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THE SECRET
GEOGRAPHY OF NIGHTMARE CONTENTS
Key to
previous collections if applicable is -
AN OFFICE IN
THE GRAYS INN ROAD
(EOD)
Trade
Paperback from Cosmos Books USA
INTRODUCTION THE SECRET GEOGRAPHY OF MAYNARD AND SIMS Stephen Jones
There is, dare
I say it, something almost . . . supernatural . . . about the singular and
precipitant success of the writing team of L.H. Maynard and M.P.N. Sims. Despite the protestations of publishers regarding such books, this volume quickly exhausted its print run, only to be followed less than a year later by yet another collection, Echoes of Darkness, from the same proprietor. It too is now out of print. What puissance did the authors exercise over Morgan, and did it in any way prevail upon the fact that this second compilation of stories was illustrated by one of their talented progeny, Iain Maynard . . . ? But this was not sufficient for Maynard and Sims. Commencing in 1998, while labouring at full-time occupations and raising families, they inaugurated their own publishing imprint, Enigmatic Press. Within a year they had all but dominated the British small press with a perplexing array of titles and publications issued under the appellations Enigmatic Novellas and Enigmatic Variations. With these attractive periodicals they nurtured and promoted their own cadre of acolytes such as Paul Finch, Anthony Morris, Sarah Singleton, Paul Bradshaw, Steve Savile, William Meikle, Derek M. Fox, Alastair G. Gunn, Gerald Gaubert, the aforementioned Iain Maynard and others. Concurrently, they also edited and published ten issues of a respected paperback magazine devoted to supernatural stories entitled Enigmatic Tales, and they teamed up with the venerable British Fantasy Society to produce F20, the first in a proposed series of annual chapbook anthologies. Inevitably, realising that with the creation of Enigmatic Electronic there would be no way in which to halt their burgeoning publishing empire, those in authority stepped in to withdraw their funding. If their machinations had not been suspended when they were, one can only conjecture at how powerful and influential Maynard and Sims may have become. However, even this prominent intervention was unable to do little more than delay the duo's domination. Despite a style of writing which ostensibly pays tribute to the so-called "Jamesian tradition", they have had a uncommon number of stories published in contemporary journals and anthologies such as Terror Tales, Unhinged, Sci-Fright, Foxfire, Ténèbres, the Horror Writers Association's Bell, Book & Beyond, The Children of Cthulhu, When Darkness Answers, Red Work, The Evil Entwines, Strange Pleasures and Dark Fantasy: The Best of 2000, to remark upon only a few. More recently, having become the editors of the new American anthology series Darkness Rising, they have also written two stand-alone novellas, The Hidden Language of Demons and The Business of Barbarians, and they have a third hardcover collection, Incantations, and the young adult novel, The Seminar, awaiting publication. Not only has their influence shaped the supernatural fiction field in the United Kingdom over the past couple of years, but now they are making significant ingress across the Atlantic -- as this present volume and its companion compendium from Cosmos Books, Selling Dark Miracles, proficiently illustrate. Herein you will find such memorable examples of their craft as 'An Office in the Grays Inn Road', 'Benjamin's Shadow', 'The Window', 'Mattie', 'An English Country Garden' and the singular novella 'Ashushma', along with a number of previously uncollected tales, various insightful essays, and a revealing interview with the authors by William P. Simmons. Eventually, I could stand it no longer. I had no other choice but to escape their omnipotence by travelling as far away as I might manage. To journey to distant shores, where their atmospheric prose was unknown. So I ventured to this far continent south of the equator, where their narrative skills were uncelebrated by the local populace. Yet as I sit here on this verandah in the gathering gloom, watching a vermilion sun sink slowly behind the panoramic rainforest, I have come to the realisation that none of us can evade their propagation. For as I glance down from the notebook in which I pen these words in laborious longhand, I can see carelessly scattered on the low table before me a selection of chapbooks, collections and other ephemera, all bearing the imprimatur of Maynard and Sims. Too late, I suddenly comprehend the full implication of the horror I have carelessly wrought upon the world -- I have brought the contagion with me! Not only is this very commendation the secret of their success, but as a result of my own negligence their work has extended to even an exotic setting such as this. With mounting dread I realise now that it is already too late for us all. Maynard and Sims are here . . . ! Stephen Jones, Costa Do Sauípe, Bahia, Brazil, June, 2001 - [copyright © Stephen Jones 2001]
They are widely respected for their professional standards and excellent
stories.
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Copyright © 2008 L.H. Maynard & M.P.N. Sims |
