There is so much extraordinary art in the world. How's that for an understatement? It's true nonetheless. There is so much art that it can feel overwhelming to even know where to begin looking for what speaks to you, what touches your heart (and what breaks it), what stirs long untouched memories, what chills you to your marrow, what incites your desire to participate in an activist movement, what sets your mind ablaze with ideas of your own.

Having a guide to help illuminate the myriad paths to the multitude of styles, let alone innumerable artists themselves, is a priceless gift.

In her two (soon to be three) books, S. Elizabeth has does even more than provide us with insightful and relatable guides to the themes, artistic styles, and artists shared within their respective covers. Each piece of art, each artist shared therein is also a doorway through which you may choose to pass and embark on endless explorations of your own.

Dante had Virgil. You have S. Elizabeth. And I cannot imagine a finer guide through the labyrinthine darkness of artistic self-expression. Here the intricate intertwinings of creativity, the human psyche, and the inescapable, multitudinous dark form a matryoshka of shadows. Here there be monsters, but you need not beware. For, as you shall learn within these pages, we are each part and parcel of the dark.