Cradleland of Parasites by Sara Tantlinger

Rooster Republic, 2020

ISBN-13 : 978-1946335395

Available:   ( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )

Sara Tantlinger has infected many horror fans with a burning passion for poetry, not an easy feat, and the exquisite entries into her newest collection are damn impressive.  I first encountered her work in Devil’s Dreamland, a book devoted to the unimaginable horrors of serial killer H.H. Holmes, both his murders and the monstrous, puzzle box house he created to feed the evil within him, and found myself falling back in love with the form.  It is a difficult task to imbue a reader with true dread and wonder for a single poem, let alone an entire collection. Only a few other poets I have read have riled up the beast within me repeatedly, to accomplish that dark grasp into the soul.

Tantlinger has now done it twice.

Readers of Cradleland of Parasites might draw some parallels to Poe’s “Masque of The Red Death” for obvious reasons, or recognize the nihilism of Thomas Ligotti, but Tantlinger delves deep beyond these influences to create a surreal, yet beautiful nightmare in this 104 page part examination, part love letter to the plague. Yet there’s life in these poems that transcends that macabre mindset and raises it to the art form it aims to be. Imagine Kathe Koja, Gwendolyn Kiste, or Catherynne Valente if they dove soul first into poetry. That image may not be adequate but it’s what is painted in my psyche upon slipping from one piece to the next.

The author treats disease as immortal, untouchable, and unbeatable, which in this world, obviously has plenty of merit. The poems that speak to the reader from the point of view of the plague doctors and victims are fierce, yet touching, but it is the ones in which the disease itself speaks its mind and sings its song where the full impact strikes, and pierces the soul.

It’s bittersweet that Sara Tantlinger released this during the pandemic of our times but it might just serve as a talisman of hope for life, or salve for the lingering doom that Covid brings.

That it is a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award speaks to the horror it evokes in readers’ minds. During this tumultous time, it serves as a fitting reminder of our own mortality, both special and irrelevant in the vast cosmos. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by David Simms

Editor’s note: Cradleland of Parasites is a nominee on the final ballot for this year’s Bram Stoker Award in the category of Superior Achievement in Poetry.