Author’s Note

I’ve always loved horror—not simply for the blood, the monsters, or the jump scares, but because horror has a remarkable ability to turn internal things into something we can see.

The Monster in the Margins began as a playful collision of horror references. Slasher villains, supernatural imagery, Japanese horror, and the cadence of a poet treating the page like a horror movie. The monster was partly familiar because I was borrowing from stories I already knew.

This one is different.

The Monster in the Margins II picks up where that first poem left off, but instead of borrowing the monster, I built my own.

The Seven Deadly Sins had already become part of my mythology through 7 Deadly Sonnets. Here, Lust, Wrath, Sloth, Greed, Pride, Envy, and Gluttony aren’t simply abstract sins or religious concepts—they become creatures in the margins, haunting rooms, sleeping beneath pillows, sitting on chests, consuming whatever they can find.

And that is where horror becomes useful again.

Because the scariest monsters aren’t always the ones chasing you.

Sometimes they’re the things you carry.

A grudge can become a monster.

Apathy can become a tomb.

Desire can become something that sleeps beside you.

Pride can consume.

Envy can hollow you out.

And sometimes the very things we plant in the margins eventually grow into something we can no longer control.

The first poem asked what happens when the poet becomes the monster.

This one asks what happens when the poet starts creating monsters of their own.

Every sin is a seed.

Every ache can bloom.

And sometimes the garden grows in the margins.

— Rowan Evans

The Monster in the Margins II
Poetry by Rowan Evans

You can’t get rid of me—

I hold a grudge,
wrote 7 Deadly Sonnets
and prayed for your downfall
after every single one.
I went Ichi with a pen,
killer with a devilish grin.

I carved each sin into the margins,
let every stanza rot and bloom—

now Lust sleeps beneath your pillow,
and Wrath is pacing in your room.

With Sloth sitting upon your chest—
the ghost that haunts your bones,
turning this room into your tomb.

The slow death of apathy
is all that waits for you.

Even if you find the will to move,
Greed and Pride will still consume
until you’re left with nothing but Envy.
And you’ll turn glutton to try and fill—

but nothing feeds the hollow I’ve carved.

Every sin is a seed I planted,
every ache a bloom in my garden of scars.

Journey into Hexverse…

[The Monster in the Margins]
Drawing inspiration from horror icons like Michael Myers, Ghostface, Freddy Krueger, and Pennywise, this poem explores the darker side of creativity—where inspiration becomes an unstoppable force lurking just beyond the edge of the page.

[Monster Theology]
What if the monsters under the bed weren’t monsters at all? Monster Theology explores difference, belonging, and the human tendency to fear what we don’t understand through a conversation with the creatures we’ve spent our lives imagining.

If you’re interested in more poetry, you can find it here → [The Library of Ashes]