Scare Me Good Poetry Contest Finalized! - Tom Arnone's Blog

The Nine * Finalists

I want to thank everybody who participated in this horrible contest. Not everyone can win -- those are the physics of a contest. Better luck next time. This being my first premium contest, I didn't realize you couldn't add honorable mentions after the initial 10 placements. To that effect, here are my unmentionables:

"Bedlam I Became - 'Pantheon of Gods'" by FJ Thomas and "True Story: Echo of Insanity" by Robyn Thomas. Also, there is a poem I recently discovered that would have been perfect for this contest: "She is and She Always Will Be" by a poet known only as No Thanks. This is exactly the kind of scare I was looking for. Check them out!

Because there were so many different forms (short rhymes to long narratives), I chose the winners based on the following criteria:

1. Plausibility: Is the poem or narrative believable.
2. Accuracy of facts -- especially if nonfiction.
3. Scare content: On a scale of zero to terrifying.
4. Tone, mood, atmosphere and voice -- attributes such as exposition, setting, characters, dialog, metaphors, humor, irony, creativity and/or beautiful writing.
5. Emotional content: Does it move or cause you to feel.
6. Spelling, grammar and adherence to the contest rules.

* Broken Wings' true-life account of an old, infamous prison was a fact-filled and thoroughly interesting entry. However, it begged for some additional scares -- which I volunteered to provide (bad sponsor). Of course, a collaboration between myself and Broken Wings technically disqualifies this narrative from the contest. Please disregard the indicated placement -- it is here only as a collaborative experiment with an honorable mention in a premium contest from an alternate dimension.  ;-)

Click here or the hand to go to the contest stats....