Author: James Pack

James Pack is a member of the Horror Writers Association and has published several collections of poetry and short fiction. He is the editor of the left leaning political blog, www.theproperdeal.com. Learn more about James and his collected works on his personal blog www.thejamespack.com. He lives in Tucson, AZ.
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Tuesday Poetry: Friendship and Romance

Luna and Sol dance the eternal dance
hypnotic movement that’s never ending
encircling young Terra as they prance

playing the game, they don’t offer the chance
as the young one continues contending
Luna and Sol dance the eternal dance

but should the two lovers perchance to glance
the sadness in her as she is wending
encircling young Terra as they prance

Terra refuses to break the romance
or disrupt the time they have been spending
Luna and Sol dance the eternal dance

with no ability to break the trance
they must continue without intending
encircling young Terra as they prance

the friendship that Terra cannot enhance
despite all of her efforts of mending
Luna and Sol dance the eternal dance
encircling young Terra as they prance

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Poetry Monday: Random Thoughts

Aardvarks are cool
when swimming the Mississippi
while reciting Red, Red Rose
running from a Rose of Sharon
Rocket Rollerblades are cool
especially with a Mohawk
except on Wall Street
but Kait and John don’t care
Pencils can be vicious
when you live in Paris, Texas
fighting Paris Hilton
with a bag of marbles
screeching from the page
words hushing reality

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Coffee and Contemplation: A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

After a brief hiatus, we are returning to discussing supernatural fiction. Tremblay’s novel “A Head Full of Ghosts” was not what I expected. It was much better than it first sounded. It’s a kind of story where the reader isn’t sure what’s real or not. It’s open for interpretation but that was Tremblay’s purpose for the story. There are a couple of references to “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. That story is also open to a lot of interpretation. The reader will have to decide what kind of story they’re reading, and they have to decide if they want to believe the narrator. 

One of my favorite things about discussing stories is deciding on the validity of the narrator. Is the narrator lying? Are they projecting their own biases on the story? Are they telling their story or someone else’s? What gives them the authority to tell this story? Consider these questions after reading Tremblay’s novel. This is the only novel I’ve read by Tremblay so I can’t speak much on his style, but he makes everything feel rooted in the real world. Even the supernatural events have a way of being explained but the reader isn’t sure which parts of the story are truth and which are fiction. One of many reasons I enjoyed this book so much.

I recommend this book to everyone.

Spooky Spider Scale (How scary was the book?): 6 spiders 🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️

Overall rating: 4 stars ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐