All Hallows’ Eve, Samhain, Day of the Dead… during this interval, the barriers between the two realms are thinnest.
Welcome to the October 11th stop on the blog tour for Messengers of the Macabre: Halloween Poems by LindaAnn LoSchiavo & David Davies with Bewitching Book Tours (schedule linked.) Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, exclusive content, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.
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About the Book
Messengers of the Macabre
Halloween Poems
by LindaAnn LoSchiavo & David Davies
Publishing 18 October 2022
Audience Askew
Genre: Non-Fiction, Poetry
Page Count: 54
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!
All Hallows’ Eve, Samhain, Day of the Dead… during this interval, the barriers between the two realms are thinnest. Normal turns paranormal; what’s natural becomes the supernatural. That’s when the messengers of the macabre are in their rightful element.
Step inside this collaborative chapbook and embrace a haunted harvest of verses embracing bewitchment, boneyards, and all things that go… BOO!
Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK
Featured Poem
Ritual
These men got what they deserved.
She looks down at the fresh grave,
breathing the sour odors of wet earth
and the recent sweat of the diggers.
Dressed in mourners’ black, naturally.
Far from the smoky lanterns of the street,
the meat roasting on the stoves,
and the violence and money
men waste on brief entertainment.
She’s the youngest; her sisters and
mother always know where she is.
In front of her, three short steps beyond
the dark soil, is the wooden cross
with the neatly carved name.
The carpenter here does fine work.
She rubs a swollen lip. It will heal
and fade like the others, and this one
will not leave a scar. They all,
mother and sisters, bear record
on their skin from men like this one.
These men deserved what they got.
You’re the one that makes it right,
her sisters tell her. You were born knowing
where to cut, they admire. Our angel
sent to protect us. Small and quick,
shadow-to-shadow, under dim windows,
too clever to be seen, the deed done
swiftly by a small hand and a sharp
thin blade where no one looks.
And when suspicion arises?
“She’s the baby, we don’t let her out.”
“We always know where she is.”
What more can women do
but protect each other?
Knife in hand now, she steps forward.
The turned earth gives a little
under her boots. One hand on top
of the cross, she hacks at the letters.
They splinter and crack, until
there is bare wood cleaved and cut
where a name once stood.
These men deserve what they get.
She’s the baby, her mother and sisters
always know where she is.
Then she’s gone in her black dress
before any—alive or dead—can notice her,
this cemetery ritual complete.
About the Authors
New York City necromancer LindaAnn LoSchiavo, a wily clairvoyant, honed her psychic abilities during childhood and has the power to haunt any benighted soul who disparages this chapbook.
Some of her Elgin Award-winning poems have been seen here: Bewildering Stories, Blood ‘n Bourbon, Mermaids Monthly, South Broadway Ghost Society, Star*Line.
Formidable dragon slayer David Davies left Wales under baleful circumstances for The Lone Star State. “Have sonnets, will travel,” announces his business card. His Pushcart- and Bram Stoker-nominated poems and stories have been known to appear in: Granfalloon, Green Lantern Press, MacroMicroCosm, Moon Shadow Sanctuary, Ripples in Space.
Giveaway Alert!
1 ebook copy of Messengers of the Macabre: Halloween Poems by LindaAnn LoSchiavo and David Davies and some of digital artwork
a Rafflecopter giveawayDisclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
