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The Necromancer

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I am in awe of Douglas Clegg. Each new story he produces seems to top the last in every possible way. Cemetery Dance now brings us this short novella, The Necromancer, which continues Clegg's Harrow mythology (which also includes the novels Nightmare House, The Infinite and Mischief). This new story gives us the back story on the early years of Justin Gravesend's life, the man who later build the Harrow House.

Clegg is a writer without fear. He can write amazing quiet horror (like The Hour Before Dark, one of the best horror novels published in the last decade), but he can also write stories that are more visceral and gruesome (such as in the stories White Chapel and The Rendering Man) . The Necromancer stands somewhere in the middle.

When Gravesend leaves his hometown and moves in with his uncle in the 1920s, he decides to make a new life for himself. He enters college (even though he is a poor country boy) and starts befriending the richer, upper class. During a travel to the big city of London, Justin is greeted with a life he didn't know existed. It is here that he will meet his master, his Necromancer, the man that will open his eyes to the dark world that has been his gift since birth.

Short, disturbing and very entertaining, The Necromancer is vintage Clegg. It is the kind of book you simply cannot put down, the kind of story that leaves you craving for more. After finishing The Necromancer, I just felt like running to my bookcase to find all the Harrow book and read them all over again. Clegg is really a master of the game; no one writes horror like he does.

The Necromancer is an intriguing piece of fiction, particularly for those who have already become enamored of Douglas Clegg's Harrow House and the incidents, magic, and madness that surround it. Too often authors give us an interesting family, or a memorable character, and when the last page of the book dribbles away, we are left with questions that will never be answered. Sometimes, that is enough, but in this case, readers will find themselves enthralled by the early life and lessons of young Justin Gravesend.
Justin was born in Wales to that father we all loathe, the brimstone preaching, fire-spitting moral ogre. Misunderstood, a disappointment to his parents, Gravesend leaves that dismal world behind and strikes out on his own. Without spoiling the adventure for the reader, suffice it to say that there are places for one such as Justin Gravesend in the world, and he manages to find them.
There is a richness to the prose in this book reminiscent of "The Confessions of an Opium Eater," penned so long ago. Side by side, they might have been written by contemporaries, and that is the magic of Clegg's prose in this volume. Justin Gravesend's world was the Europe of the mid 1800s, and it comes alive in the pages of The Necromancer. There is none of the clumsiness of many modern authors trying to step back in time. There is no pretentious attempt to mimic the voice, or the feel of the time; you are simply there.
Add to this Alistair Crowleyeque indoctrination into ritual sex magic, some interesting brothels and foppish society friends, and you have the elements behind The Necromancer, and the key to The Necromancer himself, who Justin meets, at last, and who sets him on the path to his future.
This book is a new beginning in an old story. There is the hint of much to come, and the desire to see and experience it. Comparisons could be made to Peter Straub's Shadowlands and Clive Barker's Great and Secret Show, but they would do the injustice of suggesting that the world of Harrow House, Justin Gravesend, and The Necromancer are anything but original.
In short, while it stands alone well enough, it is obviously a piece in a larger pattern. This is the failing of many novellas, and may irritate some readers, in this case, as the ending is more of a prequel to a beginning - the story of Justin Gravesend later in life. I believe that those who take the time to get it and read it will discover themselves wanting more - sadly, that more is not yet upon us. Part of that is due to the fact it is a novella, of course. You only get 134 pages in this book, and that is always a consideration, but in this case, I think it's an expense well worth it. When all is said and done, you won't want part of the picture, but the whole picture, and as the Harrow House story unfolds to its completion, the tale of Justin Gravesend, the houses creator, is an indispensable installment.

Justin Gravesend was born in Cwthshire, Wales in the middle of the nineteenth century to a grim mother and a fiery devout father, who firmly believed in using the rod. Unhappy at home and also feeling like something is missing from his soul, Justin turns to keeping a journal. As he grows up in hell under the abuse of his strict father Justin learns why he feels like a demi-person; his twin died during a plague. Fixated on his sibling, Justin digs up the grave to find his brother did not die from disease, but from a bullet in his head. When his father confronts him for breaking the commandments especially having sex, he clammy refutes their piousness with his knowledge of the homicide.

Now understanding the value of knowledge and information, Justin leaves the coal mines and his fundamentalist parents to make his fortune and find a place where he belongs in the world especially when his uncle sends him to University where he meets the Necromancer in a brothel. Justin Gravesend has found his mentor into the realm of Chymera Magick and his path that will lead to Harrow House.

This is a terrific prequel to the Harrow House novels as readers obtain an intriguing look at Gravesend through his late nineteenth century journal and a scholarly introduction to Necromancy by Rutherford University Professor Wandigaux. Together these segments give this strong "coming of age" horror tale a deep Victorian Era feel. Fans of the series will treasure this brilliant work while newcomers will go chasing after the rest of the series because this clever creative tale is not enough; fans will want the rest of the story.

Harriet Klausner