Winter Solstice 2023 Issue by Eternal Haunted Summer

 My short poem, Without Coin, is featured in the winter edition of Eternal Haunted Summer.  This poem was written for a contest using all the titles of an author's current books.  I won the contest and received an ebook of their latest book.

~ Poetry ~

Aubade with Carnivores by Nnadi Samuel

Bealltuinn by Clay Franklin Johnson

Black Forest Nocturne by Matt Schumacher

Blue-beard’s Collective by Deborah Sage

The Curious Incident of the Black Dog of the Night by Nicole J. LeBoeuf

Death Comes Calling by Colleen Anderson

The Dréag by Adam Bolivar

The Ghoul by Scott J. Couturier

hemiplegic migraine as willing human sacrifice by Ennis Rook Bashe

Last Gasp by Gerri Leen

Mother of Night by Susan Bennett

Mummy’s Curse by Hayley Arrington

Never Leave the Path by Kyla Lee Ward

Notes On a Nightmare by Alexander Etheridge

Question of Corvid and Chiropteran Society by Terry Trowbridge

Sins of the Father by Samantha Casey

The Stench That Befouls the Night by Ngo Binh Anh Khoa

Tide Mouse by Amelia Gorman

Without Coin by Ashley Dioses

~ Fiction and Prose Poetry ~

Choosing Day by Danielle Davis

Cuckoo’s Egg Chocolate Cupcakes by Mary Kuna

The Guardian by Katherine PF Holmes

I, Moros by Maxwell I. Gold

Imperiatrix Abyssa, or Queen of the Damned; From the Misadventures of Simon Magus Iscariot by Edward St. Boniface

Jenny’s Song by Simon Bleaken

Last Rose for Breanna by Ray Van Horn Jr.

Lost in the Desert by Daniel Stride

Making Sense of Merlyn by Peller G. Sauvage

Melkart and the Daimon’s Bride by Mark Mellon

Rabbit Moon by Sarah Walker

Rattus by Jim Johnston

Sebastian Smirch’s Own Double Entry by Tim Newton Anderson

Tony and Tian’s Wedding by Mord McGhee

Waiting for Jonah by John Kucera

~ Interviews ~

Max Ingram, author of Traveler’s Rede: Poetry From Hávamál

Kele Lampe, author of the Caitlin Ross series

~ Reviews ~

The Alvin Goodfellow Case Files by Leah Cutter (reviewed by Rebecca Buchanan)

Amazon’s Pledge by Sara Hawke (reviewed by Rebecca Buchanan)

The Valkyries’ Loom by Michele Haveur Smith (reviewed by Erin Lale)

Spectral Realms No. 18 by Hippocampus Press

 Though my output was slow this year due to school, it appears I did better this year than last year.  My poem, I Am Beautiful, appears in issue 18 of Spectral Realms.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Poems

The Star-Treader: Emperor of Dreams / Carl E. Reed

Fée Metropolitain / M. F. Webb   

Pericula Noctis / Frank Coffman   

The Siren / Carole Abourjeili   

Banshee / Christian Dickinson   

Front Piece from the Necronomicon / James Arthur Anderson   

The Ghoul’s Delirium / Scott J. Couturier   

Pumpkin Ale / K. A. Opperman  

Trapped in the Spiral Maze / Adele Gardner   

Brain Funk / Maxwell I. Gold   

Aspis; or, The Brood of Rahab / Harris Coverley  

Sisyphus Looks Up / Geoffrey Reiter   

The Rite of Exploration / Holly Day   

Dreamsign / Andrew White   

Postmortem / Ngo Binh Anh Khoa   

Transmogrification / Manuel Pérez-Campos   

Appalling / Lori R. Lopez   

Stranded in Mississippi / Chad Hensley   

Dreams of the Styx / Steve Dilks   

Ghosts in Their Sunday Clothes / Steven Withrow   

The Spirit Mirror of  Doctor Dee / Ann K. Schwader  

The Old Ones: A Ghazal / Joshua Gage   

For Those Who Tread the Narrow Path / Jordan Zuniga   

In the Land of Magma, Salt, and Glacier / Amelia Gorman   

Giants in the Earth / Darrell Schweitzer   

The Song of the Sword / Adam Bolivar   

Night Comes to Sesqua Valley / D. L. Myers   

Herod Agrippa / Wade German   

Corvid Hill / David Barker   

Visiting Hours / John Thomas Allen   

In Your Dreams / Silvatiicus Riddle   

Post-anthropy / David C. Kopaska-Merkel   

Mr. Illusive / Frank Coffman   

The Venomous Violins / Ron L. Johnson II   

A Whisper to Rock / Carl E. Reed   

In Tura / Scott J. Couturier    

Figments and Fragments / William Clunie   

From Heights of Fire to Depths of Cold / Andrew White   

Rollin’ Bone and Beaten Stones / Harris Coverley   

The Troublemaker; or, To Escape Days of Idleness / Manuel Pérez-Campos   

The Dragon’s Rage / Ngo Binh Anh Khoa   

The Last Days of the Flu / Holly Day   

After an Industrial Accident / Steven Withrow   

A Voice in the Night / Geoffrey Reiter   

Djinn / Christian Dickinson   

I Am Beautiful / Ashley Dioses   

Final Night / DJ Tyrer   

Vampire / Carole Abourjeili   

Time of Day / Jay Hardy   

Grindevil / Lori R. Lopez   

Perfect World / Ann K. Schwader   

Bard of Grain and Gourd / K. A. Opperman   

Beneath the Ruins of Xul-Kizaak / Wade German   

Marble Fang / Benjamin Blake   

Love Song of the Lugubrious Gondolier / Manuel Arenas   

There’s a Hole in the Sky / Maxwell I. Gold   

The Countess / John Thomas Allen   

Among the Dead / Scott J. Couturier   

The Role of Monster I Embrace / Andrew White   

Locus Horroris / Frank Coffman   

Iason’s Prospicience; or, Solstyce / Manuel Pérez-Campos   

Illumination / David Barker   

The Whale Road / Dmitri Akers   

The Last Refuge / James O’Melia   

Let There Be Light / Carl E. Reed   

The Séance / Ngo Binh Anh Khoa   

At the Polar Gatefires / Andrew Kolarik   

Loyal Companion / Steven Withrow   

Fuath / Christian Dickinson   

A Display of Affection / Harris Coverley   

In the Ruins / Geoffrey Reiter   

 

Classic Reprints  

The Skeleton Dance: A Ballad / Anonymous   

Haunted Houses / James F. Morton   

 

Reviews   

Demonic and Darkling / Leigh Blackmore   

No Happily-Ever-After / Katherine Kerestman   

October’s Law of Diminishing Returns / Steven Withrow   

 

Notes on Contributors  

The Best of Eternal Haunted Summer: A Thirteenth Anniversary Edition

It has been a busy school year for me so I am just now catching up on some posts between semesters.  My reprint poem, Witch Lord of the Hunt, appears in this gorgeous volume of Eternal Haunted Summer's best-of edition.

Introduction

Beginnings and Endings 

AT THE CROSSROADS: BELTANE AND SAMHAIN 

Kim Malinowski

BLOOD AND OTHER FRUIT 

Shannon Connor Winward

CAVE PAINTING 

Bran Keane

EQUINOX (AFTER BLODEUWEDD) 

Alison Leigh Lilly

MAKE GARLANDS AND NECKLACES OF MY FLOWERS 

Michael Routery

NORTH: A RAGNAROK 

Tristan Beiter

A TRIBUTE TO THE FERRYMAN 

Ngô Binh Anh Khoa

VERSE FOUND SCRATCHED INSIDE THE LID OF A SARCOPHAGUS (DYNASTY UNKNOWN) 

Gemma Files

YEAR’S WALK 

Scott J Couturier

Sun, Moon, Earth, and Stars 

THE CRONE OF MICHAEL’S POND 

Deborah Guzzi

CROSS-POLLINATION 

Juli D Revezzo

THE HELMET OF PLUTO 

Maxwell I Gold

HOW TO HONOR SIRIUS 

Mary Soon Lee

THE LANGUAGE OF THE STARS 

Dr. Sara Cleto and Dr. Brittany Warman

A MASK OF ICE 

Deborah L Davitt

A PAGAN BIBLE 

Penelope Friday

SAPPHO AND THE WOMAN OF STARLIGHT 

John W Sexton

Powers Terrible and Divine

ATIBON LEGBA 

Alicia Cole

EIRAPHIOTES (INSEWN) 

Ruby Sara

FINDING HECATE 

Clay F. Johnson

FREYJA IN FALCON-SKIN 

Sandi Leibowitz

THE GARDEN OF EVENING 

Kelly Jarvis

HECATE’S DOMAIN 

Gerri Leen

HOW TO BECOME QUEEN OF THE UNDERWORLD 

Sarah Sadie

HYMN TO THE RUSTIC THEOI, PRAISE AND SUPPLICATION FROM SOUTHERN APPALACHIA 

Reilly Blackwell

I CALL HIM .... 

Tahni J Nikitins

INVOCATION OF DIANA 

KA Opperman

IRON-MAKER 

Kaye Boesme

THE LAST LIBATION 

Daniel Stride

THE RAVENS 

Michaela Macha

SIGYN DREAMS 

Steven Klepetar

SONNET TO FREYA 

Juleigh Howard-Hobson

SUN-GOD’S CROWN 

Jennifer Lawrence

THE TOUCH OF A GOD 

Joel Zartman

WITCH-LORD OF THE HUNT 

Ashley Dioses

Witches, Fairies, and Other Troublemakers

GHAZAL 

Allister Nelson

THE HORSES OF BUHEN 

Sylvia Kelso

THE INTERSTITIAL FAIRY DEMOLITION CREW CASTS A CIRCLE 

CS MacCath

LO STREGOZZO 

Kyla Lee Ward

MEDUSA OF THE MIDWAY DINER 

Hillary Lyon

MIDNIGHT AT THE ABBEY OF SHADOWS 

Laurence Raphael Brothers

MOTHERS’ NIGHT 

Adam Bolivar

QUESTING DONE RIGHT: THE GOBLIN MARKET 

Elizabeth R. McClellan

SPELL FOR A FRIEND 

Adele Gardner

THE STORM WITCH 

Colleen Anderson

Darkest Days and Haunted Ways

I am ecstatic to announce that my third poetry collection, Darkest Days and Haunted Ways is now available!  It is the companion volume to my second collection, The Withering, which came out in 2020, also from Jackanapes Press.

Darkest Days and Haunted Ways strays away from the heavier supernatural themes in The Withering and focuses more on the emotional sides of grief, trauma, and pain that come with facing illness, dying, and threats of death of a loved one at a young age.  

"Gruesome, gory and glorious. Ashley Dioses' latest collection is the splayed corpse of a young poet. Lovers of dark poetry, those fascinated with the whole spectrum of all of death's colors, will find exquisite work in these pages.” —S. L. Edwards, author of In the Devil's Cradle

"Darkest Days and Haunted Ways is sensuous and sensual, grim and madly gay. It evokes primal, hungry rites, and recalls the half-forgotten myths of an ancient feminine who is to be both feared and desired. These poems are the mutterings of a witch-woman deep in her cave, wrapped in bones and roots as she listens to the whisperings of worms. Discomfiting, disturbing, galvanizing, and startling." —Rebecca Buchanan, author of Not a Princess, But (Yes) There Was a Pea and Other Poems to Foment Revolution

"Refracted by the splintered looking-glass of adulthood, Ashley Dioses' Darkest Days and Haunted Ways whispers in the language of teen angst: lachrymose, lyrical, and evocative." —Jessica McHugh, 2x Bram Stoker Award® Nominated author of The Quiet Ways I Destroy You

"In Darkest Days and Haunted Ways, Ashley Dioses exposes the flayed heart of her teenage years, and, in so doing, she reveals some of the origins of the sublime nightshade with which her poetry is filled." —D. L. Myers, author of Oracles from the Black Pool

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Foreword: Autopsy of a Poetess

I. PULSE

Twisted Grin

That Which Builds from Fear

Twitch

So Sick

Pulse

A Pin-Prick

The Resolution

II. TORN UP INSIDE

Misery vs. Happiness

Divine Strength

Locked Within

Torn Up Inside

Just a Glimpse

Confined Within

III. WITHER

Drained

What You Don’t See

Blackout

Sweet Sixteen

Level Unreached

Wither

IV. THE WRATH INSIDE

The Alternate Choice

The Disdain

Shards

Silent Lies

The Wrath Inside

The Fork in the Road

V. EMBRACE THE DARKNESS

Forever Lost

Embrace the Darkness

Cold

When All Things Stop

Afterword

Chronological Order        

The Book of Cernunnos by Ar nDraiocht Fein

My reprint poem, Witch Lord of the Hunt, appears in this collection of devotional works, The Book of Cernunnos by Ar nDraiocht Fein.  

 

Weirdbook #46 by Wildside Press

My poem, Whispers, appears in the last issue of Weirdbook issue 46 from Wildside Press.  Whispers is also featured in my second collection, The Withering.

Short Stories

DREAMING KANDRESPHAR, by Darrell Schweitzer

EYE OF WISDOM, EYE OF PAIN, by John R. Fultz

THE THING THAT ISN’T HIS MOTHER, by Lorenzo Crescentini

ZOLTÁN, by Cynthia Ward

CHARMED, I’M SURE, by Franklyn Searight

PANDEMONIUM, by Thomas Vaughn A WITNESS OF THE LAST DAYS OF

EN-FANULK, by Adrian Simmons

THE ACQUISITION OF LADY BRACKNELL, by R.C. Mulhare

WHITSUN, by Simon Bestwick

A COMEDY OF TERRORS, by Adrian Cole

WILDFIRE, by Sharon Cullars

RECORDED DELIVERY, by Alexander Hay

THE DIVINE FLOUTIST, by Jessica Amanda Salmonson

THE GHOSTS OF OLD SAMHAIN, by Frank Coffman

SESSA’S SONG, by David C. Smith

A STREAK OF GRAY, by Mark McLaughlin

Poetry

THE SIRENS SING AT SUNSET, by Allan Rozinski

WHISPERS, by Ashley Dioses

TRYING TO FIND IT IN MY CITY, by Chad Hensley

THE NIGHT MARE, by K.A. Opperman

THE GHOSTS OF OLD SAMHAIN, by Frank Coffman

Open Mike Night 6/1/2023

 Kyle and I attended an open mike night at the Anaheim Library on June 1st where I was the featured guest.  It was a lot of fun and I read a few select pieces from Diary of a Sorceress and The Withering.  Afterward, Kyle and I ate some Indian food with Wendy Van Camp and other SFPA readers.

Collage Reading

Wendy Van Camp, Denise Dumars, Jean-Paul L Garnier, and I discussed speculative genre poetry, did a Q&A, and read some of our poetry at the Collage in San Pedro.  It was a lot of fun though it seemed the weather drove some of the audience away.  

Reading Speculative Poetry at Collage

I will be reading, signing, and selling books at this event this Sunday the 15th. 

Science Fiction and Fantasy fan? Poetry fan? Why not try both together? You will get to do so when members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association  (SFPA) read their work and discuss the topic at Collage: a Place for Art and Culture. You’ll also learn how to join the SFPA and how to find markets for your own poetry in the genres by writers who have published in numerous journals both print and online. Come join us on Sunday, Jan. 15, at 2 PM. Collage is located at the south end of the Harbor Freeway, at 731 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro, CA, 90731. http://collageartculture.org. 

 Speakers: 

WENDY VAN CAMP: Poet Laureate of Anaheim, CA, and Convention Coordinator for the SFPA, Wendy is an award-winning writer who has edited Eye to the Telescope, the online journal of the SFPA, and is currently nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She edits the Eccentric Orbits series of SF/F poetry anthologies, and the current issue is nominated for Best Anthology Award. Find her at https://wendyvancamp.com/.  

ASHLEY DIOSES: Award-nominated dark fantasy and Gothic poet and fiction writer, with books of poetry published by Jackanapes Press and Hippocampus Press, Ashley has been nominated for the Rhysling and Elgin awards for SF/F/H poetry as well as appearing in such well-known journals as Cemetery Dance and Weirdbook. She blogs at fiendlover.blogspot.com. 

DENISE DUMARS: Columnist for Star* Line, the Journal of the SFPA, and widely published and award-winning poet and short fiction writer, Denise has been a college English instructor and a literary agent. Author of several poetry books and chapbooks, she has been nominated multiple times for the Rhysling, Elgin, and Dwarf Stars awards and is a current nominee for the Pushcart Prize. Find her at www.DeniseDDumars.com.

JEAN-PAUL L. GARNIER: Editor of Star*Line, the Journal of the SFPA, he is the owner of Space Cowboy bookstore, winner of the Critters Best Bookstore award for 2021. His podcast is Simultaneous Times, and he is an independent publisher of SF poetry and fiction. He is a five-time nominee for the Elgin award with several books in print. He contributes to dreamfoundry.org. Find him at https//spacecowboybooks.com.