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Book Review: Whitechapel Rhapsody by Alessandro Manzetti

A note from the editor (that’s me) :

We are midway through October and Monster Librarian still needs to raise the funds to pay for our hosting fees and postage in 2021. If you like what we’re doing, please take a moment to click on that red “Contribute” button in the sidebar to the right, to help us keep going!  Even five dollars will get us closer to the $195 we need to keep going at the most basic level. We have never accepted paid advertising so you can be guaranteed that our reviews are objective. We’ve been reviewing and supporting the horror community for 15 years now, help us make it another year! Thank you! And now our review of Whitechapel Rhapsody by Alessandro Manzetti.

cover art for Whitechapel Rhapsody by Alessandro Manzetti

Whitechapel Rhapsody by Alessandro Manzetti   (Amazon.com)

Independent Legions Publishing,  2020

ISBN: 978-88-31959

Available: Kindle edition, Paperback

Ever since Jack the Ripper prowled the streets, he has been the worst kind of nightmare, the shockingly brutal and chilling reality that monster-men can be living among us unnoticed, watching and freely choosing fresh victims. In his new book of poetry, Whitechapel Rhapsody, Alessandro Manzetti uses words from The Ripper’s letters to the police, information about the women and their possible murderers, and even one of the autopsies to access the mind of a killer who has never been identified for certain.

In “The Lair”, which begins the book, and in the rhapsody poems (“Sick Rhapsody,” “Entangled Rhapsody,” and “Madhouse Rhapsody”) which appear at intervals throughout the collection, we are plunged into the ugly, sordid, sick environment of physical and spiritual contagion that was the setting for the murders, if not the spawning ground of the murderer. Against this background, the poems describe the killer as a macabre artist who vows to his victims, “I will make art of you” and causes them to be “carved” by his “iron brushes,” his “long-bladed knife accurate like a Mozart composition.” True to The Ripper’s artistic vision, there is a focus on color, especially shades of red blood and the textures of the organs of the human body in each “still life.” This is the portrait of a demented artist whose imagination is a “giant” that “can feel the vibrating legs of a grasshopper ready to jump on a leaf of a remote island.”

This extreme sensitivity is on display in “She Knew My Name” which riffs on Poe’s “The Raven.” Both poems are about the narrator’s mind and what is happening inside it, how each is processing his experiences. Both narrators indulge in their madness, and that has an emotional impact on the reader. Manzetti confirms that it is not the facts of blood or death that most inspire terror in a reader but the evil imagination of the poem’s speaker igniting the active imagination of the reader’s “dark side.” This fascination that ordinary people have with horror is apparent in “Madhouse Rhapsody,” a reminder of Bedlam where the English citizenry actually went to enjoy the suffering of the imprisoned mentally ill as live entertainment. Also, many of the poems mention the opium, syphilis, perversions, and abuses which were common at the time and could be the source of madness.

Even though it is unlikely we will ever know Jack the Ripper’s identity or what caused him to kill, Whitechapel Rhapsody pulls back the curtain enough for us to fully feel the evil behind the facts and sense the cold, hard facts behind the dark poetic imagination.

Recommended.

 

Reviewed by Nova Hadley

Posted on October 11, 2020 by , Reply

Book Review: The Ghost Hunter’s Daughter by Caroline Flarity

The Ghost Hunter’s Daughter by Caroline Flarity

East Side Press, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-0996845007

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

Anna Fagan lives in a haunted house, but that’s the least of her problems. Her father, Jack, is well-known for his ability to “clear” spirits from the objects they haunt, but since the traumatic death of her mother, his ability is fading and he’s picked up the habit of hoarding, aggressively. He stores holy water in the refrigerator, and “cleared” objects in the basement, where Anna is forbidden to go (the results of Jacks’s hoarding exposed when Anna breaks into the basement later in the story is one of the most appalling things in the book: previously haunted objects are the least of the problems).  Now the lack of space has led Jack to rent an office to reinvigorate his business. He has hired a new investigator, Geneva Sanders, a scientist who has invented a new way to see the electrical activity that indicates that ghosts and supernatural forces are at work.

Anna is also suffering from grief and guilt over her mother’s death, but at school, she has other problems. With the exception of her friends Doreen and Freddy, Anna is mocked by other students with the nickname “Goblin Girl”. Izzy, the school sleazebucket, has decided she’d make a perfect target for his meanness and slut-shaming, while also throwing disgusting homophobic slurs at Freddy. Anna, focused on getting her crush, Craig, to notice her, while trying to manage her family problems and an uptick in paranormal activity, misses out on the serious problems Doreen and Freddy are dealing with. As levels of hostility and violence rise in town, Geneva theorizes that unusual solar flares are being harnessed by a malevolent spirit who is using them to feed on people’s anger and pain.

Flarity’s choice to make Anna the point-of-view character works beautifully here. There is so much going on in this book, especially in the larger picture of things, and yet we see that world through the self-centered tunnel vision of a teenager– which is perfect for a teenager in a YA novel. Our view widens with hers, and we see the story pull together as she does. Getting the story from Anna’s point of view means we are up close to her character growth.

This book reminds me a lot of Lois Duncan’s YA books, except that her books didn’t have the broader supernatural conspiracy behind this story. I’m not sure how many boys would choose to read this, but I hope they will, because there are parts that should really make them think. How many people say and do things without thinking, especially when they are angry or feeling hopeless, that regret it later?

Recommended.

 

Contains: suicide, suicidal ideation, mental illness (hoarding), self-harm, animal cruelty, bullying, abusive adults, violence, cyberbullying. rape culture, distribution of provocative images of a minor.

Posted on October 7, 2019 by , Reply

Interview: Ivy Noelle Weir and Christina “Steenz” Stewart, Creators of Archival Quality

It wasn’t too long ago that we reviewed the graphic novel Archival Quality by Ivy Noelle Weir and Christina “Steenz” Stewart. Monster Librarian reached out to the creators, both professionally qualified librarians, through reviewer Lizzy Walker. Check out their interview, read our review, and then get your library card and check out Archival Quality!

 

Interview with Christina “Steenz” Stewart and Ivy Noelle Weir 

 

Christina

Christina “Steenz” Stewart

 

 

 

 

LW: Tell Monster Librarian readers about yourselves.

CS: My name is Steenz! It’s short for Christina. I work at Lion Forge as the social media and community manager. I used to be a manager of a comic shop and a comics focused librarian. I live with my fiancé Keya and my cat Marko. We are currently going through Arnold Schwarznegger’s entire filmography.

 

Ivy Noelle Weir

Ivy Noelle Weir

 

IW: I’m Ivy Noelle Weir, I’m a writer and an MLS-holding former librarian who now works in book publishing.

LW: What attracted you to working on this book?

CS: We became friends through The Valkyries. As I moved on to working in a library after comics retail, I reached out to Ivy to talk about the switch. And then we just started talking every day, every hour, from morning till night and became besties. It was soon after best friend status Ivy asked if I wanted to illustrate a webcomic with her and of course since I’d been itching to do a longform story for so long, I said yes! Also, the story is really good, so I was 100% on board after reading her summary.

IW: As Steenz said, we met in The Valkyries, and I just immediately loved her art from the moment I saw it. There’s a liveliness to Steenz’s art, her expressions are so lifelike and fun. I knew I wanted to work on something with her.

LW: What inspired you to create Archival Quality?

IW: It’s sort of a long story. I did my undergraduate studies in photography, and I became really fascinated by 19th century medical photography, and the ethics surrounding it. I took an internship in a historical medical archive, where I was working closely with images all day that were, to put it mildly, somewhat disturbing, but also deeply sad, isolating, lonely. While I was working there, I fell deeper and deeper into considering the ethics of archiving, what we preserve, and if it consents to being preserved. So, I started writing a ghost story about the ghost of an object in an archive, who doesn’t consent to being archived. Eventually, this turned from a prose novel to a comic script when I met Steenz, and now here we are.

Image from Archival QualityLW: Why did you choose to frame Archival Quality as a ghost story? What drew (ha) you to the horror genre? Are you a horror fan? Why or why not? Do you have recommendations for similar material?

CS: I’m ALL ABOUT horror. I love being scared. There’s something thrilling about watching a film and feeling uneasy afterwards. It’s kind of like a high. I recommend the Poughkeepsie Tapes if you don’t want to sleep for like two nights and Housebound if you’re looking for humorous horror.

IW: I’m a big ol’ horror nerd, and I always have been. I particularly love ghosts and haunted houses – I think they represent so much more than jump scares, they can be this pensive consideration of memory and trauma. The biggest influences on this story were Guillermo Del Toro’s The Devil’s Backbone, Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves, and Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. I think Jackson’s book in particular blends the concepts of the highly personal with horror in a really fantastic way.

LW: You tackle the subject of mental illness and care very delicately, while at the same time head on. How did you manage to craft such a powerful narrative and equally powerful artwork for this story?

CS: I think when it comes to the art, I read the story… and knowing Ivy as a person, I felt like I had a good idea of what she was looking for in terms of style. We were on the same page when it came to aesthetics for this story. A shared Pinterest helped me a lot. Also knowing that Ivy trusted me entirely with the design of the book and characters let me stretch my world building muscles.

IW: For the story, it was very important to me to show a realistic portrayal of mental illness as it exists for one person. I think when you try to generalize, and make a narrative that fits everyone, or has a “happy” ending where someone is cured or “fixed”, you come up with something that I don’t feel is as genuine or effecting. Depression doesn’t always mean being beautifully sad. Sometimes it means being a jerk to the people around you because you feel out of your own control. I know some people won’t relate to Cel – and I think that’s okay. Depression looks different on everyone, and everyone’s path to helping themselves is doing to be different, too. It was important to me to show someone who struggles with the concept of getting help, because I think a lot of people who struggle with their mental health can relate to that feeling.

LW: Are there any plans or desire to further develop Celine’s story?

CS: I think Celine’s story is done. Celeste on the other hand could have many more adventures and continued growth. But I think we both want to take a break from the world of AQ for a little bit before getting into that.

IW: No, I think she’s got what she needed.

LW: Steenz, your artwork is so unique. I particularly love Holly’s character design! I also follow you on Facebook and adore your kung fu poses. How did you achieve your art style? What tools do you use for your work?  

CS: Thank you! I think when you’re learning to draw you subconsciously create your own style by fusing your interests with what your muscles naturally want you to do. I love Chris Sanders, Rebecca Sugar, and similar works. So, you can see the inspiration, but my style peeks through. I use a WACOM Cintiq, Manga Studio, and Photoshop. I’m hoping to get an IPad soon because all of my other comics friends has one and I’M HORRIBLY JEALOUS. Also, being able to work away from the desk is an amazing idea.

LW: Why should new graphic novel readers seek this out?

CS: Ivy and I both love reading works that aren’t just graphic novels. So, I think our work shows that. It has elements of cartoons, manga, and YA novels. So, if you like those things, there’s no way you won’t like Archival Quality.

IW: I think if you’re interested in haunted house tales, we’ve done something unique here in regard to the genre. And like Steenz said, we both brought techniques from a lot of the other media we consume to this book.

LW: Why should libraries be interested in Archival Quality?

CS: Well, we used to be librarians. And once a librarian, always a librarian. Support the homies, yanno?

IW: I think books that discuss the ethics of librarianship and archives in a conversational way are few and far between, and I hope Archival Quality offers libraries a way to engage with the topic while also getting spooked.

LW: What are some of your favorite books/graphic novels?

CS: Novels: The Lunar Chronicles, Six of Crows; Graphic Novels: Extremity, Daytripper, This One Summer, Batman: Detective Comics, Ms. Marvel, etc. I could go on for a really long time, but those came to my head first. Webcomics: On A Sunbeam, Agents of The Realm, Star Trip, Witchy

 

IW: Well, my favorite book is the previously mentioned The Haunting of Hill House. I just finished Night Film by Marissa Pessl and really enjoyed it. As for comics, I read pretty widely: I’m a big fan of Hellboy, Saga, Wicked + Divine…I also read a lot of manga – I’m loving The Girl from the Other Side right now.

LW: What other work have you done, separately or together?

CS: We’ve done work for anthologies together. Separately I’ve done work for the MINE! Anthology for Planned Parenthood and the ELEMENTS: Fire Anthology.

IW: We had a short story come out this month in Action Lab’s Princeless Charity Anthology!

LW: What else would you like librarians and readers to know about you?

CS: I tell everyone this, but GET A LIBRARY CARD. Also, I’ve spent many, many, many hours in libraries and I can guarantee you 100% that this is a book that you will want to curl up in a corner of your local library and read from beginning to end.

IW: I second Steenz’s urging for readers to get a library card. Libraries serve so many roles in their communities; your support is integral!

LW: What’s next for the amazing Ivy/Steenz team? 

CS: We’re working on a pitch for another book! Can’t say much other than that. So, GET READY.

IW: We’re working on something new! Which I should really get back to writing.

Posted on June 21, 2018 by , Reply
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