"Gathering of the Dead" in TALES FROM THE MOONLIT PATH
Gathering of the Dead" combines two things near and dear to my heart - ghost stories and fairy folklore. The fairy connection may simply be implied through the mention of "rath" (as in "fairy rath") and "glamour" (as in the fairy power of glamour), but it's there just the same. And the traditional tale that inspired this piece, that of Hugh King's disturbing encounter with the fair folk on November Eve, makes a pretty strong connection between fairies and the dead. The two realms do overlap. I merely added even more ghostly trappings to the eldritch spirits that gather on the rath each November's Eve.
The photo I chose to accompany my bio below the poem caused a slight stir in this household. I wanted to go with something seasonally appropriate. After all, it is a Halloween poem in the Halloween issue of a horror publication. However, my wife laughed when she first saw the pic, saying that I don't normally look like that. My daughter just stared in shock.
It wasn't quite the reaction I was looking for. I guess I should be glad of the fact that I don't normally look scary-evil. Well, at least my family doesn't think so. Others may disagree.
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