Benjamin Blake's Blog

My latest poetry collection, Standing on the Threshold of Madness is now available.


Praise for Standing on the Threshold of Madness and Benjamin Blake

"I was most impressed with Standing on the Threshold of Madness. These dark, brooding vignettes do far more than send a shudder up one's spine (although they do that again and again, with elegance and panache). Benjamin Blake has found a way to infuse into his horrific lyrics a keen sensitivity to human emotions, an understanding of the fragility of life, and a bleak portrayal of the evanescence of all existence. This is a volume that aficionados of weird poetry will want to read over and over."--S. T. Joshi

“Benjamin Blake relishes funereal lyricism with a spice of surrealism.” - Ramsey Campbell

"Language and imagery rule in this collection of dark visions. Blake has a distinctive voice, rich in surrealism, and he uses it to considerable effect." - Bruce Boston, SFPA Grandmaster Poet

“A plethora of dark and haunting poems that could be likened to a bone chilling symphony overall! Mood enhancing language that will curdle the blood, and excellent, original imagery!” - Marge Simon, Bram Stoker Award winning poet

https://www.amazon.com/Standing-Thres...

https://www.bookdepository.com/Standi...

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/stan...

My third poetry (and prose) collection, Reciting Shakespeare with the Dead is now out on Amazon. Published by Hammer & Anvil Books (who also published my first collection, A Prayer for Late October).

From the pages of celebrated literary magazine Danse Macabre comes RECITING SHAKESPEARE WITH THE DEAD a collection of haunting prose and poetry from Benjamin Blake. RECITING SHAKESPEARE is a phantasmagoric carnival that shape-shifts across the darkest recesses of the mind and heart. Blake’s shadow-strewn collection will whisper sweet and sanguinary nothings in a voice like fall leaves rustling through half-forgotten cemeteries at midnight.

http://www.amazon.com/Reciting-Shakes...

My second poetry collection (this time including prose and photography), Southpaw Nights has been picked up by James Ward Kirk Fiction, and will be coming out in late February.

I am incredibly happy to be able to say that I have had another guest spot on my lovely friend Lisa's blog, LittleMissTrainWreck.
This time, it's a little list of my top books of 2013.
Lisa's site is definitely worth checking out. Fashion, music, art, book reviews, poetry, and cats - what else could anyone ask for?

Happy New Year everyone.

Benjamin.

http://littlemisstrainwreck.com/2013/...

New prose posted for October at www.benjaminblake.com

A piece of flash fiction of mine, titled ,The Shotgun Waltz will be appearing in the October issue of Apocrypha & Abstractions - a Twisted Knickers Publication.

I had my first taste of a cigarette when I was around five years old. My very first ‘best friend’, and I, were outside of the little church that sat at the end of my street. One of us noticed a cigarette still burning in the grass (I can’t remember which of us it was, and I guess it doesn’t really matter anyway.)
I believe it was me that had the first puff. I put the hand-rolled cigarette to my lips, and sucked a tiny bit of smoke in. I exhaled, and then it was my buddy’s turn. He really dragged on the thing, and ended up coughing his little lungs out.
I often think back to this day, and muse on how goddamn funny it would be if someone happened to be driving past. Imagine; two boys - barely old enough to ride bikes without training wheels, standing on the lawn of a church and sharing a cigarette. God, I wish that was captured on film, or something. I would give my right pinky-finger to see that footage.


from When the House is Deserted
and the Windows have been Boarded Up - Various writings transcribed from a handwritten journal by Benjamin Blake.

Okay, so my shrink said I had to do ten minutes of writing a day. In longhand, just whatever comes into my head kinda thing. To externalize my thoughts, and all that shit. But mainly - for me anyway, to get through this goddamn writer’s block that I have been suffering from for the past six months or so. And that’s why I’m slouched on my single bed, next to the cat, and listening to the Smiths.
The cat’s already distracting me, licking and biting my fingers and just sitting there looking too damn cute to ignore. (His name is Ghost – he’s a three-legged Egyptian Mau, but we’ll touch on him in greater detail sometime in the future.)
I have no real idea of just how long I’ll actually be writing in here for, or what exactly that will entail – until I get over this block and make progress with the shrink, I guess.
Oh, and I also haven’t been smoking cigarettes for the past couple of weeks either – which is another thing which will be touched further upon in the near future (I miss smoking). Plus, if I start now (on the subject, not actually the physical act of smoking) I won’t stop, and my ten minutes is almost up and I want to go and watch The Sopranos.


from When the House is Deserted
and the Windows have been Boarded Up - Various writings transcribed from a handwritten journal by Benjamin Blake.