Black Spot Books’ Second Annual Women-in-Horror Poetry Showcase Partners with Global Nonprofit to End Violence Against Women
Set for release on November 7, 2023, Black Spot Book’s second annual poetry showcase, Under Her Eye features the best in never-before-published dark verse and lyrical prose from the voices of Women in Horror. The second collection centers on the concept of domestic horror, and features work from Bram-Stoker Awards® winning and nominated authors, as well as over one hundred poems from women (cis and trans) and non-binary femmes in horror. This showcase is developed in recognition of United Nations General Assembly’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Edited by Lindy Ryan and Lee Murray, Under Her Eye follows the inaugural award-winning collection, Under Her Skin. In addition to poems contributed by poets worldwide, the collection also includes a foreword by Bram Stoker Awards®-winning poet Sara Tantlinger and featured poems from Bram Stoker Awards®-winner Stephanie M. Wytovich, nominee Jessica McHugh, and HWA Lifetime Achievement Award-winner and SFPA Grand Master, Marge Simon. Cover illustration is by horror artist Lynne Hansen, who also provided cover illustration for Under Her Skin.
Under Her Eye is a charity showcase developed in partnership with The Pixel Project, a global non-profit organization focused on eliminating violence against women worldwide. According to a March 2022 study, “over one in four women (or 27 percent) experience intimate partner violence before the age of 50, according to a worldwide analysis led by researchers from McGill University and the World Health Organization. The largest of its kind, the analysis covers 366 studies involving more than 2 million women in 161 countries.” All net proceeds from this showcase will be donated to The Pixel Project. Black Spot Books, the editors, most poets, and supporting production and publicity staff have also donated their time and energy into bringing this showcase to readers.
Exclusive Excerpt
Co-Editor Lee Murray’s Introduction
A friend—let’s call her Stacey—messaged me recently. She was confused, she said. Conflicted. Her new partner had yelled abuse at her, and the incident had destabilized her. In public, he was loving and respectful; it was only when the doors were closed that the ugliness appeared. The insidious thing was he claimed it was her fault, tried to turn it around on her. What should she do?
red flags /unseen through rose-colored glasses
Stacey’s dilemma is just one example of the real-life horror faced by women and girls all over the world, and in their homes, the very place they should feel safest, with the abuse coming from people they love and who claim to love them.
seven years old / missing her eyelid / baby doll
The United Nations, in its Global Study on Homicide (2018), attests that “home is the most likely place for a woman to be killed” with more than 137 women estimated to be killed by a partner or family member daily.
her neighbors / never miss a trick / except when it matters
Faced with numbers as haunting as these, how can a collection of horror poetry like Under Her Eye possibly help? Stephanie Wytovich, Bram Stoker Awards® winner and one of our featured poets, explains:
“When I began combining horror and poetry, it felt like a homecoming, a safe haven. I was no longer worried about saying something too dark or too grotesque, and it embraced me when I felt broken or weak and didn’t have the ability or desire to rise up and wear the badge of final girl. Essentially, the line I’d felt I’d been walking my entire life slowly began to disappear as I refused to walk on eggshells or speak in hushed whispers. I now felt free to run, to scream, but most importantly, to fight. My poems became centered around themes of violence and death, and while they were, and continue to be, graphic and macabre, they speak to survival and female empowerment, to all those private rituals I do to survive, no matter how big or small.”
(Wytovich, Conjuring Strength Through Poetry, Lit Reactor, 2020)
When crafted with authenticity and compassion, poetry can inspire these same feelings Wytovich describes in the reader, ultimately offering empowerment and hope to those who find themselves represented in the lines.
Or in the space between the lines.
a woman’s slip / uncovered / beneath the floorboards
When author-editor Lindy Ryan mentioned co-editing a book of poetry by women in horror, a follow-up to her acclaimed Under Her Skin (with Toni Miller), and focusing on the theme of domestic horror, I jumped at the chance. And as I’d recently written the prose-poem, “The Moon Goddess’s Granddaughter” for Regina Yau for the Pixel Project’s Giving the Devil His Due (edited by Rebecca Brewer), the opportunity to connect these powerhouse women, to combine horror poetry with ‘a safe haven’ (to borrow Wytovich’s words), seemed too important to miss.
of all the men she’d dated / he made the cut
I was humbled by the overwhelming response to our submission call, many more than we could select for this volume. Those we chose to include are brutal and beautiful, suffused with both vulnerability and verve. And while they vary in length, style, structure, approach, and perspective, every poem tells a story as old as time, one that is heart-breaking, shocking, and startlingly real. It was a privilege to have been entrusted with their care.
the first time he hits her / he’s sorry / so is she
I hope you enjoy reading Under Her Eye, a book of hard edges, blunt objects, and dark places. And I hope, like me, these poems inspire you to do better, to be better, in the face of domestic violence, that our readers too, are galvanised, “to run, to scream, but most importantly, to fight.”
my hands are tied, she said / together, we unpick the knots
