Is Horror Poetry A Thing?

Horror poetry? Horror and Poetry? That's quite a combo! This is what I hear when I tell people I write horror poetry. While never turned off by the idea, most ponder the two words together for a moment before saying one of the three things above, which is usually followed by that's interesting. I don't blame them for their surprised reactions, I mean, who writes horror poetry anymore? Aside from myself, I've only come across a few others who are writers of the unique genre. Is horror poetry a thing? I say yes, and not because I write it but because, like any small niche genre, there are writers of it and an audience for it. I became a writer of horror poetry after reading and becoming inspired by Edgar Allan Poe, the legend of horror poetry himself. In many ways, I think we are all inspired by Poe when it comes to horror. His way with words, so dark and morbid, can resonate with people. I will explain my enjoyment of writing in this genre and what I think of it by responding to quotes from Edgar Allan Poe.

One of many photos from my Edgar Allan Poe Board on Pinterest

“Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence.”

Agreed, Edgar, it is not yet settled. One must think of us as mad or at least a bit off in the brain to have such enjoyment by combining a genre that is meant to terrify with one that is usually written with real emotion and calm, simple feelings. But is horror not what brings out people's feelings? Feelings of raw emotion such as fear, worry, and sadness? I think it is a lofty intelligence and one that only someone who enjoys horror can explain or understand.

“When I was young and filled with folly, I fell in love with melancholy”

If by melancholy you mean the simple measure and average writing technique that is poetry, then I, too, fell in love with it. I, too, from a young age, fell for things of average meaning, and while poetry is not average, I believe people think it is so hence the reason it's a melancholy thought. 

“A mystery, and a dream, should my early life seem.”

I hear ya there, Mr. Poe. I feel at times that my life has been a mystery and at times a dream, but aren't all of our lives like this in a way? We know not what the future holds nor the upcoming present, and yet with all that, there's still the mystery of life, a dream of an unbelievable notion that some of the things life throws at us we think of as not reality. By all these things, we cherish life, we cherish mystery, and we make the most of our slumbering or unslumbering dreams.

"I would define, in brief, the poetry of words as the rhythmical creation of Beauty."

Oh, preach it, Edgar, preach the good word! Poetry is beautiful, rhythmic, stylish, and tells a story through feeling. Poetry is a way of life, a beautiful sunrise, a luminous moonlight, a snowflake falling to the ground, a person, a place, anything you can take around you. This, in part, is why we can take horror and mix it with poetry to create beautiful poems(although some may disagree otherwise). 

"Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality."

I see this in two ways. One just as it's written and to be taken, and the other as no barrier or rule says horror cannot be poetry or poetry can not be horror. In the deep regions of horror, poetry is read, and in the deep inner meaning of words written as poetry, there is horror. For poetry is like anything else, when it is broken down, horror can be taken from it. It is this taking away that some, such as you and me, Edgar, embrace. For we take the horror and coat our poetry with it, we make the horror the focus, the word, the reality. I think that Edgar is what horror poetry is all about. 

If you wish to experience horror poetry, then go grab yourself an Edgar Allan Poe book or grab one of my Macabre Masterpiece books.

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