On Saturday the genre lost one of its shining lights, Sam Gafford was an inspiration to many and a selfless supporter of so many more, as well as a hugely talented writer. However, he was sadly one of those writers that not enough people knew about. Today we welcome John Linwood Grant, a long time collaborator and more importantly a close personal friend of Sam's to Ginger Nuts of Horror with a deeply personal tribute to man whose memory should never be forgotten. Please read John's moving tribute, and please share this article far and wide, we may have lost Sam, but we can't ever forget his contribution to the genre.
SAM GAFFORD: A GOOD MAN LOST
Sometimes you meet someone who you know, from the very start, is the genuine article. On the 1st July, Sam Gafford, writer, editor and owner of Ulthar Press, suffered a massive heart attack. He never really regained consciousness, and he died on 20th July 2019. This tragedy (he was merely in his fifties) is not only deeply felt by his friends and family, but it has relevance to the weird/horror fiction scene.
Sam was the genuine article, and we have all lost something in his passing.
He was an excellent writer (of which more in a moment), but he was also a true fan, an enthusiast, and because of that he set up Ulthar Press to publish good, readable weird fiction that was accessible to all. And he’d long been publishing small works before that, going back to the eighties – fanzine and chapbook formats of odd and rare pieces, especially those of William Hope Hodgson. He loved Hope Hodgson – he was one of most knowledgeable WHH scholars around today - and he loved weird fiction. He also loved comic books, but that’s another kettle of superpowers altogether – and he had a wonderful wry sense of humour, one of things we bonded over.
Ulthar Press helped hundreds of writers to see print, and Sam was an egalitarian in many ways. He didn’t care if you were a well-known ‘name’ or an emerging voice. He wasn’t interested in which snarky, argumentative corner of the field you were in or identified with. He published writers who wouldn’t even speak to each other – but they would speak to Sam. And if they had a good story, he wanted to help get it out there. His mind was a turmoil of clever, whacky and cool ideas, hidden inside a self-effacing guy who often didn’t have any confidence in his own talent.
Sam was the genuine article, and we have all lost something in his passing.
He was an excellent writer (of which more in a moment), but he was also a true fan, an enthusiast, and because of that he set up Ulthar Press to publish good, readable weird fiction that was accessible to all. And he’d long been publishing small works before that, going back to the eighties – fanzine and chapbook formats of odd and rare pieces, especially those of William Hope Hodgson. He loved Hope Hodgson – he was one of most knowledgeable WHH scholars around today - and he loved weird fiction. He also loved comic books, but that’s another kettle of superpowers altogether – and he had a wonderful wry sense of humour, one of things we bonded over.
Ulthar Press helped hundreds of writers to see print, and Sam was an egalitarian in many ways. He didn’t care if you were a well-known ‘name’ or an emerging voice. He wasn’t interested in which snarky, argumentative corner of the field you were in or identified with. He published writers who wouldn’t even speak to each other – but they would speak to Sam. And if they had a good story, he wanted to help get it out there. His mind was a turmoil of clever, whacky and cool ideas, hidden inside a self-effacing guy who often didn’t have any confidence in his own talent.
This isn’t a biography – others knew him better than I did - but I had nearly five years of close friendship with him, and many shared projects. We co-founded Occult Detective Quarterly, and it was typical of him that he wanted it as a paying market – he would dip into his own limited pocket to support any Ulthar books which should have, but didn’t, break even. Writers should be paid. He found publishing stressful, and unremunerative, and yet days before his death, he was planning new works. He believed in small presses. Only in the last few months he published two imaginative new anthologies - ‘Machinations and Mesmerism: Tales Inspired by E.T.A. Hoffman’ (edited by Farah Rose Smith) and ‘Hell’s Empire’ (edited by John Linwood Grant), and he had more on the way.
He was and is, I believe, underrated as a writer, never mind his other activities. He didn’t feel comfortable with the fuss and falseness of marketing, networking and all that exhausting jazz. He didn’t show off like so many of us do. Yet his novels ‘The House of Nodens’ (Dark Regions) and ‘Whitechapel’ (Ulthar) - a Lovecraftian horror, and a weird Arthur Machen/Jack the Ripper tour de force respectively, were both superb. His sole collection ‘The Dreamer in Fire’ (Hippocampus) is a wonderful selection of stories both dark and strange; his collaboration with artist Jason Eckhardt, the graphic novel ‘Some Notes on a Non-Entity: The Life of H P Lovecraft’ (PS Publishing) is fascinating. These are just some of his fine achievements.
Sam wouldn’t have said most of that. He would have worried, and hoped that someone would pick them up and maybe give him the nod, say what he’d done wasn’t bad at all. He was more likely to tell you how good your own work was, or ask you if you had anything which fitted Ulthar’s list.
I am diminished, and we are diminished as a field. We should remember him, and all his works...
‘Machinations and Mesmerism’ is available through Lulu. ‘Hell’s Empire’ and Sam’s own books are available through Amazon UK and Amazon US. John Linwood Grant and Dave Brzeski will continue producing Occult Detective Quarterly for the immediate future, under one name or another, as a tribute to Sam’s enthusiasm and ideas. It will be dedicated to him.
John Linwood Grant, July 2019
John was also invited onto the Lovecraft ezine podcast to talk about Sam, you can watch this by following the link below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLre-f_ba6k
He was and is, I believe, underrated as a writer, never mind his other activities. He didn’t feel comfortable with the fuss and falseness of marketing, networking and all that exhausting jazz. He didn’t show off like so many of us do. Yet his novels ‘The House of Nodens’ (Dark Regions) and ‘Whitechapel’ (Ulthar) - a Lovecraftian horror, and a weird Arthur Machen/Jack the Ripper tour de force respectively, were both superb. His sole collection ‘The Dreamer in Fire’ (Hippocampus) is a wonderful selection of stories both dark and strange; his collaboration with artist Jason Eckhardt, the graphic novel ‘Some Notes on a Non-Entity: The Life of H P Lovecraft’ (PS Publishing) is fascinating. These are just some of his fine achievements.
Sam wouldn’t have said most of that. He would have worried, and hoped that someone would pick them up and maybe give him the nod, say what he’d done wasn’t bad at all. He was more likely to tell you how good your own work was, or ask you if you had anything which fitted Ulthar’s list.
I am diminished, and we are diminished as a field. We should remember him, and all his works...
‘Machinations and Mesmerism’ is available through Lulu. ‘Hell’s Empire’ and Sam’s own books are available through Amazon UK and Amazon US. John Linwood Grant and Dave Brzeski will continue producing Occult Detective Quarterly for the immediate future, under one name or another, as a tribute to Sam’s enthusiasm and ideas. It will be dedicated to him.
John Linwood Grant, July 2019
John was also invited onto the Lovecraft ezine podcast to talk about Sam, you can watch this by following the link below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLre-f_ba6k
