Anytime Edgar Allan Poe is mentioned, you know you will be unpacking a lot. There is morbidity, grief, frenzy, guilt, obsession, rage and brooding! This lovely tribute to the master of horror was no exception! Love Letters to Poe Volume 1, edited by Sara Crocoll Smith, was beautifully presented to its readers an anthology collection of brilliantly crafted stories from a diverse group of skilled authors, some well-known and others who have piqued my interest in their work.
This anthology is curated with 12 themed issues, each containing 48 short stories and 7 poems filled with gothic horror! Themes include a toast to the master, touching on his infamous stories of death, haunting, and grief, memento amori, modern gothic, a re-imagination of Edgar Allan Poe, midwestern and southern gothic, and parenthood. What they all have in common are sprinklings of Poe-inspiration and a wonderful tribute to the legacy of a man who brought the world frenzied gothic literature. It is difficult to summarize all the stories as each one had its own merit, but here are a few of my personal favorites:
· "The Rowhouse" by Jeremy Megargee
· "The Song of Helaine" by J.L. Royce
· "The Heart of Alderman Kane" by Eleanor Sciolstein
· "Kingdom by the Sea" by Troy Seate
· "Midnight Rider" by Melanie Cossey
· "The Inheritance Thread" by Hailey Piper
· "The Human in Me" by Richard Ankers
· "The Heart Tells the Tale" by J.E.M Wildfire.
The best part of reading anything inspired by Poe is that it takes you back to enjoying the unnerving and unsettling stories of Poe himself, enjoying the spookiness of it all, from voices beyond the grave, the thin veil between life and death, dark poetry, and vivid imagery.
The beauty of anthologies lies in their variety; even if not every story resonates, at least one leaves a lasting impression on its readers. Personally, I love short stories, especially when they are written just right. These were certainly entertaining and definitely captured the tiny terror known all too well when reading anything Poe! Bravo to all the authors!!!