Note: photos of illustrations from some of these books are available on my Facebook Page.
COMPLEAT KHASH I & II: BRIAN LUMLEY
The "Khash" books take place in Theem'hdra, the Primal Continent, which existed hundreds of millions of years ago on Earth. Here, Nature was still experimenting, and you will find monsters and demons, warriors and wizards, and others like Cthulhu who even then waited, dreaming...
Tarra Khash, a man of the Steppes, is an adventurer in the ancient world of Theem'hdra ... something like Conan the Barbarian, but not quite so superhuman.
Volume I consists of a set of novelettes about Tarra Khash, man of the steppes. The titles are: Treasure of the Scarlet Scorpion, Isles of the Suhm-Yi, Told in the Desert, Curse of the Golden Guardians, Kiss of the Lamia, In the Temple of Terror. British artist JIM PITTS did about 16 interior B&W illustrtions (some small, some full-page) for this edition... not to mention the wonderful jacket.
Volume II is a novel about Tarra Khash. Yibb-Tstll, eater of souls (one of the Cthulhu Mythos "Great Old Ones"), is ready to open the gates to Earth... with the aid of his immortal servant, Yoppaloth, who has used his arena of death to feed souls to Yibb-Tstll for a thousand years. Tarra Khash can prevent this by killing Yoppaloth in the arena. Only... if he does, he himself will become the immortal servant of Yibb-Tstll, doomed to open that gate himself. Features dust jacket and about a dozen interiors (mostly full page) by JIM PITTS.
Volume I is the first edition, a hard cover book, with 1300 published copies, of which 300 were numbered, signed on bookplates, and slipcased (but the slipcased edition is out of print).
Volume II is the first American edition (only printing), first hardcover edition, published in October, 1994 by W. Paul Ganley: Publisher. ISBN 0932445535. 1300 copies were printed and 300 were numbered, signed on bookplates, and slipcased: both this "deluxe edition" and the regular hard cover edition are still available.
HERO OF DREAMS, SHIP OF DREAMS, MAD MOON OF DREAMS, and ICED ON ARAN: BRIAN LUMLEY
David Hero is an Edinburgh artist who has odd snatches of memory that seem to come from another world — the world of dreams. But DREAMLAND is real, located in a parallel dimension of the multiverse, created by the dreams of mankind... and by the dreams of others, including Cthulhu. When Hero first met his friend Eldin the Wanderer in Dreamland, and then encountered him again in Edinburgh, there was a crisis... and both ended up in Dreamland together as adventurers, with only vague memories of the waking world.
Dreamland was invented by H P Lovecraft, and most extensively utilized in his short novel, "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath," which is as close as HPL could get to a sword-and-sorcery story (his hero, Carter, did carry a sword at one point but it didn't do him much good). When I looked back at HPL's story after reading Lumley's, I was vastly impressed by Lumley's detailed knowledge of the "Dream-Quest!" Lumley's "dreams" novels are swords-and-sorcery stories too, with some nasty horrors encountered on the way. But whereas HPL wrote in the style of the 19th century (which he naturally inbibed as a child from reading the old books in his grandfather's library), Lumley is a modern storyteller.
Let me repeat my comment on these Dreams novels... These novels are not intended to be taken too seriously (which does NOT mean that there are no moments of sheer horror through these novels). Elsewhere, Brian Lumley tells us that what he had in mind while writing them was Bing Crosby and Bob Hope in their old "Road" movies. So just enjoy them as they are! (And anyway, how serious was H P Lovecraft when he took Randolph Carter back from Dreamland's moon in a "great leap of cats.")
In HERO OF DREAMS we meet night-gaunts, Thinistor Udd and Yibb-Tstll, the Great Tree, the Eidolon Lathi and her noxious hive, Thalarion, the First Ones who settled in Theem'hdra, and the Mad First One who worshipped Cthulhu and sought to release him from his age-old imprisonment in R'lyeh. Front and back jacket and a dozen or more interior full page illustrations by JEAN CORBIN.
In SHIP OF DREAMS we meet night-gaunts again (including a human gaunt-master), King Kuranes, Zura the zombie queen, and have lots of fun with flying armadas from the sky-city of Serannian.
Wraparound jacket and over a dozen full page interior illustrations by ALLEN KOSZOWSKI.
In MAD MOON OF DREAMS, the whole world is turned about: former enemies become allies against two Great Old Ones, Mnomquah (in his moon prison) and Oorn (on Dreamland's earth). Baleful yellow beams strike earth and suck up people and animals to be used as fodder in an evil plot to destroy the Dreamlands (and with them, the Waking World). ... And Hero and Eldin suffer a curious fate there on the moon... Wraparound jacket and over a dozen full page interior illustrations by DAVE CARSON.
In ICED ON ARAN we find several stories about Hero and Eldin, sometimes funny, sometimes exquisitely terrifying. Besides the title story, we have Augeren, A Day in the Life..., A-Mazed in Oriab, and Tale’s Tale. Jacket, chapter headings and several full page illustrations by STEPHEN E. FABIAN.
Two other Hero/Eldin novelettes were not included in this book (The Weird Wines of Naxas Niss and Stealer of Dreams) because they were written later: they appeared in print for the first time ever in WEIRDBOOK numbers 26 & 27, however — issues which are still in print.
GHOUL WARNING AND OTHER OMENS... AND OTHER OMENS — BRIAN LUMLEY Most of this material was originally published in England by Jon Harvey's Spectre Press. Since it was long out of print, and almost unobtainable, we decided to reprint it in the US, with some added material (which explains the additional "and Other Omens" at the end of the title). Most of it is verse, although there are three short stories (very short: 50 words each). And Lumley's poetry mostly definitely is weird, indicated by such titles as Da Vinci's Ghost, Last of the Lizards, and the title poem, Ghoul Warning. This was published by two small presses working together: W. Paul Ganley: Publisher and Necronomicon Press. The artwork includes 11 interior black and white full page illustrations by Donald W. Schank... who was really the moving force behind getting this reprinted in the US,, as you will see if you read the amusing preface. This print run was 800 copies. (There was a hard cover edition, but that has been out of print for a long time.) THE TRANSITION OF TITUS CROW — BRIAN LUMLEY At the conclusion of The Burrowers Beneath, Titus Crow and Henri de Marigny, together with the mysterious “Time-Clock,” vanished when Ithaqua’s violent winds destroyed Crow’s home. Ten years later, de Marigny is rescued from the sea — bones broken but no older than when he had disappeared. And Crow? Lost in time and space, desperately trying to find his way home, Crow and his Time-Clock must first evade the vengeance of Cthulhu and Ithaqua. Crow has traveled to both ends of earthly time. He has been attacked by the Hounds of Tindalos, and herded toward a black hole from which even the Hounds cannot escape. And he has suffered a curious transition at the appendages of a strange robot scientist. In his dreams, or visions, he has seen the wondrous goddess-woman, Tiania... a dweller in Elysia, home of the Elder Gods. But even she cannot help him if he enters that strange artificial universe where eldritch Yog-Sothoth has been imprisoned for aeons. Jacket and nearly a dozen full page illustrations by JUDITH HOLMAN. CLOCK OF DREAMS — BRIAN LUMLEY In Elysia, home of the Elder Gods, Crow and Tiania are now married — and safe. Oops. No they are not. They have left their bodies behind and have gone adventuring in Dreamland... and cannot be awakened! The Elder God Kthanid sees doom for them, in a probable future. Can de Marigny, just learning to operate the Time-Clock, rescue them! What doom does Kthanid see for him!?! Wraparound cover and 9 or 10 full page illustrations by DAVE CARSON. SPAWN OF THE WINDS — BRIAN LUMLEY Titus Crow was not the only human with special talents. Hank Silberhutte could tune in to the Cthulhu Cycle Deities telepathically... though he could only communicate with one specific human this way. And he and a special hatred for the Wind Walker: Ithaqua. When the hunter becomes the hunted, however, he finds himself transmitted to a far flung world where Ithaqua had been imprisoned, but was no longer limited to that world but was free to “walk” the winds of space. And Hank found himself drawn to the beautiful and powerful Armandra, daughter of Ithaqua by a human woman. Or was Armandra human in appearance only? A horror novel, yes, but also a novel of adventure, as a small band of humans try to survive against the might of Ithaqua and his human worshippers. Jacket and 6 or 8 full page interior illustrations by the incomparable LINDA MICHAELS. IN THE MOONS OF BOREA — BRIAN LUMLEY Henri de Marigny is still trying to learn to control the Time-Clock — that play toy of the Elder Gods, which serves as a kind of intelligent space craft and time machine. And where does he end up, by accident? — you guessed it: on the moon Borea, where Hank Silberhutte is marooned. When the time-clock is stolen, they must find it, somewhere among the Borean moons. And what of Armandra, child of Ithaqua and wife of Hank Silberhutte... who fears that he will leave her behind when the time clock has been found? Jacket and about 18 illustrations by JIM PIANFETTI. ELYSIA: THE COMING OF CTHULHU — BRIAN LUMLEY This novel concludes the “Titus Crow” series, and includes as characters a number of others from different books, such as the Khash books. The star are right and CTHULHU and his cohorts are free to ravage the earth... but first they seek to destroy the Elder Gods and their abode on Elysia! ANd the Elder Gods have gradually become old... forgetful.... and they don’t quite remember how they came to imprison those eldritch beings originally so long ago... Can de Marigny aid them? He is still in the Time Clock, still trying to find Elysia (indeed, he has become known as The Searcher). Among other characters, you will again meet Zura the Zombie Queen, the Eidolon Lathi, the magician Exior K’Mool of ancient Theem’hdra, the Hounds of Tindalos, and Nyarlathotep... and you will watch Titus Crow as he confronts none other than Great Cthulhu Himself. Cover and nearly a dozen full page interiors by STEPHEN A. FABIAN (a pretty good reason to own the book right there!!!!!).