Mark Sieber is one of us.
Sieber is a fan, a genre enthusiast, a defender of physical
media, a collector, a critic, and a writer.
I list critic and writer separately, because Sieber wears
many hats, and in his case, he’s earned the distinction of being a critic and a writer. It’s never been more
evident than with the collection of writings in his book published this year by
the venerable Cemetery Dance Publications, He Who Types Between the Rows: A Decade of Horror Drive-In.
Yes, there’s that old adage that everyone is a critic, and
with the advent of social media, it sure feels like everyone has an opinion and
is quick to the draw to fire off a few rounds. Not all of those opinions are
informed, and few fall into the same league as Sieber, who has been in the
trenches and witnessed firsthand the drive-ins, the multiplexes, the horror
paperback boom of the 80s, the rise of the small press and boutique labels in
the 90s, the evolution of home video from VHS to DVD to Blu-ray, along with the
ascent of writers like Joe R. Lansdale, David J. Schow, Joe Hill, Brian Keene,
and Robert McCammon, to name a few.
Name a writer and Sieber is most likely not only familiar with their
work, but well-versed in it, as well. Name a character actor, a scream queen, or
a straight-to-video auteur, and Sieber has been there, bought the ticket, and watched
all the special features on the DVD release.
In other words, Mark Sieber knows his stuff.
