Defining Horror Poetry

Defining Horror Poetry. You know what horror is, and you know what poetry is, but what is horror poetry? You may even be one of those people who says, “Horror Poetry, that’s a thing?” Yes, yes, it is. So what is horror poetry? Well, imagine your basic types of poetry: rhyme, ballad, sonnet, free verse, etc. Then imagine your feelings and emotions, only you turn those into a more fictional aspect and bring the genre of horror into it. Finally, gather your thoughts, the stories, the feelings, and everything dark that’s flowing through your head, and create a dark poem, and you have horror poetry. This is the best definition I can give you because if I had said it’s a poem with horror elements, well, you’re not told or sold on what it is. Horror poetry is just like any other type of poetry you’d write, only you're getting deeper, darker, and adding fear and sadness into it, more than you would with raw emotional type of poetry. One could make a drinking game and get drunk every time I mention him, but Edgar Allan Poe was a writer of horror poetry and perhaps even the best and few to do it. The Raven, one of his classics, is one of the greatest horror poems ever written. Do people enjoy horror poetry? A lot more than you might think.

Horror poetry could also be considered a part of speculative poetry, which is poetry that focuses on fantasy, science fiction, and mythological themes. Horror literature itself is immensely popular in today’s culture, and while poetry isn’t as big as it once used to be, most true horror fans are also interested in horror poetry. In a lot of ways, poetry in this sense is another and rather unique literary device to showcase horror. It’s a way to introduce horror to horror fans in a whole new setting, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It could be considered better, and a way to get people more accustomed to poetry.

The thing to know about horror poetry is like regular poetry, it can be written in any way you wish, and there are no rules. It could be a horror haiku, a horror ballad, an epic, or even like The Raven or A Season in Hell, a long poem that tells a tale or expresses the horrifying frustrations of a young poet. Poetry is whatever you want it to be, and this is how some horror writers who are also poets express themselves, by combining the two to create a piece of macabre written art to be read and enjoyed.

Horror poetry’s biggest weakness is also its biggest strength. It’s not widely written, nor does it have a big audience(when defining it by itself and not considered as just horror). This is its weakness as not many people write it and not many follow it as readers; however, this is also a strength and’s advantage because there’s not a big market, a writer can truly gain some solid readers and fans because it’s not known. Horror poetry is a niche a writer and poet can truly make their own; they can be themselves and enjoy their horror at the same time. This is a clear case of having your cake and eating it, too. Horror Poetry may not be Paranormal Romance, Young Adult, or a boy wizard going through life entertaining tons of young readers, but it doesn’t have to be, and no one is asking it to be. Horror poetry is a way of expression, a way to tell a horrific story in a delicate style; it’s showing the twisted side of poetry and all the things that make it great.

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