Much to my surprise, Freudstein are mentioned in Hugo award-winning occult comedy fantasy writer, Charles Stross’s novel, The Annihilation Score. Written in a similar vein to Robert Rankin cross-pollinated with H.P. Lovecraft, the story follows Laundry Files secret services agent Dr Mo O’Brien in her pursuit of a nefarious villain named Freudstein, who plots to threaten the realm.
Turn to page 75 to read the following excerpt :
““Of course I’m not totally naive, so I google Freudstein before I even think about going downstairs and seeing if my room tarriff includes breakfast. First hit: an EBM/techno band from Brighton. Second hit: the villain in an obscure Italian cult horror movie from 1981. Somehow neither of these seem like promising candidates for the sort of lunatic who’d break into the Bank Of England.””
Just to be clear, we didn’t break into the Bank Of England, whatever they say.
Is Charles Stross is a fan of our music? Perhaps. Or maybe, like the protagonist in his novel, he just stumbled across us on Google. Either way, he’s undoubtedly a fan of House By The Cemetery, and it’s truly an honour to be mentioned in his excellent novel.
And if you’ve never read any of his work before, then you really do owe it to yourself to read Charles Stross’s fun Laundry Files series in Lockdown, starting with The Atrocity Archives published by Orbit books.
You can purchase his novels from your local independent UK book shop online here:
Alternatively, you can follow Charles Stross’s Blog here: