Spectral Realms No. 12: Winter 2020

This twelfth issue of Hippocampus Press's award-winning journal of weird poetry begins with David Barker's affecting acrostic sonnet in memory of the late W. H. Pugmire. Contributions by other leading contemporary poets--Leigh Blackmore, Frank Coffman, Adam Bolivar, Benjamin Blake, Christina Sng, and many others--are scattered throughout the issue. We also find vivid and evocative prose poems by Maxwell I. Gold, Manuel Arenas, and Wade German.Thomas Tyrrell writes a poem in tribute of renowned fantaisiste Lord Dunsany; Don Webb evokes the shade of Edgar Allan Poe; Carl E Reed draws upon the work of Arthur Machen; and Manuel Pérez-Campos pays homage to the comic book Creepy. Nicole Cushing contributes a poem that fuses grimness and beauty, while Scott J. Couturier teases out the horrific potential of Greek myth.Two classic reprints - by Ernest Dowson and Arthur Symons - hint at the bountiful stores of weirdness in poetry of the turn of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. S. T. Joshi offers his assessment of Wade German's recent poetry collection, while Donald Sidney-Fryer waxes eloquent about D. L .Myers's long-awaited omnibus.TABLE OF CONTENTS:PoemsAcrostic Sonnet for Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire / David BarkerGray / M. F. WebbPilgrim in the Mist / Wade GermanProem to the Fortress Unvanquishable / Thomas TyrrellOde to the Great God Pan / Carl E. ReedGhebulax / Maxwell I. GoldThe Crimson Knight / Scott J. CouturierHaematophagy / Ashley DiosesNot All of Them Are Ghosts / Darrell SchweitzerPoe, on the Morning After / Don WebbHomage to Creepy / Manuel Pérez-CamposXipe Totec / Deborah L. DavittNecronomicon / Josh MaybrookWretched Raft / Kieran Dacey BoylanSatanic Sonata / Manuel ArenasTime’s Vulture / Leigh BlackmoreUrban Renewal / Mike AllenGraveside Ghost / Mary Krawczak WilsonNo One Is Safe / Benjamin BlakeMinoan Messages / Frank CoffmanMadhouse Getaway / Manuel Pérez-CamposPlanet Fetish / Chad HensleyJack in Xanadu / Adam BolivarGenesis / Holly DayI Want to Taste October / Ross BalcomA Tasty Treat / Adele GardnerBeyond the Fields / Andrew J. WilsonThe Tears of Cerberus / Wade GermanA Witch in the House / Oliver SmithThe Psychopomp / Cecelia Hopkins-DrewerThe Plague Queen’s Song / Nicole CushingI’ll Return in Late October / K. A. OppermanThe Philosophy & Aesthetics of Horror / Carl E. ReedBlack Wings Return / Michael D. MillerSlow the Night Grows Darker / David SammonsThe Wild Hunt / Chelsea ArringtonLines Written in a Providence Churchyard / David BarkerThe God of the Winds / Christina SngSingularity / Curtis M. LawsonDream Hackers / Maxwell I. GoldThe Bedlam Philharmonic / Steven WithrowThe House (A Conduit) / Mack W. ManiThe Pack / Scott J. CouturierKiss of Life / Manuel ArenasThe Last Golem / Allan RozinskiA Summoning of Demons / Michelle JeffreyAstral Parasites / Manuel Pérez-CamposThe Silent Silver Sea / Leigh BlackmoreHomer Before the Trojan Court / Darrell SchweitzerThe Witch’s Cat / Deborah L. DavittIn Arcadia / Josh MaybrookMy Loveliest Manticore; or, The Queen of the Lamiae / Wade GermanThe Conjuring / Frank CoffmanWildfires / Christina SngNow and Forever / Kieran Dacey BoylanStela of Selos / Scott J. CouturierSouthern Gothic; or, Hillbilly Horror / Carl E. ReedThe Egyptian Splendor / Ross BalcomCarrion Dreams / Maxwell I. GoldClassic ReprintsIn a Breton Cemetery / Ernest DowsonThe Vampire / Arthur SymonsReviewsA Golgotha of Horror / S. T. JoshiDark Oracles Indeed / Donald Sidney-FryerCover art by Albert Joseph Pénot, “La Femme Chauve-Souris” (c. 1890).