Charlotte poet turns imagination into interactive horror

NATHANIEL PERRY

Charlotte poet and voice artist Nathaniel Perry launched Poem Cast as an immersive experience with dystopic and horror themes.

Charlotte voice artist and poet Nathaniel Perry is turning poetry into an immersive experience.

His latest project, Poem Cast, explores horror and dystopian genres, which he always gravitated toward. Perry's work can be followed online or in person on Wednesday nights at The Conspiracy, 412 W. Fifth St., Suite C120.

“I pick a horror movie over anything else, and I would pick up a book and read horror,” Perry said. “It's a genre that I like the most.” 

Poem Cast is set in a world with a hidden library beneath the mountains of Peru, where boxes hold the imaginations of everyone who has ever lived. Those imaginations become creatures and stories throughout each piece. One poem includes a vampire retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart.”

Perry, an alumnus of Emerson College in Boston where he double majored in communications and theater, found inspiration in black box theater. His love for poetry began on campus when he started writing, performing and dabbling in voiceover.

“It was so intimate,” he said. “It was all about speaking clearly and articulately and making sure that people could hear you well and you could play with tones and whatnot.” 

Around 10 years ago, Perry started writing poetry on his own and since has accumulated thousands of poems.

“The process is very erratic, like when an idea hits and it just hits at the most random times and I’ll just start scratching it out and writing,” Perry said. “It's really just when the moment strikes me.” 

Poem Cast is Perry’s showcase. The project includes original poetry that has been turned into a three-dimensional experience by adding audio with sound design, visuals and text.

“I am trying to make it a performance,” he said. “Taking poetry and making poetry an elevated art form because I’ve always thought that poems were really interesting and could move you in ways that other writings couldn’t.” 

Perry hopes to take Poem Cast in a cinematic direction with the goal of entertaining people when they come across it.

“There’s so much media out there now,” he said. “It's so hard to grab people's attention. It's fleeting with TikTok and people are just scrolling so quickly. I’m literally hoping that someone is just entertained by it, that they find it fun and then if they think it's deep, great.”

The growing representation of Black men in horror is something Perry hopes to contribute to through his own work.

“Jordan Peele, who’s like the first guy to really do something major, and he's a genius,” Perry said. “There's more of us out there that love this genre and we're trying to get it out and we're you know trying to get some momentum. We're out here and we love it and it's our passion. It's been my passion for a long time.”

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