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FRIGHTS FOR TYKES REVIEWS “EVEN SCARY THINGS GET THE BLUES”

Wednesday, January 2, 2019 | Frights For Tykes, Review

By GLENN TOLLE

If you regularly read this column, you’ll know that I love collections of creepy children’s poems. Most contain previously published work from a variety of authors and Seldom do I come across a poetry book written and illustrated by a single author. But there are exceptions, such as EVEN SCARY THINGS GET THE BLUES written and illustrated by David Buckner.

EVEN SCARY THINGS GET THE BLUES is a fresh, and funny, silly and sympathetic look at monsters of all ages and descriptions. The majority of the poems feature monsters with problems, many of which seem unique to their species and/or disposition. But the reality is that most of the problems these monsters face, such as aging and acceptance, are also human problems.

Among the usual cast of creatures are wholly original monsters, such as the veerryyy slow-moving Lovecraftian sloth the Dillygroth, and the flightless (by choice) Flepto, both of which harken back to a tradition pioneered by the great Theodor Geisel a.k.a. Dr. Seuss, and a few other brave children’s authors who dared their own unique creations. Unlike many children’s authors who don’t bother creating their own critters, they just riff off of the classics and their tropes.

Among my favourite poems in EVEN SCARY THINGS GET THE BLUES is “Baby Monsters,” which had be dabbing at my compound eyes after reading the last line.

EVEN SCARY THINGS GET THE BLUES is a fearless little book of frighteningly good verse and illustrations. Please, don’t pull those sheets over your head, get out of bed and buy this book instead!

 

Glenn Tolle
Glenn Tolle grew up with a healthy interest in the macabre. His dad worked, and still works, as a grave digger, and much of his childhood was spent running around cemeteries and reading creepy books. All this combined with early viewings of the classic Universal monster movies led him to writing about the genre. He writes not only for RUE MORGUE.com but also for morbidlybeautiful.com under the pen name Glenn Strange. When not writing about horror Glenn talks about and interviews people within the horror and film community for the YouTube channel Psychic Celluloid Signals and creates original horror stories for publication.