The Kind of Face You Hate: Mark Samuels, Religion, and Weird Horror

Bill R. at "The Kind of Face You Hate" has posted an excellent piece on weird writer Mark Samuels, his stylistic portrayal of horror within the weird genre itself, and the intersection of religious philosophy with Samuels' weird fiction. His entry concerns itself with two tales: "The Grandmaster's Final Game" and "The White Hands." Bill does a fair critique of two important themes in Samuels' stories, and thus adds to the undersized body of intelligent discussion on one of weird fiction's most intriguing new writers.

On a personal note, I hope Bill's analysis will serve as a bit of a sales pitch for those who aren't familiar with Mark Samuels--especially while the paperback version of his collection The White Hands and Other Weird Tales can be cheaply acquired. Right now, Samuels occupies a somewhat precarious position as far as the availability of his work goes. While he has continued to publish new tales and a novella the past several years, these have been small press ventures, and already almost out of print. If copies of The White Hands should fly off the internet shelves (with the exception of a few costly copies), it may be years before some of Samuels' best stories can be accessed with ease again. Let this serve as a warning to the curious: if you like what you hear about Samuels, pick up a paperback of this collection now rather than later.

-Grim Blogger