Mary-Alice Daniel’s Mass for Shut-Ins is the Yale Series of Younger Poets Vol.117, which was selected by award-winning poet Rae Armantrout.

There is a dark lyricism to the author’s exploration of the mysticism of religion and culture. The collection proceeds as if in a call out to Dante’s Inferno, with each part a new stop on the descent into the depths of true sociological horror. The entanglement of thoughts and pure, unadulterated feeling covers everything from scripture and superstitions to the kind of deep, cosmic thoughts that haunt you as you lie awake at night. 

This collection is a mood that you immerse yourself in. It’s the kind of poems that demand to be read in the dark, in the flicker of a candle flame. It demands little of the reader as it grabs you with its dark and gnarled hand, and pulls you into its depths, and then it slowly immerses your mind in the ideas of spiritual warfare and the questions of modern ritual and spirituality. 

Not quite horror poetry, but if you are drawn to the dark and macabre, this collection will sing to you. Highly recommend - some of the best poems I have read in recent years. The ambiance of the darkness truly drew me in.