EIF Poetry Challenge #8: Halloween Special!

Mwah-ha-ha-ha! I am bringing you this EIF Poetry Challenge early in order to be in time for Halloween. ‘Tis the season to be spooky, so for this challenge, I simply want you to write a poem on the theme of Halloween. It can take any form or shape you wish, as long as it is related to All Hallows’ Eve in some way.

Haunting Poems for Inspiration

For me, the ultimate haunting poem is Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. It’s an epic horror story told by a haunted and ghost-like sailor. Many scenes from the Rime are truly chilling. Take this for example:

Like one, that on a lonesome road
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And having once turned round walks on,
And turns no more his head;
Because he knows, a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread.
(Part VI, Stanza 11)

I remember nightmares of this variety from childhood. Coleridge really taps into our primal instinct for fear in these lines.

Edgar Allan Poe was of course another poetic master of horror, and perhaps his most famous horror poem was ‘The Raven.’ Here is the poem, imortalised by The Simpsons, for some light relief from all this horror:

How to Enter

There are several ways to enter, as listed below:

  • Create a post featuring your poem, and link back to this post, tagging ‘EIF Poetry Challenge.’ Please also drop your link in the comments below.
  • Post your poem directly into the comments below.
  • Tweet your entry @Experimentsinfc.
  • Enter via Instagram @experimentsinfiction.

The deadline for entries is midnight, CET on 30th October 2020. Results to be announced on Halloween! This challenge will be judged by the winner of challenge #7, Hobbo of ‘Hobbospoems.com.’

Happy Haunting!

47 thoughts on “EIF Poetry Challenge #8: Halloween Special!

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  1. What an intro Ingrid!

    Golly gosh you had me quakin’
    In me shoes I shivered, shakin’
    EAP you horror master
    Shivery, shaking,wreck, disaster

    Boo… don’t believe me do ya?

    That was not my entry Hobbo….gotta wait hear what advice the flying black witch has wooooo…..I have winning entry for you Don she’s saying…..

  2. Jumping in with my little haiku, Ingrid!

    Fear
    Blood drips from his jaws
    This monster preys on warm flesh
    Dead dreams and crushed souls.

    Looking forward to reading future spooky entries. 😉

      1. I’m happy to do so. It’s no secret I like horror, you’ve given me a great excuse and platform to indulge my horror writing itch.😅

  3. Hello Ingrid, I’ve swept up a poem from last year, from when I flew to America in April ( https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2019/01/11/the-green-witchs-old-broom/ ) , and I’ve changed it around to suit your prompt … I’ll paste here tonight, and then I’ll probably post it on my site later in the week with a song/video and photo….

    “The Reincarnation of a Pumpkin”

    My locked bubble is about to boom
    A year I’ve been a stranger in my own tomb
    Under a pumpkin lid, hiding my gloom
    Where my world was a rotting cave of doom

    Now these orange walls are my life-giving womb
    Being reborn like a smiling old groom
    I’m breaking away from the master’s dead blooms
    Escaping on the green witch’s magical broom

    Flying over the full moon of autumn
    Where I’ll be able to wear my mask and costume
    Hidden under my orange Kaftan from Khartoum
    And I’ll invade the newsrooms, and all the children’s bedrooms

  4. I had awful trouble Ingrid. But Skip said I can’t let you down seeing you’re so good to me. So with Skip’s prompting here goes:

    I’m Struggling With This Challenge (title)

    I’m struggling with this challenge Ingrid
    ‘Ween’s not big in Aus
    There is another reason for it
    Why’s that Don? Becos (Why’s that Don? italics, you asking)

    My Muse of Spook the Black Witch
    Has shot off with her Cat
    She’s taken off on holidays
    Not said when she’ll be back

    (Hopeless…never there when you need them)

    Hello? There’s someone knocking
    Knocking at my door
    Better let the gas man in
    (I’ll then finish verse four)

    Hello? Your not the gas man?…..

    Trick or treat !!! (bold trick or treat, italic?)

    And I thought halloween was non-existant here…..

    Verse 4

    Now Hobbo you’re the judge in this
    I’m sorry there’s no dog
    I’m ‘fraid the Witch has cat for pet
    No dog, no frog, no log

    I tried….what can a poor fella do when his
    muse disappears without notice

    Don Matthews
    October 2020

    1. Squirrel Mardi Gras

      Rotting Jack-O-Lanterns

      Transmute into slimy, wet, burnt pumpkin.

      The squirrels wait till after dark, 

      Attacking only with their teeth and empty stomachs.

      Fat Tuesday is the Day After Halloween,

      St. Francis of Assisi would be proud.

  5. Stan or Stu ?

    I dressed up as the devil
    Bedecked with horns and tail
    I went to join the revel
    I felt I could not fail

    I wandered out into the night
    The moon was bright and clear
    Caring not what’s wrong or right
    My aim was to bring fear

    I came upon a lonely Street
    I knocked with force upon the door
    I heard the sound of moving feet
    Shuffling on the inner floor

    I’m here I cried Beware! Beware !
    The woman she just softly smiled
    I’ve come up from my dark dank lair
    She asked what are you child ?

    I am Satan come to claim
    The thing that is my due
    She said I know that’s not your name
    They call you Stan or Stu

    Would you like a treat she said
    I know the time of year
    And when you leave I’ll go to bed
    I will not quake in fear

    And so I took the offered sweet
    And left her with my thanks
    And off I shuffled down the street
    Without committing pranks

    Back home I went up to my room
    And thought about the night
    I said goodbye to darkness gloom
    And closed my eyes up tight

    And that for me was Halloween
    And so the day was done
    Still just a boy not yet a teen
    But I had had some fun

  6. Hi Ingrid I gave it a go ! Looks like this topic is generating a lot of interest. Looking forward to the outcome. Cheers Valdis

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