Fear the Pumpkins

He used the sharpness of the blade

To cut into the skin

He slowly sliced and carved the flesh —

Removed the guts within

The fluids dripped along the edge,

The innards on the floor

He grinned with pride at his design

And then he cut some more.

The heads he carved were thirty-one

Each one a face of death

They showed the fate each one would meet

Exhaling their last breath.

Orange faces glowed from flames within

With evil leers and smiles.

They brought with them fatality

Their intentions were vile

The pumpkin carver knew their doom

And he designed their fate

Their death was his conception mixed

With pure malicious hate

For each day of October's month

So many ways to die

A pumpkin showed how lives would end

Until Samhain arrived

Go to October 1st

Jack-o'-lantern image taken from http://kitchenability.com

Halloween Approaches

When Halloween season comes, to me it's like Christmas. After all, Halloween is the only holiday aside from Santa's workday that the houses are decorated with thematic lights and characters to get people into the holiday spirit. You drive around the neighborhood and see Styrofoam gravestones, zombies, pumpkins, inflatable monsters - all of it is wonderful. It's perfect. It makes me want to watch my favorite scary movies every night, or in the case of my having kids now, watching more family-friendly Halloween movies like Casper, Harry Potter, Hocus Pocus, etc. I always read a scary book or two in October, one of which is always 'Salem's Lot, and I always try to write at least one good scary short story. I don't typically post any of my fictional works online (I save those to send out for publication), but this year, in the spirit of ghosts, ghouls, goblins, monsters, and things that go bump on Halloween night, I am going to post 31 very short stories. On September 30^th, I will post an introduction, and then every night after will be a new entry until the final one on Halloween night. This is going to be a challenge for me since these stories aren't written yet, but I think it will be a good way to get my creative juices flowing. Hope you enjoy, and Happy Halloween.