HWA Poetry Showcase Volume III

HWA Poetry Showcase #3

by David E. Cowen (Editor), Bruce Boston (Contributor), Corrine De Winter (Contributor)

This third volume in the Horror Writers Association's acclaimed POETRY SHOWCASE series features more than fifty never-before-published poems by both renowned genre favorites and fresh new voices.

Genres: Poetry, Horror

112 pages, Paperback

First published August 6, 2016

Reviews

[JA Grier · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this collection to be a general mix of the good and the less good. Only a few of these poems really caught my attention, and compelled me to go back and have another read or two. I thought The Shed by Annie Neugebauer was a standout, and I also enjoyed Alice After by Lisa Lepovetsky. But many of these poems seem to suffer from dealing in cliches or overused themes and tropes. Others have interesting ideas, but feel more like vignettes than poems. I simply felt that too many of these poems lacked a nucleating moment, that real sense of dark epiphany that I like to find in horror poetry.

[Suz Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The poems detail horrors on a scale from the cataclysmic down to the ordinary turned malicious and twisted.”—from David E. Cowen’s introduction

So many great poems in this installment of the HWA Showcase!

My favorites include:
“Enough” by Bruce Boston
“Nuclear Winter Kiss” by Chad Stroup
“Always the Black and White Keys” by Corrine De Winter
“The Trappings of Poetry” by Michael A. Arnzen
“Ant Farm Necropolis” by Adrian Ludens
“The Shed” by Annie Neugebauer
“3 AM at Clio’s Laundromat” by Cecilia Dockins
“Self-Portrait as Bad 1950’s Science Fiction Movie” by Jeannine Hall Gailey
“Alice After” by Lisa Lepovetsky
“Health and Safety” by Mark Kirkbride
“Beauty in Death (Haiku)” by Samson Stormcrow Hayes

[Ronald Weston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm reading the HWA Poetry Showcase series in order. I found this one to be the best so far. Most of the poems are affective, efficiently structured, and have a natural rhythm. A few rhymed poems fall a bit short. All-in-all, I'm glad I read this volume.

[Ravsta P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some real crackers in here. Mister Deadsmile and the dark Alice in Wonderland poem especially I enjoyed.