Alone (Book) - 3/24/2008 9:53:34 PM
Mark is intelligent and insightful. This is a perfect combination for a horror writer. :D
Alone (Book) - 5/20/2005 11:06:05 AM
I won't be buying this book anytime soon as much as you had a good short story on AuthorsDen but after seeing your little remark on gothic.net, you ruined your own sales with this book.
Simplicity (Book) - 4/18/2004 4:51:27 PM
Trip along with me for a moment and imagine a vampire with a poet's soul who will unequivocally disprove the myth that men don't feel love as deeply as women. Intrigued? Meet Patrick, the undead hero of Simplicity, who sentences himself to Hell for the woman he loves. Patrick knows more about selflessness, unconditional love, charisma, and seduction than do most romantic leading men.
When he meets Lori, Patrick is a filthy vagrant whose daily beggings are spent on food only if there's enough left after he buys his beloved bottle, and Lori is a damaged beauty who keeps trying to kill herself but never quite succeeds. They spend what is supposed to be Lori's last night alive talking together under the bridge where Patrick lives and from which Lori jumps--right into the arms of Van Pierre, a recruiter for Hell's army. When she returns to Patrick the next night and bids him drink from the dark man's chalice, he obeys without question because he loves her already, and they are plunged into the world of nightly bloodlust.
As horrified as they are by what they've become, they can't deny the thrill of their new powers. Patrick is more than willing to suffer every day while he sleeps and his soul returns to Hell to be tortured unmercifully by Pink, his personal demon, as long as he gets to be with Lori every night when he awakens. But Lori is still haunted by her life and continues to plan her own demise even though it means she will remain in Hell forever and will be leaving Patrick--the only man who has ever really loved her--alone for eternity.
Simplicity is like a 435-page paradox: one minute it's a gruesome peepshow of demonic torture sessions that revolted me more than Stephen King at his goriest, and the next it's a sensitive commentary on man's inhumanity to man and our deep-seated desire to be valued and loved for ourselves. I was just as moved by Patrick's quest for Lori's love as I was repulsed by the descriptions of his visits to Hell. I can't tell you how odd it feels to be inspired by the insights of a vampire, but Patrick's musings read like an essay on enlightenment. The thinking person's horror story, if you will.
And since vampires exist for eternity, I sure hope there's another journey into Patrick's world in our literary future.
Simplicity (Book) - 1/1/2003 6:44:13 AM
Wow! Great work, Mark. Eloquent, erotic, horrifying, and thought-provoking.
Alone (Book) - 11/19/2002 2:11:03 PM
It sounds good. But so did Simplicity. I am going to have to buy that one. Vampires are timeless to me, they are fascinating.
Keep up the good work, you will make it far.
authorsden.com/Kevin Yarbrough
Simplicity (Book) - 9/24/2002 9:10:19 PM
Mark,
Another PA author here! I saw your message in PA and came over for a look to place a face with your name! Double reward for my effort. Horror novels are my special cup of tea! I enjoy reading a good horror novel and enjoyed writing one even more. No vampires in mine, as I thought it had been done every way there was, and yet I read this and Wow, I wanted to read the entire novel. Great job and it's bound to go far!
Sherry
Simplicity (Book) - 5/13/2002 8:24:22 AM
Wow, you've hooked me. I am going to have to check out this book. Very good job at hooking the reader with a simple excerpt. Nice job, and I'll be looking forward to reading more!
Erin
Simplicity (Book) - 3/18/2002 1:28:42 PM
Beware the choices you make in life or you could suffer at the hands (claws?) of the likes of Pink or Marcus for all eternity. Just ask Simplicity's main characters, Patrick or Lori, and they will give you a description of Hell unlike any heretofore created. This book deserves a place on the top shelf of your horror bookcase right between 'Salem's Lot and Interview With The Vampire. Yes, it really is that good!!!
Simplicity (Book) - 1/8/2002 7:35:18 AM
A powerful opening. Grabs the reader by the guts and then twists them into a new painful reality. Excellent writing, with graphic images, reminding one of Anne Rice's style, yet more active than Rice for the descriptive passages add to the story rather than detract from it.
Simplicity (Book) - 12/15/2001 10:42:21 PM
I like the sense of desperation you adhere to your character. I had yet to find an author who could twist a vampyre tale as well as Rice. You have stepped up to that challenge.
Simplicity (Book) - 12/15/2001 10:40:50 AM
Good Stuff. I read your posting on the PA message board and stopped by to have a read and received a nice reward. Will have to get this book. I've always been fasinated by vampires and really enjoy new twists to the oldest of stories. Keep it up and give us more.
www.authorsden.com/JimGarrison
Simplicity (Book) - 12/12/2001 1:57:38 PM
This work is powerful, provocative and exquisitely written. All the best to you.
Simplicity (Book) - 12/8/2001 1:52:49 PM
Wow again Mark. I'm gonna go take my little wienie excerpt off my page and see if I can find something with more punch. sigh. I'm not a horror fan but am a fan of wordsmiths. amazing.
Simplicity (Book) - 11/17/2001 9:43:06 AM
Mark,
I'm not a horror fan! I write children's books. BUT THOSE FIRST FEW PARAGRAPHS "scared me to death." I avoid all horror things, movies,t.v. etc.--but with more courage, I might venture back again. So I guess, you might have hooked me.
I know it's a great read for horror fans. It's certainly well-written and provocative!
Simplicity (Book) - 11/1/2001 5:27:04 PM
Cool, creepy, weird. love it!
Simplicity (Book) - 10/31/2001 9:25:25 AM
As I read the first chapter of Simplicity, I had a different view of the homeless people I often pass on the streets of cities. I was slowly feeling like I was being injected with the reality of "life on the streets." I don't drink but I was so drawn in; I hungered for a taste of that nightly whiskey to ease the pain I experienced in empathy for the main character. Gotta get the book. Powerful, evocative, just simply well-written.
Simplicity (Book) - 10/30/2001 10:59:04 PM
Congratulations on the cover. Was it your
design? The excerpt flowed wonderfully,
making me interested in the full novel.
Simplicity (Book) - 10/30/2001 10:19:21 PM
Well, Mark, from what I see here, you've brewed up something potent for the horror fans of the world; an intriguing re-fleshing of a hackneyed storyline. Who knows, but Anne Rice should eye this book with respect. Keep up the good work, and swing by sometime to check out my work: http://www.kraxton.com
Simplicity (Book) - 10/25/2001 3:56:34 AM
Very creative. Love your cover. I too wish you had posted more of your story. Best of luck to you.
Simplicity (Book) - 10/14/2001 2:23:25 AM
I wrote a children's book, Cookies At Nana's House, published by PA. My favorites to read are mystery and horror, and I can't wait to read the rest of yours. I've always had a great interest in vampire stories, but this sounds better than most. Good Luck
Jerry (Short Story) - 5/21/2005 9:16:31 AM
The story is good, but I might decide on publishing it myself in The Ethereal Gazette but after the recent events it will take a little more convincing. You're work is ten times better than the crap being published on gothic.net, in fact you would be right at home on The House of Pain.
Time with the Reaper (Short Story) - 4/13/2004 4:27:37 AM
I have to agree with Terry and Kevin on this because they know what is scary. This is one story that is just scary as hell. This one is one of those that really into your skin and tears it off piece by piece.
Time with the Reaper (Short Story) - 3/24/2004 8:46:08 AM
Mark, this story is enough to make the hairs on the back of the neck stand at attention. I can envision Mortay with his black cloak, gnarly fingers and bleached bones hovering in the shadows...waiting--waiting for his next victim to haul up the river. Sinister, foreboding and a wake up call for those who will not heed the warning of the Advisor. Loved the story.
Joyce
Time with the Reaper (Short Story) - 12/30/2002 6:22:28 PM
Mark,
Good, creepy setting; foreboding, desolate atmosphere, and the reaper (one of my favorite horror staples) to boot.
It was the perfect length, as well.
Enjoyed it.
Time with the Reaper (Short Story) - 11/19/2002 2:19:08 PM
It was good. I enjoyed it.
Kevin
Jerry (Short Story) - 4/2/2002 9:18:49 AM
Very fasted paced and mentally intriguing. Extremely visual. This a great story.
Tracy
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