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The Lay of Old Hex: Spectral Ballads and Weird Jack Tales
The ballad is one of the most ancient forms of poetic expression, and it has been used for the expression of weirdness and terror at least since the days of Sir Walter Scott. In recent years, the accomplished weird poet Adam Bolivar has lent new vitality and piquancy to this venerable literary mode.
The present volume, a masterpiece of folk horror, assembles a wealth of Bolivar’s spectral balladry, prose tales, and vignettes, telling the story of Jack Drake, whose mother gives him a Silver Key that triggers his subsequent journeys and adventures. It becomes evident that many of these adventures echo the work of H. P. Lovecraft, a dominant influence on Bolivar’s poetry, flawlessly conveying terror and strangeness in a manner that evokes both old-time legendry and contemporary cosmic horror. In one of the most powerful of his ballads, “The Rime of the Eldritch Mariner,” he fuses Lovecraft and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in reinterpreting “The Call of Cthulhu” by means of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
Deftly interweaving English and Appalachian traditions, Adam Bolivar’s mastery of the diction and atmosphere of the weird ballad allows him to tap into haunted undercurrents of ancestral memory, producing phantasmal effects seldom found in other forms of weird literature.
Weird poetry is thriving in our time, but it is safe to say that few poets today can match the achievement of Adam Bolivar in fashioning this rich conglomeration of hypnotic verse.
The present volume, a masterpiece of folk horror, assembles a wealth of Bolivar’s spectral balladry, prose tales, and vignettes, telling the story of Jack Drake, whose mother gives him a Silver Key that triggers his subsequent journeys and adventures. It becomes evident that many of these adventures echo the work of H. P. Lovecraft, a dominant influence on Bolivar’s poetry, flawlessly conveying terror and strangeness in a manner that evokes both old-time legendry and contemporary cosmic horror. In one of the most powerful of his ballads, “The Rime of the Eldritch Mariner,” he fuses Lovecraft and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in reinterpreting “The Call of Cthulhu” by means of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
Deftly interweaving English and Appalachian traditions, Adam Bolivar’s mastery of the diction and atmosphere of the weird ballad allows him to tap into haunted undercurrents of ancestral memory, producing phantasmal effects seldom found in other forms of weird literature.
Weird poetry is thriving in our time, but it is safe to say that few poets today can match the achievement of Adam Bolivar in fashioning this rich conglomeration of hypnotic verse.
328 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2017
33 people want to read
About the author
Adam Bolivar
41 books9 followersAdam Bolivar is a poet of mythic and folkloric fantasy, a weird fiction writer and a playwright for marionettes with a particular interest in alliterative verse, balladry and “Jack” tales.
That he is a member of an occult poetic society known as the Crimson Circle is a rumour which is only whispered in darkness.
That he is a member of an occult poetic society known as the Crimson Circle is a rumour which is only whispered in darkness.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 13, 2018
A collection of contemporary balladry, Bolivar's The Lay of Old Hex mixes traditional forms with fresh perspectives, American folk lore with literature. Prose vignettes, lengthy versifying, layerings of fairy tale and nursery rhyme gradually paint a portrait of a family doomed, by a progenitor who left Europe for the new world, to a wickedly varied cycle of temptation and destruction.
The Devil is here, both Old Scratch and golden Lucifer with his retinue of fatal beauties. The fey folk are present, in lascivious, treacherous array. King Arthur makes appearance, and there is a definite Lovecraftian frisson. But the man who is a noble hero within the Dreame may be arrested for vagrancy in an earthly town, and the quest that begins on the back of Sleipnir may continue in other ways.
“Across the bridge there stopped a train;
Drake boarded it to ride.
He found a berth for Lily's bed
And lay himself beside.
The grim conductor rattled chains
And had a skull-like head.
His body but a bag of bones,
He looked like he was dead.”
- "The Lay of Jackson Drake"
The constants throughout are the Son, the Key, the Journey, the catalysing Drink, and the Woman, be she demon, nereid or parson's daughter. Stairs figure largely, along with tea. Above all, the action hinges on promises extracted and broken. In this way, Jack gives way to Jackson, to Josiah, John and Jasper, all the way down to Tamsin Willowe, who drives a Model A roadster back to old Hexam town (“half in Dreame, and half on earth we know”) to discover her ancestor's fate. A kind of Jungian delirium sets in: can the pattern be broken? Is it a curse imposed by implacable cosmic entities, or something intrinsic to the human condition? If the reader is not willing to accept universal archetypes, perhaps the national will do. If crossing an ocean, accepting local initiation and marrying outside your class does not suffice to shatter a dismal and feudal past, then what will?
The author's ambition is signalled in references to Browning's "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came", not to mention the piece entitled “Rhyme of the Eldritch Mariner”. And yet, to my mind, some of the most effective works are shorter, and peripheral to the central body of work. The opening “Ballad of Jack Keeper”, brings a wonderful mix of humour and the macabre to a straightforward moral tale. “Ye Black Star” is a wonderfully eerie vision, that stands upon its own.
“They climbed aboard with open eyes
As wide as they could be,
And saw a black star shine above,
Which blackly lit the sea.
How can this be, you well may ask
How can a black star light?
It was a light we cannot see
But penetrates the night.”
Boliver's use of the ballad form (ABCB or else ABAB) is as polished and unyielding in his epics as in his shorter verses. His prose is rich, meandering and hypnotic, never so much as in the charming “Gooseberry Tea”. The 9 part sequence commencing with “The Grimalkin's Curse” combines both, as the contemporary incarnation of Jack takes a road trip back to Hexham to finally confront his family's nemesis with a guitar, a goth and a head in a box.
Plumbing the depths of The Lay of Old Hex requires a degree of commitment—there is simply so much here. Like one of Jack's demonic deals, this book requires permission to work its magic, and yet that magic is potent. Adorned with wood-cut style illustrations “restored” by Dan Sauer, it is a reminder that the past exists in the present, and can be as lively and relevant as ever.
The Devil is here, both Old Scratch and golden Lucifer with his retinue of fatal beauties. The fey folk are present, in lascivious, treacherous array. King Arthur makes appearance, and there is a definite Lovecraftian frisson. But the man who is a noble hero within the Dreame may be arrested for vagrancy in an earthly town, and the quest that begins on the back of Sleipnir may continue in other ways.
“Across the bridge there stopped a train;
Drake boarded it to ride.
He found a berth for Lily's bed
And lay himself beside.
The grim conductor rattled chains
And had a skull-like head.
His body but a bag of bones,
He looked like he was dead.”
- "The Lay of Jackson Drake"
The constants throughout are the Son, the Key, the Journey, the catalysing Drink, and the Woman, be she demon, nereid or parson's daughter. Stairs figure largely, along with tea. Above all, the action hinges on promises extracted and broken. In this way, Jack gives way to Jackson, to Josiah, John and Jasper, all the way down to Tamsin Willowe, who drives a Model A roadster back to old Hexam town (“half in Dreame, and half on earth we know”) to discover her ancestor's fate. A kind of Jungian delirium sets in: can the pattern be broken? Is it a curse imposed by implacable cosmic entities, or something intrinsic to the human condition? If the reader is not willing to accept universal archetypes, perhaps the national will do. If crossing an ocean, accepting local initiation and marrying outside your class does not suffice to shatter a dismal and feudal past, then what will?
The author's ambition is signalled in references to Browning's "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came", not to mention the piece entitled “Rhyme of the Eldritch Mariner”. And yet, to my mind, some of the most effective works are shorter, and peripheral to the central body of work. The opening “Ballad of Jack Keeper”, brings a wonderful mix of humour and the macabre to a straightforward moral tale. “Ye Black Star” is a wonderfully eerie vision, that stands upon its own.
“They climbed aboard with open eyes
As wide as they could be,
And saw a black star shine above,
Which blackly lit the sea.
How can this be, you well may ask
How can a black star light?
It was a light we cannot see
But penetrates the night.”
Boliver's use of the ballad form (ABCB or else ABAB) is as polished and unyielding in his epics as in his shorter verses. His prose is rich, meandering and hypnotic, never so much as in the charming “Gooseberry Tea”. The 9 part sequence commencing with “The Grimalkin's Curse” combines both, as the contemporary incarnation of Jack takes a road trip back to Hexham to finally confront his family's nemesis with a guitar, a goth and a head in a box.
Plumbing the depths of The Lay of Old Hex requires a degree of commitment—there is simply so much here. Like one of Jack's demonic deals, this book requires permission to work its magic, and yet that magic is potent. Adorned with wood-cut style illustrations “restored” by Dan Sauer, it is a reminder that the past exists in the present, and can be as lively and relevant as ever.
October 16, 2017
It is a joy to see ballads come back to life in this exquisite collection of folk horror poetry. True to the story form, as ballads are known for, Adam pens such fascinating tales of the legendary Jack and his encounters with giants, the Devil, and other eldritch beings. Fans of fairy tales, folk horror, and Lovecraft will find much to enjoy in this massive collection of the fantastic and macabre.
March 20, 2018
Bolivar intersperses his poems with bits of prose, so that this book reads as a hybrid text. The prose is accessible and written well enough, and leads the reader into the next ballad successfully. At times, the language of the prose, especially that written in dialect, becomes burdensome, but patient readers will be able to muddle through. In the same way, Bolivar’s adherence to the ballad form is as much a weakness as a strength. At times, he is so intent on pursuing the plot of his ballad that he loses the descriptions and imagery that make for good poetry. Also, as with a lot of formal horror poetry, there are times the form takes precedence over content, and the lines are wrenched around unnaturally to maintain a rhyme scheme.
Overall, The Lay of Old Hex is a solid amalgam of classic folklore and modern horror. The combination of the Jack tales with elements of horror and weird fiction works well, and Bolivar makes the two seem like a natural fit with each other. It’s a fun, enjoyable read that horror and fantasy readers are sure to benefit from.
See full review here: http://www.cemeterydance.com/extras/r...
Overall, The Lay of Old Hex is a solid amalgam of classic folklore and modern horror. The combination of the Jack tales with elements of horror and weird fiction works well, and Bolivar makes the two seem like a natural fit with each other. It’s a fun, enjoyable read that horror and fantasy readers are sure to benefit from.
See full review here: http://www.cemeterydance.com/extras/r...
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews