Mythic Delirium edited by Mike Allen published two issues in 2011, with one notable dark poem by Elissa Malcohn.
Dreams & Nightmares edited David C. Kopaska-Merkel has been published continuously since the beginning of 1986—in 2011 there were notable dark poems by Brock Moore, Robert Borski, and Marge Simon.
Star*Line edited by Marge Simon, the bi-monthly journal of the Science Fiction Poetry Association runs science fiction, fantasy and horror poetry. During 2011 the strongest dark poems were by Marcie Lynch Tentchoff, Robert E. Stutts, and F.J. Bergmann. Unfortunately, the fall issue arrived too late to review.
Stone Telling edited by Rose Lemberg and Shweta Narayan is an excellent new mixed-genre poetry webzine. There were notable dark poems by Lynn Coffin, Amal El-Mohtar, Alec Austin, and Sonya Taaffe.
The 2011 Rhysling Anthology edited by David Lunde (Science Fiction Poetry Association) contains all the sf/f/h poetry nominated for the Rhysling Award, as the best published in 2010 by the Science Fiction Poetry Association.
Paper Crow edited by Angela Charmaine Craig is a bi-annual magazine that in 2011 had notable dark poetry by Donna Burgess, F. J. Bergmann, Martin Willitts, Jr., Kristine Ong Muslim, Jennifer Clark, and Stephen M. Wilson.
Goblin Fruit edited by Amal El-Mohtar, Jessica P. Wick, and Oliver Hunter continued to publish excellent dark poetry. My favorites of 2011 were by Ruth Stacey, Nancy Sheng, S. Brackett Robertson, and Sarah Colona.
How to Recognize a Demon Has Become Your Friend by Linda D. Addison (Necon E-Books) is an enjoyable mix of thirty-five pieces of poetry and prose, some of it new, most of it horror.
Fairy Tales in Electri-City by Francesca Lia Block (A Midsummer’s Night Press) is a lovely little chapbook of dark fantasy poetry inspired by myth and fairy tales with an erotic, dark edge.
Surrealities by Bruce Boston (Dark Regions Press) is a new collection of twenty-nine surrealistic dark and light pieces showcasing some of the best of Boston’s recent poetry.
The Land of Bad Dreams by Kyla Lee Ward (P’rea Press) is a very good collection of twenty-eight dark poems, most of them new, with illustrations by the poet
At Louche Ends: Poetry for the Decadent, the Damned and the Absinthe-Minded by Maria Alexander (Burning Effigy Press) features over thirty-five poems, reprints and new ones.
Skeleton Leaves by Helen Marshall (Kelp Queen Press) is a charming dark suite of poems inspired by Peter Pan.
Unearthly Delights by Marge Simon (Sam’s Dot) collects forty-four new and reprinted poems of sf/f/h. With excellent illustrations by the poet.
Blood Wallah and other poems by Robert Borski (Dark Regions Press) has forty-three poems, mostly horror, fifteen published for the first time.
The Vampire Bridegroom by Chad Helder (Dark Scribe) has fifty poems, mostly new about vampires and other monsters, including a few human ones.
Vamps (A Retrospective) by James S. Dorr (Sam’s Dot) has more than eighty brief poems, most reprints.
Horror Noir: Where Cinema’s Dark Sisters Meet by Paul Meehan (McFarland & Company) examines the historical and thematic relationships between two of the cinema’s most popular genres: horror and film noir and ranges from the 1930s to Shutter Island. The Voices of Serial Killers by Christopher Berry-Dee (Ulysses Press) features profiles and interviews with some of the world’s “most maniacal murderers,” conducted by an investigative criminologist. Making an Exit: From the Magnificent to the Macabre — How We Dignify the Dead by Sarah Murray (St. Martin’s Press) is a personal exploration of the many ways around the world that we send off the dead. Shadow Play: Philosophy and Psychology of the Modern Horror Film by Willy Greer (Midnight Marquee) is a horror survey that according to its publisher “delves into the dark psychology of the modern horror film to scare up those terrifying images that still manage to make us afraid of things that go bump in the night.” Wes Craven: The Man and His Nightmares by John Wooley (Wiley) is a portrait of the American director. Stephen King: A Literary Companion by Rocky Wood (McFarland & Company) is an encyclopedic guide to King’s work, including a bibliography of the author’s fiction and poetry. Deformed and Destructive Beings: the Purpose of Horror Films by George Ochoa (McFarland & Company) offers the theory that the primary reason movie audiences like horror films is that “monsters satisfy the audience’s desire to know the extremities of being, in particular those beings too fantastic and dangerous to know in real life,” (which seems to me, awfully limiting). The Immortalization Commission: Science and the Strange Quest to Cheat Death by John Gray (Penguin). The first section probes the founding of the Society of Psychical Research in 1882 by a small group of scientists, scholars, and politicians. The second examines the beliefs of a band of Bolshevik intelligentsia that lead to the formation of The Immortalization Commission, intended to preserve Lenin’s corpse until his ultimate resurrection. The third section is devoted to exploring contemporary attempts to impose immortality on humankind. Tracking the Chupacabra by Benjamin Radford (University of New Mexico) is an objective investigation in the existence of this recent addition to cryptozoology. Encyclopedia of the Vampire: The Living Dead in Myth, Legend, and Popular Culture edited by S. T. Joshi (Greenwood) covers books, movies, television, folklore, and world mythology and is aimed at the library rather than the trade market.
A Weird Writer in our Midst: Early Criticism of H. P. Lovecraft edited by S. T. Joshi (Hippocampus Press) includes obituaries by his friends; analyses and discussion of his work in the letter columns of Weird Tales and Astounding Stories; criticism from the fan world of the 1930s and 1940s; and more. The Writing Family of Stephen King: A Critical Study of the Fiction of Tabitha King, Joe Hill and Owen King by Patrick McAleer (McFarland & Company) includes a bibliography and index. H. P. Lovecraft: Letters to James F. Morton edited by David E. Schultz and S. T. Joshi (Hippocampus Press) contains a series of letters between Morton and Lovecraft written over a period of ten years, despite an inauspicious beginning. Morton wrote a critical article responding to a Lovecraft rant about race. The book includes correspondence, samples of Morton’s essays, plus memoirs about Morton by his friends and colleagues. Dim-Remembered Stories: A Critical Study of R. H. Barlow by Massimo Berruti (Hippocampus Press) is about an acolyte of Lovecraft’s who wrote dozens of fantasy and horror short stories and volumes of poetry. Berruti analyzes Barlow’s themes of cosmicism, time, and irony. An Epicure in the Terrible: A Centennial of Essays in Honor of H. P. Lovecraft edited by David E. Schultz and S. T. Joshi (Hippocampus Press) is an update of the 1991 edition of thirteen essays and a biographical introduction by S. T. Joshi. Citations to Lovecraft’s work have been updated and some of the essays have been slightly revised. A Monster of Voices: Speaking for Lovecraft by Robert H. Waugh (Hippocampus Press) is a collection of essays about the influence of WWI on “The Rats in the Wall,” Lovecraft’s relationship to Robert Bloch and Fritz Leiber, the influence of Roman literature and history on Lovecraft, and other subjects. The volume contains several essays never before published.