No light without shadow

Name: Elizabeth Barrette

Medium: Words. A majority of the dark matter I post online is poetry, but I also write fiction, nonfiction, and other stuff.

Genre: Primarily speculative fiction. Most of what's relevant here is dark fantasy, with some dark science fiction and horror. I also write about dreadful things that have happened in history or are happening now, if you like true horror.

Inspirations: Very little of my literary influences are from traditionally dark sources. If I pick through, I can say that I like the way J.R.R. Tolkien handled war and corruption. I like the feminist interpretations of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and after writing a few things about it, one of those spun into a series, Frankenstein's Family (which, yes, is gender studies historic science fiction). I got a big kick out of "The Cremation of Sam McGee."

About Me: I'm a wordsmith. I do writing, editing, and other stuff with language. My favorite topics include speculative fiction, gender studies, and activism.

Most of my writing mixes light and dark aspects, but occasionally I write things that are just plain ooky. Once a month I host a Poetry Fishbowl in my blogs, where people can give me ideas on what to write, and the October one is traditionally horror or otherwise Halloween-themed.

When I turn words into shadows on the wall, sometimes it completely freaks people out. My favorite example is the time I found submission guidelines that said, "Send us the scariest thing you've ever written. We want you to actually scare us." This I did. The rejection note said, "You are sick. Never send us anything again." I do try to put appropriate warnings on the really squicktastic stuff, but sometimes people are sensitive to things I didn't think to warn about. I don't tend to write buckets of blood. I tend to balance buckets of atavistic emotion over doors that people only notice when the buckets hit them on the head. So yeah: general warning, if there is a WARNING label atop the poem or series, be careful.

Here are some of my series that have dark elements:

A Conflagration of Dragons -- Fantasy. Numerous dragons wake up from hibernation and destroy civilization. Widespread destruction, mass casualties, refugees, PTSD and other alphabet soup, racial tensions, and environmental chaos. Come here if you like to watch the world burn.

Diminished Expectations -- Science fiction. The aftermath of war leaves a population dealing with severe birth defects. They've also created artificial life called oids (imagine frankenrobots). Oppression, abuse, discrimination, and body horror.

Monster House -- Suburban fantasy. Humans and assorted monsters live together in domestic mostly-bliss. While the average tone for this series is lighthearted, the dark parts can get really quite dark. "Thunder Without Rain" (and its sequels), "Not Mine," and "It Comes First and Follows After" are good examples.

"One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis" -- Fantasy. The tone is often warped humor; it's the background that's dark, which makes some of the manifestations twisted. Shaeth retires from being the God of Evil and becomes the God of Drunks.

Polychrome Heroics -- Superhero fantasy. Tone varies widely through the series, sometimes very upbeat and other times creepy. The real darkness here is how far I'll go with things that are hinted but rarely played out in comics. "Cut to the Quick" introduces the main character getting chopped to pieces mentally. "Lifeyears" has mad science torture child abuse. "Dr. Doohickey and the Problem of Locomotion" features a ticking timer and conveyor belt-o-doom.

Also worth mentioning are some shorter series on my Serial Poetry page: The Clockwork War (science fiction: disabled soldiers and robotic enemies), Los Conquistados (historic fantasy: invading Spaniards get their butts kicked), Frankenstein's Family (historic science fiction: cozy tone with some gory details), Poems About Phobic Starships (science fiction: aliens scaring the heck out of sentient ships), and Tripping into the Future (science fiction: time travel as a weapon).