Hello Horror Friends,

I hope you are doing well and welcoming autumn as much as I am. It was a brutally hot summer in the UK, hotter than anything in the last five years, and we even had a wildfire close to where we live. Even though it wasn’t on the scale of the infernos in California or France, the flames came as close as 200 metres to our home, which was a terrifying sight. We packed a small bag, ready to leave our flat behind. Fortunately, the firefighters managed to put it out before it could gather strength. I can’t even imagine the suffering and the damage a larger one would bring. We are living in scary times.

But we have art to console us, or at least to provide an escape from reality. It does both for me. And recently, I rediscovered poetry. I loved verse when I was younger, but then music and fiction took over for a while. Maybe because poems are short and provide a quick catharsis, or maybe because I craved something fresh, I’ve found my way back.

My current favourite poets are Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Baudelaire, Clark Ashton Smith, Emily Dickinson, Charles Bukowski, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. On the Hungarian side, they are Attila József, Dezső Kosztolányi, Endre Ady, and János Arany. Look up their English translations; they are excellent. As you can see, I lean towards the dark side here too, just like in fiction and music. And I’m sure I will find contemporary poets as I dig deeper into this wonderful form, but for now, I’m happy to be inspired by these giants.

I’ve also written some of my own over the past months. Again, maybe the feeling of accomplishment after finishing a shorter piece pulls me towards them, or the excitement of something new; it doesn’t really matter. One day, when I have enough of them written, I might put together a dark poetry collection like The Flowers of Evil.

Until then, you can expect some poetry posted on the website or in my newsletters.