In the creepy fairy tale “Bluebeard,” his wife is condemned to die because she discovers the ghastly evidence that confirms he murdered his previous wives. Bluebeard decides to kill her because she knows his terrible secret. But what brought about his decision to kill his first wife, who had no previous wives’ deaths to unearth in the bloody chamber? What is her story?
“Bluebeard’s First Wife,” one of my spooky folk tale poems, is going to appear in the Halloween-themed issue of The Quilliad, a Toronto-based small press that you can support through Kickstarter. Follow this link to find out more about what Sarah Varnam and her editorial team are trying to accomplish with their very last crowdfunding campaign. They are committed to paying and promoting Canadian writers and artists AND they have a clever, punny name. What more do you need to know?
You can check out the early acceptance announcement over here, on The Quilliad website. The issue in which my poem will appear will be available to order in print and online before the end of October. Check back soon!
While we’re talking about great horror stories and fairy tales, I must recommend The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter. If you haven’t discovered it yet, I encourage you to pick it up. It’s a great October read, full of intelligent, rich retellings of fairy tales, both macabre and erotic in the best ways.
Ruth Daniell 