Haunted Little Halloween House Poem

by Melissa
(Clemmons, NC, USA)

It was just a simple little haunted house for the kids in the neighborhood. My brother was working toward an art degree, needed to do a creative project for his fall mid-term. Sure, I’d help out. Couple of ghosts, a few pumpkins. Sounded like fun.

Got home from work the next afternoon and walked past the kitchen door. Caught a glimpse of my mother’s feet sticking out from in front of the stove. Oh, my God, she’s fainted, she’s sick, she’s had a heart attack!

Dashed into the kitchen and found something even more frightening. My mother was lying on the kitchen floor, goop all over her face and breathing through straws my brother had carefully placed in each nostril. She was to be the witch in our little haunted house and my brother was making the mold for her mask.

That evening we converted the box from a recently delivered refrigerator into a coffin. My younger brother decided we definitely needed a vampire. White face paint, a bit of fake blood, check the "coffin" for size. We now had a vampire for our little haunted house.

Word of our haunted house was spreading. Flight attendant neighbor stopped by, wanted to know if she could do the trick her brother used to do for Halloween when they were kids:

Just had to sit on a short stool behind a table and lean forward so her chin rested on the table. Then cover her body with a dark sheet, add a fake silver platter under her chin, pile wet spaghetti around her neck. A fork here, a candlestick or two there and our beautiful neighbor became the ghoulish main course for our little haunted house.

Big muscular cop lived a couple of doors down. Nice guy, wanted to know if we had a mummy for our little haunted house. He and his wife would be bringing their kids over and, well, since he was going to be there anyway. Add one mummy to our cast of characters.

Now it was my turn. My brother found a "recipe" to make patches of rotting flesh from food coloring, cornstarch and gelatin. Slip into the dress from my senior prom add some "rotting flesh" and I became the zombie princess.

Halloween night arrived. Dad went all out as our sound man. Three cassette players, synchronized blood curdling screams. My older brother worked the front door and handled the treat bag. My little sister was our ghost. Every kid in the neighborhood came and brought their friends and their friend’s friends.

Later that night as the last banshee screamed and the pumpkins’ lights were going out, I heard one of the kids say to his mom “Wow! That was some little haunted house. ‘Magine what the Harts could do if they ever decided to have a big haunted house.”

What Halloween Is Made For

Apples and pumpkins,
pumpkins and gourds,
that’s what Halloween is made for.

Ghosts and goblins,
witches, monsters and more,
that’s what Halloween is made for.

Cowboys and clowns,
princesses at your door,
that’s what Halloween is made for.

Cider and donuts,
chocolate and candy galore,
that’s what Halloween is made for.

Watching our children,
discover all this and more,
that’s what Halloween is made for.