Martin Jiroušek

Martin Jiroušek, a graduate of Palacký University in Olomouc (majoring in Theory and History of the Dramatic Arts), hails from Silesia and is the author and editor of publications devoted to the poetics of horror and fantasy literature and film. Among his publications, the following stand out: the theoretical study Černý bod. The History of Horror in the Czech Lands (2015), the anthology of interwar horror The Purple Devils (2019), the anthology of precursors to modern horror Fantasmagoriana. The Book That Gave Birth to Frankenstein (2021), and the anthology of folk novels The Devil’s Books, or A Bloody Anthology (2022). Some of these titles have long been sold out. He has contributed to other publications and collaborated on a number of art catalogs. He has collaborated or continues to collaborate with the National Gallery, the Rudolfinum Gallery, the Goethe-Institut in Prague, GASK in Kutná Hora, the Municipal Gallery in Nové Město na Moravě, the Ostrava Museum, universities, and a number of other educational institutions. He is also a frequent guest at exclusive events, such as the HorrorCon – horror festival, among others.

He collects pre-war horror novels, runs a used bookstore, and organizes exhibitions and lectures on outstanding writers and authors such as Edgar A. Poe, Charles Baudelaire, Karásek of Lvovice, Irma Geisslová, Josef Šimánek, and Josef Váchal, as well as on vampires, werewolves, water sprites, and wood elfs, and other phenomena from classical literature and folklore. He often uses shocking motifs and controversial works to shed light on the social context.