Poems to Be Afraid Of

Consider this your all-triggers warning. Proceed with caution.

A book as concept art, Poems to Be Afraid Of is the second full-length collection from Pixie Bruner. This Monochrome Edition began as an experiment in fear. Written in four weeks of spite-driven frenzy, this collection did not draw from poems already written. Instead, imposter syndrome was called upon.

Fear was murdered, played with, analyzed, and created. Demons were summoned, the irrational was vivisected, and slipstream confessionals were written at a feverish pace. A deranged fairy god-auntie appears on the best day of a young woman's life to possibly ruin it. Fear is a gift. It is sincere.

Something in here will induce fear in you, make you uncomfortable, or ensure you never look at peanut butter and the mirror the same way again. Otherwise, the poet has failed.

Are you ready to face yourself?

Cover art: "Remorse for an Imagined Life" by Kristof Corvinus, 2025, oil on canvas. No collection/series; original painting.

Angela Yuriko Smith is a two-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author, former president of the Horror Writers Association, and publisher of Space & Time. As a publishing consultant and coach, she helps writers build sustainable creative careers rooted in art, not arson, through Authortunities on Substack.