Unlike necromancers, who here extract the knowledge they seek by brutal eviscerations of corpses, a necroscope can communicate with them as equals: peacefully and without any physical interference.
As the years go by, he has recurring dreams about his mother, dead after an apparent ice-skating accident but in reality murdered by her husband – Harry's stepfather Victor Shukshin.
In his self-appointed mission to avenge his mother's death, Harry is dragged into a web of espionage involving British and Soviet ESP agencies.
It is on Sunside/Starside that Harry Keogh's final death eventually meets up with him, after he has lost his family, his friends, even his deadspeak and numeracy, but not his humanity.
Later books in the series tell the stories of individuals touched by these darts: Nathan Kiklu, Jake Cutter and Scott St. John.
The darts seek to continue their mission in life, and so bond to individuals who will come up against the Necroscope's old foes, the Wamphyri, and menaces of diabolic nature.
Not only can Harry speak to the dead (thus earning him their eternal admiration, almost amounting to worship), but he can also form a bond with them which allows them a degree of control over him when he permits.
For example, when faced with a dangerous situation, Harry hands his mind over to the control of a former gym teacher who was an army sergeant, and learns martial arts skills.
Choosing to flee from Earth after an attack by the vampire Yulian Bodescu, the baby Harry Jr., showing even greater mastery over the Möbius continuum than his father, transports himself and his mother to the parallel universe of Starside/Sunside and also back in time by twenty years.
Living on Starside with his mother, Harry Jr. is vampirised by an 'infected' wolf and becomes Wamphyri and is named 'The Dweller in His Garden in the West' by the world's fearful inhabitants.
The Dweller forms an alliance with the Szgany Lidesci (the planet's gypsy-like humans) but becomes infamous among the Wamphyri of Starside because of his mysterious powers.
Severely injured during the battle, his vampire leech re-shapes his damaged body into that of a more simple entity, a wolf, to save both their lives.
Born in the vampire world of Sunside/Starside with his twin brother Nestor, Nathan is at first the quietest and most withdrawn of the two and is thought of as dumb by some of the Szgany tribe due to his lack of confidence, his stutter and unwillingness to speak, only talking to those closest to him.
Becoming strong and confident, losing his stutter, and learning to use his long dormant telepathy while on his travels, he eventually returns to his Szgany clan before being taken by the Wamphyri and is thrown through a gate to Earth.
The main antagonists of the series, the Wamphyri Lords (pronounced "Vam-Fear-Eee") are maleficent, primeval and dominating predatory creatures.
While the symbiosis puts great demands on the host, such as feeding on blood, the benefits include increased strength, speed, and resilience; a seemingly infinite lifespan; magnified senses; base emotional stimulation; access to latent psychic power; shapeshifting; and certain narcotic effects, including control over weak-minded people.
When a suitable host is detected, the fungus releases spores that slowly adapt the victim's body to suit the growth of a leech.
Vampires in Lumley's novels are most often bisexual to some extent and frequently engage in various forms of incest and abuse with their offspring either by blood or by egg.