Dame Evergreen, And Other Poems of Myth, Magic, and Madness by Rebecca Buchanan
Self-Published (October 31, 2024)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Rebecca Buchanan is the editor of the Pagan literary ezine Eternal Haunted Summer. Her work has appeared in a variety of venues, including Abyss & Apex, Enchanted Conversation, Eye to the Telescope, and Star*Line. Her newest poetry collection, Dame Evergreen, And Other Poems of Myth, Magic, and Madness will arrive on October 31.
Buchanan’s collection is primarily one of folklore and fairytale. There are poems in here from all sorts of legends from around the world, and they are presented in all sorts of forms and styles. Buchanan displays her multiple talents, moving from formal poetry to free verse to prose poetry and back again, each poem a moving piece of art. Whether it’s a quick quatrain from the point of view of Sleeping Beauty or a free-verse poem about the real identity of the Emperor’s tailors, fairy tales and folktales provide a solid groundwork from which Buchanan can pluck her poems. They are richly lyrical and Buchanan’s sound work is tight and sonorous. These poems are a pleasure to read aloud, and horror readers will enjoy sharing them.
There are also poems of myth and legend. And they are not just Western myths, either. The poems and their topics range from Deianaira of Greek myth to a contemporary interpretation of Pomona from Roman mythology to an ode to the Aztec gods of the cardinal directions to a prose poem about a Catholic saint’s heart. As with the fairy tale and folklore poems, these poems are equally impressive. Not only is their scope global, but they are handled with a reverence and respect that comes from Buchanan’s skills as an editor of a pagan venue. Reading these poems, readers will feel like they are in a sacred space, one made of words and images but weighted with the gravity of an unknown divine presence.
Dame Evergreen, And Other Poems of Myth, Magic, and Madness is one of those collections that is horror, but in the best ways. Rather than try to scare or terrify you, it taps into pagan and folkloric roots, demanding that you be warned about the dangers that lurk in the world. If you tread here, it warns, there will be dangers, but there are ways to stay safe, gain knowledge, and enjoy yourself. Readers of folk horror, dark fantasy, fairy tale horror, and similar genres need to read this newest book from one of the strongest voices in contemporary horror poetry.
