Posted on: October 10, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

This issue of Underground Screams is completely focused on poetry. I suspect that this is not because US is a poetry ‘zine, but rather this is all that Eli received by the deadline for the issue. I typically don’t like poetry zines because they lack a certain depth, usually evidenced by the lack of any context for the words within – rather, most the time they are words on a white background. Underground Screams has forced individuals to do their own footwork in getting their poetry out there; Eli has said directly that “Make sure that they are spaced, spelled and punctuated the way YOU want them.”. What results is some beautiful back-drops for the poem in this issue that really reflect a desire to give the reader a little more information about the author, to explain a little why the poem was penned in the first place. Another kudos here goes to Eli eirself because of the clear reproductions of these pieces; gone are the days of too-dark backgrounds that subsume everything that someone has spent hours collaging or otherwise getting together. The most fitting piece in the entire magazine necessarily has to be “Drones”, which is as affecting visually (using an endlessly long line of clones queued up for a completely inhuman method of lunch, a nozzle (to create the “Drone” tie from background to the prose itself. Underground Screams has solid poetry, solid backdrops, and solid printing. The price can’t be beat either, so submit your poems and send some money to Eli, so that we can see what is probably the only good poetry zine out there.

Rating: 8.2/10

Underground Screams #2 / Free (Donations Accepted) / 28S / :15 / http://www.undergroundscreams.com / [email protected] / Reviewed 17 April 2005

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