The Taint and Other Novellas

Best Mythos Tales

By: Brian Lumley

Narrated by: Joshua Saxon

Prior to the first American publication of Brian Lumley's ground-breaking, dead-waking, best-selling Necroscope in 1988 - the first novel in a long-lived, much-loved series - this British author had for 20 years been earning himself something of a reputation writing short stories, novellas, and a series of novels set against H. P. Lovecraft's cosmic Cthulhu Mythos backdrop. A soldier in 1967, serving in Berlin with the Royal Military Police, Lumley jump-started his literary career by writing to August Derleth, the then-dean of macabre publishers at his home in Sauk City, Wisconsin, telling of his fascination with the Mythos, and purchasing books by the Old Gentleman of Providence, RI. In addition, he sent a page or two of written work allegedly culled from the various forbidden or black books of the Mythos. Suitably impressed, the master of Arkham House invited Lumley to write something solid in the Mythos as a possible contribution to a new volume he was currently contemplating, to be titled - what else but? - Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos. And as might well be imagined, that set everything in motion. Forty years have passed since then and a good many words of Mythos fiction written, including critically acclaimed and award-nominated work, stories that have appeared in prestigious magazines such as Fantasy & Science Fiction, and hardcover volumes from publishers all over the world from the USA to China and the United Kingdom to Russia. But while Lumley's novels are all currently available, many of them in hardcover format, his Mythos short stories and novellas have until now remained uncollected. Here in this volume are found the novellas; the future companion volume will contain the short stories. And thus the very best of Brian Lumley's works in this sub-genre, including such recent tales as "The Hymn" and "The Taint", are collected and presented for the first time in audio format...

©2007 Brian Lumley (P)2019 David N. Wilson

Joshua Saxon voice talent is simply MADE for B.L.

Joshua Saxon voice talent is simply MADE for Mr. Lumley's work. Rarely do i enjoy the "voice" of the preformee as much as i do the stories themselves.
BRAVO.

Solid Additions to the Mythos

There isn't a whole lot of new ground here, but there are some new critters. The storyline is the usual unsuspecting or deliberate intent to make contact with nasties from outside our world has bad consequences that may or may not entail the release of said nasties in our world.
Brian Lumeley is a good writer and even though some of these stories are older, they are well delivered and fit into both the Lovecraft style and world with no conflicts.
Joshua Saxon delivers the stories with style and adds a lot to the contents interest.
I was given this free audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Creepy Green Light

What a treat! I requested this audio book but i was in no way prepared for this much fun. I really enjoyed this collection of cosmic doom. Each story tackles a different mythos from H.P. Lovecraft's making. The writing is so good. The stories are great and fun. If your a fan of HPL, you definitely should pick this one up.
Joshua Saxton read this. He did really great. His voice sounds so smart and scholarly. I felt he added sophistication to the production.

As i said earlier, i requested this audio book and voluntary left this review.

The Taint etc

I read this quite awhile ago.I enjoyed the stories and really enjoyed narration by Joshua Saxon.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.' 

Loved!

This is the third book by Brian Lumley that I've listened to, and they have all been super great! I remember in the past attempting to read an H.P. Lovecraft story (don't remember which one) but, needless to say, I had a hard time focusing, like it just didn't call to me, which means that I didn't finish it. So while these were Lovecraft-ish, I had no problem here.

Of course, Joshua Saxton, my #1 fav narrator, did an amazing job. I did realize with this batch of stories that his female voices weren't really "female," like he kind of stuck with his regular voice. I know he's read for female characters in previous books, but I don't remember what he did for them. Either way, that did not deter me.

Anyways, I love when authors provide the readers an explanation of how they came up with their short stories, or something along that line; I always find that an interesting bonus.
I think my favorite story was "Lord of the Worms."


I received a free audiobook copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved everything about this book

I'm a huge fan of Lumley's Necroscope series so when I saw this I just had to check it out. It was pristine. Each story comes with a short preface from the author about his views on the story. It adds a nice personal touch. My two favorites were The Taint and Lord of the Worms. I love the classic Lovecraftian feel that you get from this volume.
To add to all of that the narration is superb.
"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

A well-narrated collection of Lumley's Mythos work

Short story collections are almost always difficult to review, especially ones such as this which draw from across a wide portion of the author's career.

The collection contains Lumley stories firmly set within the Cthulhu Mythos. While I feel this is something of a constraint on his potential, those more enthused by the stories being part of that shared universe should mentally add 0.5-1 extra stars onto my rating of the stories overall. It's a real mix, everything from somewhat weak but competently written, to something very good indeed such as the headline story, 'The Taint'. Given this range, I'd assign the collection overall a 3.5, perhaps a 4 if one doesn't mind the weakest story.

Mr. Saxon's narration is, as I've come to expect from him, genuinely excellent and a great fit for the genre and content. Weak narration can render a great book unlistenable, and narration as good as this easily justifies one bonus star at the very least. Taking that and the stories themselves into account, I feel that 4.5 is a fair score for this audiobook, bumped up to a full 5 if one is eager for Mythos stories specifically.

This audiobook was provided to me for free at my request in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Stories worthy of the cosmic horror category

There are 2 stories
that are worth the price of the book. The rest is just icing on the cake. Saxon is a perfect teller of these type tales.

Great Author, Amazing Narrator, Creepy Mythos!

The Taint and Other Novellas: Best Mythos Tales
by
Brian Lumley

I must confess I used to turn my nose up at Brian Lumley books.
Two reasons.
1.) First, I was, and am, an insufferable zealot about my love for the H.P. Lovecraft.
Poe creaked open the great door of horror literature for me at 9 or 10 years old. I remember being in shock that a book could cause you to be afraid, really afraid. Then, Lovecraft kicked the damn thing off it’s hinges, blew out the feeble candle in my 15 year old brain, and I fell into the darkness forever.
2.) Embarrassingly, I used to confuse Brian Lumley with August Durleth - and his mediocre attempts to write like the great American author who changed horror literature forever. Yeah, I never claimed to be smart, just a zealot .
Once it dawned on me that man who penned the epic Necroscope series was not the same guy as August…well then I noticed Lumley’s terrific writing.
This is a delicious book of collected mythos stories.
Brian Lumley even annotates his tales with some info about what he was doing and what was happening in his life when he wrote each - I just love well annotated stories. ( thank you Joshi)
Great collection of mythos tales by a good author.

Plus, one more thing. And it’s a really big thing. Joshua Saxon. You get to listen to one of the very best narrator, ever. Especially for something as gothic as ‘Mythos tales’. Joshua Saxon is a national treasure of those who listen to horror audio books.

So. Let’s review:
1.) Good solid and often great author Brian Lumley’s best Mythos tales.
2.) Maybe the Best Mythos Narrator.

Got it?
Get it!

Just wow.

I've read a bit of Lumley's work, even seen one of these short stories before in a Titus Crowe compilation but as good as those were and as good as the other novellas here are nothing was quite so good as The Taint for me. It is however one of those stories that are better read than discussed. If you're on the fence pick this up, you won't be dissapointed.