Tuesday, October 30, 2012

X-tra Scary Halloween: A Ghostly Tale

©2012 Susan Noyes Anderson

One All Hallow's Eve, we got dressed up like ghosts
and went down to the graveyard at night.
Two of my buddies and I were excited
to give our kid brothers a fright.
Our town's cemetery was right on the way
to the homes that gave out the best treats.
We remembered how scary those shadowed tombs seemed,
so we lay in wait, cloaked in white sheets.
With the sun sinking down and the moon rising high and
no brothers as yet, we got bored.
My friend, Jack, let loose on two girls with a moan,
but his efforts to scare were ignored.
As more kids went by, we helped Jack out a bit
with a chorus of howls, wails, and shrieks.
We laughed when a glance at our ghastly attire
stole the color right out of their cheeks.
Still no brothers in view, but we had lots to do.
We were scaring those punks off their feet!
At times, we stayed hidden and screeched like the dead.
Other times, we chased them down the street.
This was Halloween fun to the maxTricks, not treats.
We could terrorize toddlers forever.
Some ran for their lives; a few fell down and cried.
It was SICK. Our best Halloween ever!!
We were kings of the graveyard––the ghosts with the mostest.
Dude, we had fake haunting perfected.
Our screams were so chilling, our sighs so unearthly
not one of our victims suspected.
The night was our stage. Maybe we could do better...
make even the older kids squeal!
A new sound erupted from Jack, and I grinned.
Super spooky! This guy was for real.
Jack's groan was so gruesome, in fact, that it made 
every hair on my head stand up straight.
I looked his direction to flash the thumbs-up,
but I froze when my gaze caught the gate.
The creepy old gate to the crypts glowed blood red,
gargoyles beckoning, urging me near.
The temperature dropped and grew cold as dry ice,
while green mist floated in, thick as fear.
I tried to resist, but that putrid green mist
entered me with its mind-numbing chill.
It crept up my back, and it lodged in my brain
till it robbed me of freedom and will.
I made myself focus both eyes on the gate.
Big mistake. What I saw made me moan.
It was Jack. He was hanging there, feet off the ground,
with his flesh eaten down to the bone.
His form was more skeleton now and less ghost.
Pitch-black eyes had rolled back in his head.
And the creature beside him was every bad nightmare
that ever filled children with dread.
In horror, I clutched at our other friend’s hand,
but Dan pushed me away and cried, “JAAAACK!
Dan started towards him, but when the ground opened,
Dan took off and never looked back.
I would have run, too, but my legs wouldn’t work.
I was paralyzed, frozen by fear.
The graves were releasing their dead, and the sound
of their keening was awful to hear.
Zombies and wraiths slipped around me and through me.
Worms passed in and out of my skin.
My soul turned to ice, and my heart beat in rhythms
of terror, as evil crept in.
I was lost, and I knew it. Was this how Jack felt
when they took him and made him their own?
Would the fiends claim my body forever? I could not
withstand them much longer alone.
And then came The Voice. Distant, yet so familiar
it entered my spirit like gold.
 “Hey guys, whatcha doin’? Are you in the graveyard??
We heard what you did, and WE TOLD!
“You’re really in trouble, especially Jack.
All our friends said that he was so mean.
"You’re gonna be grounded. You shoulda known better
than scaring us on Halloween.”
It was my little brother! The punk sounded good,
like the trill of a silvery flute.
His whining and tattling almost seemed welcome,
compared to the grave’s grim salute.
Salvation was ours in an instant. There’s nothing
so fearful as women prepared
to teach their kids lessons that they need to know.
Watch out, phantoms! NO ONE would be spared.
The underworld quaked as my mother’s "mad" voice
mowed down demons and devils and ghouls.
“You get out here this instant! All three of you. NOW.
Did you think that your mothers were fools?”
Jack slid off the gate, re-embodied himself,
and walked over to me with a smile.
The undead had fled to their graves, quite undone, so
we hugged and high-fived for a while.
Nearby a bush rustled, and out of the dark
came the third of our three musketeers.
“I couldn’t just leave, so I came back and hid,”
Dan said softly. We met him with cheers!
“All for one, one for all,” were the words that we said,
and we meant them, in good times or bad.
We spent the next 14 days stuck in the house.
And you know what? We felt mostly glad. 
 No more ghostly graveyards or hauntings for us,
just a tip from my terrorized crew...
(Heed it well, or this day you will rue.)

NEXT TIME, THEY COULD BE COMING FOR YOU!

Don't pass by a graveyard until the sun shines.
Take warning from s-h-i-v-e-r-y chills up your spines.
Be kind to small children, whatever you do, and
BEWARE what you wear. Sometimes, costumes come true!



With lots of love and plenty of scary good wishes
to our awesomely gruesome grandchildren
from
Ghostma and Ghoulpa Anderson

=)

If you like this one, check out the ones from past years:

2009
2010
2011

for more X(tra scary) posts, click below

36 comments:

Susan Anderson said...

LeAnn said...
Sue, you really need to make a children's book. I love your Halloween stories and Christmas stories.
I sent you an email; so let me know.
I so look forward to your stories.
The pictures and story were very scary. I won't have any grandchildren around for Halloween but will send a link to your post.

Blessings and hugs for this one.

Susan Anderson said...

(Sorry I had to copy LeAnn's comment, but I messed up my blog feed somehow and had to repost the whole poem.)

I think it's fixed now.

=)

Darlene said...

I'll bet the kids really liked this one. It was so long. I'm wondering how long it took you to write this one.

It even made me feel creepy. I wish I had some kids around to read and show this to, so that I could see their expressions and listen to their comments. It must have been fun for Heather.

Brian Miller said...

hahahaha i love your stories...and this one made me grin really big....i hope you have a safe and fun halloween!

Unknown said...

What a wonderful tale!

Unknown said...

That definitely could be made into a book! Congrats on a job well done!

Gail said...

Absolutely wonderful!!!

I see a children's book in this.

EG CameraGirl said...

Creepy and just perfect for Halloween. I'm thinking it took you hours to write and search photos. Thank you! Your work is so much fun.

4 Lettre Words said...

Wow...that's really great, Sue. You are so creative!

Granny Sue said...

fun stuff! That's just wild, woman--I fear your imagination!

Granny Sue said...

I just posted some story bones for tonight's fireside. Your grandkids may know them, and if they don't you can have fun telling them :)

Grandma Honey said...

Well I for one am staying off graveyards today!
I would love an update on what your grandkids had to say about this one. I'm guessing they loved it.

Unknown said...

sometimes costumes come true! Love it.

Happy Halloween!

Ames said...

Aw Sue that is the best campfire scarey story I have heard in a long time. Moms, they sure can put the fear of God in their children! Hee Hee! Loved it and the music too!~Ames

~T~ said...

Which is scarier, denizens of the graveyard, or the wrath of Mom? They deserved both! Fun tale!

karen said...

That story had the perfect balance of creepy and fun. Your Halloween story poems are one of MY Halloween traditions too! (Move over, grandkids... I need a seat away from the dark corner.) Happy Halloween!

Unknown said...

Fabulous. Hope you have a wonderful Halloween.

Unknown said...

Touche!! And I have scared myself spitless trying to scare other's before. Thank goodness that evil is scared of our Momma's!! Happy Halloween Grandma Sue!!

carol l mckenna said...

Wow! ~ Great post and certainly a frightful story ~ very creative and awesome photos ~ (A Creative Harbor) ^_^

Jocelyn Christensen said...

That was so freaky! And terrorizing toddlers...shame on you! hee hee! Happy Halloween, Sue!

Terra said...

Oh my goodness, that was creepy, gross and hilarious all wrapped in one! Sue, you never disappoint! I agree with LeAnn BTW!

My name is Riet said...

These photo's scare me to death. Do you really think this is good for little children? I don't. Sorry.

momto8 said...

so scary!

Susan Anderson said...

I appreciate your concern, Riet. I always worry about that, too, and this one definitely has some creepy pics.

I must admit that I purposely made the poem scarier this year because my grandkids like it that way. Their mom checks the Halloween stuff out ahead of time to make sure it's not too creepy for them. They did enjoy this one and were not bothered by it at all.

Anyway, thanks for your honesty. I do understand your reservations about this one.

=)

SarahBeth said...

All I can say is Yikes!! I'll be looking behind myself all day!

Tonya said...

That was horrorifically chilling!!! You are such a superb writer, Sue!!! (I am glad I actually read this this morning, or I may have been looking over my back all night. :) )

Debra at HOMESPUN: http://www.thehomespun.com said...

hahahahahah HA !! what fun to read this on my lunchtime at work LOL!
MUHAHAHAHHAHA ! :)

Serene is my name, not my life! said...

Haha! You always write the best poems. Love it!

jen said...

Glad my Halloween wasn't this creepy. Ewwww!

yaya said...

What a fun tradition! Love your poems and this one was super cool and scary. Hope your Halloween was great!

anitamombanita said...

Like it?! I LOVE it!!! True to form you are!!

Cheryl D. said...

Sue, you rock. That was the best Halloween poem ever!

Splendid Little Stars said...

ooooo! scary-ee!

alpinekleins said...

You are amazing . . . the best! Can't wait until Christmas :)

Kristin

Amy said...

I LOVED it! So much fun and it really made me laugh. It is true that nothing can withstand the wrath of a mother!

Jenny said...

Ghostma and Ghoulpa!

You are soooo cool Sue!

Like the coolest Grandma ever.

You are just an amazingly xcllent writer, Grandma, woman, person and friend.

Wow.

I really, really loved this!

A++++++++++++++++++++++++