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motherhorror's review
5.0
This collection of poetry by Christina Sng is meant to be read by candlelight in a dark, creepy room. While some poetry collections follow a theme or message, this collection captures the essence of the title perfectly,
"A Collection of Nightmares"
Any of these bite-sized terrors could find themselves slipping into your memory; making a return appearance while you sleep...a nugget of nightmare fuel.
Example:
"Mirror to the Other Side"
Through the mirror
I see him, translucent
In the forest,
Tiny form bent
Over a dying fawn,
Bringing it back to life.
"So what do you think of
Our Mirror to the Other Side?"
The saleslady asks.
I nod and smile, never
Taking my eyes off my boy.
"I'll take it."
Wow! See what I mean? I could think of these words for the rest of the day. And this book is full of insidious, little treasures just like that one.
I especially loved:
THEY DO NOT SLEEP
CRAWLSPACE
INSIDE
SUCCUBUS
If you haven’t yet experienced the allure of dark poetry such as this, let Christina Sng’s smartly spoken words work their magic on you. I promise, once you start collecting poetry like this, you'll never want to stop enjoying it.
"A Collection of Nightmares"
Any of these bite-sized terrors could find themselves slipping into your memory; making a return appearance while you sleep...a nugget of nightmare fuel.
Example:
"Mirror to the Other Side"
Through the mirror
I see him, translucent
In the forest,
Tiny form bent
Over a dying fawn,
Bringing it back to life.
"So what do you think of
Our Mirror to the Other Side?"
The saleslady asks.
I nod and smile, never
Taking my eyes off my boy.
"I'll take it."
Wow! See what I mean? I could think of these words for the rest of the day. And this book is full of insidious, little treasures just like that one.
I especially loved:
THEY DO NOT SLEEP
CRAWLSPACE
INSIDE
SUCCUBUS
If you haven’t yet experienced the allure of dark poetry such as this, let Christina Sng’s smartly spoken words work their magic on you. I promise, once you start collecting poetry like this, you'll never want to stop enjoying it.
inkychaotics's review
5.0
Beautiful, dark, and lyrical. Sng paints each poem with detailed brushstrokes, creating evocative images that drip together to create a wonderfully, wicked story. Many pieces reminded me of an anti-fairytale, where we are given the opportunity to glance into the not so happy-ever-after endings. A stunning collection overall.
exorcismofemilyreed's review
4.0
"Lounge on the couch / Of your twisted mind / Dive into your obsessions / Scouring dark tales / From your grapevine."
A Collection of Nightmares is a book of about 40 poems by Christina Sng. I was introduced to her work in the HWA Poetry Showcase Vol. 5. Her poem was one of my favorites, so I had to pick up this collection.
Christina Sng writes beautifully, and she has put her heart into these poems. There was a little less horror than I expected based on the title and cover, but it was still great to read. Many of the poems went in a sci-fi direction, which was surprising to me (apparently I should not have been surprised since I learned later that Christina has other sci-fi poetry collections). I had not read any sci-fi poetry before, but I think it was really well done. They had depth and emotion, and they were so descriptive. Many of the narrators of the poems seemed to be women, and it was easy to find things to relate to in this collection.
My top 5 poems were Just As Papa Said, Inside, D-Day, Twenty Years, and The Fall. I really enjoyed the more gruesome poems like Just As Papa Said, but there's such an intriguing variety in Christina's poetry that it was all enjoyable. I think that A Collection of Nightmares would be a great introduction to someone who wants to try out horror poetry, but maybe doesn't want to get into super gory material just yet. This book is definitely dark, but it's not as bleak as some others I have read. There's still some hope in these poems even though they are focused on nightmares. A Collection of Nightmares is a great book, and I would love to read more from Christina Sng!
A Collection of Nightmares is a book of about 40 poems by Christina Sng. I was introduced to her work in the HWA Poetry Showcase Vol. 5. Her poem was one of my favorites, so I had to pick up this collection.
Christina Sng writes beautifully, and she has put her heart into these poems. There was a little less horror than I expected based on the title and cover, but it was still great to read. Many of the poems went in a sci-fi direction, which was surprising to me (apparently I should not have been surprised since I learned later that Christina has other sci-fi poetry collections). I had not read any sci-fi poetry before, but I think it was really well done. They had depth and emotion, and they were so descriptive. Many of the narrators of the poems seemed to be women, and it was easy to find things to relate to in this collection.
My top 5 poems were Just As Papa Said, Inside, D-Day, Twenty Years, and The Fall. I really enjoyed the more gruesome poems like Just As Papa Said, but there's such an intriguing variety in Christina's poetry that it was all enjoyable. I think that A Collection of Nightmares would be a great introduction to someone who wants to try out horror poetry, but maybe doesn't want to get into super gory material just yet. This book is definitely dark, but it's not as bleak as some others I have read. There's still some hope in these poems even though they are focused on nightmares. A Collection of Nightmares is a great book, and I would love to read more from Christina Sng!
kmcbee's review against another edition
4.0
Rating poetry collections doesn't make any sense to me, but in this platform, stars are gold. I preferred the last third or so of these poems - the apocalyptic ones were very strong for me.
brucemri's review against another edition
5.0
I don't read enough poetry, and it's really my loss. In particular, there's a bunch of genuinely great horror poetry, like this volume that finishes out my Women In Horror Month. Christina Sng's book A Collection Of Nightmares is just marvelous. If I were better informed about poetry, its rhythms and structures and all, I could more clearly describe specific ways it's marvelous, instead of just going "oh, wow" a whole lot. But I'll do what I can.
Some of these poems tell an explicit story. Others focus entirely on a quality of experience whose cause is just hinted at or altogether absence. I'm a dedicated fan of "what's it like to..." fiction, so this is all just mental catnip for me. There's a loose evolution in the ordering of poems, moving from mostly very personal experiences and their qualities to a series of apocalypses near the back. These latter have a recurring theme of people hiding underground and digging deeper to get away from something humans or others did to the world, only for it not to work and a delayed reckoning to arrive. Sng does more in a few dozen lines than quite a few entire books I've read on both ends of that scale from individual to general, and I'm looking forward to hunting up more of her work.
I was curious how a volume of eighty or so poems would feel in terms of effort and return compared to the novels and short story collections I've read this month. Very well on both fronts, it turns out: this was as much work to read and reflect upon as anything I've taken up for Women In Horror Month, and fully as rewarding. If you're looking for some great contemporary horror distilled to its most potent essences, this is a book for you, too.
Some of these poems tell an explicit story. Others focus entirely on a quality of experience whose cause is just hinted at or altogether absence. I'm a dedicated fan of "what's it like to..." fiction, so this is all just mental catnip for me. There's a loose evolution in the ordering of poems, moving from mostly very personal experiences and their qualities to a series of apocalypses near the back. These latter have a recurring theme of people hiding underground and digging deeper to get away from something humans or others did to the world, only for it not to work and a delayed reckoning to arrive. Sng does more in a few dozen lines than quite a few entire books I've read on both ends of that scale from individual to general, and I'm looking forward to hunting up more of her work.
I was curious how a volume of eighty or so poems would feel in terms of effort and return compared to the novels and short story collections I've read this month. Very well on both fronts, it turns out: this was as much work to read and reflect upon as anything I've taken up for Women In Horror Month, and fully as rewarding. If you're looking for some great contemporary horror distilled to its most potent essences, this is a book for you, too.
stranger_sights's review against another edition
5.0
You can read my full review (and others) at https://mediadrome.wordpress.com/
There’s a surprising amount of range in the poems collected here – both in subject (which pretty much runs the full gamut of horror from monsters to the apocalypse), and in form – some poems rhyme, others don’t; some flow lyrically, while others feel a little bit like jotted down thoughts or even very short but otherwise more traditional stories.
They’re all a little scary, but beautiful too. Even the worst subjects become alluring when Sng writes about them.
4.5 stars rounded up to 5 for Goodreads
There’s a surprising amount of range in the poems collected here – both in subject (which pretty much runs the full gamut of horror from monsters to the apocalypse), and in form – some poems rhyme, others don’t; some flow lyrically, while others feel a little bit like jotted down thoughts or even very short but otherwise more traditional stories.
They’re all a little scary, but beautiful too. Even the worst subjects become alluring when Sng writes about them.
4.5 stars rounded up to 5 for Goodreads
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