Seamus McMahon (1930-2003), writer of fantastical fictions, received very little recognition or critical notice during his lifetime, working in the lowest strata of culture. The bulk of his output appeared in cheaply printed paperbacks of low runs and poor distribution, shoddy magazines looking to fill pages, or in badly circulated comic books where he rarely received credit. He created these stories for bottom feeder publishers looking for quickly produced, ephemeral entertainment, something to fill newsstand shelves and drugstore racks, something that appeared, at least superficially, on the cutting edge of a popular trend of the day. And in the confines of this literary ghetto, McMahon discovered freedom. By producing a steady stream of words, he could actually make a living as a writer, and as long as the books were finished swiftly and at least paid some lip service to a salable genre, the editors rarely cared at all about the content. Thus, McMahon wrote what he wanted to write.

He enjoyed himself, and his enjoyment is reflected in his work. Over the course of two decades, he created the epic life story of his mystical space hero S'ldek. In the novels Overman and To Conquer Mankind, he recreated famous comic book characters in his own image. Under the cover of producing a sword and sorcery book, his Plastic Orpheus was an unexpected flight into magical realism. McMahon occasionally imbued his work with satire, parody, and social commentary, as in the trenchant Superagent Z trilogy, marketed as American James Bond knock-offs. He even tried to revive the pulp magazine with his High Adventure series, then presented a revisionist portrait of the same idiom, using the same characters, in A Congress Of Shadows.

Though his writing never garnered much of a following— his nearest scrape with success was with a series of horror novels written under the pseudonym Helen K. Slay— McMahan's novels have developed a cult status in certain circles. In fact, many of his books published over the last decade have been by small fan presses. It is because of the dedication of these readers, that we present this site as a small introduction to this virtually unknown writer, whose work is now largely unavailable.