"I'd rather arm myself / in blood than be a pretty statue / to stare at."

The spooky season is upon us, and I'm trying to read more poetry this year, so what better time to start exploring horror poetry? I decided to start with I Am Not Your Final Girl because I've heard about it off and on for years now--I remember it getting some favorable attention on Book Riot--but never got around to it.

In the introduction, Holland addresses the 2016 election and how collectively tired we were at the time, so I was a little apprehensive that the poems would feel dated already. Maybe that sounds silly, but I know that I, for one, am a wholly different person than the girl who sobbed in the fetal position on election night. Like yeah, that was bad, but I've since then lived through the pandemic and watched the rise of christofascism on a speedrun. I am a much harder person now, and my definition of what makes a bad year has changed accordingly. I think that's true of most people I know.

But luckily(?), these poems about hacking your way to survival as a woman in a world that wants to destroy you still feel relevant! They're a bit more aphoristic than the types of poetry I typically prefer, and the themes feel slightly repetitive, but I still enjoyed them, especially the ones about horror movies that I've seen and enjoyed: The Witch, The Craft, Antichrist, Carrie, Ginger Snaps. I might end up using this book as a list of suggested films as I watch horror movies all next month, so that I can revisit the poems that didn't hit me as hard and see if the context changes the effect, as I suspect it will.

My only other grumble is that the perspective feels less universal than it perhaps intends to be, but it's drawing from source material that doesn't prioritize the experiences of women who aren't cis and straight, so.