Rowan Beckett Minor

a skeleton key
beneath the welcome mat
drips of blood

— Rowan Beckett Minor

abandoned RV

on the winding backroad

a severed tongue

— Rowan Beckett Minor

John H. Dromey

ghost ships with skeleton crews

— John H. Dromey

Greg Schwartz

ghost moon
she whispers
in my ear

— Greg Schwartz

Alper Ghuchlu

scratch marks on a grave
how long has it been
since my death

— Alper Ghuchlu

John Hawkhead

darkness spreading under the hanging tree

— John Hawkhead

predator reflections in a shark tank

— John Hawkhead

Joshua St. Claire

my breath becomes basalt

— Joshua St. Claire

dark road a dandelion cloud of eyes

— Joshua St. Claire

Mark Gilbert

Halloween moon—
showing us only
the dark side

— Mark Gilbert

Roberta Beach Jacobson

voodoo politics
pins in the pumpkin

— Roberta Beach Jacobson

Mary Oishi

after cremation
finding a hair 
in her beret

— Mary Oishi

Anne Fox

an eye for an eye we switch again

— Anne Fox

Anthony Lusardi

night hiking quiet enough for gypsy moths

— Anthony Lusardi

Melissa Dennison

late October...
my window runs red
with ladybirds

— Melissa Dennison

Jackie Chou

locked inside yesteryear glint on my braces

 
— Jackie Chou

Roberta Beach Jacobson

reprogramming
the alchemist’s scarab
AI

— Roberta Beach Jacobson

David C. Kopaska-Merkel

those waifs were eating
me out of house and home
more soup?

— David C. Kopaska-Merkel

John Hawkhead

dry goods
hardly time to choose
the right coffin

— John Hawkhead

Marylyn Burridge

awakening a spider leaves my bed first

— Marylyn Burridge

Mariya Gusev

grain mites in a spice jar
keep circling the rim

— Mariya Gusev

a grove of young ash

carved into their tender trunks

someone else’s names

— Mariya Gusev

Deborah Karl-Brandt

cracked moon
the scars will fade
eventually

— Deborah Karl-Brandt

David C. Kopaska-Merkel

midnight
Gran’s face in the window 
seems to move 

— David C. Kopaska-Merkel

Nicholas De Marino

still body surfing

— Nicholas De Marino

Roberta Beach Jacobson

something in my third eye, a dagger

— Roberta Beach Jacobson

David C. Kopaska-Merkel

the coffin
a perfect fit 
for the two of you 

— David C. Kopaska-Merkel

Jerome Berglund

sparrow and moth a dangerous cotillion

— Jerome Berglund

John Hawkhead

gothic revival taking a breath at his open casket 

— John Hawkhead

my windfall where worms lie in wait

— John Hawkhead

Nate Gillespie

handheld mirror
my good side
smiles

— Nate Gillespie

Chad Lee Robinson

tender kernels
the scarecrow’s smile 
smeared with blood

— Chad Lee Robinson

graveyard gloom

the car’s camera senses

what I can’t

— Chad Lee Robinson

John Hawkhead

coming home 
from the hospice
a bag of silence

— John Hawkhead

winter burial

we all feel

the cold

— John Hawkhead

Nicholas De Marino

cleaving to
family values
maternity test

— Nicholas De Marino

Michael Nickels-Wisdom

she was short and pale 
and petite with long black 
eyes 

— Michael Nickels-Wisdom

Scott Wiggerman

bookmark 
a dead friend’s words
speaking 

— Scott Wiggerman

deep purple morning glories clutch the gravestone

— Scott Wiggerman

Vishal Prabhu

mountain night
a moth knocks on
the window

— Vishal Prabhu

apple harvest

plucking eyes off

of a bare tree

— Vishal Prabhu

Patricia Hawkhead

sinking chill
we share his favourite wine
at his funeral

— Patricia Hawkhead

Thomas Zimmerman

in the bowl
of candy corn
a fang

— Thomas Zimmerman

John Hawkhead

lost wax process
the inner light before
the mortuary

— John Hawkhead

buckets and spades

small figures dig

for bodies

— John Hawkhead

Martina Matijević

empty church 
on the altar 
priest’s scalp 

— Martina Matijević

Lorraine A Padden

 torture museum
a shy boy asks
how many teeth in a saw?

— Lorraine A Padden

Bette Hopper

midnight graveyard—
the faintest sound of
a tinkling bell

— Bette Hopper

Barbara Anna Gaiardoni

 alone with myself a horror movie

— Barbara Anna Gaiardoni

Roberta Beach Jacobson

 under the sand lost toes

— Roberta Beach Jacobson

Randy Brooks

church couple
the one in the coffin
not always silent

— Randy Brooks

deep snow

most of the insects

buried alive

— Randy Brooks

Chad Lee Robinson

 midnight hush
the conjurer’s cauldron 
in sudden darkness 

— Chad Lee Robinson

sunrise clouds

a basket of body parts

hung out to drain

— Chad Lee Robinson

Alper Ghuchlu

torn-out house
what’s left of it
claw marks

— Alper Ghuchlu

petro c. k.

laying low
a killer
with my name

— petro c. k.