Epeolatry Book Review: Bestiary of Blood, ed. Jamal Hodges
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Title: Bestiary of Blood
Author/Editor: Jamal Hodge
Genre: Horror/fable
Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing
Publication date: October 4, 2024
Synopsis: Bestiary of Blood was conceived in a moment of revelation, born from the visceral experience of watching nature’s savage ballet- lions tearing into flesh, hyenas gnawing on bones, sharks thrashing in crimson waters. These raw spectacles gave rise to a chilling epiphany: life and death are intertwined in a grotesque dance, each feeding the other in a ceaseless cycle of transformation, creating… beauty.
This paradox is captured in its full glory in Bestiary of Blood, a modern anthology of predatory horrors inspired by the timeless tales of Aesop’s Fables, modernized for a more complex, unforgiving world. Explore the joy in our hurts, the wrongs in our rights, and the suffering in the shadows of our light, Bestiary of Blood invites you to the intersection of human and animal experience, crafting dark tales that resonate with life’s endless cycles of transformation.
Bestiary of Blood is a strangely elevated type of horror anthology. It takes you places you aren’t expecting. You feel things you aren’t expecting. This eclectic work is divided into sections representing the theme of the stories. Jamal Hodge had a vision when he put this together, a beautifully haunting vision. Working with 37 horror greats (including himself) Hodge created a book quite unlike anything I’ve experienced before.
The poetry that found its way into the anthology is as diverse as the stories. I’ve not really explored horror poetry. This is a very good introduction to it. The poems will grab you and shake you before they disappear back into the thick mists from whence they came.
Each lesson is true for both humans and the animals represented in the stories. For instance, Wrath James White’s “The Same Damn Pig” is about the biggest and baddest pig in the woods, a pig that can have any sow he wants, and he does. Once he is done with them… they become fodder for his freezer. Until one stands up to him and he gets a full dose of what he’s been doing to others. Humans and pigs can be known for their cruelty.
Many of the stories are touching in a tragic way… they hit hard. Tim Waggoner’s “A Cold Midnight” shows the determination of a hawk as she makes several attempts to reach the stars, not understanding why she can’t. But then she tries one last time.
You forget that you are reading horror, that you are being taught a lesson much in that same way of Aesop’s Fables. All are beautifully written, elegant even.
These stories and poems will stick with you long after you put the book down. They will creep into your waking thoughts and your dreams… or nightmares.
/5
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Jennifer Griffin is a freelance writer in northern Michigan where she lives with her husband, three pups and year round Halloween decorations
