Let’s hope that each and every SpiderWordser knows that constraints can be interesting.  Restriction, the bondage of limiting the scope or vision of an artistic work, can lead to unexpected delights; strange and delightful creepy-crawlies can emerge from forced limitations.

              On its own, Gorelets is a wonderful work.  When viewed through its constraints, it’s even more impressive.  By limiting the cruel aspects of his imagination, Michael A. Arnzen, who Cemetery Dance calls “a strong and important voice in horror,” brings to print fifty-two unpleasant poems that were originally written for PDAs or Palm Pilots.  Those were his constraints, short jabs designed to fit the small screen of a handheld device.  In eleven lines or less, no line greater than eight words, Arnzen has created bite-sized bits of insistent terror.

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