Goblins, Ghosts, and Ghouls, Oh My!

     It's that time of year.  I've traded my petunias for pansies, and my geraniums for mums.  There's cider in the fridge and pumpkin bread in the oven.  It's fall, my favorite time of year.  (Until spring.  I like that, too.)  Driving through the neighborhood, I can't help but notice the decorations.  I can remember when a carved pumpkin was enough to say you had the spirit.  A little candy corn in a dish on a side table and you were good.  However, it wasn't long before a door decoration of some kind was required.  Witches are good, so I hung a witch.  There!  I'm good.  But no, the adults next door started dressing up to pass out their candy.  Really?  I have to dress up?  I'm still thinking on that one. 


     Next came the humongous blow-up Halloween figures, like the ones in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  No, seriously, they're big, tethered to the ground.  I know that was a Costco marketing plan.  I didn't jump on that train.  From hay bales with scarecrows and tombstone covered yards, to ghoulish sound effects blasting from speaker systems, Halloween decorations have become pretty elaborate.  Just sayin'.

       Halloween Night

Dashing down the street
I meet
My best friend
Dressed for Halloween.
He's a dinosaur,
Scaly and green.
I giggle when he roars.
"Let's knock on doors," I say.
Neighbors gasp in horror
As they see our scary faces.
Quickly to the next house,
We have many places still to go.
"Oh, No!" my bag rips,
Green dinosaur trips.
Candy goes rolling . . .
Everywhere.
"Don't you dare
Eat mine!"
What's that?
It's almost nine?
Time to go!
Grab the candy!
Hurry fast!
Home at last.



             Bat Attack

'Twas a warm October evening
And my room was awfully hot.
I had opened up a window
But it didn't help a lot.

As I lay in bed I looked out
At the dark and sultry night
I could see a few stars twinkling
And the moon's round golden light.

Then, a bat flew in my window
And it perched upon my bed
I was paralyzed in terror
And presumed that I'd be dead

In the morning when Mom called me
She'd hear no one answering back
She'd find me dead and bleeding
From a grisly bat attack.

Now my nose had started itching
If I scratched, the bat would see,
Lying there upon the mattress
Was a fat and juicy me.

So I tried to think of something
That would drive away the itch,
But the bat had spied me moving,
And his ears began to twitch

He rose up and stretched his wings out.
I could see his beedy eyes.
Then he flapped his wings and headed . . .
For the dark and sultry skies.

I jumped up and shut the window
Then I crawled back into bed.
I would rather be a little warm
Than risk completely dead.

          Nightly Nightmare

"Goodnight, dearie," my mother said;
"It's time for you to go to bed."

Up the stairs I slowly creep,
Dreading what happens when I sleep.

Squirming snakes appear on the floor,
Eyes peek out of my closet door,

The wind starts blowing, I hear a wolf howl;
After that comes a hideous yowl

I dream of fangs and razor sharp teeth,
And horrible creatures that lie beneath

Beneath my bed I knew there was
Something more than dust and fuzz:

Monsters, spiders, the boogie-man, too,
I can only imagine the things they'll do

I want to scream, I want to shout,
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out

I'm stuck in a nightmare with no place to hide.
I'm trembling, I'm shaking, I'm quaking inside.

They reach out to grab me.  I'm starting to fall,
Then click and the light comes on in the hall.

"Are you alright, dearie?  I heard a cry."
"I'm OK now,"  I say . . . with a sigh.