👻 Halloween Read ~ Spooky Ambiguous

 

Crumps Barn Studio

15 September

My thanks to the publisher and Daphne Denley for my copy of this book

Spooky Ambiguous: ghost stories and poetry, fangs and fairy tales

Ghosts and vampires, zombies and werewolves. A mirror with danger at its heart. A child is delighted to discover she is a witch, and a village disappears under a fairy curse. Then a selkie finds her way back to the waves, before a blood moon rises, bringing its own secrets ...

Full of the spooky and the gothic, fairy tales and poetry, this is a brilliant and intriguing collection where nothing and no one is as they seem.

👻 My Review...

I do like to have a book set aside for Halloween. There's something about settling down in a cosy corner, with a cup of hot chocolate and a few creepy stories to set the mood for the time when ghosties, ghouls and witches make their annual appearance.

This lovely collection helps to set the mood and with a nice blend of short stories and expressive poetry the book can be comfortably read in one sitting or read in snatched moments when you just need to escape the world. The fifteen short stories and poems caught my attention and the whole collection is brought to life with eleven eerie illustrations which help to create a sombre mood. The writers who have contributed to this set of stories vary in style but collectively they all work really well. I won't single any out for particular praise as that would be unfair but suffice to say I found much to enjoy in this creepy set of Gothic stories and poems.

  

☕ Best Read with... a cup of frothy hot chocolate

FeaturedAuthors

Penny Ayers, Michael Bartlett, Patrick Booth, Amaris Chase, Holly Anne Crawford, Ivor Daniel, Amanda Jane Davies, Daphne Denley, J. J. Drover, Harriet Hitchen, Rebecca McDowall, Jane Phillips, Angela Reddaway, Joe Robson and Margaret Royall, with illustrations by Lorna Gray.

Each of the authors who have contributed to this collaboration brings a unique voice to the genre. Whether dealing with life and loss, love and laughter, or stepping beyond into the danger of the supernatural, each of these short stories and poems evokes the true essence of the Gothic – its power to draw upon emotion.

Twitter @CrumpsBarn #SpookyAmbiguous

Book Review ~ Moments: An Autobiography in Verse by Daphne Denley

Crumps Barns Studio

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this poetry book

Like many of us, Daphne Denley is a fully signed-up apprentice of mid-life mayhem. She is a mother trying to adjust to her daughter’s grown up tastes. And she is a loving wife who has had her life turned upside down by her husband’s devastating diagnosis.

This collection of poems is an autobiography in verse. In turns heartfelt, familiar and beautifully observed, Daphne explores each of life’s Moments – and in the process shows us how, even in the worst of times, hope can return in the end.

My thoughts..

It's always a real pleasure to feature poetry on the blog, especially when that poetry is by a writer who shares the personal moments of her life in emotional poetry which is both heartwarming and heartfelt.

This poetry collection covers a whole range of emotions in reflective pieces which are scattered throughout and which take us on a journey through the poet's thoughts and feelings about what was going on in her life at the time of writing. And whilst this is a very personal collection, which has deep meaning for the author, the strength of the verses also struck a chord with me, and I felt like I was travelling alongside the writer on an intimate journey.

This collection of 55 poems covers a wide range of topics, from the beautiful simplicity of the opening poem, Sweet Dreams, about a mother with her baby, and as a new grandmother I can identify with its beautifully expressed sentiment, to the succinctness of the finishing poem Cheers, and in all the poems in-between there is something to enjoy in verses which are not overly complicated but which reflect those autobiographical moments in life which are so precious to us all.

About the Author

Daphne Denley is a poet and song-writer. This is her first published collection of poetry. She lives on the edge of Rodborough Common with her husband and daughter.