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Moody & Macabre - The Art of Haunting Poetry

Two prompts, one grand prize!

Hosted by LadySpark · Closes Nov 8, 2026 · 22 days remaining

Entries
3 submitted
Prizes
2 prizes
Point pool
3,000 points

Prompt

As the days become shorter, the air turns crisp, and the shadows grow longer - I want to challenge the poets of YWS to write something a little... haunting. Below are two prompts. The challenge? Write a poem fulfilling one or both prompts below, and submit for consideration!

Prompt One
Horror isn't always found in graveyards or abandoned mansions; sometimes, it’s sitting right on your kitchen counter. Choose a completely ordinary, everyday object: a teapot, a hallway mirror, a streetlamp, a favorite sweater - and write a poem where it becomes the source of an escalating terror. The goal is the corruption of the familiar.

Prompt Two
For this prompt, you must write a haunting poem that seamlessly integrates these five words to anchor the horrific or spooky elements of your piece:

- Porcelain
- Hum
- Clock
- Velvet
- Marrow

Prizes

  • 1st place 1,000 points
  • 1st Place Detailed analysis and review of poem(s) submitted

3,000 points in the pool from 3 members.

Held until winners are announced and refunded if the contest is cancelled.

Entry requirements

  • Up to 2 entries per member
  • Linked YWS works allowed
  • Contest-only text entries allowed

Rules

Due to the nature of the prompt, I'll allow any type of content for submission! I myself am a huge fan of gore and somatic horror to get my point across, so go crazy!

Mature themes and imagery allowed, just please rate appropriately. If you post in the contest thread rather than as a literary work, please add a rating to the top of your post to signify anything above 12+.

Maximum 2 poems per writer. You may choose to fulfill one or both prompts.

Please let me know what prompt you're fulfilling somewhere in the submission.

Judging criteria

Each poem will be judged individually, whether the writer submits poems for one or both prompts.

I will base my decision on the winning poem on the following elements: fulfillment of prompt, "atmosphere of dread", sensory and imagery, rhythm and pacing, syntax, originality of idea.

Entries

3 entries submitted. The entry list is hidden until results are published.

Discussion · 1 Open forum topic

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AlexWrites
Special characters seem to be working weird , so please omit any 'amp;' you see after an 'and sign' in my entry, thank you!


Y'know, sometimes a family is a mutant superhuman clown with cartoony powers, a hyperactive shapeshifter created in a lab, the ghost of an artificially created being who only exists for exposition, a cat who is an eldritch god for some reason, and an emo guy who doesn't canonically exist
— GengarIsBestBoy