POMPrompt #28: Getting Freaky with It
Time to whip out those freakalicious, spooktacular, and otherwise creepy poems!
It’s been a WHILE since I’ve brought you a POMprompt…so here’s POMprompt #28: Getting Freaky with It
Whether or not you are from the US, you’ve heard of Halloween. You may not have celebrated this oddity of a holiday or you may celebrate it in another way. This time of year in the US there are freaky and ghoulish imagery everywhere.
In fact, here’s my absolute favorite TV commercial of all time and it happens to be Halloween-related. It is a Geico commercial and it makes fun of things which are typical of horror films, and every year, this commercial puts me in hysterics.
Sidenote: I hate horror movies. I’m not the biggest fan of Halloween because I hate gory things and I really, really hate zombies. But there’s a little something in the spooky season for everyone. I, particularly, like ghost stories so for the month of October I am reading two collections of ghost stories; one set in the south of the US where I live, and the other a colleciton of classic spooky takes by folks like HP Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe.
Which brings me to a POMprompt for October.
POMPrompt #28: Getting Freaky with It
If you’re new here: Here’s how to play.
Your challenge is in 2 parts
- Read some spooky poetry, flash fiction, or short stories. Maybe read a short story by Edgar Allen Poe. Find some short fiction or poetry that is edgy, spooky, scary, or even horrifying. Pay attention to the language and the way the writer or poet builds tension through word choice. Think about how you might could use these techniques in your own writing, especially your short fiction and poetry. Here are a few tips. (The link for “Here are a few tips” is coming soon! I am still polisihing up that article with tips for “How to Write Scary Stuff.”)
- Write something spook-tacular of your own. For the purposes of this exercise, if you want to publish here in The POM, as long as your post has a poetry element somewhere in it, we’ll accept it. Topics: Halloween, horror elements, ghost story-esque, dark and ominous scenes, other-worldy ghoulish characters of monsters, etc.
Use all the skills and tools you have to bring scary/spooky/freaky to the table! Put on some ominous background music while you write and really get into the mood! Write a short story, a flash fiction, or a poem — and make sure the language has an element of poetry.
Here are some ways you can write for this POMprompt:
- Include a snippet of poetry that is a part of a ghost story, short story, flash fiction, or even a heavily prose-y poem. Some writers have used pieces of poetry to really make their writing more ominous. Think scary nursery rhymes embedded in a short story.
- Write a horror poem or a poem that embodies fear as the primary emotion. Try not to SAY but to SHOW or EVOKE fear in your poem. Be sure all word choices support this tension.
- Write an analysis or response to some horror poetry (as an article). Share with us what you found, what you think of it, and how it influences you as a writer to implement classic strategies in your own writing. How does this older writing compare to the writing of today? Whatever your thoughts — keep focused on the use of tension in the work to create fear and on the use of language and poetic elements to build gripping tension.
- Find older horror pieces you’ve written, polish them up, and present them as a mini-collection in one Medium story. As long as there is some poetry element included, we will accept it here tagged POMprompt and Poetry. Use your discretion to make sure your submission works for our readers here at The POM.
- Remember to follow the directives for participating in the POMprompts (regarding tagging and such. The article that explains it all — Guide to the POMprompts — is at the beginning of this section of this article and you can also find it anytime you need it on the POMprompts tab of our publication.)
- Write a poem (with a small explanatory blurb at the bottom) to describe a freaky/scary/ominous — story or tradition or frieghtening bedtime story etc — that is unique to your town, country, etc. This might be a fun way to share your childhood frights with the rest of us. Make sure to bring the emotion and tension in your poem or story so we really feel like we are there.
Now — Go! Happy fall and Happy Halloween to you wherever you are in this world! We can’t wait to see your submissions.
