For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern – William Blake

First named in 1937, ‘adrenochrome’ was researched as a possible cause of schizophrenia in the 1950s. This theory was discredited. It was subsequently alluded to as a recreational drug in literature by Aldous Huxley and Hunter S. Thompson. In 2025 it is the subject of burgeoning online conspiracy theories (and an echo-chamber of familiar stories). 

Adrenochrome is a product of synthetically oxidised adrenaline with no proven medical or recreational use / is a legendary and powerful psychedelic / is a product harvested from the human body / is a fruit of fight or flight /  is the exploitation and consumption of children / is coveted elixir of youth / is fuel of the elite / is public enemy number 1 / is a spillage from the Dream / is an uncanny, dehumanising image / is justification for dehumanisation / is a lesson in truth / is a lesson in falsehood / is conspiracy. 

It is a mistake to believe that fact alone has the power to dispel myth. They operate in different realms. Whether we are willing to acknowledge it or not (as an increasing dismissal of the importance of the arts suggests) our vision is mythically composed. The fictions of myth harbour the truth of what drives us and scares us. Adrenochrome as fact cannot put out the fire of adrenochrome as fiction. Fear is too abundant a fuel, especially when left in the dark. Adrenochrome burns with a violet flame, otherworldly, the colour of power, at one extreme of light, a darkness all of its own. 

Fear of the body as product, food-like, harvestable (as in every fairy tale we know). Fear of the vulnerable value of children (as in every fairy tale we know). Fear of the corruption of innocence. Fear of the cultivation of ignorance. Fear of power with undisclosed secrets. Fear of others. Fear of the mingling of blood, the slippage of boundaries. Fear of the blind-spots within our own bodies, what might be ambiguously resident therein, like souls or chemistry. Fear of self unbound. Fear of more-than-meets-the-eye. Fear of altered perception. Fear of illusion as revelation. Fear of revelation as illusion. Fear of desire. Fear of fear. Fear of everything we don’t know for sure. 

Abridged is looking for poetry that explores what happens when the narrative/story we’ve told ourselves no longer holds and when it fails what replaces it. How we all need our stories and our myths even if they defy logic and reality. This issue is in a sense the sequel to the legendary Mercury Red (red mercury is a mythical explosive) issue of Abridged in 2016 in that it explores how myth replaces fact when the truth isn’t enough. You can send up to three poems to abridged@ymail.com in Word (or similar), or if unusually formatted, in PDF format. Please also send a short bio. Don’t send anything via Google Drive. Put your name etc on the email otherwise it may end up in the Spam folder and we might not see it. Deadline for submissions is 30th November 2025.

Image by Mark Tamer (https://www.marktamer.co.uk/) 

This issue is funded by The Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

Abridged is funded by The Arts Council of Northern Ireland and The Arts Council of Ireland.