · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of this set of stories, that a normal guy just happens to always be at the wrong place at the wrong time, was what drew me in. That and I had really liked Brian Lumley back in high school and this seemed like a nice way to get back into his stuff.
It was a fun little set of stories, with my favorite being the first, but all of them were good. This won't be anything mind blowing, but it's a fast enjoyable read.

[Lostaccount · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. The first story in this trilogy was the best, but that's not saying much, because even the first one ("Thin People") is a short story with a pretty thin plot, pun intended, and the other two that follow are sequels of sorts but both feel bloated and puffed out with awkward description simply to make the stories longer. The kind of stuff you might find in a second-rate horror mag and soon forgotten.

[Martin Zorde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was I entertained? Yes. Was I confused? Also yes. I did like how the main character remained nameless as the preface points out. Felt like the author got high or drunk while watching a nature documentary and wrote a short story based on animals they saw. I'd revisit the author as the descriptive style was enchanting. 3.4/5

[Myles · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic trio of short stories featuring an unlucky, unnamed protagonist who just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Features one of my favorite Lumley short stories: The Thin People

[Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Lumley, but this little triology was not a entertaining as the usual fare

[Orrin Grey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brian Lumley was a big early influence on me, and I still enjoy a lot of his short stories, and I think I've read most of them. This one starts off with one of his best: "The Thin People" and adds a couple of connected stories, including the all-new title novella. While the other two tales aren't quite as good as "The Thin People"--in part because they feel the need to recap the previous tales--they're all similar accounts of odd things blending into a mundane world, shades of Donald Wollheim's "Mimic." They're wonderfully quaint tales, for the most part, with suitably uncanny creatures, and the whole little hardcover--which matches the rest of Sub Press' Lumley offerings--delivers a pleasant diversion on an autumn night.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

A series of 3 connected short stories, only one of which was worth reading. The writing wasn't horrible. The pacing wasn't terrible. The anti-hero wasn't the worst I've ever seen. And if that had been the extent of what was wrong with it, I would have considered the book a benign waste of an hour, up there with watching something dumb on TV. Sure it wasn't good, but at least it was short.

But the premise? The very idea behind all the horror? Quite possibly the stupidest idea for a series of horror stories I've ever read.

I hear Lumley's Necroscope series is more engaging. It would have to be.

[Samantha Françoise Dark Regions Press Proofreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this literary piece and had the pleasure of working on it with Crossroads Press. A must read!