Gothic Poetry in the style of E.A. Poe
Tsunami
by Emma Yurko
​
The walls began to sweat and weep
Betrayed by time and lack of upkeep
Bleeding out the dark rain from outside
I felt the pain from within these sides
Regret danced throughout the hallowed halls
dancing to the wailing walls
Without a light in sight
My Innocent hands slowly drifted,
over old tar and bricks that had been cemented
As I crept throughout this old house
I was quite as a mouse
Once upon this night of fright my hands trembled at the sight
For Fear, had Suffocated all the light
That radiated throughout my life
So now darkness remains my only foe
I am forever alone
Betrayed by time
Abandoned by death
Slowly sinking in the tears that dampen these halls
Lost Love's Mirror
by Ceci Nakfoor
​
The lightning lit the dusty room,
Her scent still in the air,
I sat and thought about this doom,
A dread I could not bear.
Sparkling from beneath the bed,
An object soon grew clearer,
Reaching under sheets bright red,
I found my lost love’s mirror.
Fragile as a hidden truth,
I raised this object high,
Feeling the need to stop and sleuth,
The reflection burned my eye.
Staring back, her skin bright white,
She gasped like it were planned,
I laughed at this familiar sight,
Her blood on my one hand.
I tried and tried to wipe it off,
Then remembered to just let the mirror go,
I chuckled with a sincere scoff:
“Oh Alice, no one will ever know!”
Stairs and Stares
by Samara Jivani
​
She sat down on the kitchen floor
Empty and sulking in the dark alone
Outside the window was a roar
She feared the noise and soon her phone
Began to ring and then she rose
She abandoned her fears and slowly climbed the spiral aching
stairs
The walls caved in and she felt the strong glares
with breathing that grew with every second grew louder around
her
Yet there were no eyes that sought to met her
The noise outside the window began to slow
While the shivers down her spine began to grow
And the glares behind her attacked then threw the death blow
The glares left from the walls and walked out the door
Leaving nothing, not even a drop of blood, on the old wooden
floor
The Chamber
by Maxine Danni
​
Abandoned clouds that swirl around the creaky house in which I stay;
While trapped with spirits through the night;
Very mean with villainous eyes
They watch me sleep and speak to me
Faint little voices whispering
The chamber fills my soul with fear and never goes away
Faint little voices whispering
“Get out.”
“Get out!”
Those few words filled the room with Darkness
Darkness grows more powerful when at dusk
And kills anyone who steps in his chamber at night.
Without Her
by Flower Cintron
​
I have not seen times that are darker than these-
For on this night, she left me with such ease.
The full moon beams, and brings me dreams,
Of her leaving me standing on a full moon.
As I walk back home from the failed proposal,
I ponder of how my heart was at her disposal.
Windows in the town glare reflections of just me.
When before I would look and see we.
The thought of a life without her-
Leaves me sitting in a blur;
For without me, I wish her not to live.
I pray a mysterious creature takes her down under.
I do not wish for her to live a life without me.
So tonight, I watch her sleep because she parted from we.
I wish that in her sleep, Thanatos and Hypnos visit her.
My one love should not have parted from me.
The Girl Across the Fence
by Sara Goodwich​
​
The dog sat near the rustic fence
He had been left there
The dog was abandoned and alone
A thick leather fabric held his neck tight, connected
to a metal chain
The light from the moon dimmed as roars of clouds thundered through the sky
The vast field appeared vacant,
not a single sound except the howling of the wind
through the trees
Alarmed by a mysterious sound, the dog jumped up
His chain grasped tightly to the fence
Yet, when the appearance of a young girl stood in the
center of the field
The chain let go
The dog furiously ran to the girl
But she was gone—she disappeared
Frantically, the dog peered around
She had moved to the fence
The dog furiously ran to the girl
But she was gone—she disappeared
And all that remained was a rusted locket
Hanging onto the side of the fence
Un-tombed
by Shelby Coleman
​
Flying o’er the fields of corn
A bat delights in beams of moon
Intoxicated by the nightly tune
Of lightning strikes being born
He shivers next to the slab of stone
Under which his lover rests
For on this night the heavens test
His love to limits unknown
As the bell announces the hour two
Terrors crawl beneath his feet
And in a manner ever so discrete
From the tomb a hand breaks through
Scotland Night
by Ariana Kodad​
​
I walked along the cobblestone
I saw a shadow dark and eerie
His figure lit from moonlight shone
The fear within me made me teary
It felt as if my head had blown
I turned away and clenched my teeth
My heart began to pulse quickly
Again I saw the figure creep
His spirit dark with agony
I thought he might be hurt inside
A lover maybe? A dead bride?
His lonely spirit made me cry
Wishing he may one day lie
Among the ones who’s his love resides
The Thing That Crept
by Danielle Jaffe​
​
The man sat in his room alone
His friends had come but now they’re gone
The clock struck twelve
The moonlight shone,
The mans blue eyes began to glow,
So the man went to sleep;
Unaware of the thing that crept.
The man's blue eyes began to close
And the shadow behind continued to grow
It watched the man as he slept
And stared as the storm began to blow
Feeling the stare’s on his face
The blue eyed man slowly awoke
because he did not feel alone
His stomach turned and he reached for his phone
He quickly dialed for his son
To his surprise he heard a loud ring
And the man's son stepped into the light
There he stood with tears on his face
With a knife in hand and an expression of disgrace
The blue eyed man slowly stood up
And asked his son what was wrong
“Im sorry, Dad,” he said with sorrow
“I love you but it's time to go.”
The Red Clock Tower
by Sammie Blicker
​
The girl went for a swim at night
The water was so black
And the moon shined so bright
​
She felt something rub on her leg
All alone there
It must be dead
​
Noticing a circle forming around
She stayed still as a statue
Trying not to make a sound
​
The circle moved faster and faster
She could hear her heart beating loud
Over the wind and its laughter
​
She looked out into the distance and saw the red clock tower
Tiktiking seconds to minutes
And minutes to hours
​
The red clock tower got louder with speed
As the circle swimming around her
Moved closer to feed
​
The girl saw the fin coming out of the top
Of the creature swimming around her
And screamed for it to stop
​
The creatures circle took a pause and went straight for the girl
She swam for her life towards the red clock tower
But got pulled under the water in a swirl
​
Down they went under the water
The girl could no longer breath
The shark had officially caught her
And the red clock tower turned to green.
In the Afterglow
by Elizabeth Lannin​
​
I saw him often, in the corner of my vision,
Waiting, ever so patiently.
A biting coldness surrounded him, following him always
And yet his bottomless cape lured me forward,
When I was younger, I was able to stave away the coldness,
My own heat, combined with those I chose to surround myself with,
But I was getting left behind, and slowly I became lukewarm.
It was so subtle that before I knew it,
He wasn’t as cold as I thought him to be,
and over time he began to grow warmer,
luring me in, I became obsessed with following him.
But only I ever moved closer.
He waited, never swaying me one way or another, quiet, lonely.
Frozen and fragile, devoid of previous strength
Soon, he became more prominent, clearer in my vision,
Walking besides me now, and before I knew it,
I could finally reach out, I no longer felt weak,
Because I had found my warmth
Horrid House
by Sydney Schiller​
​
A violent thrash of wind hit
the trees adjacent
To the house of souls unlit
where demons live and
nightmares roam ‘round all misfit.
On this night while the two worlds collide
reality would be an anomalous trip
Fears run wild through the streets with pride.
The notions of fear and reality where a blur
hellish realms had their claws in the mortals
Only this time things may return to the way they were.
For this night was different as the moon slain
our world as we knew it was lost to Morningstar
And know demons would rule the earth once again.
The River Bank
by Abby Sinberg
​
She walked along the river bank
Ari felt somebody following her and she was known.
Her speed picked up; the gloomy moon barely lit the path
The stranger continued behind her with the knife in his hand
Knowing all well she could not defend herself.
Her heart beat sped up; the darkness took over
She could not see the ground below her
Running faster and faster, Ari did not know where she was going.
She blinked, and she was running into water
The mucky river covered her
She wasn’t able to swim as fast as she could run
Her little legs did not have the strength to push through the thick moss
And the stranger was catching up to her.
Her choices were to keep swimming or to give in to him
The seconds were ticking by and he got closer
Slowly her head sunk under the algae and she was no longer visible.
The Midnight Crawler
by Nina Pitonakova​
​
The Midnight struck the town at 12,
I sat till the sky turned blood red
And even when I saw the man-
he saw me back and suddenly ran.
And when the clock shot down the time-
I knew for sure I wanted to cry.
The midnight crawled and creeped to me,
afraid of it being lonely.
The world came to a stop of time
making me want to learn to rhyme.
And when I saw the man again,
he stopped and stood looking at me.
His stare was cold and gave me fright-
It turned me in the dead of night.
A mouse, a bird, a monstrous dinosaur-
I switched and switched until I had no more
The midnight crawler CAME CLOSE TO ME
and saw that it was I who had been lonely.
He switched me back into my body
and set me free from his control
He wished me luck on my journey and left
before I could blink once more.
Mirror, Mirror
by Jamie Trope​
​
From the mirror’s polished porcelain rim clasp Her Majesty’s maidens’ hands.
They polish the mirror with careful fervor lest the Queen
spy a mote whilst dressing.
“Oh!” The Queen shouts out, “a spot!”
And the handmaidens keep cleaning, keep cleaning till the even dusk hits,
Cleaning till the table absorbs melted candle wax.
“There is no speck,” they say with aged outstretched palms, pointing to the mirror.
“It shines like no other. Your glass lies placid. Your mirror is clean.”
The Queen surmises the situation, peering into the deep dark sleep-deprived hollows for eyes
and cries out once more –
“You three must be mistaken –” pressing her hands upon the door,
“There are spots on my face, and I want those spots to be no more!”
“Queen—”
One lady speaks up, her voice hard and cold,
“We have cleaned the mirror’s spots;
Shall we clean yours?”
“But I have no spots! I am elegant and fair,
but I despair that wrenched mirror lies,
Flings its impure lies around the room,
flings its lies down to the Queen’s court.”
The second maiden steps forward –
“The mirror is clean, my Queen.
Let us fix your face instead.”
But the Queen does not believe her maidens who she oh so adores.
She slings a vase against the polished piece
And the mirror swings back –
Glassy shards scraping her face’s sides.
“The mirror maimed me! ‘Twas a dirty, wrenched being!”
The three maidens, old from age, tired from cleaning, only stare at the shards upon the floor.
“Queen, we must beseech you. That which lies upon the floor is glass, nothing more.
It could not hurt you.”
Bubbles of blood and icy glass fall as tears from Her face.
“It hurt me, messed with me, maimed me, and it shall pay.”
The Queen storms out, the glass still upon the floor, the blood still pouring o’er her.
The third maiden whispers, “our Queen has no wrinkles. She is beautiful and fair.”
But the mirror upon the floor could not say otherwise; it lies cold, dead, speaking no more.
A Sudden Silhouette
by Keely Sullivan​
​
There my hand opened the old black iron creaking gate to the cemetery
Clattering louder as it swung back and forth in the walling winds of the October night
Streetlights clouded with ice
Sidewalks sheeted with snow
Arose the Crows who circled in hunger around the only light of this night
My chest felt heavy as I strained to see beyond the seemingly solid black walls around me
The further I creeped the more fear built within me as I sought to find my Mother
Grasping onto the cold mausoleum stones which guided the way
My feet dragged heavily through the swirling dried leaves
The bitter cold wind blew frighteningly in my face
My lungs swarmed with the bite of the frost, howling and whistling with the Creatures above
A sudden silhouette sent shivers down my spine
It appeared from the corner of my eye growing bigger with every blink
Whispering “Hello?”, as I walked to It more quickly
There She stood above the loneliness of elderly spirits.