Things That Go Bump in the Night: The Broonie and Other Dark Poems Celebrates Little-Known Creatures of Fantasy and Folklore

 

The Broonie and Other Dark Poems

Deborah Sheldon

Hiraeth Publishing, 2024

Ebook, 62 ppg.

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If you enjoy reading poems about broonies, sea nymphs, changelings and yowies, then look no further than The Broonie and Other Dark Poems by Deborah Sheldon. This collection of poems celebrates these little-known and mysterious creatures, with a good dose of dark tales thrown in! The poems do not explain what the things are but mostly what they do and what they are like. Many of these poems were so fascinating to read, and I loved the twists and turns so many of the poems took!

 

I loved the poem "The Midwife" and how it was a story poem. I appreciated the lore about the fairies that is shared in this poem, and wondered how the midwife was able to tell that the baby was a changeling. I also wanted more of the story at the end!

 

I also enjoyed reading the poem “The Coach from Castlemaine.” Yes, it is a long poem, but one that is so worth the time to read! And I do encourage reading it in one sitting, as something could be missed or forgotten when taking it up again later. And you don’t want to miss any of this poem! It is another story poem and the characters in it come up against something known as a “yowie.” I love how the character, Minnie, goes from feeling frightened and helpless to brave and confident once she starts defending herself and her son against the creature. I do believe it was in seeing the terror on her child’s face that gave Minnie the bravery to defend them both against the creature that wanted to eat them. As it says in the poem:

 

“She exited on shaking legs and groped towards the seat

Wrenching up her bustled skirt to climb aboard,

Her gut reaction – take the reins! – resulted in defeat

Since the frightened horses weren’t of one accord.

The gun was one she knew, Martini-Henry, single shot

So, she packed the breech with cartridge, sighted in,

And here came Mister Pollard, purple suit a vivid blot

Against the bush – the yowie must have failed to win.” (Page 49)

 

These are all enjoyable poems, especially since I do like to read anything involving mythological, legendary and fictional creatures, but what I loved best about this book is where the author explains the writing process of the poems at the end. This is something I am always curious about. She also shares what inspired the poem, another thing I like to read about in collections.

 

The poems are all written in a different poetic form. No two have the same form; the author chose a specific form for each poem in this book. I found this to be a refreshing change from the norm, where we often see poems written in the same form in many collections. As the author states on page 59, “When I decided to venture into poetry, I set myself the task of writing in a variety of different poetic forms. Achieving this has been both challenging and immensely satisfying.” Her efforts have created a collection of poetry which is also immensely satisfying.

 

The Broonie and Other Dark Poems is a collection of verse of creatures both mythical and mysterious. One actual human in this collection of poems may make the reader question if she is indeed as human as she seems, just as the other poems offer up more surprises than the reader may expect.

 

 

Five stars

 

 

 

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

 

Meanwhile, Back at the Haunted Ranch: Midnight Mother is a Creepy Story of Broken Promises, Unexplained Horrors and Shocking Family Secrets

 

Midnight Mother

Desiree Horton

Baynam Books Press, 2024

ISBN-10: 1917885725

ISBN-13: 978-1917885720

Ebook, 329 ppg.

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Leda remembers the last night living in her home with her mother and siblings very well. She remembers the shock, terror and horror of it all, the terrible news the family received that night, and how that was the very last time her family was an actual family. Since her mother was found with her own fingers chewed off, she was institutionalized, while Leda and her brother, Sam, were separated, with Leda going into the foster care system. So she is not all that broken up or distraught when, years later, she receives the news that her mother – “Midnight Mother” as she had called her – is dead. In this gripping and terrifying novel, Midnight Mother by Desiree Horton, Leda must return to the house of horrors she and her brothers lived in to clean it up and prepare it for sale – but Leda is haunted by horrifying memories from her past, so it’s not a task she is looking forward to!

 

And add to this the fact that strange, supernatural experiences keep happening to Leda on her way to this town, as well as while at her mother’s service, and it’s a perfect storm of terror and shock!

 

Unfortunately, Leda is the only person these very strange things are happening to. That is, until she reunites with Sam. Also coincidentally, she’s the only member of the family who one day ended up at the bottom of the family mine in a nest of baby snakes (unscathed!) and with strange dreams linked to that experience ever since.

 

When Leda returns to her old stomping grounds, she discovers that she has some very real problems to contend with: Being around a brother that hates her and an aunt not only suspicious of her but convinced that Leda might as well be the antichrist. It is only Vincent, Sam’s boyfriend, who is there to constantly break the ice and act as mediator between the siblings. I LOVED the character Vincent! He is so likable and endearing. He withholds judgment of everyone and tries to keep the peace in situations he is in.

 

As to Leda, I totally understood her nervousness and anxiety at being back at the old homestead. My family was constantly moving around, so there’s really no place I could call “home” from my past, but I too had some dark experiences in my past (mostly from my dad and younger brother!), so I get it. I do. Once that sort of thing is survived, there’s no going back. I mean, yes, those dark memories are recounted in therapy, but going back to where it all happened? No thanks. Hard pass.

 

What I didn’t understand, though, was the whole mystery surrounding the snake symbolism in the story. Sure, there are hundreds of myths, legends and symbolic interpretations attached to the snake, but I was trying to figure out what role this symbolism played in the story.

 

So I kept reading, and a bit at a time, some answers were revealed. But that wasn’t what kept me reading this story. What kept me reading was how terrifying this story was. So much weird and scary stuff kept happening. I wanted to find out what happened next, and if the characters in those scenes would survive those terrifying things! The story had me on the edge of my seat as I kept reading chapter after chapter.

 

I also understood Sam trying to constantly remain the skeptic despite all the crazy things that kept happening. Even the things that actually TERRIFIED him. It’s like, if he didn’t give that stuff a single ounce of belief that it was supernatural, it wasn’t real or that it would go away. But I think this was his defense mechanism, considering the kind of childhood he had when he lived with his mother.

 

There were indeed some VERY terrifying things taking place in this story! So much so that, when I did reach the end, I couldn’t believe the horrifying and thrilling story I had just read! After I finished reading it, I exclaimed, “This book is awesome!!” It really is.

 

Midnight Mother is a horrifying story of unresolved family disputes and a haunting legend as old as the earth itself. With constant thrills and chills, this novel will keep readers on the edge of their seats and sleeping with their lights on!

 

 

Five stars

 

 

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A Fight for Survival Against Two Monsters: The Only Safe Place Left is The Dark is a LGBTQ spin on the zombie apocalypse story

 

The Only Safe Place Left is the Dark

Warren Wagner

Ghoulish Books, 2023

ISBN: 978-1-943720-86-6

Ebook, 100 ppg.

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Imagine a world where being HIV-positive is a blessing, not a curse. That’s how it is for Quinton and Billy, two HIV-positive gay men who fight zombies. In The Only Safe Place Left is the Dark by Warren Wagner, the world has gone to the dumps after a zombie plague sets in. Most people are either dead or zombies, while other people still alive are either monsters or survivors. That’s the world we have set up for us in this novella, and it’s a world where readers will constantly asking themselves: Who will live in the end?

 

The first chapter’s ending REALLY made me angry. I was so angry by what happened that I almost didn’t finish reading the rest of the book. But I did, only out of curiosity. But because the story was so good and awesome things happened, I kept reading!

 

This book is amazing. I loved it! I was especially surprised to learn that this was the author’s debut novella. It is so well-written! Yes, it’s a story of survival and how the world changed, and people changed, after the zombie apocalypse happened, but it’s also a story about love, friendship, loss, loyalty and compassion. That’s a lot to deliver coming from a horror novel, but those themes are indeed in the story, which really made it stand out.

 

Both Quinton and Billy have lost their partners, and I appreciated how we got to learn more about the man who Billy loved at some point in the story. Readers do get to know about Quinton’s lost partner, Frankie, through flashbacks and dreams in the story, but we also learn more about Billy’s late partner. This was a touching scene to read.

 

All of the things these two men go through are really frightening, but it brings them together. They survive so much, it’s not surprising that it’s hard to keep them apart. They got each other’s back. They have saved each other’s lives. It creates a bond for them which changes both their lives.

 

The title had me wondering if the “dark” represented something more than just darkness, as in, staying in the cover of darkness. If you stayed in the cover of darkness, the enemy cannot see you. In Quinton and Billy’s case, the enemy could be a batch of sorts: Zombies, homophobes, religious freaks out to “cleanse” the world (read: kill people) in God’s light, doing so by eliminating the weak and sinful.

 

Sure, that’s no way to live. Always in the dark. Always running, hiding and trying to survive. But that’s the world these two men are thrown into. As Quinton realizes at one point, “They lived for those they lost. Until they could live for themselves again.” (Pg. 83)

 

The Only Safe Place Left is the Dark is an unusual zombie apocalypse story of two gay men fighting for their lives and trying to survive a worst thing than being HIV-positive. Once I got past the horrors of the first chapter, it became a story that was hard for me to put down. It’s a story that brought new insights to my mind and made me think about just how far a person can go in trying to hold on to what kind of life they have left to live after losing everything and everyone in a chaotic world. Hopefully, some good can still be found in it.

 

 

Five stars

 

 

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.