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!

I look forward to these!
Do you have an email I can send entries to? As I get some via Instagram and Twitter…
Hi,
It’s dotandsteve@hotmail.fr
I’d appreciate them as they come in please, so I can do them justice
Perfect, thanks Hobbo 👍
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…..
Hi Ingrid, I’m definitely getting in on this. Tuesday most likely.🧡💜
Fantastic – great news 🎃
Great poem and good luck everyone!
Your post makes me hauntingly happy. You included two poems I loved teaching. 😃 👻 I will do my best to participate. Thanks!
I’m so pleased you enjoyed it…great if you can take part 🎃
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. 😉
Thank you, Jaya – I love it! 👻
Golly gosh Jaya you put the fear of God in me….
Hey Ingrid, I have more than one Halloween post lined up for this week, I’d like to be linking them here as well.
Here’s today’s.
https://wordeologist.wordpress.com/2020/10/26/the-things-we-dont-deserve-poetry-and-prose/
You’re most welcome, Jude – delighted you are taking part!
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.😅
🎃👻🦇
A Halloween haiku:
https://everyday-strange.com/2020/10/19/horror-haiku-59/
Thank you for taking part! 😊🎃😊
Definitely!
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
Perfect reworking for the Halloween theme, Ivor – thank you for taking part!
Just a quick rewrite, but it seemed to work ok ..😀
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
Thanks Don – at least your absent muse provided you a subject! 🦇
What I said, if you can’t find a subject, make your difficulty in finding a subject the subject. Sorted….
Love this idea, Ingrid! I’ll see what I can come up with!
Thanks-glad to have you on board 😊
😉
Here’s my take – https://amanpan.blog/2020/10/26/forever-silent/
Thank you for taking part! I would also like to take part in your challenge, if the kids give me a moment 😅
You’re always welcome to join in. 😉
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.
Thank you for your entry – power to the squirrels!
Here is my entry 🙂 https://liyonadancer100.wordpress.com/2020/10/27/shadow-eif-poetry-challenge/ Thanks for hosting!
Thank you for entering 😊🎃🦇
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
Hi Ingrid I gave it a go ! Looks like this topic is generating a lot of interest. Looking forward to the outcome. Cheers Valdis
Thank you for your entry and best of luck!🎃👻🎃
Thank you for your entry 🎃👻🎃