A Grab Bag of Monster Fears

"Monster" by Lars Plougmann

October is a super fun month at Today's Little Ditty. When the spirit of Halloween knocks at the door, we've always done our best to greet her with a generous plate of poetry.

"Yoohoo!" by Ruth Hartnup

In past years we've featured an unfolding story of insomnia, a mummy and zombie pas-de-deux, a fanciful animal tale, a fine example of Halloween trickery, a magical rhyming picture book by Carrie Clickard, a collection of delightfully frightful poems by Calef Brown, a HalloZENO party, and several other hair-raising celebrations involving monsters, beasts, spooky memories and other assorted horrors... sometimes necessitating Post Halloween Stress Disorder (PHSD) therapy.

That's quite a haul for any trick-or-treater! But we're not shutting off the porch light yet. This month we're featuring poems about monster fears—not fear of monsters, but things that a monster might be afraid of. Fun, right? Read more about our current DMC challenge in last week's interview with Rebecca Herzog.

Here are a few of the goodies on the padlet right now.

Flash! Dash!

"Torch Monster" by Michael

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.

© 2019 Linda Baie. All rights reserved.


a cherita terbalik

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

© 2019 Diane Mayr. All rights reserved.

"Pockmarked mirror" by Andrea Kirkby

"Child Imagination" by Cesar Mascarenhas

Monster's Panic Attack

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!

© 2019 Cindy Breedlove. All rights reserved.


Five Fearful Monsters

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!”

© 2019 Dianne Moritz. All rights reserved.

"TricK or TreaT" by Kylie_Jaxxon

Speaking of trick-or-treating, have I got a treat for you next week! You'll just have to wait to find out what it is though. Hope you can stand the suspense.

"He's seen better days...." by melfoody

Leave your poem about something a monster is afraid of HERE.

Catherine Flynn writes about gratefulness at Reading to the Core, where she's hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup.