The tradition of weird poetry is one that stretches back for millennia, to the earliest literary expression of the human race. In this new volume-the first comprehensive historical anthology of weird, horrific, and supernatural poetry in more than 50 years-the editors have rightly begun their survey of weirdness in verse with Homer's Odyssey, proceeding through Greek, Latin, and medieval verse to such towering poets of English and American literature as Coleridge, Shelley, Poe, Tennyson, and Longfellow. With the dawn of the 20th century, such leaders of horrific prose as H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Donald Wandrei, and Robert E. Howard came to the fore. Our own day has seen a remarkable resurgence in weird poetry, and such poets as Richard L. Tierney, Bruce Boston, W. H. Pugmire, and Ann K. Schwader have added to a legacy that stretches back to the dawn of time.
The editors have added brief biographical notes on all the poets included, along with bibliographical information on the poems. This volume will become the standard edition of weird poetry for decades to come.
S. T. Joshi is the author of Unutterable Horror: A History of Supernatural Fiction (2012) and many other works of criticism and scholarship. Steven J. Mariconda is the author of many essays on H. P. Lovecraft, Ramsey Campbell, and other writers of weird fiction.
