By adewpearl
What are those crackling sounds I know I hear,
yet seem to have no substance when I turn,
like footsteps snapping twigs that disappear
but then when I look forward quick return?
I will myself to whistle tunes of cheer
in hopes those notes will drown out my concern,
but still the fear remains as branches crack
and I know not what lurks behind my back.
They warned me, "Don't go out All Hallows' Eve,
but if you must, don't take the Old Corpse Road."
I scorned such superstitions they'd believe
and set out on my journey, brave and bold.
Now orphans and a widow soon will grieve.
Those steps are drawing near -- my blood runs cold.
There's wisdom in old wives' tales, I now know
as spirits of the dead drag me below.
| Author Notes |
The ottave rima is a poem in verses of 8 lines, with each line having 10 syllables in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is ABABABCC DEDEDEFF and so on, depending on the number of verses.
All Hallows' Eve is the original name for Halloween, and is the Eve of All Saints Day, a day to pray for the dead. Corpse roads were paths built in late medieval Europe to transport the dead from small outlying villages to churches in larger towns that held burial rights. Many legends and superstitions surround them. |
By adewpearl
Most people know to shun the crow
who flies the gloaming skies,
who steals the breath of men near death
in black foreboding guise.
They cringe in fear as shrill they hear
the dread bird's raucous cries,
and curse their plight as falling night
might bring their last goodbyes.
But who suspects the crow collects
new souls as his dark prize
when light has kissed the morning mist
as sun is on the rise?
Beware the harm wrapped up in charm
that's cloaked in dawn's disguise,
for crows will call in light or pall
to hasten man's demise.
| Author Notes |
The crow has for centuries been considered a harbinger of death. Usually one thinks of horrific things occurring under cloak of night, but this picture of a crow taking off at dawn in the morning mist inspired me to write about death that comes as the new day dawns.
"gloaming" is a poetic term for twilight |
By adewpearl
I cringe at wolves' full-throated howls,
the caws of crows and screech of owls,
the footfalls as the panther prowls.
The hunter's moon is bleeding red.
If silence comes, a twig will snap,
a pack of wild dogs yelp and yap,
the gods produce a thunder clap.
My mind is filled with doom and dread.
A bat swoops low to grasp its prey,
coyotes circle as they bay
at hapless fawns who've gone astray.
I hear the shrieks of one soon dead.
The witching hour has claimed the night
with claws that shred and teeth that bite,
with fangs whose venom causes blight.
Why did I not just stay in bed?
| Author Notes |
The full moon is given a different name for each month - in October it is called the hunter's moon.
The witching hour generally refers to midnight. |
By adewpearl
What lurks behind this ornate gate,
well wrought with iron, painted black?
What specters circumambulate,
from whom blocked entrance warns, turn back?
What lurid acts, macabre and vile,
befell estate's inhabitants?
What glinting knives used to defile
and strip them of their innocence?
Are bodies buried neath the weeds
and vines that choke the unkempt lawn?
Do victims of horrific deeds
still haunt the grounds then sleep at dawn?
Whose bones were pulverized to dust
that covers every creaking stair?
Is that a coat of sanguine rust
or blood upon the old porch chair?
Is burning curiosity
to find those answers that await
enough to make you turn the key
to see what lies beyond this gate?
| Author Notes |
"neath" is a poetic form of the preposition "beneath" and does not require an apostrophe before it.
I am using an accepted pronunciations of "macabre" which drops the "re" sound: me/kab. How many of you had a run down, abandoned house in the neighborhood that children dared each other to enter? |
By adewpearl
Do NOT approach this place with disregard,
as if your life did not on me depend.
This is not YOUR dominion which I guard --
don't challenge what to death I WILL defend.
From secrets held inside you have been barred;
no arms of welcome have I to extend.
My poisoned fangs can't wait to pierce your skin
should you take one more step to enter in.
I sense your scornful feelings of contempt
and know you'll fail to heed what I have said.
Your arrogance has told you you're exempt,
and so into the jaws of hell you'll tread,
another mortal slain in his attempt
to prove his blood's too potent to be shed.
My ruler still o'er all his secrets reigns
as killing venom courses through your veins.
| Author Notes | The ottava rima is a poem in verses of 8 lines, with each verse written in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is ABABABCC DEDEDEFF. |
By adewpearl
With trepidation, prowl my cheerless halls,
for lurid are the tales my walls contain.
Pay heed to doleful cries and woeful calls
of ghosts that roam the rooms of my domain --
then read the warnings writ in blood-smeared scrawls
lest you become the next "guest" to be slain.
Damnation is the sure and certain price
you'll pay should you rebuff my sage advice.
A family once made this their abode,
till mayhem one night struck their domicile.
The blood of tot and mother mixed and flowed,
their murderers intent on acts most vile.
What father's heart could bear such heavy load,
unable to protect his wife or child?
The guilty fled, no trial for their crime,
so now their victims seek them for all time.
With accusation filling each ghost's glare,
avoid suspicion as you skulk about,
for every sign of fault or vice you bear
can cast upon yourself a damning doubt.
Their need for vengeance heeds no plea nor prayer --
their lust for justice must be carried out.
Hide well your sins should you hope to emerge
from out my doors without a funeral dirge.
| Author Notes |
This contest for poems about horrific scares allows poems of any style. This poem is a 3 verse ottava rima. Each verse is 8 lines long, each line having 10 syllables written in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme of this form is ABABABCC DEDEDEFF and so on depending on the number of verses.
I have used the 3 syllable pronunciation of fa/mi/ly, the 1 syllable pronunciation of prayr and the 2 syllable pronunciation of fun/ral for anyone who is scanning this for meter. |
By adewpearl
What dreaded secrets does the fog enshroud?
What wailing do these vapors suffocate?
What lamentations muffled by this cloud
would pierce the silence should the mist abate?
If what once smothered could be spoke aloud
what melancholy voice reveal its fate?
As I upon my lonely journey go,
I'm not so sure I truly want to know.
By adewpearl
The denizens of midnight have conspired
to part my body from my mortal soul.
Within these swampy waters I am mired,
all hope of rescue snatched from my control.
I schemed my worldly fortune to acquire,
but currency's not traded in this hole
that sucks me under to the depths of hell
for trespassing where fiendish demons dwell.
With arrogance I entered on a trail
that even seasoned guides would not attempt.
They called me to turn back to no avail,
for I was sure my might made me exempt.
Now only Satan's serpents hear me wail,
my pleas for mercy met with their contempt.
Take heed this warning issued through my moans --
from heights the haughty fall to die alone.
| Author Notes | This poem is an ottava rima. Each verse has 8 lines of 10 syllables each, written in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is ABABABCC DEDEDEFF. |
By adewpearl
As I await what lies ahead,
my every thought consumed with dread,
I quake to think what might unfold,
for seers have my fortune told
and shared with me the signs they read.
I should have tossed their cards and fled
as one by one they showed me dead.
But here I sit, my blood run cold
as I await.
A paralyzing fright has spread
through every nerve my fear has fed.
I hear the knell of death's bell tolled
as I my rotting corpse behold.
A mourner's tears from my eyes shed
as I await.
| Author Notes |
Sorry, I'm still in my Halloween mood - I honestly did start out to write a contemplative rondeau, but the spirit just wouldn't move me! LOL
The rondeau is a fifteen line poem in three verses - the rhyme scheme is AABBA for the first verse, AABplus the first four syllables of the first line of verse one for the second verse and finally AABBA plus that same four syllable refrain for the third verse. All lines have 8 syllables except for those two refrain lines. seer = a two syllable word that means prophet/fortuneteller |
By adewpearl
My mind astir, I lie awake,
no way to make this fever break
that comes with fear "it" will return,
most cursed beast I cannot spurn,
nor kill with cross or wooden stake.
At every creaking step I quake;
each passing shadow makes me shake.
My innards with each new fright churn,
my mind astir.
This is no dream, make no mistake;
no sleep is mine, I lie awake
as for an opiate I yearn,
while fevers through my body burn.
The beast lurks near; I twist and turn,
my mind astir.
| Author Notes |
cursed is spoken with two syllables in this poem, which is, I promise one and all, my final scary poem of the season. Happy Halloween!!!
The rondeau is a 15 line poem in 3 verses. The first verse has 8 syllables in each line and has a rhyme scheme of AABBA. The second verse has 3 lines of 8 syllables with a rhyme scheme of AAB followed by a 4 syllable refrain taken from the first words of verse 1. Verse 2 has 5 lines of 8 syllables each with rhyme scheme of AABBA followed by that same 4 syllable refrain. |
By adewpearl
As sounds grow still and day grows late,
I pray, beware,
or thickening fog will suffocate
you in its snare.
A scornful doubter soon might find
this midnight mist has him entwined
beyond escape, beyond despair --
I pray, beware.
If you don't want to seal your fate,
do not forswear
your instincts that a monster makes
this fog his lair.
These doleful vapors will become
the deadly tomb where you succumb
should you choose courage over care --
I pray, beware.
| Author Notes | The octogram is a form invented by Fanstorian Sally Yocom. It consists of two 8 line verses, each with a syllable count of 8/4/8/4/8/8/8/4. The rhyme scheme is ababccbb ababddbb. The second line of verse one is the refrain line which is repeated as the final line of both verses. |
By adewpearl
I reach to grasp a saving hand,
but rescue is not mine to find.
Against a force I can't withstand
I reach to grasp a saving hand,
but hope is deaf to my command
and all my pleas have been declined.
I reach to grasp a saving hand,
but rescue is not mine to find.
| Author Notes |
The triolet is an 8 line repeating form poem that dates back to the minstrels of Medieval France. All lines are written in iambic tetrameter - daDUMdaDUMdaDUMdaDUM, and the rhyming pattern is ABaAabAB. The capital letters designate where lines repeat, so that line 1 is also lines 4 and 7 and line 2 repeats as line 8.
Abandon hope all ye who enter here is the inscription at the entrance of Hell in Dante's Divine Comedy. |
By adewpearl
As night descends upon us all
to wrap its shroud around our lives,
beneath its doleful, murky pall,
our senses numb, but fear survives.
We pray when inky shadows loom
as night descends upon us all,
these forms won't drag us to our doom
where demons lurk and serpents crawl.
A warning scrawled upon the wall
might save us if we just could see --
as night descends upon us all,
our fate remains a mystery.
As panic rises in our throats,
more bitter than the blackest gall,
we hear a death march sound its notes
as night descends upon us all.
| Author Notes | The quatern is a 16 line poem made up of four quatrains. The rhyme scheme is up to the individual poet. In this quatern I have used an abab alternate line pattern. Each line is 8 syllables long and while no particular meter is dictated, I've used iambic meter. The defining trait of this form is that the first line of the first verse repeats as the second line of the second verse and then descends to the third line of the third verse and finally becomes the fourth line of the final quatrain. |
By adewpearl
I am the lost, whom you forsake,
one unredeemed for one mistake --
my indiscretion unrestored,
my pleas to be absolved abhorred.
No remedy can mend this break.
No pledge exists that I can take,
no promises that I can make --
my destiny, to be deplored.
I am the lost.
This is no dream from which I'll wake
to learn of chances to partake
in kinder ways to win reward.
I had one chance, which I ignored.
Now I burn on this flaming stake --
I am the lost.
| Author Notes |
The rondeau dates back to late 13th Century France, when it was set to music. It consists of 15 lines in 3 verses. Verse one is a quintet with a rhyme scheme of aabba. Verse two is a quatrain with a rhyme scheme of aabRefrain. Verse three is a sestet with a rhyme scheme of aabbaRefrain. Lines 9 and 15, the refrain lines, are shorter and consist of a phrase taken from line 1.
In Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Scrooge is shown his uncompassionate ways by spirits who then return him to his present life where he has the chance for a do-over. But this is Halloween season, and do-overs are not in the spirit of the day. Lead a nasty life in a Halloween poem, and you burn on an eternal stake. ;-) |
By adewpearl
Although the fog hangs dank and deep,
the serpent has its rounds to keep --
it winds its way through swamp's damp grass
to sneak among us as we sleep.
You think you're safe, until, alas,
you feel a presence slinking past --
the snake has heard the call of fate
and wound beyond the bog's morass.
For evil stops at no one's gate --
its need so great to infiltrate
each innocent and peaceful soul
with toxic and malicious hate.
Beware the snake's pernicious goal,
or it WILL take its vicious toll.
Protect your heart and keep it whole
from serpents who would steal your soul.
| Author Notes |
The chain rhyme connects verses by carrying a rhyme over from one verse to the next. This poem uses the chain pattern used by Robert Frost in Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening:
aaba bbcb ccdc dddd. |
By adewpearl
I steal through cover of the night
to snare your soul and snatch your breath --
how foolish your attempts at flight
as through the cover of the night
I skulk and slink and snuff all light
that might have lit a path from death.
I steal through cover of the night
to snare your soul and snatch your breath.
| Author Notes |
The triolet is a lyrical repeating form that dates back to the minstrels of Medieval France. There are just 8 lines written in iambic tetrameter - daDUMdaDUMdaDUMdaDUM.
The rhyme scheme is ABaAabAB. The capital letters indicate which lines are repeated, so that line 1 is also lines 4 and 7 and line 2 is repeated as line 8. I have modified this triolet in that line 4 has been slightly altered to help the flow. |
By adewpearl
The jackal howls, its victim downed,
as through the wild its screams resound.
The struggle ended in defeat --
tonight no flight provides retreat.
In death might mercy soon be found.
Finality is so profound --
blood spills and seeps this killing ground.
No life within a slain heart beats.
The jackal howls.
By destiny you too are bound
as jackals stalk and then surround.
We share a fate no one can cheat,
not by escape nor by deceit.
Life has its day, till death is crowned.
The jackal howls.
| Author Notes |
The rondeau is a Medieval French repeating form that consists of three verses in 15 lines of iambic meter. The rhyme scheme is aabba aabR aabbaR. R indicates a shorter refrain line that is derived from words in the first line of verse one.
|
By adewpearl
Beware when the vulture flies,
Beware when the banshee screams,
Beware when nightmares in disguise
paint black your fairest dreams.
Keep watch when the candle dims,
Keep watch when the barn owls shriek,
Keep watch when you commit foul sins
lest torment should you seek.
Take heed when the wolf pack calls,
Take heed when dark spirits rise,
Take heed, my friend, lest when night falls,
you be those spirits' prize.
By adewpearl
The restless raven takes to flight,
creating terrors unexplored,
beyond the scope of good or light,
the restless raven takes to flight,
a carrier of baleful blight,
a harbinger of life's discord,
the restless raven takes to flight,
creating terrors unexplored.
And should a spark of hope ignite,
the restless raven takes to flight
to douse that spark with cackling fright,
for darkness cloaks where it has soared,
this restless raven set in flight,
creating terrors unexplored.
| Author Notes |
I thank Gungalo for posting a triolet sonnet, a form I was unaware of. Her excellent use of this form inspired me to try it.
The lines are in iambic tetrameter, and the rhyme scheme is ABaAabABaAabAB. The capital letters indicate that line 1 is repeated as lines 4,7,10 and 13 and line 2 is repeated as lines 8 and 14. I have slightly modified the repeating line in line 13. |
By adewpearl
Shadows
lugubrious
hover in suspension,
awaiting fools who fail to fear
the dark.
| Author Notes |
The cinquain is a poem written in 2/4/6/8/2 syllable form.
Last year I had fun writing several Halloween poems. I hope to have more fun this year. :-) |
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