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Background image: "monsters'" by WalkingGeek

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I hear the footsteps coming near;

I hope without the thing I fear.

I like the dark, the shadows’ gloom,

then I can scare those in this room.

The door creaks open, someone cries.

Oh no, the flashlight beam defies

my best performance filled with lies.

I slink away when it’s too bright.

Monsters cannot bear the light.

Linda Baie ©

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schmutz smooths the angles
and softens her warts--she
looks almost human

oh, how she despises cleaning
but she must--shudder!

mirror on the wall

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

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I'm crouched in the closet,

my eyes on the door.

I hear little footsteps

on her bedroom floor.

The tension is rising-

a sliver of light!

The closet door opens

and I scream in fright!

© Cindy Breedlove

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Five little monsters prowling in the park.

“Yikes!” said the first. “I’m scared of the dark!”

“Yow!” said the second.  “Something’s creeping near!”

“Hush!” said the third.  “It’s the wind you hear.”

“No!” said the fourth.  “There’s a frightful noise!”

“Look!” said the fifth.  “Little girls and boys!

Just a bunch of kids running down the street...

dressed for Halloween, shouting, “Trick-or-treat!”

Dianne Moritz, October, 2019

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When days are dark and nights are long
with no moon in the sky,
when winds howl round the house at night
and unknown creatures shriek in fright,
the Night Mare gallops by.

You’ll hear it whinny, faint but clear,
you’ll feel the air turn cold.
you’ll hear its steady, beating hooves
along the road, across the rooves,
The Night Mare’s tread is bold.

So huddle deep down in your bed
and try to block your ears.
The Night Mare tramples on your dreams,
the Night Mare wants to hear your screams,
the Night Mare feeds on fears.

But when it feels the warmth of love
or sees a kindly light
the Night Mare’s caught out unawares
(it’s terrified of teddy bears)
and gallops out of sight.

Kate O'Neil

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In monster prep school
it’s cool to drool
and roar and snort
and be nasty.

The rusty rule
for horrid ‘lil ghouls
is monsters first
monsters always!

Beasts get detentions
and given suspensions
for caring or sharing
by any description of kindness

Freaks live in fear
each day the school year

of getting caught helping
or making new friends.

Linda Mitchell 10.12.19

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Upstairs in my darkened room
I love to scatter dust with broom,
Then eat my snack of lovely bugs
Like beetles, worms and slimy slugs.
I pet my rat, I catch my bat;
Content with where each web is at.
And I am hummy-glum in gloom…
Until…
I hear the dreadful chilling sound
Of children -
Up the stairs they bound -
The awful, joyful sounds of giggling -
Their bodies, hands and lips all wiggling -
A disgusting and revolting sight
Made worse when they turn on the light!
I shiver-hide behind a box
Avoiding sounds of happy talks
Trying not to be so scared
Of children with their shiny hair.
Why don’t they have a webby do?
Why do they scream a silly “boo!”
When will they all just go away?
Spider wants to come and play.
But I can’t play until they go
Wait…
I know what to do
And so…
I get my disappearing stuff
And mix it till it’s good enough,
Then slide it out for them to see.
They’ll think it is a bit of tea!
Hee-hee!
They’ll see the potion,
drink it up,
Till nothing’s left up here
but cup!

Phew!
Another scareful, monstrous day
Pretending children come to play...
I have to find my momma now;
I may have scared myself somehow.

Momma warns, “You’ll have daymares
If you’re too scareful with play-scares!

© by Donna JT Smith, 10/12/2019

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Little Monster is scared to sleep at night.

He fears the dark and needs a night-light.

He checks for children hid under his bed....

peeks behind doors and beneath his spread.

He's frightened of shadows haunting his room,

and suffers nightmares of doom and gloom.

Monsters look beastly and horrid, it's true.

Who would have guessed they panic near YOU!  BOO!

Dianne Moritz, October, 2019

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Christopher McKraken here

and there is nothing that I fear.

I’m bigger, stronger, tougher, faster.

One might say – the Ocean Master!

Hurricane or dumb tsunami?

I’m not cryin’ for my mommy.

Fear no whale, or snarling shark,

creepy trenches dank and dark.

Sneaky, snarky mermaid queen,

torpedo blasting submarine.

Pirate with a sharp harpoon,

creature from the black lagoon.

Calving glacier, serpent swarm,

turny-churny lightning storm.

Lava flow, Poseidon's spear.

All things that I’ll never fear.

Wait! What’s that? Okay, I lied.

Better hurry up and hide.

Terrifying! that’s what this is...

Kraken Girl with slimy kisses!

by David McMullin

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I utter a peep

a whisper

a wisp…

Sneak itty fire breaths

smoke flames

smoke-rings…

Me–Open my mouth

NEVER NOW

NEVER EVER

For fear I’ll be alone

forever

and ever…

© 2019 Michelle Kogan

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I feel an itch behind my ear
I scratch -oh no-I quake with fear
Outside the window bright and clear
A full moon glows- my fate draws near
Once nails- now claws- I writhe in pain
Once teeth- now fangs-I squirm in vain
Once skin- now fur- my certain bain
My canine ears hear gurgling drain
Mom yells-COME NOW! I feel her wrath
I snarl- I growl- as no man hath
She drags me from my dusty path
From under bed- straight to the bath!

Janie Lazo 2019 All rights reserved

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Crick, crack, crick, crack
The noise is too loud.
Can't sleep, can't rest
Under this old bed.

Crick, crack, crick crack
Oh, please shut your eyes!
Can't scream, can't scare
Little children tonight.

(Written by Aimee Rocha. All rights reserved ©)

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Tickety-dee, Tickety-boo,

What’s a little monster do?

It’s Halloween eve,

the pumpkins are perfect, but

I’m afraid of all the

BOO!

Tickety-boo, Tickety-dee,

What’s a timid monster to be?

It’s Halloween day,

the witches are waiting, but

I’m afraid of what I’ll see!

Tickety-dee, Tickety-boo,

What an anxious monster to do?

It’s Halloween night,

the shadows are scary, but...

I’ll do tricks and treats with you.

Tickety-dee, Tickety-boo,

This little monster says

Happy Halloween to you!

Kathleen Mazurowski

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Hello, Cookie Monster here!

Me tell you me biggest fear:

NO MORE COOKIES me can eat

In whole world, not just Sesame Street!

If all cookies will be gone,

what me om nom nom nom on?

Also me can’t celebrate

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day.

Me be no more Cookie Monster,

just googly-eyed puppet with blue fur.

© 2019 Mindy Gars Dolandis

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Monsters creep and monsters crawl,
Monsters cheep and monsters squall,
Monsters leap and monsters brawl,
Monsters seep and monsters fall.

When monsters see toddlers-
The crawlers and dodgers,
The bottlers and ballers.

Monsters weep and monsters bawl,
Toddlers are indeed not for all.

By Angelique Pacheco (c) 2019

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When we go out for trick-or-treats,

We fear those ghosts who roam dark streets.

They float around - spooky, scary.

Very wary, we don’t tarry!

(Not much fun while making merry!)

But wait!  There’re shoes on little feets!

Those ghosts are KIDS…beneath bed sheets!

Dianne Moritz, October, 2019

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I shouldn't be
it is silly
but scary
the alphabet you see
here we go
I'll close my eyes
count to three
Aliens antennae
Bat-fringed wings
Costumes of monsters
Do really scare me
Electric eel lights
Fall's purple nights
Gremlins and ghouls
Hyenas laughing
I cannot look you see
Jack-o-lanterns glowing
Kicking screaming that is me
Lullabies of ghostly songs
Mummies running after me
Nothing at all just wind
Olive eyes blink in trees
Poor me for being scared
Quarreling riddles round and round
Rats and rattles everywhere
Silent shadows following me
Tick Tack Toes
Unknown things
Vines of giants growing up trees
Webbing cobwebs in witches brew
X marks the exit I'm out of here
Yes I'm a monster I'm scared of me
Zombies in the attic singing the alphabet
A to Z scares me to sleep

poem By Jessica Bigi

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In my web I hide in silence

Fearful of your awful science

What harm I’ve done I do not know

I wish you did not hate me so

I munch the bugs that harm your plants

I decimate both flies and ants

I venture out at times it’s true

But I don’t mean to startle you

I do my best to help you out

Still you see me and scream and shout

You grab a shoe prepared to swing

I bolt hole from that ghastly thing

Cowering now inside this crack

I wait in fear your next attack

Please not the long and roaring pipe

That suctions web and devours life

Viler still is the noxious spray

From which no beast can get away

Cheriee Weichel ©  October 2019

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Digital Storytelling animated tale was created with the Buncee platform. My blogpost holds my offering, Monster Fear.
https://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2019/10/creative-expression-via-digital.html

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As Halloween draws near, something in the air beckons her back to the woods where, ten years ago, they first met; when the then imposing powerful figure, spelled out her greatest fear.
...................................................................
(Please read: From Bottom to Top.
to me)

to tree .  .  .

from witch to tree

r e s o u n d i n g

c a c k l e through woods

(Echoes of glee

YESSS.

She still can!

s p e l l s.

Halloween

wispy voice cracks, as Witch

Shallow breaths read,

Bobbing letters fuzz still.

adjusts half-moon specs.

witch pries the book wide,

as black as her shroud,

With dread and doubt,
heavy on lap― the book!
she fingers a book, thick

on which she sigh-lently sits. Hands trembling,

withered and weathered like the frail stump

W I T C H―

forms clear.

s l o w l y

A blurry black figure

eyes and feet pause.

of straggly thin trees,

Drawn through a screen

within reach of out-hut.
beside bundle of straw,

arms length from lone bench,
past ballerina tree,

like wiper blades in the rain,

Her eyes dart fro and to

to the same stretch of woods.

winded trees whoosh her back

On dreary dark days each October

Poem and photograph by Cory Corrado (2019) ©

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I see the kids

the campfire crackling.

With sticks of marshmallows,

bravely twisting,

gently turning.

Oh, the scent

Just one bite

Just one small taste.

I step closer, stick in hand.

Ready, set,

Sparks fly —

Not tonight for

this bandaged creature.

Sandie Vaisnoras

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Mouse In the House

I'm just a tiny, timid mouse
But I like living in your house!
It's nice and warm,
With lots of food:
I don't eat much,
I'm being good!

Bur screams and chaos come at me!
The broom! The stick!
All scaring me.

The Giant looms,
She spoils my bed..
The broom comes close,
Just missed my head!

Please let me be,
I'm so afraid..
I shake and shiver,
I run away.
Your house is big,
With so much room:
Can we be friends?
Please drop the broom!

PJ McNeal

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silverfish

squirmy nocturnal

book monsters

munch pages

chowing on book paste

until the librarian

arrives with tweezers

© jone rush macculloch (draft 2019)

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I’m just an old mummy

in old, dusty wrappings.

My sleeves are all tattered;

my coattails, a-flapping.

They sometimes get snagged

on loose nails or low beams.
And suddenly, I

fall apart at the seams.

© 2019, Matt Forrest Esenwine

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She’s buried in her human’s tomb,
stuffed with sand, wrapped in gloom.
With leathery skin and marble eyes
she’s unaware of her demise.

Her body’s dried. She cannot rot.
Her trembling fear is all for nought.
What does she see? Her own reflection,
as she stares in all directions.

In a tomb of mirrors–forever confined,
a mummified cat’s ghastly shrine!

--Buffy Silverman

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I am a ghost.

I live in the park.

I skulk all day.

I slip out after dark.

I drift along

unseen, alone,

haunting souls

of flesh and bone.

I skim the streets

the whole, long night.

I never fly higher—

I’d die of fright!

Elizabeth Steinglass

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Loch Ness -
With a massive roar,                                          the worst place for a family vacation,
the giant shape raced                                        everyone agreed.
across the water,                                                Escaping by mere inches,
heading for shore.                                              almost too late. And
It splashed and sputtered                                 with the mindless beast
desperate to reach the kids.                             there was no reasoning.
There was no reasoning                                    Desperate to reach the kids,
with the mindless beast.                                   it splashed and sputtered
Almost too late and                                            heading for shore.
escaping by mere inches,                                  Across the water
everyone agreed                                                  the giant shape raced
the worst place for a family vacation –           with a massive roar.
Loch Ness.

© 2019, Maria Marshall

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Before you start assessing the fear that I'm repressing,
there’s something we should lay out on the table—
call me Sasquatch, call me Yeti,
but Bigfoot's much too petty.
I’m REAL, not merely legend, lore, or fable.

Partly human, partly beast, oversized to say the least,
you ridicule or hound me as you choose.
Of course I’m camera shy—
I’m an introverted guy!
I’d like to see YOU wear my “monster” shoes.

Being shaggy and unkempt is no reason for contempt,
so let me make this absolutely clear—
it’s not your bully tactics,
your guns or camo jackets,
that cause me to degenerate in fear.

When it comes to diagnosis of my number one neurosis,
there is nothing that can possibly compare
to my dread of soapy lather
and the constant drone of blather
I’m subjected to when in the barber’s chair.

© 2019 Michelle Heidenrich Barnes. All rights reserved.

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There’s not a chance that I’ll make friends.

They tremble and it never ends.

I ride around without my head.

I’m the guy that they all dread.

I hear their shrieks. I hear their screams.

And they complain, “You fill our dreams!”

But I can’t help my headless state.

So, please don’t underestimate…

NO, please don’t underestimate

the terror of a headless state.

“No head! No brain!” That fills my dreams —

(If only I could shriek or scream.)

And so, the thing that I most dread —

(Remember, I can’t use my head.)

I tremble and it never ends …

I’m sore afraid of “Words With Friends!”

© 2019 Penny Parker Klostermann

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What haunts ghosts and goblins?

What keeps ghouls awake all day?

What makes zombies tremble

and takes mummies moans away?

What makes monsters shiver

and skeletons rattle in fear?

That if people stop believing

in them, they disappear.

Juanita Havill 2019

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A mummy wrapped in cloth

Won’t go near a bathroom stall.

For if a tinkling neighbor

In need of toilet paper

Uses the end of Mummy’s wrap,

Then flushes the toilet …

Oh crap!

© 2019 Amanda Sincavage

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It's hot.
It's dry.
A spark:
a fire.

A flame
a burn
a blaze:
a pyre.

It threatens,
spreads,
consumes,
gets hotter.

The only thing
it fears
is
water.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2019