In this third issue of "Spectral Realms, " a number of leading contemporary authors of weird fiction-Nicole Cushing, Don Webb, Darrell Schweitzer, Jonathan Thomas, and Jason V Brock-step up to contribute poems of strangeness and terror. In addition, such prominent poets as Wade German, Ann K. Schwader, Fred Phillips, Chad Hensley, Linda D. Addison, Mike Allen, and Leigh Blackmore are represented. Adam Bolivar contributes another lengthy weird ballad, while up-and-coming poets such as K. A. Opperman, Christina Sng, Ian Futter, and DJ Tyrer add an array of diverse and evocative verses. Among the classic reprints are rare poems by A. Merritt and Bruce Boston, as well as a trio of poems by one of America's leading poets, Dana Gioia.
Leigh Blackmore completes his two-part analysis of the life and work of Leah Bodine Drake. Michael Dirda, one of the nation's most prominent literary critics, supplies a lengthy and penetrating review of the recent Hippocampus Press edition of Park Barnitz's classic volume "The Book of Jade" (1901). With this issue, "Spectral Realms" continues to foster the renaissance of weird poetry by the publication of new and old poems as well as trenchant reviews and criticism.