Trigger Warning: This piece addresses mental health
The HWA is pleased to launch its Mental Health Initiative, a coordinated roll-out of events, resources, and activities intended to promote positive mental health, foster the concept of hope, and challenge the stigma of mental illness in the horror genre. The initiative, run by the organization’s Wellness Committee, launches in June, and includes the following blog posts from Of Horror and Hope, a downloadable anthology of poems, flash fiction, and personal reflections on mental health by HWA members.
TO BE Jason Parent
I know what true depression is Maybe, it defines me To be me To be what I am Engulfed by torment Swallowed by Hell I look not for pity I search not for patronizing, thoughtless false caring But only for an explanation into what I am I strive for faint mirages and reckless dreams Only to be overcome by desolate sensations of unknown origin Emptiness controls. Sorrow prevails Choking on desolation Vomitus, wretched, violent A familiar, unrelenting taste I have nothing; I have no one I love nothing; I love no one I am nothing; I am no one Fate aligned with melancholy Captured by grief in an inescapable hold Humanity is the coldest of words Without connection Without identity Without hope I am dead, yet I breathe And tomorrow, I will live