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Something Breathing
58 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1987
About the author
Stanley McNail
7 books1 followerStanley Duane McNail was the only child of Karl (sometimes Carl) Hicks McNail (1897-1991), a railway switchman (per his 1918 Draft Registration and the 1930 US Census), and his wife Constance Kathleen, nee Poyner (1898-1978), who were married around 1914. The family lived mostly in Illinois, though the 1930 Census locates them in Evansville, Indiana.
Stanley moved to the San Francisco area around 1953. He contributed to many small press poetry magazines, and served as editor and publisher for some literary journals, including The Galley Sail Review (founded 1958), and Nightshade (founded 1965). He also served as poetry editor at other publications such as Renaissance and The Bay Guardian. Many of McNail's poems are macabre in nature.
His first publication was a genealogical booklet, Notes on the Family History of William B. McNail (1782-1868), as by Stanley D. McNail, published in 1957. It details his family history. His first of four poetry collections was the slim booklet Footsteps in the Attic (1958). His second collection, also small, was The Black Hawk Country (1960, second edition 1967). McNail contributed five poems to August Derleth's Arkham House anthology, Fire and Sleet and Candlelight (1961).
His third collection is certainly his most famous work. Something Breathing contains thirty-two poems and was published by Arkham House in 1965. Only forty-four pages, it was printed in an edition of 500 hardcover copies for Arkham House by Villiers Publications in England. The cover art is by Frank Utpatel. McNail issued an expanded edition of this title, containing forty-six poems, in trade paperback, under the Embassy Hall Editions imprint, of Berkeley, California, in 1987. It includes Utpatel's original cover illustration (printed interiorly), as well as a new cover and three illustrations by Christopher Chavez. There is also a brief prefatory note by Steve Eng, who describes McNail's poems as "admirably brief" and "energetically wry."
McNail edited a chapbook Sorcerer's Samplecase: Selected Poems in a Jugular Vein (1986), with all poems reprinted from either The Galley Sail Review or Nightshade. It includes works by nineteen poets, including four by McNail, and one by Paul Zimmer.
His final collection was At Tea in the Mortuary: Poems and Tales (1991), with an introduction by Alan Warren and illustrations by Christopher Chavez.
McNail died of a heart attack at his apartment at the age of 77. An obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle noted that he had worked for Greyhound for fifteen years, retiring in 1983.
Stanley moved to the San Francisco area around 1953. He contributed to many small press poetry magazines, and served as editor and publisher for some literary journals, including The Galley Sail Review (founded 1958), and Nightshade (founded 1965). He also served as poetry editor at other publications such as Renaissance and The Bay Guardian. Many of McNail's poems are macabre in nature.
His first publication was a genealogical booklet, Notes on the Family History of William B. McNail (1782-1868), as by Stanley D. McNail, published in 1957. It details his family history. His first of four poetry collections was the slim booklet Footsteps in the Attic (1958). His second collection, also small, was The Black Hawk Country (1960, second edition 1967). McNail contributed five poems to August Derleth's Arkham House anthology, Fire and Sleet and Candlelight (1961).
His third collection is certainly his most famous work. Something Breathing contains thirty-two poems and was published by Arkham House in 1965. Only forty-four pages, it was printed in an edition of 500 hardcover copies for Arkham House by Villiers Publications in England. The cover art is by Frank Utpatel. McNail issued an expanded edition of this title, containing forty-six poems, in trade paperback, under the Embassy Hall Editions imprint, of Berkeley, California, in 1987. It includes Utpatel's original cover illustration (printed interiorly), as well as a new cover and three illustrations by Christopher Chavez. There is also a brief prefatory note by Steve Eng, who describes McNail's poems as "admirably brief" and "energetically wry."
McNail edited a chapbook Sorcerer's Samplecase: Selected Poems in a Jugular Vein (1986), with all poems reprinted from either The Galley Sail Review or Nightshade. It includes works by nineteen poets, including four by McNail, and one by Paul Zimmer.
His final collection was At Tea in the Mortuary: Poems and Tales (1991), with an introduction by Alan Warren and illustrations by Christopher Chavez.
McNail died of a heart attack at his apartment at the age of 77. An obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle noted that he had worked for Greyhound for fifteen years, retiring in 1983.
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
September 21, 2026
Stanley McNail's "Something Breathing" is definitely one of the best volumes of macabre poetry ever.
McNall doesn't need any bloody vampires or howling werewolves to get his chill across. He uses the anxiety of empty space, dark hallways, and houses haunted by their own vacancy to give his poems their subtle sting. Steve Eng pens the introduction and McNall dedicates the book to August Derleth.
To put it mildly, they get under the skin of the reader's subconscious. The poem's narrator's are soft spoken maniacs who use the space to tell nasty truths:
The Ghost of Nell MacPherson
The ghost of Nell McPherson
is more than I can bear:
No matter where I try to hide,
I find her waiting there.
I waken in the morning.
And before I move or speak,
She plants a clammy phantom kiss
Upon my shrinking cheek.
Her arms are always coiling
And before I move or speak
She plants a clammy phantom's kiss
Upon my shriking cheek.
Her arms are always coiling
Like snakes around my waist;
Her cold transparent fingers
Across my eyes are placed,
Or playfully they stroke my hair
Or tug my sheets at night.
The love I used to feel for Nell
Has turned to ghastly fright.
When I stopped her breath and buried her,
How then was I to know
Her cloying love would follow me
And haunt my footsteps so?
To murder her took all my nerve,
And I have none left to spare.
The Ghost of Nell McPherson
Is more than I can bear.
or just out and out craziness:
Three Sisters
Three lean sisters of uncertain age,
Lived in a house like a rusty cage.
Amanda embroidered, and fondled her cat,
And went to church in a plum colored hat.
Theresa baked cookies, and kept a strong box.
Of old indiscretions, and babies' locks.
Laura awoke when the house was still.
And the moon was round as a quinine pill.
She bloodied her mouth, and gashed her face,
And rode a black hound to the trysting place.
McNail is subtler than Joseph Payne Brennan and doesn't need any philosophical posturing. He creates fear through things already present, the mundane, and uses a fairy tale atmosphere to accentuate his menace. A must read.
McNall doesn't need any bloody vampires or howling werewolves to get his chill across. He uses the anxiety of empty space, dark hallways, and houses haunted by their own vacancy to give his poems their subtle sting. Steve Eng pens the introduction and McNall dedicates the book to August Derleth.
To put it mildly, they get under the skin of the reader's subconscious. The poem's narrator's are soft spoken maniacs who use the space to tell nasty truths:
The Ghost of Nell MacPherson
The ghost of Nell McPherson
is more than I can bear:
No matter where I try to hide,
I find her waiting there.
I waken in the morning.
And before I move or speak,
She plants a clammy phantom kiss
Upon my shrinking cheek.
Her arms are always coiling
And before I move or speak
She plants a clammy phantom's kiss
Upon my shriking cheek.
Her arms are always coiling
Like snakes around my waist;
Her cold transparent fingers
Across my eyes are placed,
Or playfully they stroke my hair
Or tug my sheets at night.
The love I used to feel for Nell
Has turned to ghastly fright.
When I stopped her breath and buried her,
How then was I to know
Her cloying love would follow me
And haunt my footsteps so?
To murder her took all my nerve,
And I have none left to spare.
The Ghost of Nell McPherson
Is more than I can bear.
or just out and out craziness:
Three Sisters
Three lean sisters of uncertain age,
Lived in a house like a rusty cage.
Amanda embroidered, and fondled her cat,
And went to church in a plum colored hat.
Theresa baked cookies, and kept a strong box.
Of old indiscretions, and babies' locks.
Laura awoke when the house was still.
And the moon was round as a quinine pill.
She bloodied her mouth, and gashed her face,
And rode a black hound to the trysting place.
McNail is subtler than Joseph Payne Brennan and doesn't need any philosophical posturing. He creates fear through things already present, the mundane, and uses a fairy tale atmosphere to accentuate his menace. A must read.
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review