Welcome to the annual OCTOBER FRIGHTS BLOG HOP. Every year my friend and fellow writer A.F. Stewart puts together this event to help writers connect with readers and each other. At the end of this post you’ll find a list of participating blogs along with a link to the giveaway.
For my first offering this Halloween I give you a poem written for the Horror Writer Association’s Gallery of Poetry in this month’s newsletter (Volume 32, Number 267). Open to HWA members, the newsletter is free advertising, networking, craft news, inspiration and member promo. If you aren’t a member of the HWA yet but you are curious, find out more info at horror.org.
When I wrote this poem I was thinking of how much joy this time of year brings me. I wished I could consume every last drop of the season. I imagined myself some kind of monster, my jaw unhinging so I could swallow this holiday whole. This poem is the result.
🎃🎃🎃Seasonal Unhinging🎃🎃🎃
I unhinge to quaff
the season of Halloween—
every final drop …
when each phantom catches my eye and the knocking
under the stairs becomes the knocking of my heart
beating loud with tell tale fibberys and fictions
told at midnight, in starlight to warm up short nights
where the cold of corpses creep through our dreams
running chill fingers unseen to tickle our fancy
things we love, like black lace in dust, the rust and must
of what remains of us, the peeking through windows
letting moonlight in, the bones of a friend, saying “The End”
as autumn leaves drift into sunset detritus
the shivers inside us refuse to deride us for
we all raise our spirits to cheer pumpkin kings
with thanks for inky nights
and even darker things.
I break open wide
to make room for the shadows—
all hail Halloween.
🎃🎃🎃 🎃🎃🎃
Participating Blogs
Always Another Chapter
Be Afraid of the Dark
Hawk’s Happenings
Carmilla Voiez Dark Reads and Intersectional Feminism
GirlZombieAuthors
Frighten Me
Brain Matter – The Official Blog of JG Faherty
Angela Yuriko Smith
James P. Nettles
Excellent poem.
What a delight, you poem! And who amongst us Halloween People wouldn’t want to indulge in all things Halloween, as if a rich dessert!
Beautiful imagery. I especially loved the image of black lace in dust.