"Spooky Poems" October Lunchnotes 2022

 Though October’s not here yet, 
this step-mom is almost set.
Lunchnotes sent for each school day,
haunted poems on the way.
My tradition, every year,
meant to make the distance near.
Last of my creative spark, 
wrestled into rhyming, dark.
Here as offering I’ll leave,
a ‘trick’ before All Hallow’s Eve.

~~~

 1)
Be silent, now, and listen close,
from underground you’ll hear the cries,
the quake and groan as sigils break, 
and from the depths it starts to rise.
Shadowy tendrils tear the sky,
extinguish both hope and light,
the terror once buried below,
awakened, claims tribute tonight.
~~~

2)
Last night while cozy in bed you slept, 
descending from cobwebs gone unswept,
from dark and dusty cracks they crept.
Your home they claimed by Devil’s right,
your Soul to bend and break with fright,
free reign they’ll have ‘til Halloween night!
~~~

3)
Tick, Tock, Tick…Stop!  Here stalls the clock,
round Midnight, when there comes a knock,
upon the door, a rattling boom,
and thus descends unsettling gloom.
Startled awake, to door you go,
what lurks outside, you do not know.
A moment’s pause, then sense dismissed,
the handle turns.  Oh! You’ll be missed.
~~~

4)
Imps and Goblins, Night Terrors, too,
prepare to make their favourite stew, 
a putrid, bubbling, ghastly goo,
the last ingredient…is…you!
~~~

5)
Shadows steal across the ground,
from all sides come to surround,
from this day you’ll ne’er be found,
for here they’ve made your burial mound!
~~~

6)
Did you hear a scratching sound?
Maybe we should look around?
Careful!  Careful!  Take a peek,
over creaking floorboards sneak.
What’s that?  There?  Just out of sight?
Glowering eyes in dark of night.
Seeping blackness like a blight.
Here they’ll find us, dead from fright.
~~~

7)
Look sharp!  Make haste! Don’t make a sound,
there’s danger lurking all around.
With fangs and claws and oozy things,
to slither, crawl, or flap their wings.
Now mind yourself!  Don’t veer off track.
Stay vigilant against attack.
They’re on the hunt.  Just out of view,
waiting to make a meal of you!
~~~

8)
An owl calls out in the night,
harbinger of death in flight.
Your ears prick at the haunting sound.
Nervously, you glance around.
“Whooo whoo”, you hear it call once more,
as your feet hasten toward the door.
A rustle in the bushes.  “Whooo”.
Too late, it wasn’t Who but YOU!
~~~

9)
Jack O'lanterns line the way,
sneers and scowls on display.
Cobwebs drip down from the trees,
shrieks and howls make blood freeze.
Crumbled tombstones for a path.
Step wrong, and face the undead’s wrath.
Hell fires’ Fate you’re sure to meet,
if here you dare to Trick-or-Treat!
~~~

10)
Gather close by candlelight, 
on this dark October night.
Stand together, back to back,
peering into endless black.
Just ignore what’s out of sight,
pretend you’re not frozen in fright.
Surrounded by these beasts from Hell,
only one will live to tell!
~~~

11)
Welcome to the haunted house,
you’re in for a chilling time.
The floorboards here are rotted through,
the walls are oozing slime.
There’s mischief and there’s menace here,
there’s cackles, snarls, and…Boo!
Bad news, my friend, did you forget?
You’re dead!  The ghost is YOU!
~~~

12)
Did you feel a shiver,
crawling up your spine?
Did you sense all your fears, 
suddenly align?
Did you catch your breath, 
hysterical with fright?
Realizing far too late, 
your gruesome, grizzly plight?
What a shame you waited, 
so long to run away.
You took too long to save yourself,
and now you’re someone’s prey!
~~~

13)
All year long they’ve lain in wait,
buried deep, in deathly state.
Midnight tolls the gruesome clock,
coffin lids all spring the lock.
They rise, as one, from dreamless sleep,
these husks, an ancient feast to keep.
They ride, with wings of bat, outspread,
to bite and drain ‘til all are fed.
~~~

14)
A choice was made.
The bill fast paid.
In splendor, at your home, was laid.
‘Til dusk turned dark,
in terror, stark,
it felt the pierce of the first mark.
Frenzied attack,
a slice, a hack,
life leaking from a fatal whack.
Quick work of blade,
its innards flayed,
a tangled mess of guts displayed.
Then final shame,
its gruesome frame,
is lit by flickering candle flame.
~~~

15)
Listen carefully, my dear,
now a warning you will hear.
Don’t dawdle or get left behind,
or the monsters you will find.
Don’t go walking late at night,
or you’ll surely die of fright.
Avoid black cats, and mirrors, too,
or spectres will make a meal of you.
Say a prayer.  Stay in the light.
You might survive ‘til Halloween night.
~~~

16)
Stormclouds gather overhead,
unearthly bell tolls wake the dead.
From six feet under, here they come,
a month-long hunt has now begun.
Hungry, howling, gruesome beasts,
with wicked sneer, the Master greets.
He calls on them to do their worst,
mischief and mayhem, ‘til 31st.
~~~

17)
What’s that nipping at your toes?
Nevermind, now it’s on your nose!
Slithering about your head…
a vicious snap! Oh dear! You’re dead.
~~~

18)
The dullest roar begins to build, 
from deep within the other Side.
The headless horseman and witches, three,
begin their midnight ride.
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide,
they’ve broken through the Veil,
and all whose fateful numbers’ due,
they’ll leave lifeless and pale.
~~~

19)
“Trick or Treat!”
“Oh yes, my sweet!
Let me fill your bag with treats.
Knucklebones.
And casting stones.
Ooh, a jar of ghostly moans!”
“No thanks!”, you say.
“Oh, that’s okay.
I’ll roast your bones another day!”
~~~

20)
Up the rotted steps you climb,
iron railing dripping slime,
take a breath to calm your Soul,
tremble at the midnight toll.
Raise a quivering hand to knock,
creaking, groaning, slips the lock,
door swings wide, wind at your back,
you fall into the endless black.
~~~

21)
Shiver, tremble, if you must,
hope forlorn, dreams gone to dust.
From this place, you’ll ne’er return,
here within these fires you’ll burn.
Doomed forever, here to stay,
endless repeat, this school day!
~~~

22)
You thought you heard the rooster crow,
but there’s no sign of him below.
The sky is black, the yard gone gray,
and bird bones on the brown grass lay.
Through barren branches, wind makes moan.
You realize that you’re all alone.
But what then woke you from your dream?
There! Once more, you hear a…scream!
~~~

23)
Don’t close your eyes, don’t nod your head,
you must stay vigilant instead.
Don’t drift away, don’t fall asleep,
or from your dream they’ll start to creep.
It’s simple…you must stay awake,
lest nightmares rise, your soul to take!

~~~

24)
The sun on the horizon burns one last blood-red spark,
a hush of baited breaths from all, as everything goes dark.
The flare of matches, lanterns lit, weak little spots of light,
that only serve to hasten on those shadows of the night.
A scream!  You crouch and cower, and cover up your head.
When finally you risk a peek, around you they’re all dead.
~~~

25)
If late at night you hear a noise, 
and spring up out of bed,
and carefully creep down the stairs,
you’ll wish you’d hid instead.
If in the dark, you walk alone,
past cemetery gates,
you’ll find no stride at which you’re safe,
no pace outruns the Fates.
If you are of the silly sort,
and warnings do not heed,
by Halloween you will be well,
and truly dead, indeed!
~~~

26)
At witching hour they cast a spell,
no living soul could ever tell.
In secret dark, they crossed their bones,
made sacrifice to ritual stones.
Then whispering their wicked charm,
and chanting words to first do harm,
‘n eath rose and cream of human skin,
to cover evil deep within.
A single spark, black candle’s blaze,
then hidden among us for 31 days.
~~~

27)
Hidden deep away from Sight,
lies a world of endless Night.
Where ‘mares and monsters freely roam,
and wolves and vampires call home.
Once a year it opens wide,
and all the monsters rush outside,
a month’s dark reverie to make,
and 31 frightened Souls to take!
~~~

28)
Little shivers down your spine,
a flicker out of view,
this is how you’ll come to know,
a ghost is haunting you!
Go bless the Holy Water,
it’s best to be prepared.
Smudge the house, and cross yourself,
even though you’re scared.
No matter what you think you hear,
don’t open up the door,
or that spirit haunting you,
will be joined by one more!
~~~

29)
The alarm clock sounds,
 you stretch and yawn,
then get dressed for school, 
in early dawn.
You dawdle about,
then sit down, late,
to wait, impatiently, 
for your plate.
You hear the footsteps,
smell something burned,
you’re holding your breath,
your stomach’s churned.
The steaming dish drops,
a gruesome feast,
held not by Grandma, 
but a fearsome Beast!
~~~

30)
A flap of wings, it draws your sight,
you stare, in vain, at endless night.
The air is thick, there’s naught but black,
and the keening howls of a werewolf pack.
No sanctuary, no one around,
you’d better freeze, don’t make a sound!
~~~

31)
Withered grass and blossom rot,
nothing grows around the lot.
Rusted iron forms a knot,
barring trespass in this spot.
Twisted spires claw the air,
windows boarded, broken stair.
Blood-red sign that reads “Beware!”,
those who knock, It will ensnare.
~~~

32)
Time and again,
a tale often told,
by bonfire’s light,
when the weather gets cold.
Of campers gone missing,
one blustery night,
and grainy film footage,
detailing their fright.
Ravaged by wild beast,
or dragged down to hell,
to this day no one knows,
since none lived to tell.
My only advice, 
as learned from their plight,
is never go camping,
on Halloween night!
~~~

33)
Don’t you worry and  don’t you fret,
don’t think about monsters you haven’t met.
There’s fear enough in every day,
especially around this holiday.
There’s Mondays, Homework, Brussel Sprouts,
and lest that doesn’t make you scream and shout,
there’s Doctors’ Shots, and Chores to Do,
and of course there are Zombies chasing you!
~~~

34)
While you read by candlelight,
out of view by eye,
round the edges of the room,
something’s creeping by.
Deep enthralled by book you are,
too far gone to know,
that around your resting place,
darker shadows grow.
Behind you on the bookshelves,
pouring cross the floor,
rising to surround you now,
rushing in the door.
The monster on the pages,
is once more alive,
and though familiar to you,
you still won’t survive.
~~~

35)
Creeping vines,
and withered leaves,
spider’s webbing,
around the eaves.
Shutters creak,
and swing and groan,
windows cracked,
through which winds moan.
Broken tiles,
and shattered plates,
black cat guards,
forbidding gates.
Spectres, three,
their time do bide,
trapped within,
here where they died.
~~~

36)
Whispers in the dead of night,
when the moon is asleep, 
drag you from the nightmare realm,
where shades and spirits creep.
You rise and shake the cobwebs,
of dreaming from your head,
push back the sheet and covers,
stealthily climb from bed.
Too dark to see what woke you,
you frantic’ly peer round,
but like the dark, silence looms,
for there’s no one around.
Shrug your sense of unease off,
and stumble back to bed,
where It lurks in wait for you,
spectre of one long dead.
~~~

37)
Nights of horror, days of dread,
wishing it was spring instead.
Unrelenting all month long,
trapped amidst a ghoulish throng.
Zombies, dragging cheek by jowl,
mutter, shriek, and groan, and howl.
No escape, from this your fate,
even worse if you run late.
Here you’ll stop, and here you’ll stay,
no truancy for you today!
~~~

38)
The table set,
all sat to dine,
at dinner, late, at half-past nine.
When suddenly,
a knock did sound,
a boom so hard it shook the ground.
So Grandma went,
the door to get,
and just like that her end was met.
Another knock,
the whole house shook,
then scratching, not unlike a hook.
Grandpa got up,
he’d set things right,
ne’er seen again, after that night.
Now all alone,
the children, two,
terrified.  What could they do?
A knock again,
this one the third,
they stood up silent, not a word.
To door they crept,
both, trembling,
and locked the door against that Thing.
~~~

39)
There is nothing scarier,
in this world that I know,
than waking up to realize,
the coffee’s running low.
Some fear ghosts and others, ghouls,
some tremble at strange sounds.
Who, me?  I only worry,
if almost out of grounds.
Because, you see, the secret,
your brothers and I share,
most fearsome of the terrors,
my decaf morning glare!
~~~

40)
Storefronts hung with twinkling lights,
won’t ward off the coming nights.
Front doors wreathed, orange and black,
even triple locked, will crack.
Costumes meant to hide your face,
make you slower for the chase.
Flashlights grasped to light the way,
make of you quite easy prey.
Treat bags full up to the brim,
sweetened up for something grim.
Bushes, alleys, in-between,
all the dark things wait, unseen.
Trick-or-treat, you bravely shout,
right before your light’s snuffed out!
~~~

41)
There’s something that you both need to know,
if trick-or-treating you want to go.
There’s monsters among us, hiding here,
evil behind faux holiday cheer.
You’ll know, when you knock, if one you’ve found,
if the door opens without a sound.
Don’t step inside to fill up your bag,
or you’ll be caught by a fearsome hag.
Stay in light, where the other kids are,
don’t let your sweet tooth lead you afar.
Keep together, and when you are done,
if you should hear a growl, then RUN!
~~~

42)
Silence can be a fearsome sound,
in the dark, when no one’s around.
The dark, itself, can suffocate,
when you’re out walking home too late.
But add October to the two,
it’s sure to scare the life from you!
So light the room, play music too,
or it might be the death of you!