A Spooky Sight

Somebody tell me what to wear.
The thing to get the biggest scare.
The one to make others tremble.
Which creature should I resemble?
But what if maybe I look cute,
helped me hoard the greatest loot?
People might prefer friendly cats,
more than spiders and creepy bats.
What if I chose trick and not treat?
I’d have more fun but less to eat.

Last year my dad was Superman.
He borrowed blue tights from our gran.
I said he was about as scary
as a baby dressed like a fairy.
His underwear was there on show,
in front of everyone we know.
Mum made the costume but he gets blame,
for causing me to suffer such shame.
Instead of deathly, ghostly white,
my cheeks blushed pink throughout the night.
Thankfully, it’s Mum coming this time,
and she’s dressed as gruesome, gooey slime.

I think I might be a vampire.
There seems no way that could backfire.
No-one can tell me ‘go to bed.’
And during school I’ll sleep instead.
A coffin does seem kind of small,
too high a cost not to age at all?
It’s also true that they can fly,
as cool as not having to die.
Unless the neighbours stake my heart,
and no medics help it restart.
They could try setting me on fire,
remove my head with razor wire.
For all the ways to be destroyed,
maybe it’s one I best avoid.

Perhaps a witch is a safer bet?
Plus, they often get to have a pet.
And I’ve seen on documentaries
I can curse all of my enemies.
I could give them pus and boils and sores.
Magic someone to do all my chores.
I’m also not terribly upset
skipping baths so I can’t melt when wet.
I’d still read books, although restricted,
to spells and potions, I inflicted.
But something that is bothering me…
broomsticks don’t come with a guarantee.
A huge oversight when swooshing high
on a household brush up in the sky.
To have trust in this, I must request,
a stringently thorough safety test.That is it, I have now decided,
those options are clearly misguided.
I shall create my own gross combi,
mashing a werewolf with a zombie.
A zom-olf or a rabid were-bie.
I shall tear out your heart with my claws
and cover you with infectious spores.
There will be nowhere for you to hide,
as I don’t need inviting inside.
There could be lots of sweets to obtain
but I’m going to suck out your brain.

Need more Halloween reads? Check out the poems, fiction, and more from the MockingOwl Roost family!

• The Banquet – Flash Fiction
• Attention: Important Public Safety Announcement! – Flash Fiction
• One Small Bite – Poetry
• The Descent – a Halloween Novel Review
• The Witch’s Familiar – Flash Fiction
• Mrs. Morris and the Vampire – a Halloween Novel Review

Claire L Marsh

+ posts

Claire writes short stories and poems, mainly in the horror or dark fantasy genres. She lives in the Cotswolds, UK with her husband and Phoenix (don’t tell him he’s a kitten. He thinks he’s a mountain lion). She currently works for an organisation that assists police forces nationally, providing support for evidence-based practice. Her background is in forensic psychology, including over nine years lecturing it at postgraduate level. Psychology often creeps into her stories; it could be how someone reacts to trauma or why people don’t intervene if they see violence.

• Duped, Part 2
• Duped, Part 1
• Attention: Important Public Safety Announcement!
• The Witch’s Familiar