The Second Wish and Other Exhalations

Brian Lumley, 1937-2024, was an English horror fiction writer.

Born in County Durham, he joined the British Army's Royal Military Police and wrote stories in his spare time before retiring with the rank of Warrant Officer Class 1 in 1980 and becoming a professional writer.

He added to H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos cycle of stories, including several tales featuring the character Titus Crow. Others pastiched Lovecrafts's Dream Cycle and featured the characters David Hero and Eldin the Wanderer. Lumley once explained the difference between his Cthulhu Mythos characters and Lovecraft's: "My guys fight back. Also, they like to have a laugh along the way."