Halloween 2026
audio clip of blog entry
One of my pet peeves is Stores putting out Halloween decorations in July! Way too early, since the holiday is October 31.
This replaces my earlier Halloween musings. Happy Halloween in advance. Enjoy
Cosmos
Here are my Halloween stories and poems written over the years, but first, some background on the holiday we know as Halloween.
Of course, Halloween itself is no longer a single holiday with a single meaning. In the United States, it has evolved into a vast commercial juggernaut of costumes, candy, haunted houses, yard decorations, and blockbuster retail sales, and a curious tradition of children dressing up in costumes going door to door begging for tricks or treats. Growing up, Halloween was one of my favorite hollidays as it was the day after my birthday!
. In the United Kingdom, where many of its traditions originated, Halloween coexists with older Celtic and Christian observances and has become increasingly Americanized over the past few decades. In Mexico and much of Latin America, late October and early November are more closely associated with Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), a colorful period of family remembrance in which altars, food, flowers, and cemetery visits honor deceased relatives rather than frighten away ghosts. South Korea has imported Halloween largely as a youth and nightlife event, centered on costume parties and social media, though the tragic 2022 Itaewon crowd crush inevitably altered public perceptions of the celebration.
Halloween’s origins are far older than pumpkins and plastic skeletons. Most historians trace at least some of its roots to Samhain, an ancient Celtic festival marking the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter. Samhain was associated with the belief that the boundary between the living and the dead became unusually thin at this liminal time of year. Bonfires, disguises, feasting, and rituals intended to deal with wandering spirits were among the customs later linked to the festival. Modern Halloween emerged through centuries of interaction among Celtic traditions, Christian observances such as All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, and later North American popular culture. [britannica.com], [britannica.com], [history.com]
Some Christians Object to Observation of Halloween
The holiday remains controversial in some religious communities. Certain Christian groups object to Halloween because they view its themes of ghosts, witches, occult imagery, and its perceived pagan roots as incompatible with biblical teachings. Other Christians point out that Halloween also developed within the Christian liturgical calendar as All Hallows’ Eve and argue that it can be celebrated as harmless community fun. [time.com], [en.wikipedia.org]
Some Muslims consider Halloween to be a non-Islamic Holliday
Similar objections exist among many Muslims, particularly those who regard Halloween as a non-Islamic religious festival with pagan origins. While participation varies widely among individuals and communities, many Islamic scholars and organizations discourage or oppose Halloween celebrations on the grounds that they originated outside Islamic tradition and contain themes involving spirits, the dead, or supernatural beliefs that conflict with Islamic teachings. [aboutislam.net], [wikihow.com]
Pagan Wicca Celtic Druids Roots as Samhain
In an ironic twist, even as mainstream retailers push Halloween merchandise onto store shelves months before autumn arrives, modern Pagan and Wiccan practitioners have reclaimed Samhain as one of the most significant observances in their ritual calendar. For many Wiccans and other contemporary Pagans, Samhain is a time to honor ancestors, reflect on mortality, and mark the beginning of a new spiritual year. While modern Wicca is a twentieth-century religion rather than a direct continuation of ancient Celtic belief, Samhain occupies a central place in its annual cycle of festivals known as the Wheel of the Year. [britannica.com], [history.com], [wiccaliving.com]
Which makes it all the more remarkable that what began as an ancient seasonal observance, then became a Christian feast day, later morphed into a children’s candy holiday, a college costume party, a spiritual holy day for some modern Pagans, and a source of theological anxiety for some Christians and Muslims, now starts appearing between the Fourth of July barbecue supplies and the back-to-school notebooks.
Of course, Halloween itself is no longer a single holiday with a single meaning. In the United States it has evolved into a vast commercial juggernaut of costumes, candy, haunted houses, yard decorations, and blockbuster retail sales. In the United Kingdom, where many of its traditions originated, Halloween coexists with older Celtic and Christian observances and has become increasingly Americanized over the past few decades. In Mexico and much of Latin America, late October and early November are more closely associated with Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), a colorful period of family remembrance in which altars, food, flowers, and cemetery visits honor deceased relatives rather than frighten away ghosts. South Korea has imported Halloween largely as a youth and nightlife event, centered on costume parties and social media, though the tragic 2022 Itaewon crowd crush inevitably altered public perceptions of the celebration.
Halloween’s origins are far older than pumpkins and plastic skeletons. Most historians trace at least some of its roots to Samhain, an ancient Celtic festival marking the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter. Samhain was associated with the belief that the boundary between the living and the dead became unusually thin at this liminal time of year. Bonfires, disguises, feasting, and rituals intended to deal with wandering spirits were among the customs later linked to the festival.
Modern Halloween emerged through centuries of interaction among Celtic traditions, Christian observances such as All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, and later North American popular culture. [britannica.com], [britannica.com], [history.com]Which makes it all the more remarkable that what began as an ancient seasonal observance, then became a Christian feast day, later morphed into a children’s candy holiday, a college costume party, a spiritual holy day for some modern Pagans, and a source of theological anxiety for some Christians and Muslims, now starts appearing between the Fourth of July barbecue supplies and the back-to-school notebooks.
Halloween Coming Too Soon
Last July
Costco and Home Depot
Started showing Halloween decorations
Even Christmas Decorations.
Months before the holidays
Perhaps in a desperate attempt
To get shoppers in the mood
To buy buy, buy
For the holidays.
Meanwhile on the streets
Of every city and town
Halloween decorations appeared
In September!
Ugh enough
Too much I say,
Recalling that when
I was a young lad
Halloween decorations.
Appears in the stores
In Early October
As it should be.
And Christmas decorations
Appeared in late November.
Early July for Halloween
Way to early
I think.
Halloween Poems and Stories
“ON Halloween Eve” – This poem features goblins, ghosts, and wild things coming out to play on Halloween Eve1.
On Halloween Eve
Goblins, ghosts, and wild things
Come out to hunt us
“All Hell Breaks Loose” – A poem about the gates of hell opening on Halloween night, leading to a night of sheer terror and mayhem2.
ON Halloween night ,
the gates of hell open
All Hell Breaks Loose
Halloween In June
Monsters
Halloween night.
The gates of hell open.
Night of sheer terror and mayhem.
Zombies.
“Halloween Challenge 13 Poems” – A collection of 13 Halloween-themed poems written for the Local Gems Halloween Chapbook competition3.
https://theworldaccordingtocosmos.com/local-gems…/
Contemplating the Falling Leaves of Autumn
Walking the path
In the forest near my house
Every day I see the changing colors
Of the fall season
Always a time for reflection
For contemplation
Thinking about the past
And the future
As I contemplate each step
The vivid colors of the fall
a forecast of the coming winter
peaking about my birthday
contemplation of life
and the path I have taken
looking at the love of my life
fills me joy and laughter
dispelling the moodiness
of fall
Scenes from a Hellish Nightmare
Note: From a real nightmare End Note
I am in a room
Drinking at a party
And smoking weed
Drinking up a storm
20 drinks too sober
Watching people all around me
Change into hideous creatures
Monsters from the deepest depths of hell
Everyone in the room
Has been transformed except me
The Chief of them all
Wears a Trumpian mask
Complete with orange hair
Half-human half pig
His deputy
Wears the face of Putin
But his body
Half-human, half-horse,
The other creatures wear masks
Many of them wear
Green Pepe the alt-right
Symbolic frog masks
And have T-shirts
Bearing alt right slogans
And Nazi symbols
And as they prance about
They chant alt. Right slogans
And neo-Nazi chants
Jews will not replace us
And the rest of these creatures
Are hideous ugly beasts
Apes, cannibals, demons, dwarfs,
Goblins, leprechauns, Imps, monsters, orcs,
Pirates, satyrs, werewolves, Zombies,
With only a vestige of humanity left
And these monsters are engaged
In all sorts of foul evil deeds
Murder violence death
All around ,
And non-stop
violent drug-fueled orgies
As these creatures
Half-human, half-monsters,
Half-male, half-female creatures
Snort coke, cocaine, speed
Drop acid, Smoke weed
drink vodka shots
Scotch, bourbon, beer
The Trumpian Pig leads the charge
Starts engaging in sodomy with Putin
Who chases after people
Cutting off their heads with his sword
They turn on to their fellow creatures
Raping and killing each other
and eating their fellow creatures
All night long
Then they attack me
Screaming
Jews will not replace us
And I wake up
Screaming
As the sun comes up
Just another nightmare
Maid Laird Strikes Again Tanka (Halloween Challenge Day 3)
walking the Scottish Moors
Sam encounters the mad laird
The mad laird haunting
Stalking the lone hikers
Killing them cut off their heads
Corona Ghosts are Angry
ghosts
The corona ghosts meet up in Limbo
One million corona ghosts
From all over the world
The corona ghosts are angry
Their voices not heard
Just echoes in the wind
They decide to manifest themselves
To haunt the WH, the congress
The state capitols
The world capitols
In a one day massive
Corona ghost protest
The corona ghosts swarm the WH
Overwhelming the secret service
Demanding to meet the president
He came out
Met with them
General Corona appeared
And the President
Joined the Corona ghosts
In the end
Just another Corona ghost
Falling Leaves in Autumn
Of the fall seasonAlways a time for reflection
For contemplation
Thinking about the past
And the futureAs I contemplate each step
The vivid colors of the fall
a forecast of the coming winter
peaking about my birthday
contemplation of life
and the path I have taken
looking at the love of my life
fills me joy and laughter
dispelling the moodiness
of the fall season
Scenes from a Hellish Nightmare
Drinking at a party
And smoking weed
Drinking up a storm
20 drinks too sober
Watching people all around meChange into hideous creatures
Monsters from the deepest depths of hell
Everyone in the room
Has been transformed except meThe Chief of them all
Wears a Trumpian mask
Complete with orange hair
Half-human half pig
His deputy
Wears the face of Putin
But his body
Half-human, half-horse,
The other creatures wear masks
Many of them wear
Green Pepe the alt-right
Symbolic frog masks
And have T-shirts
Bearing alt right slogans
And Nazi symbols
And as they prance about
They chant alt. Right slogans
And neo-Nazi chants
Jews will not replace us
And the rest of these creatures
Are hideous ugly beasts
Apes, cannibals, demons, dwarfs,
Goblins, leprechauns, Imps, monsters, orcs,
Pirates, satyrs, werewolves, Zombies,
With only a vestige of humanity left
And these monsters are engaged
In all sorts of foul evil deeds
Murder violence death
All around ,
And non-stop
violent drug-fueled orgies
As these creatures
Half-human, half-monsters,
Half-male, half-female creatures
Snort coke, cocaine, speed
Drop acid, Smoke weed
drink vodka shots
Scotch, bourbon, beer
The Trumpian Pig leads the charge
Starts engaging in sodomy with Putin
Who chases after people
Cutting off their heads with his sword
They turn on to their fellow creatures
Raping and killing each other
and eating their fellow creatures
All night long
Then they attack me
Screaming
Jews will not replace us
And I wake up
Screaming
As the sun comes up
Just another nightmare
Day 3 October 21, 2020
Maid Laird Strikes Again Tanka (Halloween Challenge Day 3)
walking the Scottish Moors
Sam encounters the mad laird
The mad laird haunting
Stalking the lone hikers
Killing them cut off their heads
Day 4 October 22, 20202 Ghost Poem Corona Ghosts March on WH Demanding Justice
The corona ghosts meet up in Limbo
One million corona ghosts
From all over the world
The corona ghosts are angry
Their voices not heard
Just echoes in the wind
They decide to manifest themselves
To haunt the WH, the congress
The state capitols
The world capitols
In a one day massive
Corona ghost protest
The corona ghosts swarm the WH
Overwhelming the secret service
Demanding to meet the president
He came out
Met with them
General Corona appeared
And the President
Joined the Corona ghosts
In the end
Just another Corona ghost
Day 5, October – 23, 2020 Ekphrastic Challenge
The Grim Reaper comes for us
Sam Adams knew that his time was upHe knew for he had a forewarningIn his dream, he saw the Grim reaperWaiting for himAlong highway 666Beckoning him to join himOn the back of his cursed HarleyTo ride down the highway to hellSam got upGot his will updatedLooked at his wifeOne last timePrayed to the godsAll of themTo send him to the other placeRather that the hellThat the grim reaperHad promised himThere was a knock on the doorA telegram had arrivedIt saidYour appointment for judgmentIs todayYou may end up in the other placeBe prepared and be afraidYour ride arrives at midnightAt midnightThe grim reaperDressed in black leatherArrived on his cursed HarleySaid your ride awaitsFortunate oneWe are going to limboWhere you will waitWith the othersTo hear your fateAnd away they wentDown the celestial highwayBypassing highway 666Exiting in limboHe walked into a huge hallwayThousands of people milling aroundHe looked up at the signsWelcome to LimboNo talkingNo smokingNo phone usage – no reception anywayWait your turnFor your judgment dateThe hour is lateBut you will learn your fateOn this your cosmic judgment dateHis number is calledHe walks upThe angel bureaucratDressed in a Mr. Smith black suitHolds a hand-held computerHis life flashes on the screen65 years condensedInto a one minute video
An amber light flashesThe bureaucrat reads the judgmentMr. Sam AdamsYou are given five more yearsGet your act togetherDo good deedsWhen you come backYou will face one last judgmentHe walks outsideA taxi awaitsTakes him homeHe wakes upDrinks coffee with his wifeAnd the day resumes
Day 6 October 24, 2020 Pumpkin Patch –Great Pumpkin Rising Again
audio clip
An annual ritual
Only Linus knows
That the Great Pumpkin exists
No one else knows
No one else cares
Linus prepares for another night
Then the great pumpkin arises
A ghostly spirit
Comes out of the moonlight
Who dare calls me
The great pumpkin demands
Who is ready to die?
It is I,
Linus,
your biggest supporter
Tell me oh Great Pumpkin
What is your wish?
The great pumpkin growls
Tell your folks to vote
Time for the orange man
to meet his doom
The great pumpkin laughs
His visage appears
On the TV networks
The great pumpkin demands
President Trump
Time to meet your maker
And dispatches General Corona
To finish the job
Linus is given his heart’s desires
To become a great man
Lord of all he surveys
With faithful Snoopy by his side
On the back of the great pumpkin
Day 7 October 25., 2020 Haunted House at the End of the World
There is an old long-abandoned, ruined house
Became a hermit seldom going out
No one really knew him
The entire valley of all humanity
Day 8 October 26, 2020– The Door Slammed Loudly I Was Home Alone
I was all alone.
Watching the morning newsF
illed with omens,
Dangerous thoughts,
Nightmarish reality,
A thousand people a day dying,
Fires burning,
Storms churning,
Black lives dying,
Protestors clashing
Election day looming,
End of the world feelings
The door slammed loudly
I yell out
Who’s there
Nothing but corona ghosts
Crying in the wind
Day 9 October 27, 2020 Dark Prophecy-Fascism Comes to America – Halloween Challenge Day 9
Audio Player
Back in 2016 when I was travelingAcross the country with my wifeI had a series of darkly prophetic dreamsI dreamt that Donald Trump would be electedAnd usher in a slide towards fascism
And unfortunately, I was rightSo, what are my dreams telling me nowWhat are my prophetic nightmaresWill they come true again?
I dream that Donald Trump was anointedBy the Supreme Court which ruledThat given the potential for fraudAll mail in ballots would be tossed asideAnd Donald Trump who had lost the popular voteOnce again won in the electoral college
He vowed retribution against his enemiesThe fake media and the millions of peopleWho dared to vote against him
He called upon his supportersTo go forth and rough upFuck up as he put itLiberals and anti-Americans
Declared martial lawProtests would be illegalThe military would enforce the decreeAnd they did sending troops across the land
Declared that the democratic partyWas anti-AmericanAnd he would not allow themTo serve in Congress, or the Senate
The SC refused to rule against himThus fascism came to America
And my dark prophecy came true
Day 10, October 28, 2020 My Mother’s Secrets Conversation With A Ghost -Halloween Contest Day 10 Spooky Conversation
Audio Player
My mother died in 2007We buried her in BerkeleyNear her house
Whenever I am in the areaI drop byAnd talk with herImaging she is there
One day when I dropped byI asked her aboutMany things in her pastFor she took so many secretsWith her to her grave
So Mary, quite contraryTell me the truth nowTell me about your past lifeTell me your secrets
I heard a voiceCrying out in the windJohn John JohnDo you want to really knowMy secrets?
I respondedYes I doShe whispered them to meBut made me vowTo keep her secretsAnd take them to my grave
And so I can notMust not revealAll the shocking storiesOf her life
She told me that I neededTo also talk to my fatherFor he too had secretsTo tell me
I told herThat I would at some pointMake a visitTo the family graveIn Yakima
And finally learnThe family secretsThey should have told meWhile they were alive
Day 11, October 29, 2020Halloween Poem Costumes from Hell
” data-image-caption=”<p>artoon-devil-satan-businessman-suit-450w-49</p>
” data-large-file=”https://mlhqp2oqtail.i.optimole.com/cb:a-R0.45b/w:372/h:470/q:mauto/ig:avif/https://theworldaccordingtocosmos.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/cartoon-devil-satan-businessman-suit-450w-497782525.jpg” />
artoon-devil-satan-businessman-suit-450w
Audio Player
I am at a Halloween partyEveryone is wearing a costumeIncluding meI am dressed like an ancient KingMy wife is dressed as the angel she isThe party turns wildEveryone is getting highDrinking up a stormSmoking weedSnorting cokeDropping acidThe music is wild and crazyThen through the fog of it allI see the devilParading in front of the crowdScreaming deathTo all democratsTrump and Putin appear togetherRunning into the crowdsThe crowd chatting lock him upLock him upBiden is paraded in frontOf the blood thirsty crowdThe devil yells off with his headPutin and TrumpBehead himScreaming like escaped bansheesI try to wake up from this nightmareRealizing it is all liveOn CNNAnd I am deadThe world has endedEvil has triumphedOnce again
Day 12 Halloween Costume Party
?resize=300″ alt=”” width=”300″ height=”224″ data-opt-id=”1546910447″ data-opt-src=”https://mlhqp2oqtail.i.optimole.com/cb:a-R0.45b/w:300/h:224/q:mauto/ig:avif/https://i0.wp.com/theworldaccordingtocosmos.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/satan.jpg” data-recalc-dims=”1″ data-attachment-id=”2282″ data-permalink=”https://theworldaccordingtocosmos.com/escape-from-hell-story/satan-2/” data-orig-file=”https://mlhqp2oqtail.i.optimole.com/cb:a-R0.45b/w:341/h:255/q:mauto/ig:avif/https://theworldaccordingtocosmos.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/satan.jpg” data-orig-size=”341,255″ data-comments-opened=”1″ data-image-meta=”{“aperture”:”0″,”credit”:””,”camera”:””,”caption”:””,”created_timestamp”:”0″,”copyright”:””,”focal_length”:”0″,”iso”:”0″,”shutter_speed”:”0″,”title”:””,”orientation”:”0″}” data-image-title=”satan” data-image-description=”” data-image-caption=”” data-large-file=”https://mlhqp2oqtail.i.optimole.com/cb:a-R0.45b/w:341/h:255/q:mauto/ig:avif/https://theworldaccordingtocosmos.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/satan.jpg” />
Audio Player
I am at a Halloween costume partyDressed like an ancient lairdAngela is dressed in a red devil customAnd we are having a good time
Everyone is getting wildAnd friskySoon the mood turns darkAnd foul
Bad craziness fills the roomThe devil makes his appearanceAnd we realizeWe are all doomedTo end our life
At this partyWhere we all becomeChildren of the damn
Day 13, October 31, 2020 Trick or Treating In The Era Of Covid
Audio Player
Halloween in the era of covidSo strangeWith the covid virusEver lurkingWith CDC discouraging trick or tweetingWith masks on every faceEveryone wearing a costumeThe trick is not to get sickThe treat is still the candyThe goal of all childrenEverywhereCandy more candyVisits to the dentist be damnedHopefully General CoronaWill keep his troops at bay
Bonus Poems
vault 56 words pensively 101 prompt
Audio Player
I have a secret vault in my mindIt is a dark corner of my soulWhere I hide awayAll the dark dangerous thoughtsThat come out4 am 0 dark hundredWhen the wild thingsEscape their leashesScreaming like escaped bansheesThen with the dawning lightI put them back into the vault
Corona Mask
My corona maskHiding my face behind itHiding my fearsMy wife removing the maskSeeing my lovely face
Fifty word prose horror poems published in Every Writer
Audio Player
Audio Player
The Mad Laird Strikes Again
Sam Adams is doing a Scottish walkabout. There were rumors of a mad laird killing hikers along the lonely moors. He heard bagpipes in the fog then saw a man on a black horse who ran after him with a machete, screaming, “Do you believe in Ghosts now? “
The Mad Bagpiper of Berkeley
Sam Adams had heard rumors of a mad bagpiper serial killer lurking about Tilden park in Berkeley. Then he ran into the mad bagpiper in the lonely backcountry. The man ran after him, killing him with a machete. They found his body cut up and cooked by a camp-fire.
General Corona Got Your Baby
The mad General Corona, riding his black horse came out of the woods, and screamed at Sam Adams, saying “You got the Corona Virus; I am the general. Your ass is grass and I am the lawnmower.” Prepare to die a long painful death and he breathed on him.
Waiting for the Grim Reaper
Sam Adams found himself in Limbo. Waiting for his appointment with the Grim Reaper. Finally, his number was called. The Grim Reaper said his number was up and it was time for judgment day. “Whether it would be hell or heaven was beyond his pay grade”. The Grim reaper laughed.
Wild Things Run Amuck
0 dark hundred arrives. Insomnia set in. Sam Adams tossed and turned waiting for the wild things to come out for their nightly assault. Evil monstrous creatures from the darkest corner of his hell ran about screaming at him: torturing him until the dawning sun drove them back to hell.
Screaming News Drives Me Mad
Sam Adams fell asleep after watching the screaming media scream about the fires, storms, covid, political madness. Sam saw the devil programming madness on his computers. The devil, surrounded by the demons, orcs, dwarfs and monsters of hell, turns to him smiling, saying his time in hell would come soon.
Corona Horror Haiku
The Mad Laird Strikes Again1
In the Scottish Moorsmad laird waits to kill hikersdeath waiting for you
2
hearing the bagpipesold man appears in the fogriding a black horse
3
Mad laird runs at youHolding a black machete,screaming “Do you believe in Ghosts
The Mad Bagpiper of Berkeley
1
In the Berkeley HillsRumors of mad bagpiperFears and terror
2
Encountering itthe mad bagpiper in the hillsthey found his body
3
The mad bagpiperPlays mournful tune as killsAs you become ghost
General Corona Got Your Baby1
The mad GeneralCorona riding black horseLeading his army of bots
2
Encountering his breathYou begin to screamas you cough dying breath
Waiting for the Grim Reaper
1
Wake up in Limbo.Waiting for his appointmentwith the Grim Reaper.
2
Finally his numberThe Grim Reaper said number was uptt was the time for judgement day. “
3.
Whether it would behell or heaven beyond his paygradeThe Grim reaper laughed.
Wild Things Run Amuck1
At 0 dark hundred.Deep Insomnia set in.Tossing and turning
2
waiting for wild thingsto come out for their assault.Evil monstrous creatures
3
from the dark cornerof hell ran about screamingtorturing his soul
4
the dawning sun lightdrove them all back to their hell.Wild things fading
Screaming News Drives Me Mad
1
Then I fell asleepafter watching the screaming newsthe media screams
2
about the fires,storms corona ,the political madness.
3I saw the devilprograming all the madnesson his computers.
4
The devil saw me,surrounded by all the demons,says my time is soon
Horror Cheritas
The Mad Laird Strikes Again
Sam Adams is doing a Scottish walk about.
There were rumors of a mad lairdkilling hikers along the lonely moors.
He heard bagpipes in the fogthen saw a man on a black horse who ran after him with a machete,screaming “Do you believe in Ghosts now? “
The Mad Bagpiper of Berkeley
Sam Adams had heard rumors
of a mad bagpiper serial killerlurking about Tilden Park in Berkeley.
Then he ran into the mad bagpiper in the lonely back country.The man ran after him killing him with a machete.They found his body cooked by a camp-fire.
General Corona Got Your Baby
The mad General Corona, riding his black horse came out of the woods,
and screamed at Sam Adams, saying “You got the Corona Virus; I am the general.
Your ass is grass and I am the lawn mower.”Prepare to die a long painful deathand he breathed on him.
Waiting for the Grim Reaper
Sam Adams found himself in Limbo.
Waiting for his appointmentwith the Grim Reaper.
Finally his number was called.The Grim Reaper said His number was up and it was time for judgement day. “The grim reaper laughed Whether it would be hell or heaven was beyond his pay grade
Wild Things Run Amuck
0 dark hundred arrives.
Insomnia set in.Sam Adams tossed and turned
waiting for the wild things to come out for their nightly assault.Evil monstrous creatures from the darkest corner of his hell ran about screaming at him:torturing him until the dawning sun drove them back to hell.
Screaming News Drives Me Mad
Sam Adams fell asleep after watching the screaming media
scream about the fires, storms, covid, political madness.Sam saw the devil programming madness on his computers.
The devil, surrounded by the demons, orcs, dwarfs, and monsters of hell,turns to him smiling,saying his time in hell would come soon.
The gorgon of Bangkok
Sam AdamsWas drinking aloneIn a evil degraded barOn the bad side of life
In the city of AngelsBangkokTwenty drinks too sober
Drinking by himselfWith his buddiesJack Daniels, Jim Beam, Johnny WalkerEvan Walker, Mr. Bullet, Old Granddad
Ordering one scotch, one bourbon, and a beerFrom the lovely half-naked bartenderHe looks up at the stage
Dancing on the stageWas a naked vision of delightAs he looked at herShe began to turn into a hideous monstrous figure
Two-three faces appeared at onceThe naked bartender had warned himThat the gorgon of BangkokWould be dancing tonight
All men desired herAnd if she chose youYou would die a thousand deathsOf erotic pleasure
As she took your soul awayStraight to hell
Sam thought to himself
Why the hell notI am drinking my way to hell anywayAnd continued to stareAt the gorgon
She smiledAnd had her way with himHe left with herWent to her roomShe took off the clothes
He found himself naked in hellWhere the devil welcomes him
Saying have another drink, my friendWelcome to hell the party centerOf the universe
He drank and partied all nightWith the gorgon of Bangkok
Waking up deadJust another dead male foreignerIn the city of angels
The End
Comments
c
Sam Adams knew that his time was up
He knew for he had a forewarning
In his dream, he saw the Grim reaper
Waiting for him
Along highway 666
grimm reaper
Beckoning him to join him
On the back of his cursed Harley
To ride down the highway to hell
Sam got up
Got his will updated
Looked at his wife
One last time
Prayed to the gods
All of them
To send him to the other place
Rather that the hell
That the grim reaper
Had promised him
There was a knock on the door
A telegram had arrived
It said
Your appointment for judgment
Is today
You may end up in the other place
Be prepared and be afraid
Your ride arrives at midnight
At midnight
The grim reaper
Dressed in black leather
Arrived on his cursed Harley
Said your ride awaits
Fortunate one
We are going to limbo
Where you will wait
With the others
To hear your fate
And away they went
Down the celestial highway
Bypassing highway 666
Exiting in limbo
He walked into a huge hallway
Thousands of people milling around
He looked up at the signs
Welcome to Limbo
No talking
No smoking
No phone usage – no reception anyway
Wait your turn
For your judgment date
The hour is late
But you will learn your fate
On this your cosmic judgment date
His number is called
He walks up
The angel bureaucrat
Dressed in a Mr. Smith black suit
Holds a hand-held computer
His life flashes on the screen
65 years condensed
Into a one minute video
An amber light flashes
The bureaucrat reads the judgment
Mr. Sam Adams
You are given five more years
Get your act together
Do good deeds
When you come back
You will face one last judgment
He walks outside
A taxi awaits
Takes him home
He wakes up
Drinks coffee with his wife
And the day resumes
Great Pumpkin Rising again
great pumpkin
Lonely Linus sits in his pumpkin patch
With snoopy his faithful delusional dog
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
An annual ritual
Only Linus knows
That the Great Pumpkin exists
No one else knows
No one else cares
Linus prepares for another night
Then the great pumpkin arises
A ghostly spirit
Comes out of the moonlight
Who dares call me
The Great Pumpkin demands
Who is ready to die?
It is I, Linus, your biggest supporter
Tell me, oh Great Pumpkin
What is your wish?
The great pumpkin growls.
Tell your folks to vote
Time for the orange man
to meet his doom!
The Great Pumpkin laughs
His visage appears
On the TV networks
The great pumpkin demands
President Trump
Time to meet your maker
And dispatches General Corona
To finish the job
Linus is given his heart’s desires
To become a great man
Lord of all he surveys
With Snoopy by his side
The Great Pumpkin smiles
Giving a ride to Linus
who rides into the future ,
On the back of the Great Pumpkin
The Haunted House at the End of the World
There is an old long-abandoned, ruined house
On the edge of a forest in the hills,
About an hour out of the town of Medford
Overlooking the Rogue River valley
The house was once a mansion
But over time it became semi-ruined
The old man who lived there
Became a hermit, seldom going out.
No one really knew him
He kept to himself
Then one day
General corona came for a visit
The old man became nothing
But another corona ghost
The house continued standing looking out
On the hill overlooking the valley
Now filled with corona ghosts
As General Corona wiped out,
The entire valley of all humanity
The Door Slammed Loudly I Was Home Alone
I was all alone
Watching the morning news
Filled with omens,
Dangerous thoughts,
Nightmarish reality,
A thousand people a day dying,
Fires burning,
Storms churning,
Black lives dying,
Protestors clashing
Election day looming,
End of the world feelings
The door slammed loudly
I yell out
Who’s there
Nothing but corona ghosts
Crying in the wind
Dark Prophecy-Fascism Comes to America – Halloween
trump jpg
Back in 2016 when I was traveling
Across the country with my wife
I had a series of darkly prophetic dreams
I dreamt that Donald Trump would be elected
And usher in a slide towards fascism
And unfortunately, I was right
So, what are my dreams telling me now
What are my prophetic nightmares
Will they come true again?
I dream that Donald Trump was anointed
By the Supreme Court which ruled
That given the potential for fraud
All mail in ballots would be tossed aside
And Donald Trump who had lost the popular vote
Once again won in the electoral college
He vowed retribution against his enemies
The fake media and the millions of people
Who dared to vote against him
He called upon his supporters
To go forth and rough up
Fuck up as he put it
Liberals and anti-Americans
Declared martial law
Protests would be illegal
The military would enforce the decree
And they did sending troops across the land
Declared that the democratic party
Was anti-American
And he would not allow them
To serve in Congress, or the Senate
The SC refused to rule against him
Thus fascism came to America
And my dark prophecy came true
My Mother’s Secrets Conversation With A Ghost –
My mother died in 2007
We buried her in Berkeley
Near her house
Whenever I am in the area
I drop by
And talk with her
Imaging she is there
One day when I dropped by
I asked her about
Many things in her past
For she took so many secrets
With her to her grave
So Mary, quite contrary
Tell me the truth now
Tell me about your past life
Tell me your secrets
I heard a voice
Crying out in the wind
John John John
Do you want to really know
My secrets?
I responded
Yes I do
She whispered them to me
But made me vow
To keep her secrets
And take them to my grave
And so I can not
Must not reveal
All the shocking stories
Of her life
She told me that I needed
To also talk to my father
For he too had secrets
To tell me
I told her
That I would at some point
Make a visit
To the family grave
In Yakima
And finally learn
The family secrets
They should have told me
While they were alive
Halloween Poem Costumes from Hell
I am at a Halloween party
Everyone is wearing a costume
Including me
I am dressed like an ancient King
My wife is dressed as the angel she is
The party turns wild
Everyone is getting high
Drinking up a storm
Smoking weed
Snorting coke
Dropping acid
The music is wild and crazy
Then through the fog of it all
I see the devil
Parading in front of the crowd
Screaming death
To all democrats
Trump and Putin appear together
Running into the crowds
The crowd chatting lock him up
Lock him up
Biden is paraded in front
Of the blood thirsty crowd
The devil yells off with his head
Putin and Trump
Behead him
Screaming like escaped banshees
I try to wake up from this nightmare
Realizing it is all live
On CNN
And I am dead
The world has ended
Evil has triumphed
Once again
Halloween Costume Party
I am at a Halloween costume party
Dressed like an ancient laird
Angela is dressed in a red devil custom
And we are having a good time
Everyone is getting wild
And frisky
Soon the mood turns dark
And foul
Bad craziness fills the room
The devil makes his appearance
And we realize
We are all doomed
To end our life
At this party
Where we all become
Children of the damn
Trick or Treating In The Era Of Covid
covid 19
Halloween in the era of covid
So strange
With the covid virus
Ever lurking
With CDC
discouraging trick or tweeting
With masks on every face
Everyone
wearing a costume
The trick is not to get sick
The treat is still the candy
The goal of all children
Everywhere
Candy more candy
Visits to the dentist be damned
Hopefully General Corona
Will keep his troops at bay
Dark Secrets
I have a secret vault in my mind
It is a dark corner of my soul
Where I hide away
All the dark dangerous thoughts
That come out
4 am 0 dark hundred
When the wild things
Escape their leashes
Screaming like escaped banshees
Then with the dawning light
I put them back into the vault
masked woman
My corona mask
Hiding my face behind it
Hiding my fears
My wife removing the mask
Seeing my lovely face
The Mad Laird Strikes Again
Sam Adams is doing a Scottish walkabout. There were rumors of a mad laird killing hikers along the lonely moors. He heard bagpipes in the fog then saw a man on a black horse who ran after him with a machete, screaming, “Do you believe in Ghosts now? “
The Mad Bagpiper of Berkeley
Sam Adams had heard rumors of a mad bagpiper serial killer lurking about Tilden park in Berkeley. Then he ran into the mad bagpiper in the lonely backcountry. The man ran after him, killing him with a machete. They found his body cut up and cooked by a camp-fire.
General Corona Got Your Baby
corona
The mad General Corona, riding his black horse came out of the woods, and screamed at Sam Adams, saying “You got the Corona Virus; I am the general.
Your ass is grass and I am the lawnmower.” Prepare to die a long painful death and he breathed on him.
Waiting for the Grim Reaper
Sam Adams found himself in Limbo. Waiting for his appointment with the Grim Reaper. Finally, his number was called. The Grim Reaper said his number was up and it was time for judgment day. “Whether it would be hell or heaven was beyond his pay grade”. The Grim reaper laughed.
Wild Things Run Amuck
0 dark hundred arrives. Insomnia set in. Sam Adams tossed and turned waiting for the wild things to come out for their nightly assault. Evil monstrous creatures from the darkest corner of his hell ran about screaming at him: torturing him until the dawning sun drove them back to hell.
Screaming News Drives Me Mad
Sam Adams fell asleep after watching the screaming media scream about the fires, storms, covid, political madness. Sam saw the devil programming madness on his computers. The devil, surrounded by the demons, orcs, dwarfs and monsters of hell, turns to him smiling, saying his time in hell would come soon.
The Mad Laird Strikes Again
1
In the Scottish Moors
mad laird waits to kill hikers
death waiting for you
hearing the bagpipes
old man appears in the fog
riding a black horse
Mad laird runs at you
Holding a black machete,
screaming “Do you believe in Ghosts
The Mad Bagpiper of Berkeley
1
In the Berkeley Hills
Rumors of mad bagpiper
Fears and terror
2
Encountering it
the mad bagpiper in the hills
they found his body
3
The mad bagpiper
Plays mournful tune as kills
As you become ghost
General Corona Got Your Baby
1
The mad General
Corona riding black horse
Leading his army of bots
2
Encountering his breath
You begin to scream
as you cough dying breath
Waiting for the Grim Reaper
1wake up in Limbo.
Waiting for his appointment
with the Grim Reaper.
2
Finally his number
The Grim Reaper said number was up
tti was the time for judgement day. “
.
Whether it would be
hell or heaven beyond his paygrade
The Grim reaper laughed.
Wild Things Run Amuck
1
At 0 dark hundred.
Deep Insomnia set in.
Tossing and turning
2
waiting for wild things
to come out for their assault.
Evil monstrous creatures
3
from the dark corner
of hell ran about screaming
torturing his soul
4
the dawning sun light
drove them all back to their hell.
Wild things fading
The Mad Laird Strikes Again
Sam Adams is doing a Scottish walk about.
There were rumors of a mad laird
killing hikers along the lonely moors.
He heard bagpipes in the fog
then saw a man on a black horse who ran after him with a machete,
screaming “Do you believe in Ghosts now? “
The Mad Bagpiper of Berkeley
Sam Adams had heard rumors
of a mad bagpiper serial killer
lurking about Tilden Park in Berkeley.
Then he ran into the mad bagpiper
in the lonely back country.
The man ran after him
The gorgon of Bangkok
Sam Adams
Was drinking alone
In the Cosmos Bar
an evil degraded bar
On the bad side of life
in Soi Cowboy
In the city of Angels
Bangkok
Twenty drinks too sober
Drinking by himself
With his buddies
Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, Johnny Walker
Evan Walker, Mr. Bullet, Old Granddad
Ordering one scotch, one bourbon, and a beer
From the lovely half-naked bartender
He looks up at the stage
Dancing on the stage
Was a naked vision of delight
As he looked at her
She began to turn
into a hideous monstrous figure
Two-three faces appeared at once
The naked bartender had warned him
That the gorgon of Bangkok
Would be dancing tonight
All men desired her
And if she chose you
You would die
a thousand deaths
Of erotic pleasure
As she took your soul away
Straight to hell
Sam thought to himself
Why the hell not
I am drinking
my way to hell anyway
And continued to stare
At the gorgon
She smiled
And had her way with him
He left with her
Went to her room
She took off the clothes
He found himself naked in hell
Where the devil welcomes him
Saying have another drink,
my friend
Welcome to hell
the party center
Of the universe
He drank and partied all night
With the gorgon of Bangkok
Waking up dead
Just another dead
male farang
In the city of angels
Halloween arrives
Hot Pumpkin Spice Latte
“Recipe for fall”
Halloween Banned as a Satanic Pagan Holiday Writing Com
36 lines
The Christian States of America
Imposed Christian fascism
On the old United States in 2030.
The government outlawed
The observation
Of anti-Christian holidays.
Banning observing
Diwali, Rosh Khana
Other Jewish and Muslim holidays.
MLK Day, June Tenth Day
Black, Asian, Hispanic, and woman
History months.
But they reserved
Thier greatest scorn
For Halloween, October 31
Banned as an anti-Christian
Neo-pagan, satanic
Wicked Wiccan holiday.
But in California, the left cost,
East Coast big cities,
Hotbeds of resistance,
People celebrated Halloween
On October 30,
Which was not banned.
The custom was to dress up in costumes,
Mocking the new leaders,
Wearing nazi uniforms with swastikas.
.
Going door to door, trick or tweeting
People gave candy, money
Or words of encouragement.
But secret supporters,
Of the Christian State
So- Called Christians
Would shoot at them.
Calling them pawns of Satan
Who deserved to be sent to Hell.
There is a new prompt up in “The Writer’s Cramp” – and if you write the best story or poem (and follow all of the rules) you just might win 10,000 GPs.
” WINNER AND NEW PROMPT DUE MON OCT 30″ 17 hours 22 minutes 30 seconds
Write a story or poem about a group of children who go trick or treating in their neighborhood on the WRONG day (any day except one in October). Include the WHY they are trick or treating on the wrong day – and WHAT their neighbors give them instead of candy, if anything?
Note: hating on Halloween is a thing see the Bing Ai Response below;
Halloween is a holiday that has been celebrated for more than a thousand years. It originated as a religious observance and became increasingly secular over the centuries until its religious trappings all but disappeared. Today, Halloween is considered a holiday for dress-up and fun, especially for children 1.
However, some people object to celebrating Halloween for various reasons. Some religious families may find the holiday’s pagan roots and association with witchcraft and the occult objectionable 2. Some schools have banned Halloween celebrations altogether in light of these concerns 2. Others may object to the holiday’s commercialization and the pressure to spend money on costumes, decorations, and candy 2.
It’s important to note that while some people may object to celebrating Halloween, many others enjoy the holiday’s festive spirit and traditions. Ultimately, whether or not to celebrate Halloween is a personal choice that depends on one’s beliefs and values.
| The Grim Reaper Gathers His Posse
It was Halloween night The grim reaper and his posse They descended upon the world |
Halloween Party Ends Up in Hell Writers’ Cramp
24 lines
On Halloween night
Sam Adams fell asleep
After a night of partying at the local bars
Dressed in his Halloween “Trump” costume.
He finds himself In a room in a haunted house
A sexy as hell, half-naked, wicked, wild. witch greets him
Giving him a hot drink.
He takes the drink
Soon notices the other people
In the room were demons, a ghost,
goblins, orcs, or a zombie
The devil speaks up
Welcome to hell, my friend.
He wakes up naked in bed,
With the naked, sexy, wild, wicked witch
Wondering what had happened.
His phone pings
You have been given a reprieve
See you in a few years
Your friend,
The Grim Reaper
the haunted House
.A night when worlds collide.
Unleashing wild things upon the world.
No one can escape.
Terror and mayhem.
Everywhere one goes.
During the long nightmares.
Horrid nightmarishly real creatures.
Overwhelming the world.
Until the dawning sun.
Sends them back to hell.
Every Halloween the horror returns.
“ON Halloween Eve” – This poem features goblins, ghosts, and wild things coming out to play on Halloween Eve1.
On Halloween Eve
Goblins, ghosts, and wild things
Come out to hunt us
“All Hell Breaks Loose” – A poem about the gates of hell opening on Halloween night, leading to a night of sheer terror and mayhem2.
ON Halloween night the gates of hell open
All Hell Breaks Loose
“Halloween Challenge 13 Poems” – A collection of 13 Halloween-themed poems written for the Local Gems Halloween Chapbook competition3.
Local Gems Press
Walking the path
In the forest near my house
Every day I see the changing colors
Of the fall season
Always a time for reflection
For contemplation
Thinking about the past
And the future
As I contemplate each step
The vivid colors of the fall
a forecast of the coming winter
peaking about my birthday
contemplation of life
and the path I have taken
looking at the love of my life
fills me joy and laughter
dispelling the moodiness
of the fall season
Scenes from a Hellish Nightmare
Note: From a real nightmare End Note
I am in a room
Drinking at a party
And smoking weed
Drinking up a storm
20 drinks too sober
Watching people all around me
Change into hideous creatures
Monsters from the deepest depths of hell
Everyone in the room
Has been transformed except me
The Chief of them all
Wears a Trumpian mask
Complete with orange hair
Half-human half pig
His deputy
Wears the face of Putin
But his body
Half-human, half-horse,
The other creatures wear masks
Many of them wear
Green Pepe the alt-right
Symbolic frog masks
And have T-shirts
Bearing alt right slogans
And Nazi symbols
And as they prance about
They chant alt. Right slogans
And neo-Nazi chants
Jews will not replace us
And the rest of these creatures
Are hideous ugly beasts
Apes, cannibals, demons, dwarfs,
Goblins, leprechauns, Imps, monsters, orcs,
Pirates, satyrs, werewolves, Zombies,
With only a vestige of humanity left
And these monsters are engaged
In all sorts of foul evil deeds
Murder violence death
All around ,
And non-stop
violent drug-fueled orgies
As these creatures
Half-human, half-monsters,
Half-male, half-female creatures
Snort coke, cocaine, speed
Drop acid, Smoke weed
drink vodka shots
Scotch, bourbon, beer
The Trumpian Pig leads the charge
Starts engaging in sodomy with Putin
Who chases after people
Cutting off their heads with his sword
They turn on to their fellow creatures
Raping and killing each other
and eating their fellow creatures
All night long
Then they attack me
Screaming
Jews will not replace us
And I wake up
Screaming
As the sun comes up
Just another nightmare
Maid Laird Strikes Again Tanka (Halloween Challenge Day 3)
walking the Scottish Moors
Sam encounters the mad laird
The mad laird haunting
Stalking the lone hikers
Killing them cut off their heads
The Legend of Dracula
Count Dracula
Was a misunderstood man
Sure, he was a vampire
And loved killing people
But the people he killed
Needed killing he thought
To himself
As he prepared to go out
For his midnight rounds
He was getting hungrier
Ready for his midnight snack
He was ready
To go out
And get things done
Things that needed doing
A Vampire’s day
Is never done
He thought
The Ballade of Frankenstein
Dr. Frankenstien
Woke up excited
Today is the day
For his big experiment.
He got to work
Putting things together
Getting his supplies
Making a list.
That evening he went out
To a graveyard
He needed a freshly
dead corpse
he rushed home
turned on his devices
powering it up
and brought back the dead.
And his creature,
his magnificent creation
Woke up and saw him
And killed him in a fit of rage
Frankenstein’s monster was a serial murderer.
Zombie Nightmares Zombies
Zombies
Nightmare creatures
Haunting my dark nightmares
Come to life at o dark hundred
can’t sleep
O Dark Hundred is a military/intel jargon for the time two to three hours before dawn when military operatives wake up for dawn operations. Depending upon location and time of year, it is between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. I often have nightmares at O Dark Hundred, which for me, is usually between 3 a.m. to 5 a.m.
.
The Adams Family
Growing up
One of my favorite shows
Was the Adams Family
My favorite character was Morticia Adams
Who to me
was the sexiest woman alive!
Boy did I lust after her
She was my fatal attraction
Kind of women
Tall, with all the curves
In all the right places
With brunet Hair
Black blazing eyes
Sexy alto voice
With a foreign accent
A total
bad ass babe!
with a great ass
I also liked Cousin Fester
And It the hand
Nightmare Visions
Joe Lewis woke up in a dark and forbidding forest, not knowing how he had gotten there or where he was. He looked around and saw them staring at him. Hideous nightmarishly real creatures from his worst nightmares, looking at him with hatred blazing from their blood-red eyes.
He saw aliens. apes, banshees, bats, bewitching beautiful yet deadly siren
bureaucrats, bigfoot. centaurs, Cerberus. cheetahs. cobra. chupacabra, evil clones, coyotes, coydogs, crows, cthulu. delusional dolls, demons, devils, dinosaurs, Dagon, dragons, dwarfs, Frankenstein monsters, fairies, freaks, gangbangers, gangstas, gators, ghosts, ghouls, giant ants, giant lobsters, giant spiders, giant wasps, giants, goblins, Godzilla, hell hounds, holocausts, Illuminati throwbacks, imperials stormtroopers, imps, leprechauns, two-headed monsters, lions, lucifer, mafia-made men, masked marauders, Mothra, minion, moms for liberty, monsters, naked incubi, odious officials, orcs, ravens, raving lunatics, pirates, politicians, reporters, satyrs, scorpions, serpents, snakes, supply side Jesus, special forces soldiers, drugged youth, TV pundits, succubae, succubae, terrifying tarantulas, tigers, trump, unidentifiable underlings, vampires, vicious vultures. warlocks, werewolves, wild things, winged monkeys, witches, wolves. wraths, yellow jackets, yeti, and zombies.
The head creature, a half human pig with two heads, Putin and Trump yelled out
“All humans must die. After him.”
They began chasing him through the forest. He woke up alone in his room with two naked dead ladies in bed. Not knowing how he had gotten there.’’
Based on a recent nightmare.
Joe Lewis Meets the Grim Reaper
published in Spillwords
Joe Lewis was a retired, recently divorced US govbot on what was supposed to be his last fling. He died one night after drinking too much on Halloween, under a sinister full moon, in a bar known as the Cosmos. The bar was in a wretched, forgotten alley in Bangkok’s Soi Cowboy.
He awoke, not in a bed, but in a primordial, dark jungle. The air was a suffocating blanket of heat and humidity, thick with the cloying, metallic stench of fresh blood and the sickly-sweet decay of ancient vegetation. He sensed them before he saw them: a hundred malevolent, hungry eyes watching from the gloom. As a foul, oily fog lifted, a grotesque, blood-red moon painted the forest in a hue of madness, and he saw what had been waiting.
Before him was a vision ripped from the deepest pits of a fever dream. A monstrous procession of horrors from every dark legend imaginable: giant apes, shrieking banshees, skeletal figures, and things with far too many limbs. Cthulhu, its tentacles dripping with unholy ichor, slithered next to a snarling Cerberus. Raptors and a T. rex stalked alongside demons, while faceless things with glowing eyes watched from the shadows. The list was a litany of damnation: dragons, hellhounds, giant insects, witches, wraiths, and grotesque aberrations that defied description. They were all staring at him with a single, unified hatred. The mob was led by a grotesque, malformed abomination—a two-headed, half-centaur, half-pig creature with the leering, familiar faces of Putin and Trump.
The monstrosity’s mouths opened in a wet, guttural roar that echoed across the jungle. “After him!” it shrieked. “All humans must die! Kill Joe Lewis!”
The very ground beneath his feet turned against him. The trees, their gnarled branches twisting into skeletal claws, reached out to trip him as he ran. The pack of horror movies surged forward. The hunters and soldiers fired not with guns, but with flaming arrows and semi-automatic weapons that spat raw hellfire, illuminating the night sky with a terrifying glow. Giant crows, their eyes burning like embers, dive-bombed him, their beaks aimed at his eyes. The rest of the creatures closed in, their unified chant a chilling mantra: “Death to all humans! Death to Joe Lewis!”
He reached a dark, foul-smelling river just as they were about to pounce. A ferryboat, a vessel of pure, festering evil, drifted slowly along the black water, filled with hundreds of people whose faces were etched with a cold, depraved emptiness. With no other choice, Joe leapt into the river, a vile, churning mass of water snakes, piranhas, and gators.
The boat shuddered to a halt. Three silent, strange figures pulled him from the water, their grip surprisingly firm, moments before a gator’s jaws snapped shut where his leg had been. The sound was a symphony of frustrated fury—the snapping of reptilian jaws, the hissing of snakes, and the inhuman snarls of the creatures on the shore. On the boat, the passengers—who seemed to be more monster than man—sneered at him.
They looked at Joe with chilling disinterest, dismissing him as a worthless refugee. The three figures who saved him were rough, their eyes distant, but they seemed a far better company than the passengers, who ignored Joe or made mocking, guttural sounds about the “new arrival.”
The passengers were a horrifying tableau of humanity’s worst. Anti-vaxxer crusaders, crooked politicians, drug dealers, fake news reporters, and gangsters mingled with Wall Street executives and mafia bosses. They were a vile parody of a cocktail party, drinking, smoking, and using drugs provided by demonic slaves and skeletal robots. They reveled in their own damnation, their faces twisted into expressions of smug, entitled enjoyment, as if they had earned their place in this Hell. A punk rock band played distorted, obscene parodies of human music, their shrieks a constant background to depravity.
At the helm stood Charon, his ancient face, a mask of stone, and beside him, the Grim Reaper, a figure of impossible cool, dressed in a sharp suit and dark sunglasses. The Reaper’s face was a shifting, pan-ethnic void, neither human nor monster, just a chilling, empty space.
When Joe found his voice, it was a hoarse whisper. “Where am I?” he asked the two figures who saved him.
The Grim Reaper handed him a glass of thick, oily liquid. “Hell whiskey,” he said, his voice a low, resonant hum. “I am the Grim Reaper, and this is Charon. You are on the Ferry to Hell, floating down the River Styx. We saved you from the welcoming committee. They hunt the newly dead, kill them again, and take their bodies for a bounty. The damned are then reborn as slaves, ghouls, or worse. But sometimes, a virtuous soul escapes, and we are obligated to take you to Limbo. Stay with us. If you join their party, you will never leave. They are all going to the ‘other place.’ I assume you don’t want to go there.” He gestured toward the revelers, who were now engaged in a ritualistic, drug-fueled dance of the damned.
The Grim Reaper continued, his words were like a cold blade. “We are taking you and your friend, Mr. Alvarez, to Limbo for processing. He might be going ‘upstairs,’ but as a lawyer, I have my doubts. You know what they say: Heaven has almost no lawyers. Hell is filled with them, along with crooked cops and mafia figures. Limbo is the purgatory for bureaucrats, and the red tape is a living nightmare. The computer system is always crashing. You can’t get tech support in Heaven or Limbo, you see. All the good tech folks end up in Hell.”
Mr. Alvarez was a famed Italian human rights attorney, a lifelong fighter against the very corruption Joe was witnessing. They spoke of their lives as the boat drifted on.
Mr. Alvarez said, “Mr. GR says I might be the only lawyer to get into Heaven in a long time. The rest of us end up in the ‘other place.’
The river grew blacker, the air thick with the smell of decay and sulfur. In the distance, giant pits of fire burned, their light casting a hellish glow on the horizon. The welcoming committee of nightmare creatures followed the boat, their screams of hatred echoing across the water. They jumped in, retrieving partiers who fell off the deck. On the shore, the creatures tore them apart, their screams replaced by the sickening sounds of bone cracking and flesh tearing. The boat finally stopped at a towering gate to Hell.
The partiers disembarked, their faces filled with a morbid excitement and walked into the gaping maw of the underworld—one of many secret entrances to the world above. Demon functionaries in sleek, black suits met them, their eyes burning like coals. They disappeared into the suffocating depths of Hell.
The Grim Reaper took Joe and Alvarez to the next stage: Limbo. Before them rose a colossal black building that clawed at the sky, filled with an endless army of demonic bureaucrats.
The Grim Reaper said, “Wait here. It won’t be long. I like you, so we’ll put you at the front of the line.”
Lost souls, their faces pale and drawn, wandered aimlessly.
Signs in every language read: “Abandon Hope. Wait for your turn. Judgement day is on hand No drinking, drugs, food, phones, or sex. No sleeping. It shouldn’t be too long.”
A demon functionary, his voice a raspy hiss, appeared. “Joe and Antonio, follow me.” He led them to the Grim Reaper.
“Joe, Antonio,” the Reaper said, his hand outstretched. “Please tip the demon.”
Joe gave him a hundred dollars; Antonio gave him a hundred euros. The demon, his eyes filled with greed, demanded more. The Grim Reaper let out a terrifying, guttural curse in Demonic, and the creature dissolved into the crowd.
“Demons get their vacation on a full moon,” the Reaper explained. “They run wild but need human currency. Hell, currency doesn’t work on Earth. The exchange rate at the Bank of Hell is real Hell.”
The Grim Reaper’s handheld device hummed to life. “Just as I suspected,” he said, his voice softened. “You are wanted ‘upstairs,’ and a guardian angel is watching over you. You almost didn’t make it. There’s a glitch in the system. You’re being sent back. Your final status determination will be sooner than you think. I hope we can be friends. I’m always looking for assistants. We had a lot of fun. Think about it when you come back.”
Joseph Lewis awoke in a cold sweat. He was in his bed, next to the girl from the bar. He got up and turned on his computer. A message popped up.
“Mr. Joe, I hope you enjoyed your tour. There was a computer glitch in the matrix system that controls Limbo, Heaven, and Hell. As I told you, tech support is hard to come by here; the good ones are all in Hell. But in any case, it wasn’t your time. Your friend made it and sends his regards. The drinks are on him when you finally make it. Oh, and contrary to that old song, we have the finest beer, wine, and spirits you can find in Heaven—and Hell as well. As for the others you saw, you know exactly where they’ll end up.”
Your friend, Mr. GR the Grim Reaper.
Mary’s Ghost Demands Revenge
On Halloween eve
Mary’s ghost
Went out to play
Showing up
At her son’s house
Demanding to be heard
Demanding to tell her tale
A ghostly figure
Filled with grievances
Hatred and fear
She said
She can not rest
In the other word
Until her grievances
Are heard
But in the meantime
She would take a Snickers bar
And a cup of Irish Joe.
“Halloween” is a contraction of “Hallow eve”, meaning the “evening before Hallow” or, more fully, the evening before the feast day of “All Hallows”. Hallows is an old word meaning saints. So Halloween means “the evening before the feast of All Saints.”
All Saint’s Day is a feast day in the Catholic and Orthodox churches that commemorates the deaths of saints and martyrs. The earliest attestation of it dates from the early fifth century, in the eastern church (this was back when there was just one Christian ‘denomination’), when it was celebrated in the spring. In the Orthodox church, it still is celebrated on that day. By the mid eighth century, the feast had been moved, in the west, to November first, as it is still celebrated in the Roman Catholic church.
So where did the tradition of “trick or treat” come from? That doesn’t seem to have much to do with the death of Christian martyrs!
That tradition stems from the pagan festival of Samhain , or “Summer’s End”, which was the beginning of the Celtic new year.
Some scholars — though not all — have argued that the western Church changed its celebration of All Saints Day to correspond to this pagan festival; the idea being (presumably) that since the pagan country folk were going to be celebrating anyway, and most probably cared more about parties than about the religion that justified them, why not give the day a new meaning? Whether this was the reason for the eighth century change or not, the effect was the same: some of those old traditions were preserved in the new context.
One of those traditions had to do with the Celtic belief that other-worldly spirits, fairies and gods were most active at this turning of the year, and liable to play tricks on mortals. Sacrifices and gifts would be offered in an attempt to appease these powers.
So, when a child dressed as some monster shows up on your doorstep asking for candy, the ancient origin of that “trick or treat” question means that, in their role of trickster spirit, they’re asking for such appeasement. Just be glad that, unlike their Celtic precursors, they’ll be happy with a Snickers bar rather than, say, slaughtering a cow!
For tomorrow, write a story or poem about not a fairy or child wanting candy, but the departed soul of someone the protagonist knows, arriving at the front door, a soul who demands appeasement in the form of righting some wrong done to or by them in their former, mortal life.
One of your genres should be SPIRITUAL.
Halloween Never Ends
Joe Lewis went on a binge
Ended up at Cosmos Bar
In Soi Cowboy, Bangkok
On Halloween night.
Twenty drinks too sober
He saw creatures lurking about
As the full moon rose over
The Chaya Prao River
He saw banshees, bewitching beautiful yet deadly siren
Centaurs. Cerebus, coydogs, Cthulu
demons, Devils, Dagon, Dragons, Dwarfs
Evil elves, Frankenstein monsters, Freaks
Ghosts, Ghouls, Goblins, Hell hounds
Holocausts, Imp, Leprechauns
Two-headed monsters, monsters,, naked incubi, orcs
Satyrs, succubi, warlocks, werewolves, wild things
winged monkeys, witches, wolves, wraiths,
Yeti, and zombies.
The monsters saw him and began chasing him
Down the dark dangerous streets of Bangkok
Yelling “after him. Death to all humans”
Thousands of people newly turned into zombies
Joined the chase
He saw an open bar
Ran into it and found himself
Back at the Cosmos Bar
At 0 Dark hundred
He sighed in relief
Had another drink
Then looked out at the street
The creatures had returned
He ran out and the chase continued
until he ran back into the Cosmos Bar
For the second time that night
Then he looked up
And the chase continued….
Write a story or poem in which the main characters are experiencing a “Groundhog Day” effect where every day is Halloween!
Halloween Banned as a Satanic Pagan Holiday
36 lines
The Christian States of America
Imposed Christian fascism
On the old United States in 2030.
The government outlawed
The observation
Of anti-Christian holidays.
Banning observing
Diwali, Rosh Khana
Other Jewish and Muslim holidays.
MLK Day, June Tenth Day
Black, Asian, Hispanic, and woman
History months.
But they reserved
Thier greatest scorn
For Halloween, October 31
Banned as an anti-Christian
Neo-pagan, satanic
Wicked Wiccan holiday.
But in California, the left cost,
East Coast big cities,
Hotbeds of resistance,
People celebrated Halloween
On October 30,
Which was not banned.
The custom was to dress up in costumes,
Mocking the new leaders,
Wearing nazi uniforms with swastikas.
.
Going door to door, trick or tweeting
People gave candy, money
Or words of encouragement.
But secret supporters,
Of the Christian State
So- Called Christians
Would shoot at them.
Calling them pawns of Satan
Who deserved to be sent to Hell.
Halloween Party Ends Up in Hell
24 lines
On Halloween night
Sam Adams fell asleep
After a night of partying at the local bars
Dressed in his Halloween “Trump” costume.
He finds himself In a room in a haunted house
A sexy as hell, half-naked, wicked, wild. witch greets him
Giving him a hot drink.
He takes the drink
Soon notices the other people
In the room were demons, a ghost,
goblins, orcs, or a zombie
The devil speaks up
Welcome to hell, my friend.
He wakes up naked in bed,
With the naked, sexy, wild, wicked witch
Wondering what had happened.
His phone pings
You have been given a reprieve
See you in a few years
Your friend,
The Grim Reaper.
Write a story or poem featuring fantasy as the genre.
Include the following words in bold
witch
zombie
ghost
devil
Halloween
The witches Halloween party
19
On Halloween, an old witch
Sits in her lair in a haunted mansion
Overlooking the city
Surrounded by candy wrappers.
And a discarded costume.
The leftovers of trick or treat
Her trick was to take possession
Of the little ones.
As they pass under the shadow of a cat
Lucifer, her black cat familiar,
she sells their souls
to the devil.
Who appears
Like a bat in the wind
A bat straight out of hell.
At o dark hundred
The bewitching hour.
Prompt words
Candy wrappers
discarded costume
shadow of a cat
bat in the wind
Halloween Nightmares Stormy Lady Contest
Sam Adams fell asleep
On Halloween night
The blood-red full moon
woke him up.
He found himself
In a dark forest
And then saw them
Staring at him with evil hatred
Flowing from their red eyes.
Creatures out of his worst nightmares
Aliens, Banshees, demons, devils,
Ghouls, ghosts, orcs, leprechauns,
Imps, lions, monsters, tigers werewolves
Zombies.
Led by a half human, half pig creature
with the head of Putin and Trump
Who screamed.
“There he is after him
Death to Sam Adams “
.and they began chasing him
Through the dark forest
With the trees joining pursuit
He looked back
They were gaining on him
He saw a building lit up
And jump inside.
The door closed behind him
He was safe for now.
The Grim reaper looked up
Said,
“Sam Adams,
Relax, your time has not yet come.
I will send you home”
He woke up
From his Halloween nightmare
And ate some leftover candy
And had a glass of rum.
A message popped up
“Your status review
Is set for five years from now.
Have a nice life
Your friend
GR.”
Tell No One
“You must keep
This to yourself – tell no one!”
The old masonic leader
Told his key lieutenants.
Waving a ceramic feather
And a blank envelope
Containing the secrets
Of the masonic temple.
As he read them
Into the tenth degree
Masonic secrets.
Secrets going back
To the ancient Atlantis
When the first Masons
Arrived from the Planet Sirius.
He said,
“Stay here
And say nothing more
For now, we will talk later.”
Answering the broken doorbell.
Hearing the muffled laughter
of children
Coming for Halloween
Tricks and treats.
As the wind chimes
Chime in front
Of the old haunted temple.
Prompt words
Begin your STORY or POEM with this line, bolded:
“You must keep this to yourself – tell no one!”
Include all the following, also bolded:
ceramic feather
blank envelope
broken doorbell
muffled laughter
wind chimes
Halloween Memories – the haunted forest in Tilden Park
In Berkeley
There is a haunted forest
In Tilden Park
Along inspiration point
the forest they say
was haunted by many ghosts
of the past
including the Indians
who used to live there.
but during the summer and fall
of 1974 there were rumors
that there was a new ghost
a mad bagpiper
who roamed the hills
playing his mournful music.
one Halloween night
late at night,
my friends and I went to Tilden
after smoking some weed
and drinking some beer
as we walked in the forest
we heard through fog
the sound of a bagpiper
we were a bit apprehensive
wondering if we were going
to encounter the ghost,
but the bagpiper
never appeared
the sounds faded away
perhaps it was just the marijuana
causing us to hallucinate the experience.,
Maybe there was no bagpiper,
just our wild marijuana
enhanced imagination
coming to life.
My Mother’s Secrets conversation with a Ghost -Halloween contest Day 10 Spooky Conversation
My mother died in 2007
She was buried in Berkeley
Near her house
Whenever I am in the area
I drop by
And talk with her
Imaging she is there
One day when I dropped by
I asked her about
Many things in her past
For she took so many secrets
With her to her grave
So Mary, quite contrary
Tell me the truth now
Tell me about your past life
Tell me your secrets
I heard a voice
Crying out in the wind
John John John
Do you want to really know
My secrets?
I responded
Yes I do
She whispered them to me
But made me vow
To keep her secrets
And take them to my grave
And so I can not
Must not reveal
All the shocking stories
Of her life
Trick or treating in the era of Covid
Halloween in the era of covid
So strange
With the covid virus
Ever lurking
With CDC discouraging trick or tweeting
With masks on every face
Everyone wearing a costume
The trick is not to get sick
The treat is still the candy
The goal of all children
Everywhere
Candy more candy
Visits to the dentist be damned
Hopefully, General Corona
Will keep his troops at bay
a black cat
walking down a path
under the moonlight
thinking dark thoughts
the black cat
is a special cat
dispatched from hell
working with the grim reaper
the black cat
is on the prowl
searching for those
whose time is up
the cat knows
and the cat walks
the dark pathways
to your door
and when you open the door
the cat swoops in
and bewitches your soul
taking you with him
as he meets his Satanic master
with your soul as his present
all in all
a good day for haunting
On Halloween Night, Senryu
On Halloween night
Wild things emerge everywhere
Killing all humans
On Halloween, Goblins Come Out to Play Senryu
On Halloween Eve
Goblins, ghosts, and wild things
Come out to hunt us
Whispers Beneath the Hollow Moon”
Co-pilot Halloween Poem
Beneath the hollow Halloween moon,
Where shadows stretch and silence croons,
The wind speaks secrets through the trees—
A haunted hymn on midnight’s breeze.
Gravestones hum with ghostly light,
As restless souls rise from the night.
Jack-o’-lanterns grin with flame,
Each flicker whispering a name.
A crooked house on Widow’s Lane
Stirs with whispers, soft and plain.
Its windows blink like watching eyes,
Its doors breathe out forgotten cries.
A black cat leaps from crypt to tomb,
Its fur aglow with spectral gloom.
It leads the way through fog and fear
To where the veil grows thin and sheer.
There, witches dance in swirling smoke,
Their laughter sharp as spells they spoke.
A reaper waits with silver scythe,
Local Gems Halloween Chapbook
by
November 3, 2020
audio clips, corona virus poems, dark poetry, lunatic poems
0
SHARES
grimm reaper
Halloween Challenge
13 Poems
By
Jake Cosmos Aller
note: these poems were written as part of the Local Gems Halloween Chapbook competition and have been selected for publication.
Local Gems Press
Index
Day One October 19, 2020 Contemplating The Falling Leaves Of Autumn
Day 2 October 2020 Nightmares Scenes From A Hellish Nightmare
Day 3 October 21, 2020 Maid Laird Strikes Again Tanka (Halloween Challenge Day 3)
Day 4 October 22, 20202 Ghost Poem Corona Ghosts March On WH Demanding Justice
Day 5, October 23, 2020 Ekphrastic Challenge The Grim Reaper Comes For Us
Day 6 October 24, 2020 Pumpkin Patch Great Pumpkin Rises Again
Day 7 October 25., 2020 Haunted House The Haunted House At The End Of The World
Day 8 October 26, 2020– The Door Slammed Loudly I Was Home Alone
Day 9 October 27, 2020 Dark Prophecy-Fascism Comes To America – Halloween Challenge Day 9
Day 10, October 28, 2020 My Mother’s Secrets Conversation With A Ghost -Halloween Contest Day 10 Spooky Conversation
Day 11, October 29, 2020 Costume Halloween Party From Hell
Day 12 October 30, 2020 Halloween Costume Party
Day 13, October 31, 2020 Trick or Treating In The Era Of Covid
Day One October 19, 2020
Contemplating the Falling Leaves of Autumn
Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
Walking the path
In the forest near my house
Every day I see the changing colors
Of the fall season
Always a time for reflection
For contemplation
Thinking about the past
And the future
As I contemplate each step
The vivid colors of the fall
a forecast of the coming winter
peaking about my birthday
contemplation of life
and the path I have taken
looking at the love of my life
fills me joy and laughter
dispelling the moodiness
of the fall season
Day 2 October 2020 Nightmares
Scenes from a Hellish Nightmare
Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
Note: From a real nightmare End Note
I am in a room
Drinking at a party
And smoking weed
Drinking up a storm
20 drinks too sober
Watching people all around me
Change into hideous creatures
Monsters from the deepest depths of hell
Everyone in the room
Has been transformed except me
The Chief of them all
Wears a Trumpian mask
Complete with orange hair
Half-human half pig
His deputy
Wears the face of Putin
But his body
Half-human, half-horse,
The other creatures wear masks
Many of them wear
Green Pepe the alt-right
Symbolic frog masks
And have T-shirts
Bearing alt right slogans
And Nazi symbols
And as they prance about
They chant alt. Right slogans
And neo-Nazi chants
Jews will not replace us
And the rest of these creatures
Are hideous ugly beasts
Apes, cannibals, demons, dwarfs,
Goblins, leprechauns, Imps, monsters, orcs,
Pirates, satyrs, werewolves, Zombies,
With only a vestige of humanity left
And these monsters are engaged
In all sorts of foul evil deeds
Murder violence death
All around ,
And non-stop
violent drug-fueled orgies
As these creatures
Half-human, half-monsters,
Half-male, half-female creatures
Snort coke, cocaine, speed
Drop acid, Smoke weed
drink vodka shots
Scotch, bourbon, beer
The Trumpian Pig leads the charge
Starts engaging in sodomy with Putin
Who chases after people
Cutting off their heads with his sword
They turn on to their fellow creatures
Raping and killing each other
and eating their fellow creatures
All night long
Then they attack me
Screaming
Jews will not replace us
And I wake up
Screaming
As the sun comes up
Just another nightmare
Day 3 October 21, 2020
Maid Laird Strikes Again Tanka (Halloween Challenge Day 3)
Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
walking the Scottish Moors
Sam encounters the mad laird
The mad laird haunting
Stalking the lone hikers
Killing them cut off their heads
Day 4 October 22, 20202 Ghost Poem Corona Ghosts March on WH Demanding Justice
coronaAudio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
The corona ghosts meet up in Limbo
One million corona ghosts
From all over the world
The corona ghosts are angry
Their voices not heard
Just echoes in the wind
They decide to manifest themselves
To haunt the WH, the congress
The state capitols
The world capitols
In a one day massive
Corona ghost protest
The corona ghosts swarm the WH
Overwhelming the secret service
Demanding to meet the president
He came out
Met with them
General Corona appeared
And the President
Joined the Corona ghosts
In the end
Just another Corona ghost
Day 5, October – 23, 2020 Ekphrastic Challenge
The Grim Reaper comes for us
Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
grimm reaper
Sam Adams knew that his time was up
He knew for he had a forewarning
In his dream, he saw the Grim reaper
Waiting for him
Along highway 666
Beckoning him to join him
On the back of his cursed Harley
To ride down the highway to hell
Sam got up
Got his will updated
Looked at his wife
One last time
Prayed to the gods
All of them
To send him to the other place
Rather that the hell
That the grim reaper
Had promised him
There was a knock on the door
A telegram had arrived
It said
Your appointment for judgment
Is today
You may end up in the other place
Be prepared and be afraid
Your ride arrives at midnight
At midnight
The grim reaper
Dressed in black leather
Arrived on his cursed Harley
Said your ride awaits
Fortunate one
We are going to limbo
Where you will wait
With the others
To hear your fate
And away they went
Down the celestial highway
Bypassing highway 666
Exiting in limbo
He walked into a huge hallway
Thousands of people milling around
He looked up at the signs
Welcome to Limbo
No talking
No smoking
No phone usage – no reception anyway
Wait your turn
For your judgment date
The hour is late
But you will learn your fate
On this your cosmic judgment date
His number is called
He walks up
The angel bureaucrat
Dressed in a Mr. Smith black suit
Holds a hand-held computer
His life flashes on the screen
65 years condensed
Into a one minute video
An amber light flashes
The bureaucrat reads the judgment
Mr. Sam Adams
You are given five more years
Get your act together
Do good deeds
When you come back
You will face one last judgment
He walks outside
A taxi awaits
Takes him home
He wakes up
Drinks coffee with his wife
And the day resumes
Day 6 October 24, 2020 Pumpkin Patch –
Great Pumpkin Rising again
Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
great pumpkin
Lonely Linus sits in his pumpkin patch
With snoopy his faithful delusional dog
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
An annual ritual
Only Linus knows
That the Great Pumpkin exists
No one else knows
No one else cares
Linus prepares for another night
Then the great pumpkin arises
A ghostly spirit
Comes out of the moonlight
Who dare calls me
The great pumpkin demands
Who is ready to die?
It is I, Linus, your biggest supporter
Tell me oh Great Pumpkin
What is your wish?
The great pumpkin growls
Tell your folks to vote
Time for the orange man to meet his doom
The great pumpkin laughs
His visage appears
On the TV networks
The great pumpkin demands
President Trump
Time to meet your maker
And dispatches General Corona
To finish the job
Linus is given his heart’s desires
To become a great man
Lord of all he surveys
With Snoopy by his side
The great pumpkin smiles
Giving a ride to Linus who rides into the future ,
On the back of the great pumpkin
Day 7 October 25., 2020 Haunted House
The Haunted House at the End of the World
Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
There is an old long-abandoned ruined house
On the edge of a forest in the hills,
About an hour out of the town of Medford
Overlooking the Rogue River valley
The house was once a mansion
But over time it became semi-ruined
The old man who lived there
Became a hermit seldom going out
No one really knew him
He kept to himself
Then one day
General corona came for a visit
The old man became nothing
But another corona ghost
The house continued standing looking out
On the hill overlooking the valley
Now filled with corona ghosts
As General Corona wiped out,
The entire valley of all humanity
Day 8 October 26, 2020– The Door Slammed Loudly I Was Home Alone
Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
I was all alone
Watching the morning news
Filled with omens, Dangerous thoughts, Nightmarish reality, A thousand people a day dying, Fires burning, Storms churning, Black lives dying, Protestors clashing
Election day looming, End of the world feelings
The door slammed loudly
I yell out
Who’s there
Nothing but corona ghosts
Crying in the wind
Day 9 October 27, 2020 Dark Prophecy-Fascism Comes to America – Halloween Challenge Day 9
Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
Back in 2016 when I was traveling
Across the country with my wife
I had a series of darkly prophetic dreams
I dreamt that Donald Trump would be elected
And usher in a slide towards fascism
And unfortunately, I was right
So, what are my dreams telling me now
What are my prophetic nightmares
Will they come true again?
I dream that Donald Trump was anointed
By the Supreme Court which ruled
That given the potential for fraud
All mail in ballots would be tossed aside
And Donald Trump who had lost the popular vote
Once again won in the electoral college
He vowed retribution against his enemies
The fake media and the millions of people
Who dared to vote against him
He called upon his supporters
To go forth and rough up
Fuck up as he put it
Liberals and anti-Americans
Declared martial law
Protests would be illegal
The military would enforce the decree
And they did sending troops across the land
Declared that the democratic party
Was anti-American
And he would not allow them
To serve in Congress, or the Senate
The SC refused to rule against him
Thus fascism came to America
And my dark prophecy came true
Day 10, October 28, 2020 My Mother’s Secrets Conversation With A Ghost -Halloween Contest Day 10 Spooky Conversation
Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
My mother died in 2007
We buried her in Berkeley
Near her house
Whenever I am in the area
I drop by
And talk with her
Imaging she is there
One day when I dropped by
I asked her about
Many things in her past
For she took so many secrets
With her to her grave
So Mary, quite contrary
Tell me the truth now
Tell me about your past life
Tell me your secrets
I heard a voice
Crying out in the wind
John John John
Do you want to really know
My secrets?
I responded
Yes I do
She whispered them to me
But made me vow
To keep her secrets
And take them to my grave
And so I can not
Must not reveal
All the shocking stories
Of her life
She told me that I needed
To also talk to my father
For he too had secrets
To tell me
I told her
That I would at some point
Make a visit
To the family grave
In Yakima
And finally learn
The family secrets
They should have told me
While they were alive
Day 11, October 29, 2020
Halloween Poem Costumes from Hell
artoon-devil-satan-businessman-suit-450wAudio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
I am at a Halloween party
Everyone is wearing a costume
Including me
I am dressed like an ancient King
My wife is dressed as the angel she is
The party turns wild
Everyone is getting high
Drinking up a storm
Smoking weed
Snorting coke
Dropping acid
The music is wild and crazy
Then through the fog of it all
I see the devil
Parading in front of the crowd
Screaming death
To all democrats
Trump and Putin appear together
Running into the crowds
The crowd chatting lock him up
Lock him up
Biden is paraded in front
Of the blood thirsty crowd
The devil yells off with his head
Putin and Trump
Behead him
Screaming like escaped banshees
I try to wake up from this nightmare
Realizing it is all live
On CNN
And I am dead
The world has ended
Evil has triumphed
Once again
Day 12 Halloween Costume Party
Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
I am at a Halloween costume party
Dressed like an ancient laird
Angela is dressed in a red devil custom
And we are having a good time
Everyone is getting wild
And frisky
Soon the mood turns dark
And foul
Bad craziness fills the room
The devil makes his appearance
And we realize
We are all doomed
To end our life
At this party
Where we all become
Children of the damn
Day 13, October 31, 2020 Trick or Treating In The Era Of Covid
Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
Halloween in the era of covid
So strange
With the covid virus
Ever lurking
With CDC discouraging trick or tweeting
With masks on every face
Everyone wearing a costume
The trick is not to get sick
The treat is still the candy
The goal of all children
Everywhere
Candy more candy
Visits to the dentist be damned
Hopefully General Corona
Will keep his troops at bay
Bonus Poems
vault 56 words pensively 101 prompt
Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
I have a secret vault in my mind
It is a dark corner of my soul
Where I hide away
All the dark dangerous thoughts
That come out
4 am 0 dark hundred
When the wild things
Escape their leashes
Screaming like escaped banshees
Then with the dawning light
I put them back into the vault
Corona Mask
My corona mask
Hiding my face behind it
Hiding my fears
My wife removing the mask
Seeing my lovely face
Fifty word prose horror poems published in Every Writer
Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
The Mad Laird Strikes Again
Sam Adams is doing a Scottish walkabout. There were rumors of a mad laird killing hikers along the lonely moors. He heard bagpipes in the fog then saw a man on a black horse who ran after him with a machete, screaming, “Do you believe in Ghosts now? “
The Mad Bagpiper of Berkeley
Sam Adams had heard rumors of a mad bagpiper serial killer lurking about Tilden park in Berkeley. Then he ran into the mad bagpiper in the lonely backcountry. The man ran after him, killing him with a machete. They found his body cut up and cooked by a camp-fire.
General Corona Got Your Baby
The mad General Corona, riding his black horse came out of the woods, and screamed at Sam Adams, saying “You got the Corona Virus; I am the general. Your ass is grass and I am the lawnmower.” Prepare to die a long painful death and he breathed on him.
Waiting for the Grim Reaper
Sam Adams found himself in Limbo. Waiting for his appointment with the Grim Reaper. Finally, his number was called. The Grim Reaper said his number was up and it was time for judgment day. “Whether it would be hell or heaven was beyond his pay grade”. The Grim reaper laughed.
Wild Things Run Amuck
0 dark hundred arrives. Insomnia set in. Sam Adams tossed and turned waiting for the wild things to come out for their nightly assault. Evil monstrous creatures from the darkest corner of his hell ran about screaming at him: torturing him until the dawning sun drove them back to hell.
Screaming News Drives Me Mad
Sam Adams fell asleep after watching the screaming media scream about the fires, storms, covid, political madness. Sam saw the devil programming madness on his computers. The devil, surrounded by the demons, orcs, dwarfs and monsters of hell, turns to him smiling, saying his time in hell would come soon.
Corona Horror Haiku
The Mad Laird Strikes Again
1
In the Scottish Moors
mad laird waits to kill hikers
death waiting for you
2
hearing the bagpipes
old man appears in the fog
riding a black horse
3
Mad laird runs at you
Holding a black machete,
screaming “Do you believe in Ghosts
The Mad Bagpiper of Berkeley
1
In the Berkeley Hills
Rumors of mad bagpiper
Fears and terror
2
Encountering it
the mad bagpiper in the hills
they found his body
3
The mad bagpiper
Plays mournful tune as kills
As you become ghost
General Corona Got Your Baby
1
The mad General
Corona riding black horse
Leading his army of bots
2
Encountering his breath
You begin to scream
as you cough dying breath
Waiting for the Grim Reaper
1
Wake up in Limbo.
Waiting for his appointment
with the Grim Reaper.
2
Finally his number
The Grim Reaper said number was up
tt was the time for judgement day. “
3.
Whether it would be
hell or heaven beyond his paygrade
The Grim reaper laughed.
Wild Things Run Amuck
1
At 0 dark hundred.
Deep Insomnia set in.
Tossing and turning
2
waiting for wild things
to come out for their assault.
Evil monstrous creatures
3
from the dark corner
of hell ran about screaming
torturing his soul
4
the dawning sun light
drove them all back to their hell.
Wild things fading
Screaming News Drives Me Mad
1
Then I fell asleep
after watching the screaming news
the media screams
2
about the fires,
storms corona ,
the political madness.
3
I saw the devil
programing all the madness
on his computers.
4
The devil saw me,
surrounded by all the demons,
says my time is soon
Horror Cheritas
The Mad Laird Strikes Again
Sam Adams is doing a Scottish walk about.
There were rumors of a mad laird
killing hikers along the lonely moors.
He heard bagpipes in the fog
then saw a man on a black horse who ran after him with a machete,
screaming “Do you believe in Ghosts now? “
The Mad Bagpiper of Berkeley
Sam Adams had heard rumors
of a mad bagpiper serial killer
lurking about Tilden Park in Berkeley.
Then he ran into the mad bagpiper in the lonely back country.
The man ran after him killing him with a machete.
They found his body cooked by a camp-fire.
General Corona Got Your Baby
The mad General Corona, riding his black horse came out of the woods,
and screamed at Sam Adams, saying “
You got the Corona Virus; I am the general.
Your ass is grass and I am the lawn mower.”
Prepare to die a long painful death
and he breathed on him.
Waiting for the Grim Reaper
Sam Adams found himself in Limbo.
Waiting for his appointment
with the Grim Reaper.
Finally his number was called.
The Grim Reaper said His number was up and it was time for judgement day. “
The grim reaper laughed Whether it would be hell or heaven was beyond his pay grade
Wild Things Run Amuck
0 dark hundred arrives.
Insomnia set in.
Sam Adams tossed and turned
waiting for the wild things to come out for their nightly assault.
Evil monstrous creatures from the darkest corner of his hell ran about screaming at him:
torturing him until the dawning sun drove them back to hell.
Screaming News Drives Me Mad
Sam Adams fell asleep after watching the screaming media
scream about the fires, storms, covid, political madness.
Sam saw the devil programming madness on his computers.
The devil, surrounded by the demons, orcs, dwarfs, and monsters of hell,
turns to him smiling,
saying his time in hell would come soon.
The gorgon of Bangkok
Sam Adams
Was drinking alone
In a evil degraded bar
On the bad side of life
In the city of Angels
Bangkok
Twenty drinks too sober
Drinking by himself
With his buddies
Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, Johnny Walker
Evan Walker, Mr. Bullet, Old Granddad
Ordering one scotch, one bourbon, and a beer
From the lovely half-naked bartender
He looks up at the stage
Dancing on the stage
Was a naked vision of delight
As he looked at her
She began to turn into a hideous monstrous figure
Two-three faces appeared at once
The naked bartender had warned him
That the gorgon of Bangkok
Would be dancing tonight
All men desired her
And if she chose you
You would die a thousand deaths
Of erotic pleasure
As she took your soul away
Straight to hell
Sam thought to himself
Why the hell not
I am drinking my way to hell anyway
And continued to stare
At the gorgon
She smiled
And had her way with him
He left with her
Went to her room
She took off the clothes
He found himself naked in hell
Where the devil welcomes him
Saying have another drink, my friend
Welcome to hell the party center
Of the universe
He drank and partied all night
With the gorgon of Bangkok
Waking up dead
Just another dead male foreigner
In the city of angels
Top of Form
Subscribe
Bottom of Form
Partying with the Grim Reaper
by
October 25, 2024
audio clips, Bangkok, death, fiction, flash, POD CAST
0
SHARES
Partying with the Grim Reaper
charles bukowski
Spillwords Publishes Charles Bukowski’s Road Not Chosen
Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
Spillwords Published One Nighat in Bombay
Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
More Spillwords poems published
Dear Jake,
Thank you for submitting your work to our “13 Days of Halloween” series. We were thrilled by the overwhelming number of high-quality submissions this year.
While your piece wasn’t selected for inclusion in that particular series, we are delighted to inform you that it will be featured as part of our “Spillwords Halloween” collection.
‘Partying with the Grim Reaper’ is scheduled for publication on 10/27/24, at 12am Eastern Time (ET).
Once it’s live, you can access it through this link:
https://spillwords.com/partying-with-the-grim-reaper/
We appreciate your contribution and are excited to share your work with our readers.
Thank you once again for being a valuable part of the Spillwords community.
Warm regards,
Dagmara K.
Chief Editor | Editing Department
Editor@spillwords.com
Thank you from the team at Spillwords Press!
Title: Partying with the Grim Reaper
Joe Lewis was a retired, divorced, US Gov bot on a last fling trip in his life, and died one day after drinking too much at the Cosmos Bar in Soi Cowboy, Bangkok, Thailand on Halloween night. He sat down with his buddies, Jim Beam, Jack Daniels, Johnny Walker, Old Grand-Dad, and Evans Williams. And began drinking his way to hell. Twenty drinks too sober, he gets up to go home, walks out the door, and a drunken bus driver runs over him, instantly killing him.
The light of the blood-red full moon woke him up at 0 dark hundred hours. He found himself in a dark, forbidding, hot, humid jungle with a foul smell of death and decaying vegetation everywhere. He sensed that creatures in the jungles were looking at him with evil, hungry, malicious intent, then he saw them as the dark fog lifted, and a bright red moonlight lit the jungle forest. The nightmare creatures were staring at him with evil hatred flowing from their red eyes.
He saw a terrifying nightmare vision, – seeing giant apes, space aliens, banshees, bats, Bigfoot, centaurs, Cerberus, cheetahs, crows, coyotes, Cthulhu with tentacles, dragons, demons, dinosaurs (raptors and T. rex), devils, dwarfs, gangbangers, gangsters, gangster rappers. Gators, goblins, ghouls, ghosts, giants, giant ants, giant wasps, giant spiders, giant lobsters, gunmen, hellhounds, big game hunters, government bureaucrats, holocausts, imps, Imperial Stormtroopers from Star Wars, naked incubus, leprechauns, jihadis, Lucifer, lions, politicians, mafia made men, ravens, monsters, orcs, reporters, bewitching beautiful yet deadly sirens, Satan, satyrs, snakes, winged monkeys, serpents, special forces soldiers, tigers, werewolves, wolves, witches, warlocks, wraiths, wild things, yeti, and zombies all staring at him. A half-centaur, half-pig monster with two heads–Putin and Trump led the mob.
The Putin-Trump pigman yelled out, “After him. All humans must die. Kill Joe.”
They began chasing him through the dark forest. Even the trees came alive, trying to trip him up, as the nightmare creatures ran after him, the hunters, and soldiers firing flaming arrows and semi-automatic weapons lighting up the night sky, and the birds dive-bombing him trying to get his eyes and face, and the other creatures getting closer and closer screaming.
“Death to all humans. Death to Joe Lewis.”
He looked back. They were gaining on him when he came to a dark, foul-smelling river. A ferryboat filled with hundreds of evil, depraved people on board was floating down the river.
Just as the creatures were about to pounce, he swam into the water, the boat stopped, and two strange-looking men pulled him out of the water. The human monsters on the ship looked at Joe and dismissed him as a loser, a refugee fleeing the monstrous welcoming committee, and not worthy of their time.
The two gentlemen who had pulled him out of the water were strange-looking people, rough-edged, but better than the party people who continued to ignore him or made mocking references to the refugee. Charon, the conductor, an elderly Italian man dressed in a black suit, stood in front of the boat. The Grim Reaper, dressed in a dark suit wearing ray-ban sunglasses, looking oh so cool, stood next to him. The Grim Reaper had a pan-ethnic look, could be almost any ethnicity in the world, but was vaguely non-quite human looking.
When he came aboard the ferryboat, he asked the two strange gentlemen who had rescued him,
“Thanks for saving me. Where am I?”
Handing Joe, a cup of Hell whiskey, the older of the two introduced himself saying,
“I am the Grim Reaper, and this is Charon, and you are on the ferry to Hell. You are floating down the river Styx, heading to Hell and beyond. We saved you from the welcoming committee. Normally they kill our visitors and take their dead bodies to Hell where they receive a bounty, and then you are reborn as a zombie slave, possessed by demons, becoming a ghost, or a ghoul, or are sent to Hell for punishment. But sometimes, virtuous people manage to escape and per our SOP we are obligated to take in the refugees and take them to Limbo for processing. Stay here my friend, because if you go to the party, you may never return to earth.” They are all going to the other place. You do not want to go there I assume”.
He pointed out the partygoers, who ignored Joe. Many of them were infamous figures, including anti-vaxxer crusaders, bar owners, celebrities, corrupt politicians of both American parties, including Governors, Representatives, Senators, drug dealers, members of the British parliament and parliaments around the world, criminals, crooked cops, fake news reporters, gangsters, gangbangers, gangsta rappers, internet bloggers, idiots in both high and low places, “Criminal Lawyers ” media darlings, pharma bros, scumbags, scoundrels, wall street executives, thugs, Italian, Korean, Japanese Yakuza, and Vietnamese Mafia figures.
They were all standing around as if they were at a cocktail party of the newly damned, drinking, smoking dope, snorting coke, and meth, dropping acid, and flirting up a storm, enjoying the free food, drinks, and drugs provided by the” Hell Catering “company using robots and demonic slave labor. They were partying as if it were their last day on earth, and they knew where they were going. Many of them felt that they would somehow manage to thrive in Hell and were looking forward to it.
None of them felt remorse or regret for the actions they had taken in their life. They were mostly entitled “rich people,” the self-proclaimed “masters of the universe. A punk rock band played non-stop punk anthems and obscene parodies of rock and disco songs.
The Grim Reaper went on,
“We are taking you and Mr. Alvarez to Limbo for further processing. He may be going upstairs but being an attorney, I have my doubts. You know what they say about lawyers in heaven, there are almost none and Hell is filled with lawyers, crooked police officers, and mafia figures. Limbo is filled with bureaucrats and the red tape takes forever, and the computer system is always crashing. What can you expect? Well, it is hard to get tech support in Heaven or Limbo, all the tech folks tend to go to Hell. “
Mr. Alvarez was an elderly Italian attorney, a lifelong fighter against corruption, the mafia, and organized criminals, and a famous human rights attorney based in Rome.
They chatted about his life and Joe’s life. Mr. Alvarez said,
“Our new friend, GR said I might be the only lawyer getting into heaven in a long time. Most lawyers end up in the other place.”
The river was black as it was after midnight. There was a stench of decay and death, fire and brimstone, and fires burning in giant pits in the distance. The welcoming committee of nightmare creatures followed the boat shouting obscenities and jumping in the water to retrieve partiers who fell off the boat, taking them to shore where they tortured them, murdered them, and ate them.
The boat stopped at the gate to hell. The other people walked off to the basement of 666 6th Avenue, NYC, where there was one of many secret back doorways to the world above Hell. Demon functionaries dressed in Matrix Mr. Smith-style black suits met them at the ferry terminal. They disappeared into the depths of hell.
The Grim Reaper took Joe and Antonio to the next step, Limbo. A giant black building reached the sky, filled with demonic bureaucrats dressed in Matrix-like Mr. Smith black suits. The Grim Reaper said, “Wait here. It should not be too long; I like you so we will put you in front of the line.”
He saw hundreds of lost souls wandering around. There were signs in multiple languages saying.
“Welcome to Limbo. Your judgment day awaits you. Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid. No one can escape your fate. Wait your turn. You will be processed in the order received. No drinking, drugs, food, phone use, or sexual activity allowed. And no sleeping either. It should not be too long.”
Sometime later a demon comes over and gives him some breakfast – coffee hot as hell, fried eggs, and a burger.
The demon hisses,
“Finish your breakfast. Then follow me to your appointment with Mr. GR”
He follows the demon through the crowd, and found himself in an office, where the Grim Reaper was waiting.
“Joe, Antonio, glad to see you. Please tip the demon.”
Joe paid him 100 dollars and Antonio 100 euros. The demon demanded more. The Grim Reaper swore at him in Demon speak and the demon disappeared into the crowd.
The Grim Reaper consulted his handheld computer, saying,
“Hmm just as I suspected. You are wanted upstairs, and a guardian angel is watching you. But you almost did not make it in time. The computer program has a glitch, and you are being sent back to Earth. Your time for final status determination will be sooner than you think. I hope you and I can be friends. I can hire people as my assistants. We had a lot of fun. It is a career-changing once in a life-time opportunity. Think about it when you come back.”
Joseph Lewis woke up in bed next to his wife, he got up turned on his computer, and read the following message,
“Mr. Joe, I hope you enjoyed your tour last night. But unfortunately, there was a computer glitch in the matrix system that controls limbo, heaven, and hell. It is hard to get tech support in Limbo or Heaven, most of the engineers end up in hell. But in any event, we determined it was not yet your time.
Your friend made it fine and sends his regards. The drinks are on him when you and your wife finally make it. Oh, contrary to the old song, “In Heaven, there is no beer” we have the finest beer, wine, and spirits you can find in Heaven, and Hell as well.
As for the others, you saw, they too will visit the ferry for the last journey within a few years for most of them. But you know where they will end up.”
Your friend.
Mr. GR the Grim Reaper.
The End
Thanks so much for visiting my site. Your comments are welcome but please play nice…. Reply