Black Spot Books presents its inaugural Poetry Showcase, UNDER HER SKIN [Black Spot Books, April 5, 2022], featuring the best in never-before-published dark verse and lyrical prose from the voices of Women in Horror. The inaugural collection features work from Bram-Stoker Award® winning and nominated authors, as well as dozens of poems from women (cis and trans) and non-binary femmes in horror.
Edited by Lindy Ryan and Toni Miller, UNDER HER SKIN celebrates women in horror from cover to cover. In addition to poems contributed by seventy poets, the collection also features a foreword penned by Science Fiction Poetry Association (SFPA) Grand Master and recipient of the Horror Writers Association (HWA) Lifetime Achievement Award, Linda D. Addison; interior illustrations by Science Fiction & Fantasy (SF&F) Poetry Association Grand Master and recipient of the Horror Writers Association (HWA) Lifetime Achievement Award Marge Simon; and cover art by noted horror artist Lynne Hansen. The collection has been selected by distributor IPG as a Spring 2022 Top Shelf Pick.
“Part of Black Spot Books’ mission is to amplify women’s voices in horror,” says Black Spot Books’ publisher and coeditor Lindy Ryan. “And perhaps no other form of writing is as visceral—as loud, and raw, and insistent—as poetry.”
“We kept returning to how women relate to body horror, and the concept for this inaugural showcase was born,” adds coeditor and VP of Media Relations, Toni Miller. “I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished with this collection.”
UNDER HER SKIN is the first installment of Black Spot Books’ women-in-horror poetry showcase series. “We’re currently in the process of forming a partnership to donate proceeds of our next showcase to an organization that works to end violence against women,” says Ryan. The second collection, currently untitled, is planned for October 2023.
Lindy Ryan is an award-winning author and editor. She serves on the Independent Book Publishers Association Board of Directors, was a 2020 Publishers Weekly Star Watch Honoree, and is a volunteer for the Horror Writers Association.
Toni Miller is one of co-founders of the Ladies of Horror Fiction and the host of the Ladies of Horror Fiction Podcast.
Under Her Skin will be available in paperback and e-book on April 5, 2022.
