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Reent Review, Recent Book
Nov. 16th, 2024 12:34 pmHalloween Hearts, 2022, Adele Gardner, Jackanapes Press (www.JackanapesPress.com), perfect-bound paperback (?), foreword by S. T. Joshi, 109 pages of poetry, ISBN-10: 1956702083; ISBN-13: 978-1956702088, $15.99.
Halloween Hearts is a full-length collection of Halloween poems, by someone who might be a little obsessed with the holiday. Like many people, she claims Halloween as her favorite holiday. However, she is one of the few who can back this up with masterftul and experienced writing.
The title poem is for (and about) Ray Bradbury. More precisely, it’s an extravagant romp through his works, capturing the effect they have had on Adele and her writing.
The cover, by Dan Sauer, is adorable. Stylized Halloween graphic fare is skillfully arranged with a bold cover scheme. Interior art, by Sauer and Gustave Doré, is a pleasing and apt complement to the poetry.
Make no mistake, these are horror poems. Witches who’d as soon kill you and eat you as cast a spell. Ugly as sin, but they don’t look as evil as they are. The ghosts might not kill you, The cats are black of course, magic, and they get a bad rap. Cats in general, they fill a soft spot.
From “The Chant of the Black Cats”
Despite the need for our Halloween magic,
we’ve had to give up perching on fence posts
in orderly, obvious rows. Now we cluster
in skeletal trees where you can’t get us—
Halloween Hearts is a full-length collection of Halloween poems, by someone who might be a little obsessed with the holiday. Like many people, she claims Halloween as her favorite holiday. However, she is one of the few who can back this up with masterftul and experienced writing.
The title poem is for (and about) Ray Bradbury. More precisely, it’s an extravagant romp through his works, capturing the effect they have had on Adele and her writing.
The cover, by Dan Sauer, is adorable. Stylized Halloween graphic fare is skillfully arranged with a bold cover scheme. Interior art, by Sauer and Gustave Doré, is a pleasing and apt complement to the poetry.
Make no mistake, these are horror poems. Witches who’d as soon kill you and eat you as cast a spell. Ugly as sin, but they don’t look as evil as they are. The ghosts might not kill you, The cats are black of course, magic, and they get a bad rap. Cats in general, they fill a soft spot.
From “The Chant of the Black Cats”
Despite the need for our Halloween magic,
we’ve had to give up perching on fence posts
in orderly, obvious rows. Now we cluster
in skeletal trees where you can’t get us—
