Prompt #169 – Gather Ye Ghosties

It’s that time of year again! Halloween! Time for ghosts, goblins, ghouls, a touch of suspense, a bit of mystery, and poems to fit the occasion! Located on the calendar between autumn and winter, harvest and scarcity, Halloween is associated with early festivals and traditions, especially the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced SAH-win). Samhain, the Celtic New Year, was celebrated on November 1st. At Samhain, Celts gathered around bonfires lit to honor the dead, believing that the wall between worlds was at its thinnest and that the ghosts of the dead could re-enter the material world to mingle with the living. At Samhain, the Celts sacrificed animals and wore costumes (most probably animal skins). They also wore masks or colored their faces to confuse faeries, demons, and human spirits that were thought to walk among them. As Christianity began to replace earlier religions, the feast of All Saint’s was moved to November 1st, making the night before All Hallows’ Eve, or Halloween. For An Earlier Post and More Halloween History, Click Here

This year, in observance of Halloween, let’s focus on writing a poem in which we create an aura of suspense and mystery. To help with this, let’s be specific and use ekphrasis to write about the image at the top—the moon in the window—for inspiration. (Remember that ekphrasis is a literary commentary on a visual work of art. That is, a poem or other piece of literature based on a painting, statue, or other visual artwork.  Read More About Ekphrastic Poetry By Clicking Here

For this prompt, take a look at the image at the top and think about how you might “view” the photo in the context of a particular place and time that was (or is) mysterious, suspenseful, or scary. How might you work personal experience (something that really happened to you) into a poem based on this image?  (If this image doesn’t work for you, feel free to choose another that will!)

Things To Think About:

1. What does the image suggest to you?

2. What’s mysterious about the image?

3. How does the image “speak to” autumn, Halloween, harvest season, the moon, or colder weather?

4. For what might the moon in the window be a metaphor?
5. What images does the word apparition call to mind?

The Writing:

1. Begin by free writing for about 10-15 minutes. Reflect on the photo and just write whatever pops into your mind. But … whatever you do, DON’T write a description of the photo.

2. After writing for a while, go back and read what you’ve written. Is there anything there that suggests a topic, theme, narrative, experience?

3. What written images did the photo generate? How might you create a vivid scenic description for this poem? (Not a description of the photo, but something in which to context the photo.)

4. Circle all the words and short phrases that suggest something mysterious to you. Then, choose from the free write one subject or idea that you think you may be able to develop in a poem and begin to work on it.

5. You might write a narrative about what happened before the photo was taken or what will happen next. But remember: a personal narrative has be larger and more meaningful than something merely anecdotal. 

6. You might write about being moonstruck.

7. You might write a poem about a face that appears in your window, or the moon in your window mysteriously turning into a face. 

8. Include some phrasal verbs—for example: dress up, watch out, turn into, scare away, ward off.

9. Work on voice, tone, diction, and sound to enhance the effect of your poem.

10. Come up with a chiller-thriller of a dismount!

Some Ideas:

1. How long had I stared at that window …

2. The window had become a prison …

3. Arms of the plant that bloomed in summer etch the window …

4. A face in the window next to the moon …
5. I knew there was someone, or something, behind me as I looked up at the window ...

Remember that a good poem should make the reader gasp at least once while reading it. You can make that happen through striking imagery, an unexpected twist, a surprise in content, and/or a punchy dismount. So, go for it!

Examples: Click on the Titles to Read the  Poems

Halloween by Robert Burns

Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti

Haunted Houses by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Bats by Paisley Rekdal

Mr. Macklin's Jack O'Lantern by David McCord

Song for the Deathless Voice by Abram Joseph Ryan

All Souls' Night, 1917 by Hortense King Flexner

Halloween by Arthur Peterson

All Hallows Night by Lizette Woodworth Reese

The Hag by Robert Herrick

The Apparition by John Donne

Shadwell Stair by Wilfred Owen

Hallow-E'en, 1915 by Winifred M. Letts

Incantation by George Parsons Lathrop

Hallowe'en Charm by Arthur Guiterman

The Haunted Palace by Edgar Allan Poe

On Halloween by Janet Little

Spirits of the Dead by Edgar Allan Poe

From The Lady of the Manor by George Crabbe Here’s to the witches, Here’s to their cats, Here’s to the poets In Halloween hats; Here’s to the ghosties, In robes of white, Here’s to your poems For Halloween night!