Stephanie M. Wytovich

This was my second Wytovich collection, and although I was torn on whether to try her out again, I'm so glad I did. Although this is a long collection that would probably be stronger if some of the early poems had been left out, the collection as a whole is powerful, smart, and filled with memorable lines, images, and works that I see myself returning to in the future. The trajectory of the collection as a whole is also strong, though the weaker pieces (and the ones which feel superfluous) show more are undoubtedly in the beginning, so that's the one caveat with this collection. It was once I got to around the halfway point that the collection as a whole really hooked me.

Recommended for readers of dark poetry and horror poetry, but with a heavy CW for material related to suicide/suicidal thought. show less

One caveat: I think I should mention first that I'd probably consider this a hybrid collection more so than a collection of poetry. The vast majority of the short prose works in the collection read, to me, more as flash fiction or as excerpts of longer fiction works, bridging the poems, and for the most part don't feel like poetry to me. The distinction is somewhat in the eye of the beholder, but in this case, the difference is stark enough that I have to mention it, especially since those show more pieces feel a lot less finished if I try to look at them through the lens of poetry vs flash fiction.

All that said....while there are some absolutely powerhouse poems in here, both short and on the longer side relative to the collection, the book as a whole does feel pretty uneven to me. At 150 pages, there's no doubt it's long for a poetry collection, and it feels a bit like the writer included every poem she'd written or drafted on the subject vs. choosing only the best of the works on the theme. And while I think I understood the project as a whole, the reading experience was brought down because of that uneven nature, with some poems and works of prose feeling far more polished and original than others, and some simply feeling like filler or repetitive. I'm left feeling like I absolutely want to read more of Wytovich's work, but in hopes that I'll find shorter, more tailored collections. show less

More than just horror poetry

I am a big believer that the best horror often makes social commentary, and many poems in Hysteria fall into that category. Sure, some are just demented fun, but others use dark prose and gruesome imagery to make the reader think. Wytovich is good at both.