This is topic Spooky Poetry! in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.


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Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
 
One thing the world doesn't have enough of, (IMO), is Spooky Poetry. We have some real greats, like The Raven and Little Orphan Annie, but all in all they seem so few.

So! Put on your writing caps, think of spooks and witches and goblins and Things-that-go-bump-in-the-night, and give Hatrack your best.

Here's mine:

*****
Dark Things

No one remembers a winter ago
When Tommy McAllister, lost in the snow
Discovered the ramshackle shack in the wood
Where Dark Things are hidden (and none of them good).

Poor Tommy remembers, at least I suspect,
Though he won’t say nothin’ -- well nothin’ direct
--But now he won’t play with us when it gets dark
No capture-the-flag or camp-out-in-the-park.

And that just begs teasing from Larry and Dave,
But I know their secret: they’re not all that brave
‘Cause we found the shack ourselves early last week,
And when I said, “Let go inside for a peek.”

They made up excuses and told me to wait.
“There’s only one flashlight.” “It’s getting so late.”
They hemmed and they hawed and at last they turned back
And I went alone to the ramshackle shack

At first it looked empty, just cobwebs and dust
And floorboards held down less by nails than by rust
But something was moving down under the floor.
I heard it go scritchety-scratch toward the door

Then out of each shadow a Dark Thing appeared.
Each one of them worse than the worst thing I feared.
A voice said “A new one. Let’s nibble his skin.
Let’s suck out his joy ‘till he’s haggard and thin!”

The rest I remember but can’t put in words
The images peck at my brain like dark birds
And now, just like Tommy, I hide in the light
Where Dark Things can’t find me, or pinch me, or bite.

*****

Happy Halloween Hatrack! (Yeah, I know it's a day early.)
 

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Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
 
This is one I wrote a while ago:

Bedbugs Bite
One night, little Petey,
he got frightened and he said,
"Daddy, O please Daddy,
there are monsters 'neath my bed!"
Daddy slapped him silly
for a-making such a fuss,
so Mommy said, "Poor Petey, dear,
the monsters are us."
 

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Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
 
Yikes Tom. I was going for spooky, not horrifying.
 

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Posted by SenojRetep (Member # 8614) on :
 
I wrote this probably 11-12 years ago, back when I had time to write poetry. The meter (what there is of it) is cribbed liberally from Poe.

The Gallows

The Vale of Wight was cold that night
and shrouded in steel grey fog.
The wind blew leaves from skeletal trees
and ripped through reeds in the bog,
the reeds wailed a dirge in the bog.

I walked alone down paths of stone
deep into the haunted wood,
Where in a glade by demons made
a gruesome gallows stood,
a rotting gallows stood.

Its planks were old and dank and cold
its rope was twisted and frayed,
And 'neath its beam, by moonlight seen,
a lifeless body swayed
a strangely familiar form swayed.

Its head was bent as if reverent
its skin was pale as bone.
As I drew near I saw it leer
and faced a face all my own,
the corpse's face was my own.

I bowed my head in awe and dread,
above me my silent self loomed.
't Was then that I knew the terrible truth
the fate to which I was doomed,
my soul was painfully doomed.

I strode to the noose and made it loose,
the body fell down and was gone.
Forsaking hope, I tightened the rope,
my face grew pale and wan,
as a ghost's, my face grew wan.

The Vale of Wight was cold that night
and shrouded in steel grey fog.
The wind blew leaves from skeletal trees
and ripped through reeds in the bog,
the reeds wailed a dirge in the bog.
 

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Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
 
Ooo, good one, Senoj.

I think spooky poems lend themselves well to to a meter that would seem sing-songy if the words weren't so dark. Lends a sense of urgency and tension, IMO.
 

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Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
 
OK, so not the most compelling thread on the 'rack today. Well, think about it overnight and post your poems tomorrow.
 

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Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
 
Karl:

That's an amazing poem. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

With extra -ZING.

:applause:
 

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Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
 
You just made my day, Scott. <---me beaming.
 

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Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
I've got one, I will post it tonight when I have more time. Great idea, Karl.


We could read them out loud too, and post a link to them....I think I found some free web space for it, and if not I am sure Icky wouldn't mind giving us some space. He offered some for the Reading Out Loud Club last time around, but I got too busy with the move and all...
 

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Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
A Whisper in the Wind


A Whisper in the Wind
A Shadow in the Light
A person Silently Screaming
all thoughout the Night

A Deadly Dream of Dancing
with a Devil stuck on your heel
the Reaper sailing through the sky
and you, stuck under his keel

You toss and you turn
deep into the night
as the sun sets far too early
and you Dream the Dreams of Fright


You Dream in a cold sweat
then suddenly Awake
and find to your dismay
those Dreams were better than your fate
 

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Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
 
Thanks Kwea. I think the reading out loud idea is cool. It's often a revelation to me when someone else reads my poetry and I find out the rhythm and meter don't scan in their head like it does in mine.
 

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Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
 
Darkness falls across the land
The midnight hour is close at hand
Creatures crawling, search for blood,
To terrorize y'all's neighborhood...


Meh... I got nothing.
 

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Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
 
[BOLD]The Clown [/bold]

Face death enmasked with growing deep smile
Eyes painted colors that are quite unreal
Skin pale like an old corpses tile
Nose that is naught but simply surreal

Clothes all a riot, chaos fake bright
Laughter is forced, trickster is strong
He stands way to close, he hugs just to tight
His feet are to big, his voice is just wrong.

He defies sanity with his petty magic
His history long, based on myth and old rites
He's so far toward mirth that he runs into tragic
And drags you along, just to see pratfall sights

Disguised as a joy and a giver of mirth
The screaming balloon animals he kills with a pop
You try to deny, but laugh for all your worth
Oh when, dear God when can we get in to stop.
 

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Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
 
John heard the whispering wimpers of fear
From those in the valley below
A grotesque monster they gossiped was near
Taking the lives of their loved ones so dear
And casting a fog of woe
And casting a fog of woe

He found their delusions an over-hyped scare
A reason to put out the pain
Turning, he basked in the glow of his lair
Put on his coat, and sleeked back his hair
And drowned in the sound of rain
And drowned in the sound of rain

John worked as he did the nighttime before
Deciphering Henry's old code
A vile of this and that he would pour
Getting so close, to the 'lixir of lore
He'd pay the price that was owed
He'd pay the price that was owed

A fool, a folley, he figured it out
Milk first, now that was the key
He knew he was right, no shred of doubt
He stood at the top of the stairs to shout
"My what a very good tea.
Now pardon, I've got to pee."

You know, had I finished this earlier, I would have done more, and probably ended on a spookier note.
 

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Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
 
<snort> Well, there's always next year.
 

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Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
 
I used to write some pretty spooky poetry back in high school. I unfortunately can not get it from work.

When I was a teenager and had that depression that comes with it I usually channeled it into somber poetry and sometimes even angry toned stanzas.

Ditto for my piano playing. I can play some mean villain music, tragic melodies, and its very hard for me to figure out the mechanics behind a happy song. Incidentally I wrote my first truely happy song only this past year. Hows 5 years of working at it for slow?

Didn't see this thread until today so I will have to decline posting spooky poetry this year in favor of next year. Sorry

edit: Oh snap post number 2000, time for another landmark soon.
 

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Posted by SenojRetep (Member # 8614) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by KarlEd:
<snort> Well, there's always next year.

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