Mark Samuels

Nemonymous

Nemonymous

Grimscribe
I understand it can now be talked about.
But all I DO know about it is that I've got a brand new story in it called 'The Big-Headed People'. :)
 
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Re: The Mark Samuels tribute anthology

More info...
https://www.facebook.com/SnugglyBooks/posts/1046782132008446?fref=nf
 
Re: The Mark Samuels tribute anthology

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SNUGGLY BOOKS FORMERLY KNOWN AS HIEROGLYPHIC PRESS PRESENTS

MARKED TO DIE: A TRIBUTE TO MARK SAMUELS

EDITED BY JUSTIN ISIS

COMING MAY 2016

(OFFICIAL PAGE HERE)

Mark Samuels (born 1967) is an English horror writer who has been called 'the contemporary British master of visionary weirdness.' Widely recognized as being at the forefront of his field, Samuels combines an unparallelled understanding of the Weird Fiction tradition with his own modern take on cosmic horror, the isolation and despair of urban life giving way in his stories to vistas of universal alienation and, on occasion, spiritual transcendence.

Snuggly Books is proud to present this collection of original works of fiction inspired by Samuels's writing: fed by the "strange tales" of the 19th and 20th centuries, but firmly rooted in the present: stories combining elements of contemporary anomie with intimations of the Eternal and, occasionally, extremely massive violence.

"if Mark Samuels is high quality cocaine, this book is like the weird diluted version that's possibly cut with bleach and maybe even hallucinogens; it's still going to get you messed up, but possibly not in the way you were expecting. Real Markitty books = brand name prescription drugs, this book = generic abandoned warehouse version"

FEATURING CONTRIBUTIONS FROM

Mark Valentine
Brendan Connell
Reggie Oliver
Justin Isis
Quentin S. Crisp
Colin Insole
James Champagne
Adam Nevill
Simon Clark
Daniel Mills
DF Lewis
Thana Niveau
David Rix
Ralph Doege
Yarrow Paisley
Kristine Ong Muslim
John Mundy
Jon Hersh
John L. Probert
Stuart Young

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Re: The Mark Samuels tribute anthology

Justin, you absolute madman. Bravo.

And for some reason I picture Mark reacting to this news not unlike Charlton Heston at the end of that one movie with apes. You maniacs!
 
Re: The Mark Samuels tribute anthology

I'm excited for this, and I've never read a Mark Samuels story in my life – a fact that will only add to the mystique.
 
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Re: The Mark Samuels tribute anthology

People will be impressed with this volume. I tend towards skepticism about tribute anthos to living authors - the contents tend to be patchy and an excuse for mutual back-slapping - but Justin has managed to assemble a powerful and multi-tonal selection (you'll see what I mean - there's quite a few 'What the hell...' moments). Some of the stories are actually inspired by Mark himself which is fun; no bloodless leaching off a perceived mythos here.

On a more general note such a volume is well deserved. I don't know of anyone else who believes more whole-heartedly in the value of Weird Fiction or has made this value so central to their life. Silly controversies come and go but it's definitely safe to say that his fiction has attained a lasting place within the genre. As Mark doesn't do big conventions any more I speak for many when I say his presence is missed by the weird reading public (three years later and I still get random emails asking after the damn man).
 
Re: The Mark Samuels tribute anthology

I've only read The Man Who Collected Machen. I was very impressed. For me, Mark's stories are some of the few that really come close to the feel of a Ligotti story for me. And I always find it interesting how this can be when the two authors come from such different philosophical perspectives.
 
Re: The Mark Samuels tribute anthology

I am glad to learn of Mr. Samuels as I have never heard of him before. As my antidepressants are beginning to lose effect it's nice to find a reason to live another few weeks. It's getting more difficult to find intriguing voices anymore. Too many are rehashing old ideas I've experienced before and most don't do it very well.
 
Re: The Mark Samuels tribute anthology

Revenant said:
I am glad to learn of Mr. Samuels as I have never heard of him before. As my antidepressants are beginning to lose effect it's nice to find a reason to live another few weeks. It's getting more difficult to find intriguing voices anymore. Too many are rehashing old ideas I've experienced before and most don't do it very well.
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I'm in the same boat. I just ordered a copy of The Man Who Collected Machen, which I believe is his most acclaimed book. Apart from Ramsey Campbell once mentioning Mark in an interview I wasn't really familiar with him until I joined TLO, where I have enjoyed his posts despite sitting on essentially the opposite of the political and spiritual spectrum. I told him a long time ago I'd check out his fiction, but to my shame this kept getting pushed back so I could revisit old authors, which has left me with a feeling of never really moving forward with my weird reading.

The worst case scenario is at least I'll have somebody new to complain about if I don't enjoy it rather than going over the same ground. I don't really know what to expect so am looking forward to the book's arrival. I would have ordered The White Hands too, but I'll probably need to eat at some point in the next week.
 
Re: The Mark Samuels tribute anthology

Hey, Murony! Thanks for the vote of confidence, friend. How did you discover my middle name?
 
Re: The Mark Samuels tribute anthology

Ligottiwise readers should be interested in The White Hands as TL himself took an active part in critiquing and making suggestions with the stories as Mark was putting the book together. From what I recall one of the reasons Mark didn't feel up to doing a full Ligotti tribute story was because he considered many of the stories in there to be Ligotti tributes.
 
Re: The Mark Samuels tribute anthology

I shall purchase it next week as I blew my expendable cash on Dark Shadows audio dramas. I'm eager to read his work as none of the comments on here about his stories have been less than glowing.
 
Re: The Mark Samuels tribute anthology

If it's not spoiling too much (and I'll take yes/no for an answer), any word on whether any of the stories use the "language as a virus" theme from some of Mark's work? That's what I would've gone with if I'd written a tribute story.
 
Re: The Mark Samuels tribute anthology

Ramo,

Just the conceit of this book would point to the whole thing being of "virus origin".
 
Re: The Mark Samuels tribute anthology

I'd like to know if any of the stories reference "More Dark", or if Lard Barn appears as a character name.
 
Re: The Mark Samuels tribute anthology

@Ramonoski,

I'm saying nothing...

@Murony_Pyre

Heh!

Justin is best placed to answer this since he is officially Keeper of the Manuscripts, but I don't think Laid Barron or the events of 'More Dark' are referenced in any significant way. When the project was still in embryo we joked about someone needing to write a novella about a wilderness tough-guy character who goes around eating wendigos and foiling Jesuitical plots - it would have taken up too much room though, and unless we'd got permission from Laird to include 'More Dark' itself might have appeared too much like score-settling rather than the joke it was intended as.
 
Re: The Mark Samuels tribute anthology

Murony_Pyre said:
I'd like to know if any of the stories reference "More Dark", or if Lard Barn appears as a character name.
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I will admit that my own contribution was partly a meta-response to "More Dark" (among other things), but I won't say anymore for now, ha ha.
 
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