The Burrowers Beneath

by Brian Lumley

Book Overview

Based on the Cthulhu mythos of H.P.Lovecraft. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879970960
• ISBN13: 9780879970963
• Release Date: February 1974
• Publisher: Daw Books
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Lied about the edition.

This seller listed the wrong edition for the item they sent me. I don't know if this is intentional or a mistake but I've never had this issue with Abebooks or other services. This may seem minor but it matters to some folks so buyer beware.

Lumley Takes Up the Call of Lovecraft

Brian Lumely has successfully carried on the tradition of Lovecraft, Derleth, Bloch, Smith, Howard, and the rest of the original Cthulhu mythos writers. Though some may scorn Lumley for straying outside the lines of the Lovecraft Mythos, I praise him for his acheivments. Instead of just building on what Lovecraft started Lumley takes the Mythos and adds to it and takes it in a new direction. Lumley expounds on his classic hero Titus Crow and molds a somewhat Mythos of his own in these books. Like those before him who took liberties and created dieties in the Mythos (Chaugnar Faugn was created by Frank Belknap Long and Tsathoggua was created by Clark Ashton Smith) Lumley creates Shudde M'ell in THE BURROWERS BENEATH and takes what Lovecraft started to a new level. With these books Lumley cements his place as one of Lovecraft's hier's and the leader of today's Mythos writers. Anyone who likes Lovecraft will see that these books take the reader into the life of one of literature's greatest occult heroes, Titus Crow.

Not Lovecraft, But Still Good!

Although Brian Lumley does not have the same writing style as H.P. Lovecraft, and his work tends to be more heroic (and more optimistic) in the way it deals with the horrors of the Great Old Ones, this is still excellent and enjoyable material! If you read Cthulhu Mythos stories, you'll probably enjoy this. If you play any sort of role-playing at all based on the Mythos, you'll like it even more, especially if you fancy that humans can indeed manage to prevail over the ancient horrors originally developed by Lovecraft!

A valuable expansion to the mythos

Oh, this was nice. This was *very* nice. One *ought* to be a Lovecraft fan before reading this happy work, but--as I am an example--it isn't a requirement for enjoying the heck out of it. I have read some small amount of Lovecraft, but my interest in the mythos stems primarily from a vast fascination with squid and other squamous beings.Then was lent this book by a friend, on the premise that it might do well toward broadening my appreciation of the Cthulhoid. It was immediately engrossing, written in the grand old vocabulary-expanding style. Readers of H.P. will find that the tone rings perfectly true, complete with the lapses into rhapsodic description (of, say, a prehistoric pear's flavor). Titus does, in classic form, lapse at intervals into raving insensibility. Oddly comforting, that. While The Burrowers Beneath deals with Cthulhu himself, and his creatures, and is gloriously well-written, I shall direct most of my comments toward The Transition of Titus Crow. The Burrowers Beneath is a fine Cthulhu yarn, but I found 'Transition' to be a more fascinating read. The world, and the metaphysical realms it resides in, are still undoubtedly Lovecraftian. The territory explored, however, is utterly new and it s a joy to see how well and freshly the science-fiction-flavored material can be treated with the old master's pen.

A fantastic tale. A new level of literary imagination

I have few words to adequately desribe this book. One reason is that it was a few years ago I picked this one up. The other is that one really has to read it to believe how immersive it can be. It builds slowly at first, but once Titus' adventure kicks into high gear, the flow from page to page is liquid. A spellbinding book, so much so that I felt the urge to say good things about this book that I still remember fondly. Somewhat comparable to the atmosphere of King's Gunslinger books, but more lighthearted and touching more on boundless fancy and imagination. Pick this up, you won't regret it.

A Lovecraftian voyage into Terror and Madness.

From the moment I glanced at the horrific artwork on the dust jacket, until the turning of the last, fear drenched page, Brian Lumley had me firmly in the grasp of his skilled fiction.I'm a fanatical reader of H.P. Lovecraft, and thus, find it hard to criticize the Hemingway of Horror, but, in this case, someone has done Lovecraft better than Lovecraft. includes all of the wonders one comes to expect from the Cthulhu Mythos, such as Lurkers at the Threshold, Burrowers Beneath, Nuclear Chaos, Telepathy, and Elder Gods. However, Lumley has added his own, quite astute, interpretations of the Necronomicon. While Lovecraft's style is quite suited to the short story, his novel-length works tend to grate on the reader. Lumley has joined his style with Lovecraft, in order to make this first volume flow from page to page. The point of view from which the tale is told varies from section to section, serving to heighten the suspense by controlling the omniscience of the reader. At the same time, Lumley's skill avoids making a cliche out of "The Scholarly Review" and "The Unfolding Memory" methods he uses to tell the story. Lumley succeeds in doing what lesser writers have often attempted: Expanding upon Lovecraft's elegant worlds, without damaging their delicate balance of terror and reality. I would recommend this book to any follower of horror, and especially, lovers of the works of Lovecraft. Lumley has my highest praise for his excellent work, and I look forward to reading the future volumes in the series. Good luck, Titus Crow...