{"id":19402,"date":"2024-12-09T07:00:59","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T12:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?p=19402"},"modified":"2024-12-08T18:14:20","modified_gmt":"2024-12-08T23:14:20","slug":"review-bestial-mouths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-bestial-mouths\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Bestial Mouths by Brenda S. Tolian"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"19403\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-bestial-mouths\/bestial-mouths\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bestial-mouths.jpg?fit=288%2C445&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"288,445\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"bestial-mouths\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bestial-mouths.jpg?fit=288%2C445&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-19403\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bestial-mouths.jpg?resize=227%2C350&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"cover of Bestial Mouths\" width=\"227\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bestial-mouths.jpg?resize=227%2C350&amp;ssl=1 227w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bestial-mouths.jpg?w=288&amp;ssl=1 288w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 227px) 85vw, 227px\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Bestial-Mouths-Brenda-S-Tolian\/dp\/1947879804\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3RH2X3GVIMEJR&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._B4hh77gOOX7DqAixMJ8Yw.V6zKnq5wN95HAJZhrrHbPYWtB8wtOq8xgxatY3lUSCU&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=Bestial+Mouths+by+Brenda+S+Tolian&amp;qid=1733699228&amp;sprefix=bestial+mouths+by+brenda+s+tolian%2Caps%2C186&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i>Bestial Mouths<\/i> by Brenda S. Tolian<\/a><br \/>\nRaw Dog Screaming Press (November 2024)<br \/>\nReviewed by Joshua Gage<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dr. Brenda S. Tolian, DA, MFA, lives and writes New Orleans and is the author of<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/night-time-logic-brenda-tolian\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Blood Mountain<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, published by Raw Dog Screaming Press. As an active member of the Horror Writers Association and the Angela Carter Society, Brenda&#8217;s work blends haunting narratives with deep literary insights. Her newest collection of poetry is <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bestial Mouths<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bestial Mouths <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is a collection of gothic poetry tinged with pagan folk horror. The poems themselves are minimalist and fragmented, tools which Tolian is attempting to use to create a mythic or mysterious tone throughout the pieces. Furthermore, the underlying rhythms and hints of veiled formalism create incantatory pieces that enchant the reader. For example, the poem \u201cYou\u201d begins:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">you were never a martyr<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">you were an open coat<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cold influx of air<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">silk on my throat<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A hand in my hair<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Everyone has left<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are typical of Tolian\u2019s lines, and readers who enjoy this sort of minimalist gothic poetry will certainly enjoy this book.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bestial Mouths <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">creates a personal grimoire that readers will find spell-binding and elusive. Tolian presents her poems without ornament or poetic trickery, creating sparse and alienating pieces that beg the reader to engage with them. For readers who enjoy intentionally gothic poetry, especially poems that are minimal and sparse, this book cannot come more highly recommended. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bestial Mouths by Brenda S. Tolian Raw Dog Screaming Press (November 2024) Reviewed by Joshua Gage Dr. Brenda S. Tolian, DA, MFA, lives and writes New Orleans and is the author of Blood Mountain, published by Raw Dog Screaming Press. As an active member of the Horror Writers Association and the Angela Carter Society, Brenda&#8217;s &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-bestial-mouths\/\" class=\"more-link button bg-gold white\">Continue Reading!<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Review: Bestial Mouths by Brenda S. Tolian&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[80],"tags":[3303,3304,2690,506,2083,79],"class_list":["post-19402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-bestial-mouths","tag-brenda-s-tolian","tag-brenda-tolian","tag-joshua-gage","tag-poetry","tag-reviews"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: Bestial Mouths by Brenda S. 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