Publisher’s Description

The Gorelets Omnibus collects all the bloody little bits of Michael Arnzen’s poetry written in the past 10 years into one big volume. From the contents of the original Gorelets chapbook and his classic “refrigerator of the damned” online poetry fridge magnet experiment, to Arnzen’s latest flash fiction and brand new Zombie Haikruel series, this collection chronicles his revolutionary vision for the horror short form. He even received a Bram Stoker Award for Alternative Forms for some of the work included in this book. As one of the first writers to recognize the creative capacity of handheld devices, Arnzen’s pioneering work to deliver gory entertainment in as few characters as possible is still eminently relevant today. Thus, a “casebook of criticism”—a collection of scholarly analyses of Arnzen’s unique approach to the genre—is included alongside the poetry.

While The Gorelets Omnibus is available in both paperback and hardcover versions, the hardcover edition contains more than 50 pages of must-have bonus material, including: the hard-to-find Martha Stewart parody, “Michael Arnzen Dying,” additional haikruel you won’t find elsewhere, unfinished poems and pieces no longer available on his website, the “Borelets” parody, and an impressive “horror poetry workshop” of instructional essays by Arnzen on crafting terrifying verse, alongside over 300 “twisted” writing prompts specifically intended to instigate weirdness.

Praise

“Bored with sleeping? Read this book at night. Michael Arnzen’s poems are absolutely terrifying. His writing makes me uncomfortable for all the right reasons. If you enjoy the things that go bump in the night, Arnzen’s poems might change your mind. Arnzen is disturbingly, madly, brilliant and I pray for those close to him.” — Ryan Mecum, author of Zombie Haiku and Dawn of Zombie Haiku

“Horror and poetry very rarely mix well—if at all—but with Gorelets, Michael Arnzen has produced something of minor miracle; not only does every piece in this marvelous collection stand up to the rules applicable to poetry, but each piece—like the best horror story—provides the reader with chills—no small feat. If, on occasion, Mr. Arnzen’s tongue is obviously pushed toward his cheek, it’s all in fun—albeit intelligent, well-crafted fun. These pieces, and this collection, will not disappoint.” — Gary A. Braunbeck

“Gorelets doesn’t read like a bunch of tiny poems were quickly trotted off on a PDA. They are tiny experiments as to what a poet can do with a minuscule amount of space, and even with only a tiny amount of space, Arnzen’s possibilities are limitless.” —Damned Critic

“Michael A. Arnzen has a knack for balancing dark themes with wit and surprise. By mastering short, thought-provoking poetry, Arnzen creates works that are perfect for a quick fix of horror during the day or to be read from the screen of my Blackberry.” —Heidi Ruby Miller, author of Ambasadora

“In a little over a decade, Michael A. Arnzen has achieved what few writers manage in a lifetime. He has become the master of a brand of literature that is uniquely his own, and I do not doubt that his approach to horror will soon (if not already) be referred to as ‘Arnzenian’… Horrifying, captivating, ironic — Arnzenian! — the works of Michael A. Arnzen are in a class all their own. Fasten your seat belts and enjoy the ride!” — Lawrence C. Connolly, author of Veins

“This isn’t just a book of those little poems Mike calls ‘Gorelets.’ This hardcover horror-poetry-criticism-workshop-lesson is like one of those bed-in-a bag kits. Everything you need for a cozy night, except the guy with the hatchet…. Any poet and certainly any instructor who teaches dark fiction and poetry could use this book as a text; that’s its unique value. I’ve used some pretty good SF/F texts in genre writing classes, but as far as something that is unique for the horror writer, and particularly the horror poet, I’m gonna go with this.” — Denise Dumars, Star*Line

Contents

The table of contents for The Gorelets Omnibus is so large it must be accessed on a separate page.

Excerpts

Here’s a sampler of poems from The Gorelets Omnibus for your previewing pleasure. Visit scribd.com for a downloadable copy, if for some reason you can’t read the text in the window below):

Sample horror poems from THE GORELETS OMNIBUS by Michael A. Arnzen

And here’s a snippet from the “Instigations” page (which is available in the Hardcover edition only):

Instigation: "Twisted" Writing Prompts – An excerpt from The Gorelets Omnibus

Audio

Here’s a fun performance of “Attack of the Bleu Man Group,” which was posted to gorelets in 2010 and only appears in print in The Gorelets Omnibus. [If you like this, you can find a few other gorelets appearing in the spoken word audio cd, Audiovile]:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

DOWNLOAD .mp3 (3.4 mb)

Video

A crazed recitation of “Endless Shrimp” at the Morgantown Poets society in West Virginia, Oct 2010:

Visit my youtube channel for more.

Specs:

Title: The Gorelets Omnibus
Author: Michael A. Arnzen
Publisher: Raw Dog Screaming Press
Publication Date: March 2012
Hardcover, 251 pages
ISBN 978-1-935738-20-6 (hc)
Paperback and Ebook, 179 pages
ISBN 978-1-935738-21-3 (pbk/ebook)

Related Links

• Exquisite Corpse a film featuring video adaptations of selected Gorelets
  
• Dissections Journal Oct. 2006 featured several scholarly essays that analyze the gorelets project, some of which appear in the Omnibus
  
• Blog Entries related to the Omnibus at gorelets.com
  
• Return to Books and Other Creative Works