Αρρωστημένα μυαλά: Μια ανθολογία ανατριχιαστικής, μακάβριας ποίησης

by Neil Gaiman (editor)

Αγαπημένα μας παιδιά,
Είθε τα ποιήματα αυτά
Να σας γεμίσουν με χαρά,
Απ το γέλιο, τα μάγουλα να πάρουν χρώμα
Κι ένα χαμόγελο να χαραχτεί σε κάθε στόμα.
Κι είθε εξαιτίας τους να μη φοβηθείτε,
Μήτε ν’ ανατριχιάσετε και μήτε να σκιαχτείτε...
Κι αν αυτές οι αιματηρές ιστορίες
για τρόμο κι αγωνία γίνουνε αιτίες,
Ειλικρινά, ειλικρινά, συγγνώμη σας ζητούμε,
Θέλαμε απλώς κάτι παραμυθάκια να σας πούμε.
Τα σαρκοβόρα όνειρα, τα ξόρκια της μαγείας,
Αποκυήματα είναι απλώς, μιας μαύρης φαντασίας.
Και δεν υπάρχουν μάγισσες και ζώα ανθρωποφάγα.
Οι κλόουν είναι φιλικοί. Τα ζόμπι; Χορτοφάγα!
Κι όλα αυτά τα δηλώνουμε, χωρίς φόβο και πάθος
(Όμως μη μας πιστέψετε, μην κάνετε το λάθος...)

Η Jemma Press με ιδιαίτερη χαιρεκακία παρουσιάζει την ανατριχιαστική ποιητική συλλογή: "Αρρωστημένα Μυαλά."

Υπεύθυνοι για αυτό το ανόσιο (μα διόλου ανούσιο!) έργο είναι οι Neil Gaiman και Stephen Jones, που ανθολόγησαν τα πιο μακάβρια μα ταυτόχρονα αστεία ποιήματα της αφρόκρεμας των συγγραφέων
τρόμου και επιστημονικής φαντασίας: Brian Aldiss, Robert Bloch, Ramsey Campbell, James Herbert, Diana Wynne Jones, Alan Moore, Kim Newman, Terry Pratchett, S.P. Somtow, Gene Wolfe κ.ά.

Την υπέροχη αυτή "συνταγή" συμπληρώνει η απολαυστικά νοσηρή εικονογράφηση του Γιώργου Δημητρίου, καθώς και μια εικαστική συμμετοχή του Clive Barker!

Αν σας αρέσουν βιβλία όπως ο "Μελαγχολικός θάνατος του Στρειδάκη" ή ο κινηματογράφος του Tim Burton, ή αν απλώς νιώθετε μια ακαταμάχητη παρόρμηση να ουρλιάξετε όποτε έχει πανσέληνο, είναι σχεδόν σίγουρο πως θα λατρέψετε τα "Αρρωστημένα Μυαλά".

Genres: Poetry, Horror, Fantasy, Fiction, Humor, Anthologies, Childrens

110 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

#1129 in our old book database. Not rated.

Neil Gaiman and Stephen Jones round up some friends to write some ghastly, nasty little nursery rhymes and poems loosely inspired by A. A. Milne's Now We Are Six.

Nothing here really does much for me, nor did it work for me when I first read it 29 years ago. Yet, as with all my books, I'm still holding onto it.


FOR REFERENCE

Contents:

• Introduction: Now We Are Sick / Neil Gaiman and Stephen Jones

~ Nasty Habits

• A Slice of Life / Diana Wynne Jones
• Auntie Ethel / Richard Hill
• You Always Eat the One You Love / Kim Newman
• Chocolate and Worms / David Garnett
• The Dangers of Colour TV / Simon Ian Childer [pen name of John Brosnan and Leroy Kettle]
• The Children's Hour / Alan Moore
• Radio Nasty / Stephen Gallagher
• Something Came Out of the Toilet / Harry Adam Knight [pen name of John Brosnan and Leroy Kettle]
• The Secret Book of the Dead / Terry Pratchett
• Mummy's Blocked the Lav Again / John Grant [pen name of Paul Barnett]

~ In Loving Memory . . .

• Rice Pudding / Brian Aldiss (after A. A. Milne, "Rice Pudding" from When We Were Very Young)
• Aboard the Good Ship 'Revenger,' Or, What the Crew Don't Know Won't Hurt Me / Galad Elflandsson (inspired by George MacDonald Fraser)
• The Dream of Omar K. Yam / David Sutton
• You're Deceased, Father William / Colin Greenland (after Lewis Carroll, "You Are Old, Father William" from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)

~ Less Welcome Tenants

• A Landlady's Lament / Ramsey Campbell
• The Borgia Brats / Garry Kilworth
• Another Cursed House Story, Or, Always Enquire About the Prior Tenants / John M. Ford
• Waiting... / James Herbert
• The Thing at the Top of the Stairs / Sharon Baker
• Things that Go Bump in the Night / Ian Pemble

~ Night Fears

• In the Dark / Storm Constantine
• Lights Out / Alex Stewart
• A Mother's Tender Love / Jo Fletcher
• Catcawls / Samantha Lee
• The Haunted Henhouse, Or, The Irate Ghost of Thomas Hood / Jessica Amanda Salmonson
• When the Music Breaks / R. A. Lafferty

~ Adults Only

• Nasty Snow / Jody Scott
• Why Private War, or, "Why They Pinned This Name on My Progenitor" / Gene Wolfe
• The Answering Machine / S. P. Somtow

~ Epilogue

• Warning: Death May Be Injurious to Your Health / Robert Bloch


(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list... )

[Rachel (Kalanadi) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lives up to its name

[Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

On of my all-time favorite poetry compilations--such deeply disturbing (and fun!) shit to give to impressionable adolescents who think they hate poetry!

[Alysa H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't read much poetry, but this book was fun. I'm glad I won it at random in the Worldbuilders lottery. Entries range from meh to great; contributors range from obscure to famous.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some funny or clever moments in this book, but overall I don't think I really connected with the creepy/gross nursery rhymes for adults premise.

Cw for violence, death, rape

[Jaimie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely one of the oddest collections of poetry that I've ever read. Its pages are filled with ghosts, ghouls, and all manner of creepy crawlies that are sure to turn the stomache of any reader at some point. Most of the poems I found more comical than actually scary, but some (like the one featuring a coked-up child Snow White) were a touch disturbing. I would recommend this book around Halloween, because it definitely fits the modern sense of the holiday.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amusing. I would have loved this as a child.

[ΑΝΝΑ]

"Θέλαμε απλώς κάτι παραμυθάκια να σας πούμε.
Τα σαρκοβόρα όνειρα, τα ξόρκια της μαγείας,
Αποκυήματα είναι απλώς, μιας μαύρης φαντασίας.
Και δεν υπάρχουν μάγισσες και ζώα ανθρωποφάγα.
Οι κλόουν είναι φιλικοί. Τα ζόμπι; Χορτοφάγα!
Κι όλα αυτά τα δηλώνουμε, χωρίς φόβο και πάθος
(Όμως μη μας πιστέψετε, μην κάνετε το λάθος...)"

Αν έχετε διαβάσει τον Στρειδάκη και τα νανουρίσματα, καταλαβαίνετε περί τίνος πρόκειται.
Ποιήματα που σκοπό έχουν να σας κάνουν να ανατριχιάσετε (από αηδία).
Εν μέρει το καταφέρνει.
Από την άλλη, δεν ξέρω γιατί, το περίμενα πιο κάφρικο.
Διαβάζεται γρήγορα και η προσπάθεια να κρατήσουν την ομοιοκαταληξία (δεδομένου ότι η αρχική έκδοση είναι στα αγγλικά) είναι τίμια.

[Drine Psylook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dans l’ensemble, c’est un recueil que j’ai vraiment bien aimé. Comme l’indique la couverture, ce sont de sales poèmes, une lecture parfaite pour se mettre dans l’ambiance d’Halloween comme ce fut mon cas, hier. Ils sont un peu glauques, un peu gores et malsains pour certains mais ça m’a fait du bien. Quelques uns étaient dégueulasses, d’autres m’ont fait sourire et tous m’ont fait sacrément plaisir.
Bref, j’ai passé un excellent moment d’autant que cela faisait longtemps qu’une lecture ne m’avait pas tellement enthousiasmée.
https://psylook.kimengumi.fr/2017/11/...

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is 'An Anthology of Nasty Verse' edited by Neil Gaiman & Stephen Jones. It is indeed sick, but apparently the book is Clive Barker's fault - love it! Each rhyme, written by thirty of the world's best-known science fiction, fantasy, and horror authors, is rated with skulls according to nastiness, with the introduction having one skull, not exactly for children, but I highly recommend it if you have a sick sense of humor or can at least apreciate one. -I give it five skulls-

[mairywo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Morbid, dark, nasty, sick and funny as hell. If you have a sick kind of humour and can laugh till you drop about disgusting and gruesome poems, this book is definitely for you.[return]When I saw that both Neil Gaiman and Clive Barker were involved in this collection of horror poems, I just had to get it. And I wasn't disappointed. It's just great fun.

[María Castejón · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tenía muchísimas ganas de leer esta antología pero ha sido un poco decepcionante. Las traducciones al castellano se centraban demasiado en el contenido y descuidaban la rima y el ritmo. He tenido que recurrir a la versión inglesa para disfrutarlas y a veces, hasta entenderlas.

Las ilustraciones tampoco me han llamado demasiado la atención. Una pena.

[John Watt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it.. as with any anthology some parts were better than others. It was a neat quirky set of odd, dark, yet funny poems. I definitely enjoyed the final section best... the adult section... there were just more dark and demented places to go with the poetry.

[Storm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Borrowed this book from the library in my never-ending "completionist" quest to read anything with Neil Gaiman's name on it. Please don't think too much about the impossibility of that goal (I can't be the only one trying to do this) and stop laughing!


So I started reading this small book during lunch. BAD idea. I would recommend you NOT read this while eating or snacking. It's varying degrees of disgusting, stomach churning, nasty verse, with a capital N, and nowhere near half as entertaining as Ms. Jackson.


Overall, it's just not very good, despite the presence of some big name authors.

Let's see, there's multiple award winners like Alan Moore the graphic novel Guru extraordinaire. Gaiman, another comic book legend. Terry Pratchett of Discworld fame. Even Brian Aldiss!

A few giants and some witty poems later, when I finished reading this I felt dissatisfied. Like that time you went to a super expensive restaurant where the plates were big and the food portions, while fancy and beautiful, were minuscule? And despite eating a ton of bread rolls, you were still hungry afterwards?


Well, that's kind of how I felt when I finished this book. The few good bits, weren't enough to satisfy my hunger for good literature. And at the end I still craved more, but not more of this, more of something else that would actually be satisfying.

[Mladoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Une anthologie orchestrée par Neil GAIMAN, j'ai sauté sur l'occasion d'autant que l'édition collector de Bragelonne en vert glauque est absolument sublime.
Eh bien en fait, j'adore ce qu'écrit le sir Gaiman mais visiblement nous n'avons pas les même goûts en matière de lecture car ce recueil de poèmes m'a fait bien souvent avoir des haut-le-coeur de dégoût et mis assez mal à l'aise.
Sur la forme, je salue la superbe traduction de Gudule qui est un bijou de virtuosité stylistique. Elle a su remarquablement retranscrire un style poétique en français et le vocabulaire est très riche et efficace. Les illustrations sont très chouettes et rappellent par certains aspects les poèmes de Burton, en beaucoup plus glauque quand même.
Tout ça j'ai aimé. Mais le hic c'est le fond, toute cette atmosphère horrifique, cracra, gore, dégoulinante de sang et du reste, ce n'est pas pour moi. Les thèmes sont bien trop trash pour mon petit coeur.
Bref, une lecture malaisante pour moi et une expérience que je ne renouvellerai pas, la poésie horrifique très peu pour moi. On sent une inspiration qui rappelle La Famille Adams ou encore Les contes de la Crypte mais ça va plus loin et c'est trop pour moi.
Avis aux amateurs d'horreur et de gore vous trouverez là de belles pièces pour frissonner.

[Ande · Rating 3 out of 5]

“There’s a house with an ill reputation,
There’s a room where you’d better not go,
With an unhealthy taste for its tenants
And a Something that dwells far below.”

3.00 / 5.00 stars

Now We Are Sick: An Anthology of Nasty Verse is exactly as the title states: Nasty. Each of the stories is told in verse and falls into one of 5 categories – Nasty Habits, In Loving Memory, Less Welcome Tenants, Night Fears, and Adults Only. Each category of stories could easily be read alone or in any order.

I wasn’t a big fan of this collection. It felt like an adult-targeted b-horror version of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. There are some truly disgusting and filthy verses that made me want to put it down entirely, though I never did.

I enjoyed the artwork between sections, but I don’t think this will be on my reread list.

I would suggest this book to anyone looking to read some downright nasty poetry.

[Gwenn Desliens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thématique sympa. Certains poèmes m'ont semblé trop simplet, d’autres géniaux. C’est un excellent livre pour découvrir des auteur⋅rices de fantastique. C’est vraiment orienté fantastique et pas fantasy.
Les illustrations servent bien ce livre.
Pas recommandé pour enfant, mais OK pour ados.

[Robin Helweg-Larsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting collection of authors (Gene Wolfe, Lafferty, Brian Aldiss, etc etc) writing uninspired parodies in imperfect verse. Some of the poems would catch any kid's attention, but...

[Lyra · Rating 2 out of 5]

A handful of the poems are entertaining or clever, most are like the sort of thing an author does in writing challenge with friends, but one is pure misogyny.

[Aleyda Gómez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Si te gusta el horror este libro es para ti. Poemas con mucho gore y terror. En versión bilingüe para poder aprender inglés y/o español.

[Κατερίνα · Rating 5 out of 5]

Εντάξει, είναι πολύ καλό και η μετάφραση εξαιρετική! Δεν θα πω για εξώφυλλο, χαρτί, σχέδια! 5 στα 5 αστεράκια μόνο και μόνο για την έκδοση!

[Kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

While there were some great poems in this collection, the collection really could have used a sensitivity reader to remove some of the extremely ableist and transphobic poems from the collection that pulled the collection down significantly due to their inclusion.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now We Are Sick is an anthology of “nasty” poems with illustrations. There are some big names in here, along with a few I haven’t heard of. That’s probably more due to me not being familiar with the horror genre more than them not being notable names. I especially enjoyed the illustrations, which are delightfully creepy. The poems were hit and miss for me, but overall I enjoyed the collection. Note to self: We’ve got to read some of these with the lights out for Halloween.

Excerpt from What I've Been Reading January 2018. Read entire post

[Fugo Feedback]

Mirá vos, se editó en castellano, aunque por lo que veo está bastante caro. Igual, jamás vi en papel ninguna edición, así que andá a saber cuál termina llegando a mis manos.

[SJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sort of revolting rhymes...just editted by Gaiman and a bit patchy.

[Serge Pierro · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seeing that Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore were going to be involved in this book, I felt the need to pick it up. As can be expected with most anthologies, the pieces are hit or miss.

[elissa]

Would love to find this, but it's not at any library close by!

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disturbing and funny.