Best Hallows Poems
Lantern of the Shadowed Glade
In shadowed glades where spirits dwell,
Beneath the boughs of an ancient spell.
A pumpkin awaits, its fate foretold,
By tomes of old and tales untold.
Carved with care by children’s hands,
A toothy grin upon its face expands.
Yet, within those haunting, hollowed eyes,
Lies a deeper truth in dark disguise.
On Halloween, beneath pewter beams,
Wailing winds weave ominous screams,
The Jack-o’-lantern’s gaze ignites,
On ghoulish forms lurking in the night.
He sees the village, veiled in fear,
In costumes worn, yet souls austere,
For lurking ’neath the festive guise,
A darkness deep, where evil lies.
Children laugh with voices bright,
While shadows waltz in ghostly light,
Sinister secrets, whispers heard,
Carried on the wings of a devil bird.
But deeper still, the pumpkin knows,
The ancient lore, the forest’s throes,
For spirits rise on this cursed night,
To dance beneath the pale moonlight.
In solemn vigil, silent, and grim,
The gourd watches, a veil so thin,
‘Twixt shadowed realms of dark and light,
A sentinel of the Styx, in eternal night.
When dawn breaks o’er the ghastly glade,
The pumpkin’s light begins to fade,
In its heart, an ember of infernal lore,
A demonic lantern, cursed forevermore.
Categories:
hallows, dark, fantasy, halloween, holiday,
Form:
Rhyme
All Hallows' Eve Black Mass Incantation
We Pray in The Name of Our Father Lucifer,
Which wert in Heaven:
Boil, Boil plague-ridden rats and toads in oil,
With a pair of gleaming snake eyes too.
Mix in fresh hen’s blood and a rabbit’s paw,
With a touch of horse dung and a lizard’s tail too.
Add six cups of Vitriol and a tablespoon of Goldwater.
Stew, Stew this Stygian alchemic brew for ne’r six hours
During Vespers for Our Midnight Black Mass on All Hallows’ Eve.
Serve this unholy sustenance to Our Coven at midnight,
As we pray in Great Lucifer’s name for his guidance
In defeating Jehovah’s forces of good and light.
We do this in the name of Great Lucifer—The Dark One.
We seek Blackness, Darkness, Degradation, and Negation—
As Our Coven has the power of His Power as granted
By His Unholiness when the full moon’s shadow
Crosses the face of the Earth.
Gary Bateman, Copyright © All Rights Reserved
October 5, 2014 (Narrative Incantation)
Categories:
hallows, allegory, dark, evil, fantasy,
Form:
Narrative
Be still, can you hear the drum, the drum
Hear it beat like a heart in the heavy night
Hold on to your soul, for the dead are come
To look to the living for light
Ashes and sulphur, blood on stone
Lavender, lilies, and roses blown
Out of the mist, they come, they come
Through the slip of a stitch in the hazy veil
With their feet all bare, and their faces pale
The dead come, crying for light
Lavender, lilies, and roses blown
Ashes and sulphur, blood on stone
Out of the past they come, they come
From the shadowy halls of history
From the battlefield, and the hungry sea
The dead come, crying for light
Ashes and sulphur, blood on stone
Lavender, lilies, and roses blown
Out of the earth they come, they come
From the cold of the grave at midnight’s bell
From the harrowing heat of the fires of hell
The dead come, crying for light
Lavender, lilies, and roses blown
Ashes and sulphur, blood on stone
Out of the dark they come, they come
With their winding sheets and their cobweb hair
With their violent curses and innocent prayer
The dead come, crying for light
Ashes and sulphur, blood on stone
Lavender, lilies, and roses blown
Out of their minds they come, they come
Who are lost in the maze of space and time
Who are seeking the grace of a love sublime
The dead come, crying for light
Lavender, lilies, and roses blown
Ashes and sulphur, blood on stone
Be not a-feared when they come, they come
Be as still as you can, and touch them not
Show them the way to the light forgot
Love them, and let them be
Be gone
In to the light they go, they go
To the glow at the end of the tunnel’s gloom
To the source of the scent of the rose’s bloom
In to the light they go
© Gail Foster 30th October 2016
Categories:
hallows, death, halloween, light, love,
Form:
Rhyme
That Ancient Darkside of All Hallows’ Eve Past
As in the fabled medieval times of centuries in the deep past,
It’s time once again to celebrate the hidden ugly horror that
Seeks to infest and devour all human souls in this new century.
Be warned that false-faced beggars shall knock at each door,
And unbeknownst to the common people that they shall meet
On this All Hallows’ Eve—all shall not be well and normal!
With their bloodstained masks these real Ghosts, Ghouls and
Goblins shall shout out “Trick or Treat” as a fiend’s true cover
For something that’s sordid, unclean, ungodly, and macabre.
Looking for a clever sweet surprise for the unsuspecting souls,
These devilish minions begin gathering and dancing wildly to
“The Dark Spirit of the Pale Hallowed Moon” on this night!
Shawled with the darkness of souls and their living nightmares,
Ghastly silver phantoms now seek to scare the living-death out
Of every innocent person they encounter on this darkest eve.
Houses are marked by an eerie orange-pumpkin-light escaping
Into the dancing-dark shadows that hold all night-life precious,
As these phantoms move freely in the frigid breath of this night!
Creating a palpable angst they begin shaking the tree branches as
Horrid and terrifying spirits of true evil and witchcraft escape into
The cold-dark ether caught up in the vile magic of Lucifer himself.
Fortunately, they are tricked by the sound of an old tune playing a
Heavenly paean for knowing “What's Right From What’s Wrong,”
And warning them that the wrath of Almighty God awaits them!
In the end, the absolute power and holy majesty of Almighty God
Served as the saving grace to this foul situation which threatened
The innocent souls who were ensnared by these unholy phantoms.
And so, if thou doth question the probity of what hath been related to
You in this sacred narrative, then thou shall risk forfeit of your soul,
As these evil phantoms lurketh ever in the shadows and never forget!
Gary Bateman and Liam McDaid, A Collaborated Poem
Copyright © All Rights Reserved – October 19, 2018
(Tercet)
Categories:
hallows, dark, evil, fantasy, god,
Form:
Terza Rima
(in anapestic tetrameter)
As it rolled through the darkness and grinned through the trees,
where the shadows lay crawling and scratching the ground -
the last remnants of summer now shook in the breeze,
on this evening of Hallows that crept all around.
On the hearth and the hilltops, the fires burned bright,
through the dark, as the spirits so restlessly flew,
like the sparks of their souls that were lost in the night.
While disguised midst the living, the timid withdrew.
Yet the masks and their measure in masquerade mists
were exposed in the light of the hallowed full moon
and now joyously danced 'til the sun's morning kissed
a lost day that portends an impetuous noon.
So misplaced is our leisure that our rapture has flown
from a garden of worship to an evil unknown...
Categories:
hallows, halloween,
Form:
Sonnet
Lonely looking sky...
Eerie whispers in the night.
Dread fills the air with a chilling fright.
Ghosts of the past they take their toll.
Apparitions that haunt this lost, lonely soul.
Raven's justice in flight cries out a mournful plea:
"All Hallows' Eve, All Hallows Eve, the spirits are free!"
Lingering all souls as they haunt the shadows.
Lamenting over and over in a spectral tone.
A chilling wind silently twirled the leaves
Night descends on, Yes, All Hallows' Eve.
Piercing the silence an owl's hooting call
Ominous chill courses crackling through the hall.
Echoes of Poe linger as the day dissolves.
Categories:
hallows, halloween, horror, october, scary,
Form:
Acrostic
The doomed
entombed
Now rise
death cries
In fear
we hear
Death trills
blood chills......
Inspired by Donna Goldens' Footle Fright contest
Categories:
hallows, history, holiday
Form:
Light Verse
A
garment
of silence-
cloaks the naked
oaks
Categories:
hallows, nature, seasons,
Form:
Pastoral
All Hallows Eve - 1846
The festival, to all the saints now underway
as dark a night has fallen from an autumn day
and if you listen to the rustled breeze
you may hear voices somewhere in the trees
but never look for them--they're only there to play.
Two lovers in the night, that life has made amiss
and reaching out to take that first and bonding kiss
but then to be forbidden their desire,
though in their hearts it burned a constant fire,
the world of separationists refused them this.
But she was in his mind, and Sarah loved John so,
each time their eyes would meet, they never could let go,
and everyone was watching them until
they knew their love would overpower will,
for everyone resented love they couldn't know.
Her fathers madness, wrought from years of slavery
came to an evil, few had thought could ever be,
and he took to the whip he'd taken from
his masters hand, for love had surely come
to such a point, and John was bound, and made to see!
It was all hallow's eve, and you could hear the cry
throughout the foggy night, but love refused to die,
so town folk layed some timber to a fire
and bade them one more time, "reject desire..."
but in their eyes they cried, "we'd much rather to die..."
The flames consumed as if love spared them misery
so quickly was the end, it wasn't there to see,
and madness fell upon them, everyone,
who watched, it seemed the fire would not be gone,
and so they all jumped in for sake of agony.
And only love survived this horrid frightful night
you'll hear it in the trees, that is, you might,
if you've a mind to listen to the sound
of love that's true, and very seldom found,
but when it is, there's nothing else could be so right.
© ron wilson aka vee bdosa the doylestown lpoet
Categories:
hallows, halloween, hate, racism,
Form:
Iambic Pentameter
All Hallows Night
It’s a dark wicked night
When the spirits alight
From graves and tombs, to wander
Tis the brave that go out
The strong and the stout
Whose sanity they risk to squander
The ghosts and the ghouls
Are out for those fools
Who roam, for trick or for treat
With every step bidden
Dark forces are hidden
Madness, they’re certain to meet
This is the night
Dead come out to fright
The release of the former deceased
Vengeance they seek
Mayhem to reek
Their passage to heaven increased
Heads revolving clockwise
Revenge in their eyes
To drag you down to catacombs
Once you are there
They’ll strip the soul bare
Inflict on you ten thousand dooms
So before you die
Look into the eye
Of those, that have done you wrong
Remind with a smile
You’ll be back in a while
“Hell’s waiting, I won’t be long. (Mhuahahaha)”
For Everything Halloween Contest
Sponsored by Russell Sivey
Poem Written: 1 Oct 2013
Categories:
hallows, death, fear, halloween, horror,
Form:
Rhyme
It’s here again all hallows eve
From times past when many did grieve
But for those that believe, the dead are coming to play
On this the eve of Halloween day.
The ghosts the ghouls and the dead do arise
Amongst trick or treaters, that’s where they survive
They dance around you and you don’t know it’s them
All dressed as ordinary women and men.
When you open your door and offer a treat
Look into the eyes of those that you meet
The ghouls and the ghosts will no eye contact give
Because they are from the grave, they do not live.
When you offer no treat I must say beware
An evil ghost or ghoul, could be standing there
They want you to give them a treat for their pains
So never close the door, you may hear the rattle of chains.
They are out on their night and we should not be there
It is all Hallows Eve so let us be fair
Let them wander and roam up every dark street
And look on with envy as others trick and they treat.
For once in twelve months is when they rise from the dead
They are finding new souls to replace them instead
So when you offer a sweet to a treater on the door
Take the blame on yourself if you are seen no more.
They make it all fun and entice you to play
But they want your soul on this Halloween day
The small and the large you must look into their eyes
And hope it is human as it’s too late for ‘whys?’
On this Hallows Eve my advice to you all
Is stay behind your doors when the children do call.
You think they want candy and a party or two
But it’s souls they are after and coming for you.
© GG 11/09/2013
Contest Entry for: Everything Halloween.
Categories:
hallows, halloween,
Form:
Rhyme
Ghouls, ghosts and goblins
Wicked Wiccans wielding
Spirits soaring sacredly
Trick or treating?
Pumpkin patches present
Barren by butcher’s beast
Costumed careless children
Foul frightening feast
Darkened distressed demons
Patiently persecuting prey
Evil engulfs the entities
Devouring delicious day
Halloween howls heard
From foreign fetched fans
Yearning, yielding, yenning
For a fearful frightening band
© Stacy Lynn Stiles
Categories:
hallows, holiday, introspection, visionary,
Form:
Alliteration
leaves drift to the ground,
red and gold litter the street,
as ghouls come out to play,
one night a year;
All Hallows Eve!
Categories:
hallows, holiday, nature,
Form:
Tanka
Witches three and cauldron black
Of spells and charms there be no lack
At dark woods edge upon a bleak height
Stoking the fire in the oncoming night
Gray is the sky
black tree branches bare
they sway, creak and crack
nought else but a howling wind there
Wolfsbane, thistle, coryander, and brine
Only heaven knows what
these three have in mind
Eerie recitations, incantations and rhyme
nought else to add
save more stirring and thyme
Witches three and cauldron black
Spirits roam! No turning back!
At dark woods edge upon that dreary height
Fanning the flames in the onrush of night
Categories:
hallows, holiday, imagination, mystery, dark,
Form:
Free verse
In the gloom of the night came the screams from the scree
from the foot of the mountain, from inside the cave.
Are they human or animal… phantoms set free?
Will my heartbeat deliver a hero or knave?
So beyond the flat land with a cover of frost
rose the beasts’ craggy peaks with its hair-raising sounds
and the grass neath my feet crunched like bones as I crossed…
Now, I shiver in sync with my pulse as it pounds.
On the steps cut from stone to the chaos I rise
as the hills seem to mock giddy knees as they knock,
but there’s magic in mayhem… all cloaked in disguise
and bewitched by the hauntings inside this old rock...
and as lantern-lit skeletons spook this dark place
for the tricks and the treats there’s a smile on my face.
Susan Ashley
October 13, 2022
~ First Place ~
Contest: All Hallows’ Evening
Sponsor: Craig Cornish
*Meter: anapestic tetrameter
*English Sonnet rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg
Categories:
hallows, eve, fun, halloween, night,
Form:
Sonnet