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Spooky Is As Spooky Does

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On Monday, Frank J. Tassone hosted dVerse’s Haibun Monday.  He said:  “Let’s feel the spooky sensation of this coming Halloween/Samhain! Let’s celebrate that emotion of dread. Let’s write our haibun that states or references fear.”

Looking for a particular photo and some inspiration I went through my pictures.  I found a couple (though not the one I really wanted) and settled on this one.  Shall we?

Nicole was practically skipping as she made her way home, still feeling warm and fuzzy from the lovely evening she had had with her besties. Getting together for dinner and a movie was always so much fun.  In the spirit of the upcoming holiday, they had gone to see Halloween #27. (Seriously? When were they going to give it up already?)  She giggled as she thought of how ludicrous the whole thing was until she noticed how dark and quiet the woods seemed suddenly.  Where was the birdsong? The buzzing of insects?  She tripped over the roots of a tree, just managing to stay upright.  The willies crept in and she imagined the tree branches reaching towards her to grab her.  She stumbled forward, fear overtaking her reasoning as she hurried to get out of the now-scary woods and out into the clearing. What the hell was wrong with her anyway?

Fear courses through veins

Causing heart palpitations

None of it is real

120 thoughts on “Spooky Is As Spooky Does”

    • Thank you, Lisa!
      Hey… I gotta see what’s up with WP. I just realised I haven’t read you in a few days because I have zero emails (I had you set up to get on email per day of your postings). When I went to see, it stated I am subscribed and am supposed to… I hope I fixed whatever was wrong. (Just so you don’t think I suddenly started dissing you 😉 )

      Liked by 2 people

      • You’re welcome, Dale. Thanks for the heads-up on your not “suddenly started dissing” me. WP is an unreliable engine that often misfires. I’ve seen where people follow me again and again each day, but I know they haven’t unfollowed. I’ve had the same thing happen with others I know I’ve followed. Thank you for realizing it and have attempted to correct it. I appreciate you and no way want to “lose” you via glitch ❤

        Liked by 1 person

  7. Of course none of it is real. It happens every night out here between our black bamboo patch that turns into a playground for monsters, and the bosque were La Llorona, Chupacabra, and the coyotes rule the night. Of course, none of it is real. I loved the story, Dale.

    Liked by 3 people

    • Of course it isn’t. What a wonderful place for the monsters to play in. Of course, none of it is real 😉 Must repeat as often as necessary!
      Glad you did, Tim!

      Liked by 1 person

        • I bet. Plus… aren’t you out in the middle of nowhere?
          I stopped giving candy years ago. Not enough of the little monsters came by and I end up eating all that… my butt ain’t got no need for any o’ dat!

          Liked by 1 person

          • I got it point blank. Poor skunk limped off. I hoped I didn’t hurt him too badly. That was several years ago. I have a terrible time getting the smell out of my leather belt and wallet. I found a spray that encapsulated smells that worked really well. I need that stuff years later. Could I find it? No. The ingredient that made it work so well was probably outlawed. That happened with a lime and rust remover I use to use in the toilet. Our hard water is rough on things.

            Liked by 1 person

          • Oh dear. I know you care about animals and would never want to hurt one, even if they are right there under foot! I can so well imagine. Lawzy. We ran over a dead skunk and the car stank for months. Every time it was warm, we were reminded.
            I once lived in an apartment (6 units). We were in the middle on the right side. The stupid broad below us left her door open, a skunk wandered in and she chased it into the bathroom… all three units on one side are connected. Of course is sprayed. The stench was so strong it woke us up. I got to work later and asked my co-worker if I smelled… At first she said no then, with time, said oh yeah. All my woolen slkirts I thought were toast. Thankfully the fumes didn’t stick. Ugh.

            Liked by 1 person

          • What’s interesting is Silver and Spunk have been sprayed, and when I got home they didn’t stink. I guess they were able to lick it off before it got to their skin. When it’s really strong it smells like burnt wiring.

            Liked by 1 person

          • That is interesting. My sister’s dog, while very intelligent in most ways, STUPIDLY got sprayed five, yes FIVE times one summer.
            When it is fresh, it smells so strong, you don’t even recognise the scent. It comes in after your nostrils have been burnt! Ugh. So gross.

            Liked by 1 person

  11. Q

    It’s close to midnight
    Something evil’s lurking from the dark

    Because . . it’s thriller! Thriller night . . . Boooohahahahaha!

    Special thank you to MJ and Vincent Price for that opening to this comment. On a post that is eerily familiar to the Washington Irving classic “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, which oh by the way celebrated its 200th anniversary last year. One of our first ghost stories, still one of the spookiest going.

    There is something about the dark that transforms us into scared little kids, isn’t there? Like, if I happen to come across The Exorcist movie whilst channel surfing at night . . the lights stay on for the rest of the night. Scares the fuck out of me, all this time later. And don’t get me started on things that go bump in the night.

    Oh that’s right, too late. you already did. 😉

    B

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Rochelle,

      Oh, the imagination can go all over the place, to be sure and certain! Love that you found it spooktastic 😉

      Shalom and lotsa spooky love,

      Dale

      Liked by 1 person

    • Thank you, Barbara. So very glad you enjoyed. I’m not a fan of walking alone in a dark woods, either! (This shot was during daylight 😉 )

      Like

  16. Circumstance are deceptive. If it feels real, it must be so, at least at it’s core. As a child of scared of everything. Am not as an adult…..that’s my story and am sticking with it.

    Liked by 1 person

    • This be true. My sister was a queen at getting everyone scared when she was. (Probably still does!)
      I’ll back your story. It’s yours, who’s to say it’s not true?

      Like

  17. oh my! I sure am glad that Halloween will pass me by (hopefully) also this year. But pls go ahead, enjoy yourselves, just don’t feed any hash candies to kids!

    Liked by 1 person

    • You know what’s funny? Hallowe’en is my least favourite holiday. I hate dressing up and I never felt the need to go party for it, either. Mick loved it, though. I’ll just turn off my lights again this year – I used to give out candy but there were so few kids, I had way too much. Who do you think ended up eating all that crap? Not anymore!

      Liked by 1 person

      • btw, in France, we had a ‘trip’ of several minutes to go physically down to the locked gates from our house so we ‘culled’ all lighting in the house and played dead to the world. It’s very cosy with candles on all tables….. but the kids stupidly smeared something sticky into our intercom system and we paid a small ransom later to be able to communicate with postmen, deliveries etc. So clearly: Who won in the end???? Since then I hate this day even more.

        Liked by 1 person

  23. Pingback: Spooky Is As Spooky Does – Nelsapy

  25. Only #27! The Halloween producers are falling behind.
    Your tale is perfect for the season! The pic is perfect, really great, Thunder! It all works.
    Actually, I have felt that fear, as I hurried to get out of an alley.
    Are the 3 lines at the end the Haibun? Fab upshot in 3 lines!

    Liked by 1 person

  27. I have been there. It was to be a “day hike,” alone. I was not even half way back by total darkness. No moon (of course). No flash light, no compass, no nothing but the voice saying “you dumb MFer”. If there was a rock, I tripped, every hole I stepped in, ever bear ate me. I never do anything like that without the 10 essentials. Scary stuff. Not the imagined. The real had me.

    Liked by 1 person

  28. You’ve really captured that sense of dread that creeps up on us, even if there is nothing to be scared of. I like the last line of the poem that both puts a lid on the fear, but it also has a bit of a philosophical feel, like is any of this real? Not sure I can explain what I mean, but I liked it anyway 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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