Susanna Leonard Hill posted the 12 finalists in her Halloweensie contest for this year, out of 324 ENTRANTS!
Take a minute and read them (they’re each 100 words or fewer) and vote for which you feel did the best.
No, I didn’t win (again, and again, and again!), but feel that those who placed as finalists need the high-class opinions of anyone reading this to choose the best.
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#1 – Sneaky Sister
My sister swore her potion
Was succulently sweet.
She whispered if I’d drink it, I’d grow feathers on my feet.
My skin would glow magenta,
My ears would multiply,
The cobwebs sprouting from my nose would smell like mildew pie.
My sister said “Don’t worry,
There’s not a thing to fear!
Tomorrow all the side effects will (mostly) disappear…
You’ll be the perfect monster
For this year’s trick-or-treat!
Just guzzle my concoction, and you’ll terrify our street.”
But now she’s flabbergasted
Because I’m feeling fine.
I guess she doesn’t know:
I poured it in her cup
Not mine.
#2 – A Halloween Visit
The pumpkin-moon rises on Halloween night,
A tiny black coffin with eight bats takes flight.
An eight-legged driver with dagger-fanged jaws?
That’s not old Saint Nick, it’s his pal Spider-Claws!
His cobweb-wrapped presents of potions and spells
Will flip-flop your tummy with nose-burning smells.
He creeps down the chimney with barely a noise
To leave scary gifts for all ghouls, girls, and boys.
He might bring you nightmares or haunt all your dreams
With hair-curling howling and spine-tingling screams.
Then Spider-Claws shrieks from his cold, coffin seat—
“Happy Halloween all, and to all Trick-Or-Treat!”
#3 – The Nickname Cure
Matilda’s nickname gave her a case of the gloomies.
Especially today on Halloween.
Since her first day at Spookamentary School,
the zombies, ghouls, and mummies called her
W A R T I L D A !
The name didn’t suit Matilda. After all, her wart was teensy-tiny.
Moments before trick-or-treating, Matilda slipped into the science lab.
She picked a sticky cobweb and two bat wings from a box.
She stirred them up with one juicy, lizard’s gizzard.
“This potion will do the trick!” said Matilda.
She dabbed the mixture on her chin and…
Ka-BOOOM!
Matilda’s wart grew large and hairy.
“Perfect!” said Matilda. “Now my nickname suits me.”
#4 – Itchy Witchy Underwear
Every year on Halloween,
there’s pumpkins, costumes, and a scene
that thrills the region’s flight fanatics:
Myrtle’s Fright-Night Aerobatics!
But Myrtle’s stumbled on a hitch:
her witchy britches make her itch!
Charms and chants and incantations–
none relieves her aggravations.
Myrtle checks a cobwebbed cranny
for a brew to soothe her fanny.
“Use this potion if you dare.”
She pours it on her underwear.
“It’s done the trick! Oh, lucky witch!
Britches gone, but so’s the itch!”
Feeling breezy on her broom,
Myrtle zips to practice. Zoom!
On Halloween she wows the town–
but…
DON’T watch Myrtle upside down!
#5 – Tricky Witch Test
It’s Halloween! Tonight’s my chance. I’ve got to join the witches dance!
If I can pass this potion test, at last I’ll with cackle with the rest!
Two strands of cobweb, eye of newt, a pinch of stinky goblin root…
GULP!
Do you smell smoke? I feel a spark! I think I’m glowing in the dark!
What’s that? I passed? I got it right? I’m now a pumpkin burning bright?
Hooray! I’m glad I did so well, but how do I undo this spell?
BURP!
That’s all it took to make the switch? Tonight I get to be a witch!
#6 – Let’s Go Scarecrow
Bloop-blop
Past the oozing potion.
Let’s go, Scarecrow.
Shuffle-shuffle
Under drooping cobwebs.
There’s the door.
TIP-toe TIP-toe
Shhh, Let’s go, Scarecrow.
DING-DONG!
“TRICK or TREAT!”
“MWA-HA-HA-HA!!
AAAAHHH!
Let’s go! Let’s go!
Under the cobwebs.
Past the potion.
Through the maze.
Over the bridge.
Down the path.
Through the leaves,
PHEW!
Finally, safe at home again.
#7 – Tacky Trick
Itty-bitty corner,
teeny-tiny shed.
Eensie-weensie spider
hanging by a thread.
Spiderling is spinning.
Complicated! Tricky!
Can’t construct a cobweb.
Help! The strings aren’t sticky!
Searches for solutions,
while Halloween is new.
Awkwardly appears
arachnid has no glue.
Witchy whizzes in then,
(broom repair, you see),
catches Spider sobbing
among the web debris.
Witchy comforts Spider
with a shushing motion.
Utters muttered verses,
promptly pours a potion.
Golden drop is plopped
on Spider’s little backy.
Silken threads appear.
Some twirl and tie—they’re tacky!
Spider’s on the broom now,
trying to repay.
Sticky silk will mend it.
Witchy’s on her way!
#8 -Vampire Stains
Curses! No! It can’t be so!
I need to get to my chateau!
Zis cloak is now adorned with stains
From zees night’s many spurting veins.
Vhere’s my blood removal lotion?
Bleh! I vill just make a potion.
To rid ze blood, resume abductions,
Follow zees precise instructions:
Curls of cobwebs, vings of bats
Vort of toad and tails of cats.
Zen a scoop of Oxyclean
To look my best on Halloveen.
Ah-ha! That vorked! A vondrous trick!
Now back to hunting very quick.
Bleh! I’m shiny as a spark!
I’m much too clean; glow-in-ze-dark!
#9 – Boo Quiet To Spook?
It’s Halloween, and Glenda Ghost
must face the thing she dreads the most:
to haunt tonight, each ghost and ghoul
must prove they’ve mastered Spooking School!
So Glenda waits to do her best
while witches pass their potions test.
Next up, the werewolves howl and growl,
and black cats hiss and monsters scowl.
As Glenda’s turn approaches fast,
she fears her timid “Boo” won’t pass.
Would trick-or-treaters shrink in fright,
or laugh if Glenda spooks tonight?
The spiders spin,
then Glenda’s next!
She LOOMS—nose twitching, fingers flexed.
With cobwebs clinging, quiet “Boo!”
becomes a spookier
“AhhhhhHHHHHhhhhhhhHHHHhhhhhhhhh-Choo!”
#10 – Ghost’s Pest Problem
Ghost peeked out the window.
GHOST: Ahhhh!!!
He picked up the phone and dialed the number.
WITCH: You’ve reached Lotions, Potions, and Other Solutions, how may I help you?
GHOST: I’ve got a pest problem!
WITCH: Okay, I’ll send the exterminator.
Later…
Knock, knock.
Ghost opened the door.
GHOST: Finally, you’re here! They’re all over the front porch!
SPIDER: It’s that time of year. Halloween always brings them out, especially to haunted houses.
GHOST: You’re sure the traps will work?
SPIDER: Oh yeah, they always get caught in them.
Ding-dong.
GHOST: They’re here! Quick! Spin the cobwebs!
“Trick-or-treat!”
#11 – Gloona The Grinchy Witch
Gloona the witch was a ghastly old soul-
more greed than a dragon, more warts than a troll.
On Halloween evening, she mixed up a brew
with lizard tail, bedbugs, and pickled worm goo.
From out of her potion, a ghoulish mist crept.
It oozed through the streets until everyone slept.
Beaming with glee, Gloona flew out unseen.
She swept through the city and stole Halloween.
She took every cobweb, each pumpkin and light,
the scarecrows, the sweets, the decor made of fright,
and inside her cottage, she laughed with conceit.
That is, ‘til she heard, “Ring-a-ding. Trick or treat!”
#12 – Broom Or Bust
The Witches-Who-Confer convene,
just once a year on Halloween.
The youngest witch to ever try
to earn her broom and learn to fly,
Sabrina stood before the crowd;
enacting words she spoke out loud:
“A pinch of cobweb, extra dusty,
metal shavings, not too rusty.
Put them in a pumpkin shell.
Add the potion; mix it well.”
Sabrina ducked behind the chair
as pumpkin pieces pierced the air.
And once the chaos came to rest
Sabrina said, “I tried my best!
I’ll go back home; I’ll hone my tricks
and I’ll be back when I am six!”
I know this is a tough choice! But please read and consider and choose your favorite and vote for it in the poll below by Monday November 11 at midnight Eastern time! That gives you 3 whole days to vote!
CLICK HERE TO GO TO HER SITE AND VOTE!
Chel Owens 