# October Challenge: "Something Wicked This Way Comes"



## Chesters Daughter

The prompt for this month's challenge, as chosen by Firemajic is: *Something Wicked This Way Comes*

You are free to interpret the prompt in any way you wish, though of course, site rules apply. If you are unsure of the challenge rules please read the 'stickies' at the top of the board.

We are continuing to allow optional anonymity this month. You may post your entries yourself, or, if you'd like to remain anonymous, you may PM your entry to me, *Chester's Daughter*, If you are posting anonymously, please indicate in your PM which board, public or workshop, you desire your entry posted on.

Kindly make sure your entry is properly formatted and error free before you submit. You have a *ten minute grace period* to edit your piece, but anything edited after that will likely see your entry excluded from the challenge. 

As usual, if you'd wish to protect your first rights, post your entry in the *workshop thread, **and post a link to it in this thread. Failure to do so runs the risk of your entry being disqualified.

**Do not post comments in this thread. Any discussion related to the challenge can take place in the **Bards' Bistro.

**Now that the 'like" function is again blessing us with its presence, we respectfully request that you refrain from using it until this thread has been closed and the poll has been opened.

This challenge will close on the 15th of October at 7pm EST. *


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## Ethan

*Something wicked this way comes!*

Through the half light, through the trees,
oozing, creeping, ‘twixt  the leaves ,
pilfering light and stealing breeze.

Within this dank despairing air,
something lurks, yet isn’t there.

Through the marshland, through the reeds,
silence spawns this evil breed,
the harbinger of dreadful deeds.

Fermented water’s  stagnant scum,
leech-like hold,  prevents the run,
not knowing  whence, but Hell it’s from,

yes;
Something Wicked, this way comes.​


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## Chesters Daughter

*Baby's First Halloween - 2012 (Mature Content)*

This Samhain
was his alone.

The babe was bathed
in a lunar spotlight
made by a moon 
intent on bursting
its full-bodied boundaries.
Unclothed and unswaddled,
he did not cry nor quiver;
the scent of ammonia prevailed
from his never-ending red tinged river
which strove for the stars 
to mark the universe his own.

Chubby fists and feet beat
the frosty, worn slab of ebony stone,
a makeshift crib as old as time,
while revelers, as naked as he,
locked arms and writhed
in a circle about him.
Petechiae bloomed on infant flesh;
chanting crescendoed. 

Then silence, 
save for the solemn beat
of a single drum
fashioned from the skin of sacrifice
stretched across a hollow gourd.
Thus uttered the oracle:
"In one score and eight,
all kingdoms will be his, and ours.
Rise he will, until he can climb no further,
and with a vow, He will become."

The babe, yet plagued by an unpracticed tongue,
relied on eyes to accede.
Pupils leaked and absorbed whole orbs
while a hint of hellfire crackled for a second,
then in a blink, brilliant, trustworthy blue
resumed, ready to fool.

Thirteen huddled closer
as fists and feet flailed
chipping stone 
and scoring flesh of celebrants
who wore their wounds
like badges of honor.
Badly bloodied,
they then twirled
and laughed
while ammonia rained upon them,
each relishing the sting
of mock stigmata

until entered the eclipse
freezing all, 
save for the babe

who gurgled and cooed
as all babies do.

Then whispered the oracle:

"The autumn of 2040
will be aptly named the fall
yet ignored by hordes suffused
with blind adoration,
for on the first Tuesday
of a bleak November
the pinnacle will be promised
and mere weeks later,
the youngest President ever sworn
will take an oath 
without a bible in sight

and thus will begin
perpetual night.

I doubt their god can save them all."


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## jenthepen

*The Warning.*

*‘Be quick!’  he shouted, ‘Run, get out, and scatter while ye may! *
*‘Do not tarry and do not wait, for evil comes this way!’                    *
*A dozen eyes looked up in fear, yet distrust curbed their haste,  *
*‘Who is it comes? What have ye seen?’ an old man asked at last.*

*The stranger turned his glassy gaze towards the huddled crew,          *
*‘A dreadful sight that burns the eyes and turns the brain to goo.        *
*‘A beastly, foul and fiendish thing and – oh that odious smell!           *
*‘But you must hurry, leave this place while yet still whole and well.’  *

*A murmur rose among them then, but one thought to resist,                *
*and from the quiet corner, still the old man’s voice persists,                 *
*‘Is it a man or devil’s horde? And which way does it come?              *
*‘How big is it? What of its shape? Or is it just phantom?’                  *

*The stranger’s breath caught in his throat as visions came to mind,        *
*‘It moves like nothing moves on earth and no man’s seen its kind.          *
*‘Oh God!’ he cried, ‘It’s everything that’s evil, bad and vile,                  *
*‘its impish breath’s obnoxious and corrupt its vicious smile.’                  *

*The old man’s gaze was steady as he locked the stranger’s stare,            *
*‘How big is it? Does it have eyes – or teeth or horns or hair?'               *
*‘Oh, teeth like no teeth ever seen and eyes that are not eyes.                   *
*‘It steps and jumps and slithers as it rolls and crawls and flies.’              *


*The stranger looked around and then he moved towards the door.      *
*‘But I’ll not linger here,’ he said, ‘I’m bound for distant shores           *
*‘and ye’d be well advised, I think, my warning not to shun,                  *
*‘for though ye doubt, ye’ll soon succumb. Something wicked this way comes.’ *


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## Firemajic

*Excerpts taken from Lillian's journal*

I heard the panpipes playing
as I lay shivering in my bed,
my body trembled with dark desire
and my soul was chilled with dread.

My body burned with wanton heat
as I lay in the cold moonlight,
bewitched by the lust I felt
on this wild enchanted night.

I fell into a restless sleep,
had dreams of strange desires,
of cloven hooves and polished horns
and caresses like molten fire.

I dreamed I ran through a twilight mist,
down to a secret glen 
and hid behind a twisted tree
to catch a glimpse  of him.

His skin was alabaster white,
horns polished sliver bone,
hooves gold and cloven,
face like the gods of ancient Rome.

I dreamed that from the forest edge
there appeared a druid maid,
and she danced in the moonlight
to the panpipes that he played.

She let her garments slowly fall
revealing all her charms
and ran across the secret glade
and wrapped him in her arms.

He then picked her flowers
and twined them in her hair.
then swept her up in his arms
and carried her to his lair.

Amber lightening split the sky
and opened up a monstrous pit,
Cerberus from the abyss came forth
as the flames of hell were lit.

In the morning when I awoke
I found crushed flowers in my hair
and the aria that the panpipes played
drifted in the sultry air.

With the waning of the solstice moon
my belly began to swell,
protecting the seed that was spawned
when the beast escaped from hell.

666 was the demon's mark
on my unholy newborn son,
woe to all who survives this night--
something wicked this way comes...


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## Jeff C

*Something Wicked This Way Comes, From Another World.

Through the shadows they shift.
Mountains, they unearth.
Ripping apart the cosmos.


They leave no human marks
Just imprints upon the ground.
Signs, we claim this land.


They’ll turn you into dust,
Resist and you shall die.
Bow and you may live,
forever a servant to their cause.


Planet by planet,
they come to destroy.
Water, gold, the apple of their eyes.


Zipping through the atmosphere
They block out the sun,
Slowly turning us back to dust.


Once they are done,
They’ll make their way.
On to the next...
Planet to decay.


*


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## apple

*Dark Visits*

Dark Visits


He covers his head with burlap and crawls.

All night he crawls,

picking at drops of moonlight

erasing  light with his belly.

The woods are slick with saliva

as he licks leaves and trees and bird cadavers,

tasting life and death, sucking his fingers of dirt.

On outskirts, just beyond the edge,

frail fingers of sound rummage and rustle

as he finds his way beneath your window,

releases his bowels,

then lies catatonic inside your fear.


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## toddm

*A Cautionary Tale*

It was purposely and without remorse,
and with the aid of a reluctant horse,
that all the children out in the yard
pushed on the Old Wall very hard
until it toppled over with a crash.

Then Oliver, who was always brash,
surmounted in glee the pile of rubble
and said at last it would be no trouble
for them to come and go as they please,
they could even walk out among the trees
that surrounded the village on every side,
beyond the wall they had all decried.

But dusk was falling and light grew dim,
so Oliver, smiling, said unto them:
"Now off to bed - I will show you tomorrow
that being closed-in has been our only sorrow."
So each to their pillows and blankets withdrew
and dreamed of a world so wide and so new.

But in the night, the werewolves crept
from the forest and devoured them as they slept.


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## midnightpoet

Wicked

Wicked is coming;
your flesh creeps
at the thought.
You look through
dusty windowblinds
fearing his approach;
you reach for
the light and 
it fades into ether 
at your touch.

Fear rises
and catches 
your throat, 
senses blinded 
by anxiety. 

Taste the bile 
at the tip of your 
tongue.
Hide under the bed
cower in the closet.
Terror will find you;
shiver at the 
thought of clammy
hands
grabbing at your
flesh like sweaty
claws.

Wicked is coming;
there is no escape
from the 
red flame of his eyes
that burn you for eternity.

His smell is nauseating;
it is the odor of hate.
Avoid the cellar, for 
that is where evil dwells,
gnawing at your very bones.

Wicked is coming
fear the creaking
of the door,
Daddy’s home.


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## thepancreas11

Step by step,
the dreaded future comes
with pumping heart.
He flows
to the gallows,
dragging feet,
a wall of eyes
on either side.
The polished floor
leers with light.

And yet, he does not stop.

Beat by beat,
his heart does roll
upon his chest.
Across the way,
doom or glory
awaits loves
potential martyr.

And yet, he does not stop.

Breath by breath
the words flow forth
to plead his case.
His judge
a blank and silent face.
He stumbles.

And yet, he does not stop.

Word by word,
he leaves it all
upon the polished floor.
He asks...

And then, he stops.

"Yes," she says,
and smiles.
"I would like to dance."


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## Chesters Daughter

*The Changeling*


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## TKent

*Something Wicked Comes Your Way*

Something wicked gives me death
Then frees me from my rotting shell
Kisses purple lips with breath
Returns my life with earth my hell

Something wicked seeths inside
Fills my bones, my veins, my skin
Evil heart and deadened eyes
Thoughts of pain and death and sin

Something wicked comes your way
Fear me now, for I am vile
Hide your soul, get far away
I'll share my fate with a hellish smile


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## Mutimir

*The Circumstances of Becoming Old*

Lurking in the darkness, dormant in the mind,
That simple question that plagues the soul.
It sneaks then strangles, when energy depleted,
Asking, am I really going to die alone?

Burnt out nose hair trimmers and empty beer cans,
Tools necessary for the decrepit man.
Receding hairline, lukewarm TV dinners,
Forgetting, am I really going to die alone? 

One day perhaps, by some fortuitous spark,
A wicked fire will rage, stoked by this barren hand.
And here it comes, a question doomed by inaction,
Hoping, will she give me another chance?   

Self-fulfilling prophecy founded by pride,
Constructed by the derelict man in his barren home.
Bound by rituals, routine and ways set in stone,
Revealing, only stubborn men wonder if they'll die alone.


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## Chesters Daughter

This challenge is now closed.


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