Last House on the Right: A Poem for Halloween

We were standing there together.

In front of the last house on the right.

I and my brother.

In full costume on Halloween night.

We had been warned.

Stay far away.

From that old house.

Mrs. Jones's place.

The neighbors said terrible things.

We all had no doubt.

Lots of creepy rumors.

A big sign that read "Keep Out!"

Looking back, I really wish.

I wished that we had listened.

But my older brother just had to see.

See what he was missing.

Curiosity has killed many cats.

And, it almost killed us.

Why we went in the gates.

Well, we did it, just because.

Something about Halloween night.

It made us too bold.

We disregarded.

Ignored all we had been told.

The black cat crossed our path.

Before we ever made it to the door.

That should have been a certain sign.

But, still, we were not sure.

My brother rang the bell.

It sounded like the bells of hell.

It was all that I could do to stay quiet.

Very hard not to yell.

Soon, we heard a load groan.

The door swung open wide.

If my brother had not been with me.

I would have died from fright.

There she stood, dressed in black.

Ancient and old.

Teeth bared, butter yellow.

And a stare, heart stoppingly cold.

I was in shock.

My brother screamed "Trick or treat!"

She said in a voice from the grave.

"Why, certainly, deary."

My legs could not move.

My brother held out his bag.

She reached somewhere behind her.

Put something in and gave an eerie laugh.

We took off in a run.

Fast as we could, back down the street.

I did not want anything.

Nothing that weird old lady would give me.

We went home and performed the ritual.

The pouring out of our candy onto our bed.

In the middle of the pile.

There was a snake head.

I screamed.

My brother jumped back.

There was no denying it.

There it sat.

We watched, as smoke swirled.

It surrounded all of our candy.

Then, it was all gone.

As quick as quick can be.

The candy and the snake head.

All disappeared silently.

We never said a word about it.

I think we will skip the Jones's place next Halloween.

It's not enough that it was frightening.

So very scary.

For, what is worse than Halloween.

Without any treats?