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War: Dark Poems
Look in my eyes. My bronze skin reflects the flames of the battles. I feed on bullets and shrapnel. I have trenches instead of veins and a bombardier's whirring plays my favorite symphony inside my big head. This is my story, with some of my best camouflages and disguises, and you should expect your peace plans to fail. Because that's what I do for a living. Look at my million golden teeth necklace. Ring any bells? Maybe you're too young. I probably should have mentioned the fireworks over the Baghdad night sky, my new friend, or the live broadcast of two great skyscrapers disintegrating. You know what I'm talking about, right? So, you can call me by one of my many Great General, Lock-box of the Powerful, Red Rain, Lord of Steel or, more simply, WAR. I appear as strife of many kinds, from Stalingrad to Scotland. Africa to Afghanistan, the civil war of Italy and the War Between the States, ghostly wars, drug wars, the battle of the sexes, World Wars I, II and visions of a holocaust yet to come. It's all herein and more, with poems both collaborative and individual. Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing-Tales from the Darkest Depths.
102 pages, Paperback
Published June 7, 2018
About the author
Alessandro Manzetti
139 books86 followersALESSANDRO MANZETTI (Rome, 1968) is an Italian author of horror, weird fiction, science fiction, dark fantasy, pulp, speculative fiction, and dark poetry. He is a three-time Bram Stoker Award winner and a fourteen-time finalist, an Elgin Award winner, and has received nominations for several other major international awards, including the Splatterpunk Awards, This Is Horror Awards, and Rhysling Awards.
He is the author of more than forty books published in Italian and English, including novels, novellas, short story collections, poetry, graphic novels, and nonfiction. His short fiction and poetry have appeared in magazines and anthologies across Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Russia, and Poland. His English-language credits include Weird Tales, Space and Time, The Best Horror of the Year, Dark Moon Digest, Disturbed Digest, and numerous other magazines and anthologies, among them Classic Monsters Unleashed, Splatterpunk Forever, Best Hardcore Horror of the Year Vols. 2, 4, 5, and 6, The Big Book of Blasphemy, Midnight Under the Big Top, and Shakespeare Unleashed.
Manzetti has also worked as an editor, comics writer, and essayist. Caleb Battiago is his long-established pseudonym for Italian-language publications, while his English-language books have traditionally appeared under his real name. In 2026, he introduced Maestro Goku N. Hanzo to English-language readers with the first book in a new superpulp series.
website: www.battiago.com
He is the author of more than forty books published in Italian and English, including novels, novellas, short story collections, poetry, graphic novels, and nonfiction. His short fiction and poetry have appeared in magazines and anthologies across Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Russia, and Poland. His English-language credits include Weird Tales, Space and Time, The Best Horror of the Year, Dark Moon Digest, Disturbed Digest, and numerous other magazines and anthologies, among them Classic Monsters Unleashed, Splatterpunk Forever, Best Hardcore Horror of the Year Vols. 2, 4, 5, and 6, The Big Book of Blasphemy, Midnight Under the Big Top, and Shakespeare Unleashed.
Manzetti has also worked as an editor, comics writer, and essayist. Caleb Battiago is his long-established pseudonym for Italian-language publications, while his English-language books have traditionally appeared under his real name. In 2026, he introduced Maestro Goku N. Hanzo to English-language readers with the first book in a new superpulp series.
website: www.battiago.com
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
November 19, 2018
Beautiful words for an ugly topic—War by Marge Simon and Alessandro Manzetti lay bare the bones of conflict and display them, every detail, for us to examine from the safe confines of our living rooms.
Raw, political and very real, these poems don’t hold back with their messages. The imagery is vivid, painting a mural of death across the reader’s mind. The poems don’t focus on any particular war, but offer a varied box of experiences. From jungle to desert and everywhere between, we are given a glimpse of the tragedy we wreak upon ourselves.
Without sounding like a 70s protest, the verses in War don’t come across as judgmental. They state facts and provide the experience so that we may judge. Besides the lovely writing, I have to give major credit to the illustrator as well.
Stefano Cardoselli has taken my breath away with his complex and engaging images. Darkly humorous, I found myself spending as much time looking at his art as I did reading and thinking about the poetry.
A wonderful book, I highly recommend it and wish Simon, Manzetti and Cardoselli all the best with this powerful book.
Raw, political and very real, these poems don’t hold back with their messages. The imagery is vivid, painting a mural of death across the reader’s mind. The poems don’t focus on any particular war, but offer a varied box of experiences. From jungle to desert and everywhere between, we are given a glimpse of the tragedy we wreak upon ourselves.
Without sounding like a 70s protest, the verses in War don’t come across as judgmental. They state facts and provide the experience so that we may judge. Besides the lovely writing, I have to give major credit to the illustrator as well.
Stefano Cardoselli has taken my breath away with his complex and engaging images. Darkly humorous, I found myself spending as much time looking at his art as I did reading and thinking about the poetry.
A wonderful book, I highly recommend it and wish Simon, Manzetti and Cardoselli all the best with this powerful book.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review