Horror Writers Association

Tag archive: dark poetry Archives - Horror Writers Association [ 36 ]

Coming to a Shelf Near You: Poetry Showcase Volume X

Coming to a Shelf Near You: Poetry Showcase Volume X

A decade ago, Peter Adam Salomon had an excellent idea. He wanted to recognize horror and dark poetry as a genre. He brought his idea to then president Rocky Woods and the first HWA Poetry Showcase was born. The response from our membership was excellent and the Showcase has been published every year since. Many of us can credit the Showcase with boosting our careers. I’m one of those—my first professional sale as a poet was to Peter for Volume II. Were it not for his encouragement, I wouldn’t be here now.

Since that first publication the pay has …

Celebrating National Haiku Writing Month: The Thrills of Horror Haiku

As February marks National Haiku Writing Month, it’s time to explore the dark and eerie side of poetry. Horror haiku presents a unique opportunity to craft spine-tingling tales in just three lines often using a pattern of 5-7-5 syllables. These mini-stories can evoke fear and suspense, making them perfect for fans of horror and thriller genres. In this post, we’ll go over tips and ideas for writing effective horror haiku that will send shivers down your reader’s spines.

First and foremost, horror haiku should have a strong visual element. Use vivid imagery to paint a picture in your reader’s mind …

Carina Bissett reads from POETRY SHOWCASE IX

Carina Bissett joins us today with a reading of their poem, “A Lacing of Lavender” from Poetry Showcase IX.

If you haven’t purchased your copy yet of the newest Poetry Showcase, it’s just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome.

Carina Bissett is a writer and poet working primarily in the fields of dark fiction and fabulism. Her short fiction and poetry have been published in multiple journals and anthologies including What Remains, Upon a Twice Time, Bitter Distillations: An Anthology of Poisonous Tales, Arterial

Madison McSweeney reads from POETRY SHOWCASE IX

Madison McSweeney joins us today with a reading of their poem, “Cannibal Mutant Maneating Spider” from Poetry Showcase IX.

If you haven’t purchased your copy yet of the newest Poetry Showcase, it’s just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome.

Madison McSweeney is the author of The Doom That Came to Mellonville (Filthy Loot), The Forest Dreams With Teeth (Demain Publishing), and the poetry collection Fringewood (Alien Buddha Press). Her short fiction has appeared in American Gothic Short Stories and Zombie Punks F*ck Off. She

Corinne Hughes reads from POETRY SHOWCASE IX

Corinne Hughes joins us today with a reading of their poem, “Meadows” from Poetry Showcase IX.

If you haven’t purchased your copy yet of the newest Poetry Showcase, it’s just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome.

Corinne Hughes is a queer poet and fiction writer. Her work has been supported by Tin House and the National Book Foundation. Her poetry can be found in Passengers Journal, Cathexis Northwest Press, Cirque Journal, Grim and Gilded, and is forthcoming in the next SMEOP anthology by

Rook Riley reads from POETRY SHOWCASE IX

Rook Riley joins us today with a reading of their poem, “Strange Geometry” from Poetry Showcase IX.

If you haven’t purchased your copy yet of the newest Poetry Showcase, it’s just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome.

Rook Riley is a horror author, game enthusiast, and all-around linguistic badass trained in Krav Maga and spoon warfare.  Hobbies include binge-watching Netflix and collecting tattoos.

Colleen Anderson reads from POETRY SHOWCASE IX

Colleen Anderson joins us today with a reading of their poem, “Our Lady of Holy Death” from Poetry Showcase IX.

If you haven’t purchased your copy yet of the newest Poetry Showcase, it’s just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome.

Colleen Anderson is a multiple award nominee, with poetry widely published in many venues, including Andromeda Spaceways, Lucent Dreaming, Shadow Atlas and Heroic Fantasy Quarterly. Colleen lives in Vancouver, BC and is a Canada Council and BC Arts Council grant recipient for writing and has performed

CASSONDRA WINDWALKER READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

CASSONDRA WINDWALKER READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

Cassondra Windwalker reads a haunting poem “Conflagration,” one of the featured poems in HWA Showcase volume IX.

If you haven’t purchased your copy yet, it’s just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome.

Cassondra Windwalker is the author of the gothic horror HOLD MY PLACE, as well as the upcoming work of dark magical realism LOVE LIKE A CEPHALOPOD. Presently writing full-time from the coast of southern Alaska, she pretends at the poetry of small things and the languages of birds, beasts, and things with roots. She enjoys connecting

M LOPES da SILVA READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

M LOPES da SILVA READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

M Lopes da Silva reads a frighteningly approriate poem “there’s a haunted pornographic magazine in the woods,” one of the featured poems in HWA Showcase volume IX.

If you haven’t purchased your copy yet, it’s just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome.

M Lopes da Silva (he/they/she) is a non-binary and bisexual author from Los Angeles. They write pulp and poetry, and sometimes the two get mixed up together. Their queer Californian horror fiction has been published or is forthcoming from In Somnio: A Collection of Modern Gothic Horror

MEGHAN ARCURI READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

MEGHAN ARCURI READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

Meghan Arcuri reads her heartbreaking and poignant poem “How Do I Tell Her?,” one of the featured poems in HWA Showcase volume IX.

If you haven’t purchased your copy yet, it’s just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome.

Meghan Arcuri is a Bram Stoker Award®-nominated author. Her work can be found in various anthologies, including Borderlands 7 (Borderlands Press), Madhouse (Dark Regions Press), Chiral Mad, and Chiral Mad 3 (Written Backwards). She is currently the Vice President of the Horror Writers Association. Prior to writing, she taught high school

TEEL JAMES GLENN READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

TEEL JAMES GLENN READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

A chilling reading of “Homebound” by Teel James Glenn from the recently released HWA Showcase volume IX.

If you haven’t purchased your copy yet, it’s just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome.

Teel James Glenn has killed hundreds and been killed more times–on stage and screen as he has traveled the world as a stuntman, swordmaster, storyteller, actor, and haunted house barker.

His poetry and short stories have been printed in over two hundred publications including Weird Tales, Horror & Hope, A Woman Unbecoming, Space & Time

GENEVE FLYNN READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

GENEVE FLYNN READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

Geneve Flynn gives a wonderful reading of her poem “spoon against bone,” one of the featured poems in HWA Showcase volume IX.

If you haven’t purchased your copy yet, it’s just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome.

Geneve Flynn is an award-winning speculative fiction editor, author, and poet. She is the co-editor of Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women (with Lee Murray). The anthology won the 2020 Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson Awards and shortlisted for the British Fantasy, Aurealis, and Australian Shadows Awards.

Geneve was assistant editor for

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