All Prettied Up.All Prettied UpElizabeth Blue Naked Snake Publications 6 Rain Tree Lane Pawleys Island, SC 29585 www.nakedsnakepress.com ISSN ISSN abbr. International Standard Serial Number 15457192 $5.00 30 pp. All Prettied up is a gritty chapbook chapbook, one of the pamphlets formerly sold in Europe and America by itinerant agents, or "chapmen." Chapbooks were inexpensive—in England often costing only a penny—and, like the broadside, they were usually anonymous and undated. , written by rising author Elizabeth Blue, that ventures into the darkly bizarre. The three blood-soaked offerings, along with imaginative, haunting artwork, will leave you in a fashionable coat of goose bumps goose bumps or goose pimples: see gooseflesh. and shivers. "Cemetery Dogs" serves up a nice, taut storyline of a man expected to pay penance penance (pĕn`əns), sacrament of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Eastern churches. By it the penitent (the person receiving the sacrament) is absolved of his or her sins by a confessor (the person hearing the confession and conferring the for having a stranger's dogs frightened, and one shot. Just why does Terrence continue growing hair on his body, and finding himself in unfavorable surroundings at night? Vivid descriptions and a solid plot, make for a disturbing, yet captivating cap·ti·vate tr.v. cap·ti·vat·ed, cap·ti·vat·ing, cap·ti·vates 1. To attract and hold by charm, beauty, or excellence. See Synonyms at charm. 2. Archaic To capture. read. In a more reptilian-like version of Cujo, "The River Snake" will have you squirming, screaming, and battling it out along with the main character Carson. After years of her remembering a story told by her grandfather, of a river snake that fed off little girls, her imagination comes back to bite her in the leg, or so to speak. When something slithers up her walkway, she finds reality is the stuff stories are made of. The final story "Homer and Opaleen," is a no-holds-barred revenge story of sorts with a shocking twist. After forty years of marriage, a husband loathes his wife more and more. Even her cooking, the only thing that gave her a redeeming quality, wasn't worth the grief or aggravation Any circumstances surrounding the commission of a crime that increase its seriousness or add to its injurious consequences. Such circumstances are not essential elements of the crime but go above and beyond them. . Somewhere between a carving knife, a pumpkin, and a collection of books, Opaleen is freed of her wifely duties. All Prettied Up is an interesting collection of stories, each one unique and a thrill to get lost in. I would have liked a few more stories, but the chapbook is a comfortable length to peruse pe·ruse tr.v. pe·rused, pe·rus·ing, pe·rus·es To read or examine, typically with great care. [Middle English perusen, to use up : Latin per-, per- in one sitting. Of the three, I most enjoyed "Homer and Opaleen" for its creative ending. Elizabeth Blue has a refined talent of relating a story, which I hope continues for a long, long time. Nancy Jackson, Reviewer www.nancyajackson.com |
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