''The Mind Parasites'' is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

horror novel Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J. ...

by English author

Colin Wilson Colin Henry Wilson (26 June 1931 – 5 December 2013) was an English writer, philosopher and novelist. He also wrote widely on true crime, mysticism and the paranormal, eventually writing more than a hundred books. Wilson called his phil ...

. It was published by

Arkham House Arkham House is an American publishing house specializing in weird fiction. It was founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish hardcover collections of H. P. Lovecraft's best works, which had ...

in 1967 in an edition of 3,045 copies. It was Wilson's first and only book published by Arkham House. The book is based on H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.

Publication history

In his introduction to ''The Philosopher's Stone'' (1969), Wilson explained how he wrote ''The Mind Parasites'' at the urging of

August Derleth August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, and for his own contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and th ...

. Wilson had earlier written an essay explaining his admiration for Lovecraft as a thinker or conceptualist, while also expressing a dislike for Lovecraft's prose as ungainly and ponderous. Derleth replied to Wilson, offering a friendly challenge to write a narrative exploring Lovecraft's themes. Wilson took up the challenge, and Derleth published the first American edition of ''The Philosopher's Stone''. The novel was published earlier in 1967 by Arthur Barker (London), but with a different introduction. It was then reprinted by Oneiric Press (Berkeley,CA) from 1972 to 1975, initially by Michael Besher (aka Misha PanZobop; Paris, France) and Chellis Glendinning; then by Besher and his brother Alexander Besher. In 1994, the first Russian translation of the book was published by a Ukrainian publishing house Sofia, with 20,000 copies printed.

Plot summary

The story is about Professor Gilbert Austin's conflict with the

Tsathoggua Tsathoggua (the ''Sleeper of N'kai'', also known as Zhothaqquah) is a supernatural entity in the Cthulhu Mythos shared fictional universe. He is the creation of American writer Clark Ashton Smith and is part of his Hyperborean cycle. Tsathoggua/Z ...

ns, invisible mind parasites that menace the most brilliant people on earth.

Critical reception

Reviewing ''The Mind Parasites'' for ''

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher ...

'',

Joanna Russ Joanna Russ (February 22, 1937 – April 29, 2011) was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as ''How to Suppress Women's Writing'', as w ...

gave the book a negative assessment. Russ stated "the Outsider's latest is not in the Lovecraft tradition but in the '' Boy's Life'' Gee Whiz tradition, and ought to be called "

Tom Swift Tom Swift is the main character of six series of American juvenile science fiction and adventure novels that emphasize science, invention, and technology. First published in 1910, the series totals more than 100 volumes. The character was ...

and the Tsathogguans."" Russ said the book would disappoint Lovecraft enthusiasts, and called it "one of the worst books I have ever read and very enjoyable, but then I did not have to pay for it."

David Pringle David Pringle (born 1 March 1950) is a Scottish science fiction editor and critic. Pringle served as the editor of '' Foundation'', an academic journal, from 1980 to 1986, during which time he became one of the prime movers of the collective whi ...

rated ''The Mind Parasites'' with one star out of four. Pringle described the novel as a "stilted version" of the traditional science fiction plot of humanity being controlled by invisible entities, and said ''The Mind Parasites'' "doesn't live up to the author's reputation gained in other fields."

Reprints

*New York: Bantam, 1968. *St. Albans, UK: Panther, 1969. *Berkeley, CA: Oneiric Press, 1972–1975.The Mind Parasites, Oneiric Press, 1972 First Edition. *Moscow: Raduga Publishers, 1986.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mind Parasites, The 1967 British novels Cthulhu Mythos novels 1967 science fiction novels Novels by Colin Wilson British philosophical novels Novels about telepathy Arthur Barker Limited books