(Review) Michael Bailey’s SCALES AND PETALS by Nancy O. Greene
Talk about disturbing. If you’re looking for a quick summer read, if you’re looking for something easy-going with a few cheap scares, then look elsewhere. Scales and Petals is a collection of poetry and fiction that dangles hope like a carrot on a stick and delights in yanking it away.
The stories vary but all share a common thread of primarily focusing on the world of the individual. There are no grand schemes here, no world domination plots or musings about the universal nature of good and evil. I normally like those kinds of stories, when done well, but I also enjoy dark tales that focus more on the individual and that’s why Scales and Petals appealed to me.
Most of the stories are psychological horror. At first, I did wonder how some of them qualified as horror. For instance, there’s a piece about a young woman that loses her limbs, and it ends rather abruptly. I initially felt that there wasn’t much that was really “horror” about it; it is disturbing, without question. But after letting it sit for a while, the horrifying nature of the tale becomes clear. A few of the stories are like that; reading them is like driving along at what seems to be a leisurely speed and then suddenly hitting a brick wall. Given the placement of the stories and poems, and the way each unfolds, I would guess that that type of reading experience is at least part of what Michael Bailey had in mind.
The poems in this collection are equally disturbing, well-written, and strike at the gut. Some seem as though they can be song lyrics for a particularly dark and poignant group or artist, take your pick. One poem is particularly beguiling: THE SEED, PART ONE. In the center of this collection that death-grins in the face of hope there is one spark, one seedling, that seems to say, “Despite it all, there is a chance.” But there’s a reason why it’s entitled THE SEED, PART ONE and not just THE SEED. THE SEED, PART TWO is the last piece in S&P and ties a dark, depressing bow on the end of the whole thing.
One of my favorites is a nice non-linear story, “Without Face.” It has a circular style, starting at the end, making its way to the middle, then back to the beginning, and finally reaching the chilling conclusion again—but revealing so much along the way. Another, similar story is “The Trial Chair.” Much longer, it asks, “What’s real, what’s not, and where does the line blur?” All of the stories are well-written and give some insight into a darker part of each character’s existence.
Scales and Petals is deliberate, each piece delivered specifically to get across a tone of despair, anger or futility. Again, not the kind of book one reads to relax or enjoy a quiet day, but definitely worth checking out.
