VISIONS, DARKNESS, AND LIGHT

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.