The White Hands

[nomis]

Wow, I'm making mistakes left right and centre on this thread.

1) I'm "oozingbrain"... I forgot my password earlier.
2) obvious, in that previous post, I misremembered the title of "Apt 205" as "Apt 206"
3) Yes, "The Face of Twilight" is based on that story (according to Mark)
4) "Mannequins in a State of Terror" should read "Mannequins in Aspects of Terror".
5) I can't find the original version online anymore, though I'm far from a Google-expert.
6) The edits of "Mannequins..." and "White Hands" were not Mark's idea, though I believe he is the one to have done the editing.

[ElHI]

Thanks to this thread, I've begun to re-read THE WHITE HANDS during the week-end.

I remember that the first time I had read the title story, the fact that I didn't know at the time whether Lilith Blake was real or not added to the plot, and that I kept saying to myself that I definitely had to try a Google search... Now that I know that I'd never be able the read her first (and only) collection THE WHITE HANDS AND OTHER TALES, none of my disappointment remained: it just doesn't matter, it is so well crafted! I'd really like to read the alternate versions of this story!

I also had a strange feeling while re-reading MANNEQUINS IN ASPECTS OF TERROR. I seem to remember it was longer... And now I know why! I had a quick look at the version once available at Eddie's site (I had the good idea of saving it somewhere), and just browsing through it gave me an idea of the amount of editing done for the Tartarus version. Slightly different ending, but I think I like the Tartarus ending better: more cryptic, and in this case, Golmi is part of the installation himself, sharing the pain/horror/terror of the others. I'll read the longer version soon to see what's different (I think that in the book version, the city is not named as being London, let alone the tower being located precisely...)

The strange thing, is that I bought THE WHITE HANDS after reading MANNEQUINS... (and THE AILUROMORPH, another very good story of Mark Samuels', that can be found in BLACK ALTARS) and that I didn't notice any difference then. Maybe I just skipped the story while reading the book, discarding it as being "already read".

Thanks again for the thread, I always find it fascinating how a story can evolve with time and the writer editing it making different variations that can be equally effective when it's done as well as in this case.

[Stu]

ElhI, last time I spoke to him Mark still preferred his original ending to 'Mannequins' but obviously it's a matter of personal preference.

[DEVILinIRON]

Just had to mention that I, too, love this book. I recently acquired and read it as promptly as my reading list allowed. It's wonderful! As mentioned by others, Mannequins is a great story. But I also really enjoyed The Search for Kruptos in particular. Though every one of the stories are some kind of curio. Altogether great reads!

[Ascrobius]

I'm a big fan of the book as well. It's an outstanding collection.

[EemeliJ]

This book was the second weird/horror story collection I read in my life, few years back now. I have vague memories of the stories and their titles at the moment. I did read the book in one night, and(how come?) I was pretty tired in the morning. It was awesome.

[Brendan Moody]

I recently read The White Hands for the first time. I liked some of the stories quite a bit, but was less impressed with others. I blogged some thoughts about the collection here.

[hopfrog]

Last week's post brought me THE MAN WHO COLLECTED MACHEN, whut I finally remember'd to order. I've been too caught up in finishing my new book for Dark Regions that I have yet to crack open Mark's book. & nigh here is another book that y'all make sound so vitally fascinating that I am off to Amazon to order it. Gawd, there are so many good writers in the weird phantasy genre to-day!

[Brendan Moody]

^The White Hands isn't available from Amazon, except for secondhand sellers charging ridiculous prices. But the paperback version is in print from the publisher.

[hopfrog]

Quote Originally Posted by Brendan Moody

^The White Hands isn't available from Amazon, except for secondhand sellers charging ridiculous prices. But the paperback version is in print from the publisher.

Yeah, I just went and saw the prices and says, well, maybe not to-day....................still, I do have THE MAN WHO COLLECTED MACHEN and I will begin reading it tonight.