Darker than Baudelaire and Poe? Well, that is dark, Holiday!

Yeah, Plath is tough to beat for dark poetry in English, but Baudelaire, when considering their respective backgrounds, is at least on par, don't you think?

As for Mashima - what was the original language of the books? And, if something other than English, which translation do you recommend?

Mishima was Japanese. There is only one printing and translation, it's published by Vintage. It's great, nothing to complain about. These are all contemporary translations, Mishima died in 1970 and the books were all translated since then.

Some great Japanese authors -- Kobo Abe, Haruki Murakami, Kenzaburo Oe, Yasunori Kawabata, all worth reading.

Hard to believe I forgot to add Faulkner to this list, esp. As I Lay Dying and The Sound and the Fury.

Also Samuel Beckett's Molloy Trilogy.