Midnight Light Book Review: A Poetic Exploration of Life & Death

“The moon appears in the night sky
Casting our souls into dreams
Endlessly flowing streams of subconscious move over the land”
-Another Perspective

Midnight Light
Image accompanying the poem “Underneath Icicles” in Midnight Light (Photo credit: Brian Paglinco)

Verse and imagery entwine in Midnight Light, a book that illuminates darkness and uncovers life pulsating in the land of the dead. It is the creation of two dear friends—writer Michael Pace and photographer Brian Paglinco—who wanted to share their artistic vision with the world, as well as pay tribute to their enduring friendship. The pages contain a series of gothic-inspired poems and photos that transported me to different time periods and places as I explored the work.

Continue reading “Midnight Light Book Review: A Poetic Exploration of Life & Death”

Poe Pop Culture: A Birthday Tribute to Edgar Allan Poe

edgar-allan-poe

On January 19th, 1809, one of the most influential figures in Gothic literature was born—Edgar Allan Poe. The American writer is renowned for his terror-filled works, where death plays a major theme. His poetry and short stories have been categorized under the horror fiction umbrella, and they have also been associated with dark Romanticism, a subgenre of Romanticism that fixated on the grotesque and morbid. It should also be mentioned that he had a major impact on the development of the modern detective story.

More than two centuries later from the date of his birth, his words continue to stir the macabre spirit within us. I still have the research paper I wrote as an undergrad about The Black Cat. Since countless biographies have been published on the poet, I will not retell the details of his life. Instead, to commemorate this occasion, I thought I’d compile a brief, but amusing list of Edgar Allan Poe’s presence in pop culture. Happy Birthday Eddy! Continue reading “Poe Pop Culture: A Birthday Tribute to Edgar Allan Poe”