Brand new horror anthology focuses on body horror, showcasing the voices of women in horror. Including dark verse and lyrical prose, edited by Lindy Ryan and Toni Miller, featuring work from Bram-Stoker award-winning and nominated authors, and dozens of other celebrated voices. From the foreword by Linda D. Addison, award-winning author, HWA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and SFPA Grand Master:
This book of poems and prose poetry was written by women (cis and trans) and non-binary femmes under the theme of body horror. There are many ways to interpret this area and lucky for us, the work in this book covers a wide range from suggestive to explicit. Each poet has ripped away the skin of their soul’s yearning to uncover hidden/suppressed emotions and wounds.. Like a diamond with many facets, each poem/prose is another window under the skin of being/unbecoming Her. My shadow loved all of this, the true beauty beneath the thin, overworked outer layer of ectodermal tissue, because in the end, we were never the Final Girl. We are the Witch, the Myth, the giver of Life, feared.
Here’s a sneak peek at one of the pieces from the collection:
WHEN THE WITCHES CAME OUT OF US by Donna Lynch
We all remember
When we felt the witch wake up
But we may not remember why
And for the purpose of our preservation
We forget so much
We look the other way…
But not the witch
She tried to get out
The first time
Someone was where they shouldn’t have been
The first time
The fifth time
Or every time
Someone told us to be quiet…
But the witch cannot stay silent
She tried to get out
When some of us started to bleed
And all of us started to change
And everyone else was trying to get in
And told us to open wide
And told us to close our eyes…
But the witch will never blink
She tried to get out
Every time our body was not ours
Every time something was inside us
That invaded, uninvited
In our heads
In our torsos and our hearts
Anywhere and everywhere
That could be entered
She tried to climb out of our mouths
Every time we screamed…
The witch was waiting
And if we never set her free
That choice is ours and ours alone
She will be still if we say so
For the purpose of our preservation
Stitch her away with her own red thread
Keep her inside with her very own cursesBut someday
If we need her
She will do what she must to protect us
She will tear us back open to get out
And we will find that
all those ugly things we made ourselves forget…
The witch hasn’t.
Under Her Skin will available from Black Spot Books April 5, 2022. Pre-order your copy now.
