About

I write horror, weird fiction, and dark fantasy—poetry and prose.

Were this a novel, I suppose this page would serve as foreword.

About the Website

It was in the quiet wake of the great pestilence, when time was shackled and stood still, when people were imprisoned by an edict of solitude. Therein, I conceived of a place—a hermitage—built not by mortar nor stone but by words and coded cant. I erected this edifice to liberate myself from three vices of the modern web:

  1. To evade the Argus-eyed gaze of social media’s cyclopean surveillance.
  2. To elude the squalling squibs of lousy ads and the propagation of odious ideas.
  3. To escape the mesmeric pleasures that prey on your weakened volition.

What You can Expect

Verily, I find it somewhat difficult to define what this website may be. It’s not a book blog, although I do review books. Not a writer’s portfolio, although I do self-publish my works on here. And certainly not a plain weblog either, although, again, I do share essays and update a microblog. Let’s simply call it a literary website.

However, as stated at the top of every page, a full-time writer I’m not. My schedule is awash and drowning in responsibilities, and I cannot yet commit myself to lengthy literary labour. But, should you savour this style of mine, I can promise to continue with my relentlessly pretentious purple prose and perfumed poetry, and provide you with the weirdest of fiction, free of charge.

Who am I?

Speaking plainly, this site exists to help answer this question. To go over the basics: my real name is Zoli, but online I usually prefer to use my pseudonym, Gildrom. I’m European, born in Hungary, with a plan to expatriate to Ireland, hopefully soon. I’m in my mid-to-late twenties, pushing 27 as I’m writing this. I think most people find me strange, but I don’t really mind.

In high school, I studied media and filmmaking, but for various reasons, I was left unsure whether to continue with it. I spent one semester in film school at a reasonably good university, but after much disappointment, I left and pivoted careers.

My other love from those high school days was the English language. So naturally, I set upon language teaching as a viable path forward. Now I study English & history at a more distinguished—albeit much more demanding—university. As I’m nearing the end of my studies, I’m happy with my choice, even if history is kicking my ass.

More about me...

I enjoy heavy metal and rock-adjacent music, anything from Alkaloid to Zappa. And while very much outside this spectrum, I find the music of Aurora simply delightful. Anyhow, my favourite group will always be Iron Maiden.

Although I’m not a huge gamer, I do enjoy mystery and narrative puzzle games, like Blue Prince, which was exactly my cup of tea. I’m mainly a fan of older games such as Morrowind, Thief, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, and WoW Vanilla. I think my heart is stuck in the early noughties.

Regardless, my favourite pastime has to be reading. There is something about the simplicity and power of the written word that I find bewitching. While I read anything from mainstream pulp to Miltonic verse, my choice of literature tends to be largely Anglocentric. I manage and note what I read in my Library.

I write further about my interests on my Obsessions page.

Why Do I Write?

To better my English. While I’m an ardent subscriber to Krashen’s comprehensive input hypothesis, I do realise that simply relying on natural language input available through everyday life and media can only get you so far. One solution is to go after more strenuous, though rarely as compelling, texts; Chaucer, Spenser, Joyce, or Wallace. And while I do enjoy these authors, I found that creating texts myself leads to better retention. It’s thesaurus hunting but with a didactic purpose.

Other than that, writing also helps me explore my own mind. It’s considerably easier to work through your thoughts when you can see them laid plainly out on the page in front of you. Even if you don’t know what it means in the moment of writing, your subconscious communicates to you. You might only realise what a story is about a good while after you’ve already written it.

I also cannot deny that I find writing—the ideation, the tactile feeling of pressing keys, the act of creation—tremendously enjoyable. I approach writing as a game, the language as play. And my preeminent priority is ever my own entertainment. If you too happen to enjoy what I create, I’m glad, that makes the two of us. :)

A Wizard?

Gildrom Qeeney was the name of my first RP character. A human mage (naturally), shamelessly inspired by the Grey Pilgrim himself. I use the name and character of Gildrom as my online persona.

The Wizard as an Archetype

Life is a narrative, and we each play our role. The role that I most resonate with is that of the guide. The one who steps back, only to engage with the world insofar as it is necessary to help another reach her destiny. In fiction, this role is usually portrayed as the wise old man, a wizard, with flowing white beard and endless wisdom for the ages, helping the young hero in her quest of becoming.

I take the wizard as my aspirational self. I wish to gain mastery over my own self, to have descended and brought back magic. Even so, I must stave off the fallacy in this fantasy, I must complete my own journey first. I’ve yet to earn my beard.


Well, that’s about it. In case you found my prose sufferable, and wish to see more, I’d suggest you check out my fiction first, as they’re the easiest to enjoy. Thereafter, investigate as you please, the order matters not. Once you’re done, find my epilogue.