The Mind Parasites

The Supernatural, Metaphysical Cult Thriller

By: Colin Wilson

Narrated by: Raphael Corkhill

Wilson has blended H. P. Lovecraft's dark vision with his own revolutionary philosophy and unique narrative powers to produce a stunning, high-tension story of vaulting imagination. A professor makes a horrifying discovery while excavating a sinister archaeological site. For over 200 years, mind parasites have been lurking in the deepest layers of human consciousness, feeding on human life force and steadily gaining a foothold on the planet. Now they threaten humanity's extinction. They can be fought with one weapon only: the mind, pushed to - and beyond - its limits. Pushed so far that humans can read each other's thoughts, that the moon can be shifted from its orbit by thought alone. Pushed so that man can at last join battle with the loathsome parasites on equal terms.

©1967 Colin Wilson (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

A great mind breaker

I'm a huge fan of the three books in this series The Mind Parasites, Space Vampires and my favorite The Philosophers Stone. All three have links to archaic style of horror story that grew from the fertile, disturbing mind of H.P. Lovecraft. We can thank Robert E Howard and August Derlith for this change to the author's normally academic normal fair.

Mr Wilson's take on this style brings a meeting of logic and science to these books. For me this places it a step above many other Cthulhu Mythos stories that were popular during this time period. It is this mix that really makes this enjoyable to me, making it easier to dispel my logical interpretation of the story.

The voice actor was a great choice for this story.

Really hope we see an audio version of The Philosophers Stone!

Still love it after all these years.

I first read this book when it first came out. This is my fourth reading of it and I still marvel at the story, the imagination, and (in my opinion) the truth and wisdom that permeates this book. Highly recommend reading and listening - at least once!

Remarkable story

The power of imagination and truth found in this story is mind blowing. Highly recommended.

Some interesting ideas, but poor over all

The headline has been said before. I repeated it because its true. Some interesting ideas aren't presented in a compelling way. The narration is very...adolescent (not in the good way) - self-centered and over-wraught. Mr. Corkhill, on the contrary is awesome.

Worth reading

Some interesting ide as especially about consciousness and the inner workings of the human mind. There were quite a few holes in the plot but the concept of a mind virus is spot on. Author made some amazing predictions as this was written in the 60’s

wow

this book will go on my list of life-changing books. real or not it just made my whole life make sense. I will be starting the challenge of reading all his books for myself.

Great story about self awareness performed badly

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator.

What did you like best about this story?

Deep philosophy integrated into a silly modern fantasy.

Would you be willing to try another one of Raphael Corkhill’s performances?

No. His performance completely misses the story. His beats and emotional exclamations are distracting, and give away that he is merely reading words dramatically not telling a story.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

It was made into a bad movie so there's still a chance to capture the philosophy and round up the story in a more honed way through a movie.

Any additional comments?

The narrator is horrible.

Will read & re-read for the rest of my life. Ignore bad reviews.

I was almost discouraged from purchasing this book based on the negative ratings about the narration & audio quality. At the time of the writing of this review it appears the sample audio reflects the previous audio quality. I proceeded with my purchase anyway, determined to power through for the sake of the content and I’m glad I did.

The quality of the sample is dramatically different from the book I listened to. So if you’re worried about the audio quality, you’re fine there.
Now, to the actual content in The Mind Parasites. I’m not much for fiction but honestly, this has been one of the most impactful books I’ve ever read my entire life. I would absolutely recommend this book as I found it paradigm shifting and mind expanding. I love when books make you feel a bit high after reading. It was so remarkably well written that sometimes it was easy to forget that this was a work of fiction. Definitely give it a listen!

An old fashioned view of women

Although I’m not a fan of Lovecraft fiction, it’s that connection that interested me in this story. The idea that “the old ones” prevent mankind from reaching its true potential is fascinating.

I’ve read 3 of Colin Wilson‘s novels - “The mind parasites“ at least three times and this was the second time I’ve listened to the audiobook. But Its been long time since I last revisited the story. For some reason I’ve soured to the novel. I can’t remember what I thought the first time I listened to the audiobook, but this time I found the narrator’s constant use of European accents a distraction. Some of them sounded comical. And at times I thought he sounded like he was pontificating.

Another thing that struck me was of Wilson’s depiction of female characters - there virtually aren’t any - except secretaries and a reference to a female professor who died early on. Whether this is Colin Wilson‘s personal opinion or not, women were often described as neurotic or sexually frustrated. A very antiquated view of women.