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Book Review: Glamour Ghoul: The Passions and Pains of the Real Vampira, Maila Nurmi by Sandra Niemi

cover art for Glamour Girl by Sandra Niemi

Glamour Ghoul: The Passions and Pains of the Real Vampira by Sandra Niemi

Feral House, 2021

ISBN-13: 9781627311007

Available:  Paperback, Kindle ( Bookshop.com  | Amazon.com )

 

Glamour Ghoul is the biography of the woman who was Vampira, Maila Nurmi, written by her niece, Sandra Niemi. Pieced together from diaries, notes, family stories, and an unexpected family connection, Niemi weaves a fascinating tale of the late horror icon. She provides a glimpse of her aunt’s childhood,  Maila’s strict Finnish father and alcoholic mother, and how she tried to break free of their grasp. In 1941, Maila began her tumultuous journey into Los Angeles, hoping to find fame and fortune, but instead found heartbreak and betrayal, the first committed by Nurmi’s screen crush Orson Welles.

Nurmi’s creation and development of the Vampira character is discussed in the book. From entering a Halloween costume contest donning an outfit like that of Charles Addams’ Morticia (from his cartoons, not the television show), to appearing on the Red Skelton Show, to her own show and beyond, the tale of Vampira is told. There is also considerable time spent on the lawsuit between Nurmi and Elvira/Cassandra Peterson.

Interspersed between accounts of Nurmi’s life are short biographies of those who entered her life. Her relationships, platonic as well as romantic ones, with Orson Welles, James Dean, Marlon Brando, Anthony Perkins, and Elvis Presley make for an interesting read. Later in life, she was embraced by the punk community, and she, in turn, embraced the community. Her life was not glamourous: she often struggled with poverty, and was barely able to afford to scrape by. She occasionally had to return home, living with her mother and never speaking to her estranged father. Despite that, she lived on her own terms. Niemi is quite candid in telling her aunt’s story, not shying away from such things as a confrontation and violent outburst by Nurmi toward her grand-niece’s snobbish behavior during a visit to Los Angeles. Nurmi was not afraid of making her voice heard. Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on March 20, 2021 by , Reply

Book Review: A Complex Accident of Life by Jessica McHugh

cover art for A Complex Accident of Life by Jessica McHugh

A Complex Accident of Life by Jessica McHugh

Apokrupha, 2020

ISBN-13: 979-8647146519

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition ( Amazon.com )

 

The ghost of Mary Shelley haunts the pages of A Complex Accident of Life by Jessica McHugh. With words insightfully culled from Frankenstein, the blackout poetry in this brilliant jewel of a book captures the tragic intensity, dark fervor, and dramatic suffering of Shelley’s life as well as something totally new, inspired, and relatable.

 

Through startling images of struggle and determination, this collection also reveals the essence of Shelley’s creative imagination as a writer and her mind and heart as a woman. McHugh tells us, “She felt hope like a moon: / A bright heart nothing could extinguish. / She embraced its bounty / And settled passion upon purpose.” Shelley’s words, like gold deposited decades ago in the novel’s text, are mined and skillfully transformed into a contemporary memoir by the talented McHugh.

 

On each page of the book, the reader will find an entire printed poem and then, below it, a copy of the blacked out (in color) page from Frankenstein from which the poem was taken. The pages from Frankenstein are in numerical order, which is astonishing when you realize that the poems do not reflect a narrative that parallels that of the novel, and yet one poem smoothly flows into the next encouraging a slow, thoughtful reading.

 

McHugh has carefully shaped each eloquent verse to stand alone, a sort of reflective snapshot in time. There is something so tender and wounded about these poems; they sometimes seem like private thoughts that should not have been divulged: honest, raw, and deeply felt. McHugh draws us into that place where those thoughts and feelings are simultaneously hers and Shelley’s, and together, they become an expression of universal truths.

 

Jessica McHugh has truly lifted blackout poetry to an entirely new level of remarkable craftsmanship. Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Nova Hadley

 

Editor’s note: A Complex Accident of Life is a nominee on the final ballot for this year’s Stoker Awards in the category of Superior Achievement in Poetry.

Posted on March 19, 2021 by , Reply

Book Review: Root Magic by Eden Royce

cover art for Root Magic by Eden Royce

Root Magic by Eden Royce

Walden Pond Media, 2021

ISBN-13 : 978-0062899576

Available:  Hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook  ( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )

 

 

Root Magic takes place on Wadmalaw, one of the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina that is home to the Gullah-Geechee nation, a unique ethnic group with a combined heritage from African and indigenous individuals with its own language and traditions. Author Eden Royce, creates a vivid picture of Gullah-Geechee culture and traditions in the setting of the Sea Islands around the time of the Kennedy assassination though her eleven-year old narrator, Jezebel.

After her grandmother dies, Jezebel’s grandfather decides it is time to teach Jezzie and her twin brother Jay the basics of root magic for the purposes of protection, such as painting their house “haint blue” so evil spirits and boo-hags can’t enter, mixing potions, and creating root bags.  The nearby marsh, previously a place the twins used to play, becomes dangerous as it tries to suck Jezzie in.  Still, the twins are fascinated by root magic and can’t wait to learn more.  Jezzie, in particular, starts to develop new powers, such as the ability to astrally project.

Things are not so easy at school. Jezzie has been jumped a year forward, and new girls from families with more money have moved to town. Jezzie, with her darker skin, mended clothes, and rumors of witchiness, becomes a target. Her only friend is Suzie, who can’t invite her over or visit her home, for reasons that become clear later.  In his grade, Jay has become friendly with the other boys, and Jezzie is worried that her connection to him is breaking.

In addition to troubles at school, there are troubles at home. A police officer has taken a particular interest in Jezzie’s family, invading their home in their absence, demanding food, threatening them, and breaking their things. He knows they are a family of root workers and his behavior towards them escalates. While Jezzie and Jay do face supernatural threats in the book, it is Jezzie’s compassion to animals and creatures in trouble (including boo-hags) that helps protect her family from this dangerous but not at all supernatural threat.

Royce’s descriptions make it feel almost like the reader could step through to the island, and she is able to set the time period effectively with just a few sentences. Jim Crow and racist policing are alive and well, and that’s built into the story. Children questioning why the school would still be segregated, the police searching Jezzie’s house without a warrant, and the effect of the Kennedy assassination on the community will get their answers without an exposition dump.  Royce’s presentation of the controversy over passing on root working practices both in the community and in the same family is also interesting, and she illustrates that root work is not a religion, but is a way of connecting with the world.

While the Gullah-Geechee nation became official in 2000, its existence is not well known, and it has a unique culture and language. Introducing Gullah-Geechee culture and language to a more mainstream audience through a middle-grade novel makes it very accessible. Eden Royce is a member of the Gullah-Geechee nation, and I think it would be very difficult to write about it from outside (in fact, there was a controversy over this not that long ago). Royce has a background as a horror writer for adults, with writing grounded in folklore and the Southern Gothic. I’m so glad she chose to use some of these same elements in this engaging historical Southern Gothic #OwnVoices novel for children. Children who enjoy this book may also enjoy Tracey Baptiste’s The Jumbies, Claribel A. Ortega’s Ghost Squad, and Marie Arnold’s The Year I Flew Away. Highly recommended for ages 8-12.

 

Contains: racism, police brutality, violence

Posted on March 19, 2021 by , Reply
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