Strange poems and an intriguing tale for die-hard horror fans.
Poetry and a novella mix biography, history, and horror.
Snodgrass’ “poetry novel” brings together more than 60 prose poems and a novella that centers on eerie, supernatural occurrences on the infamous Trail of Tears in 1830. The title poem, the first piece in the collection, alludes to Edgar Allan Poe and Rod Serling: “ ‘Nevermore!’ he cries alone. As you slip into life’s twilight zone.” It’s an apt combination for the poems that follow, which bear titles like “The Mummy,” “Poltergeist,” and “The Lycan.” The author crafts some disturbing and mournful imagery here, drawing heavily from pop-culture bogeymen and his own personal history. Between lines like “The freak show is coming to town; got Nosferatu and a very evil clown,” he pauses to dedicate slower, more somber pieces to his mother or grandmother: “I see your smile upon the wind when I close my eyes and go to sleep....I hope you are smiling—and Grandma, I’ll see you soon.” Reinforcing this alternating rhythm are the accompanying uncredited photographs, some of family members, others of desolate landscapes, and even shots of Snodgrass himself. The blend of popular genres and poetry is unusual and unexpected, but the author’s rather standard rhyming patterns tend to hold his pieces back from achieving something truly bizarre and surreal: “Are you an angel, or the devil’s slave? Or just a whisper beyond life’s grave?” This predilection for imbuing horror in unexpected places feels much more natural and effective in the historical novella Ouijawa: Trail of Tears, which follows a medicine man named Nvda Ama as he invokes supernatural forces to fight against the white Army and militia men cruelly herding his tribe out of their native lands in Georgia. Along with delivering some genuinely spooky passages, Snodgrass displays here some skill at perspective, playing with both the soldiers’ and the Native Americans’ inner turmoil during a horrific situation made even darker.
Strange poems and an intriguing tale for die-hard horror fans.Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5320-7899-6
Page Count: 178
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Though it falters a bit under its own weight, this series still has plenty of fight left.
In this long-awaited fifth installment of Shannon’s Bone Season series, the threat to the clairvoyant community spreads like a plague across Europe.
After extending her fight against the Republic of Scion to Paris, Paige Mahoney, leader of London’s clairvoyant underworld and a spy for the resistance movement, finds herself further outside her comfort zone when she wakes up in a foreign place with no recollection of getting there. More disturbing than her last definitive memory, in which her ally-turned-lover Arcturus seems to betray her, is that her dreamscape—the very soul of her clairvoyance—has been altered, as if there’s a veil shrouding both her memories and abilities. Paige manages to escape and learns she’s been missing and presumed dead for six months. Even more shocking is that she’s somehow outside of Scion’s borders, in the free world where clairvoyants are accepted citizens. She gets in touch with other resistance fighters and journeys to Italy to reconnect with the Domino Programme intelligence network. In stark contrast to the potential of life in the free world is the reality that Scion continues to stretch its influence, with Norway recently falling and Italy a likely next target. Paige is enlisted to discover how Scion is bending free-world political leaders to its will, but before Paige can commit to her mission, she has her own mystery to solve: Where in the world is Arcturus? Paige’s loyalty to Arcturus is tested as she decides how much to trust in their connection and how much information to reveal to the Domino Programme about the Rephaite—the race of immortals from the Netherworld, Arcturus’ people—and their connection to the founding of Scion, as well as the presence of clairvoyant abilities on Earth. While the book is impressively multilayered, the matter-of-fact way in which details from the past are sprinkled throughout will have readers constantly flipping to the glossary. As the series’ scope and the implications of the war against Scion expand, Shannon’s narrative style reads more action-thriller than fantasy. Paige’s powers as a dreamwalker are rarely used here, but when clairvoyance is at play, the story shines.
Though it falters a bit under its own weight, this series still has plenty of fight left.Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2025
ISBN: 9781639733965
Page Count: 576
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It's almost enough to make a person believe in ghosts.
A disturbing household secret has far-reaching consequences in this dark, unusual ghost story.
Mallory Quinn, fresh out of rehab and recovering from a recent tragedy, has taken a job as a nanny for an affluent couple living in the upscale suburb of Spring Brook, New Jersey, when a series of strange events start to make her (and her employers) question her own sanity. Teddy, the precocious and shy 5-year-old boy she's charged with watching, seems to be haunted by a ghost who channels his body to draw pictures that are far too complex and well formed for such a young child. At first, these drawings are rather typical: rabbits, hot air balloons, trees. But then the illustrations take a dark turn, showcasing the details of a gruesome murder; the inclusion of the drawings, which start out as stick figures and grow increasingly more disturbing and sophisticated, brings the reader right into the story. With the help of an attractive young gardener and a psychic neighbor and using only the drawings as clues, Mallory must solve the mystery of the house's grizzly past before it's too late. Rekulak does a great job with character development: Mallory, who narrates in the first person, has an engaging voice; the Maxwells' slightly overbearing parenting style and passive-aggressive quips feel very familiar; and Teddy is so three-dimensional that he sometimes feels like a real child.
It's almost enough to make a person believe in ghosts.Pub Date: May 10, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-81934-5
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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