We’ve created a Halloween contest for all you aspiring poets and wannabe scribes with a flair for frighteningly freaky prose!

Be it a haunting haiku, alarming limerick, wraithlike rondeau or bloodcurdling burlesque, we want you to show us—and the world—your creatively creepy skills.

HOW TO ENTER:

Starting today, (Monday, October 19, 2009) at 2PM CST until Monday, October 26, 2009, at 2PM CST Llewellyn fans can submit an original, spine-chilling poem for our spooktacular “Your Poem Gives Me the Creeps” Halloween Poetry Contest by posting it to this discussion on our Facebook Fan Page.

Not on Facebook? No problem! We can post your poem for you. All you have to do is submit your poem via email to moon@llewellyn.com.

HOW TO VOTE:

Llewellyn’s staff will select the top 5 submissions and post them to our Portal to the Unknown blog on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 8AM CST.

Llewellyn friends and fiends will select the winning poem by casting their vote within the comments area of the blog post. That’s right, it’s all up to you! Let’s use our paranormal powers responsibly!

Voting for the contest will begin Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 8AM CST and end on October 29, 2009, at 4PM CST.

THE PRIZE:

The author of the poem receiving the most votes (aka blog comments) will win five of our creepiest Fall 2009 titles—Your Neighborhood Gives Me the Creeps, Spirits Out of Time, Poltergeist, The Ghost Hunter’s Survival Guide, and True Ghosts.

The winner will be announced on our Portal to the Unknown blog at 12PM CST on Friday, October 30th.

CONTEST GUIDELINES:

1. All poems must be your original work.

2. We want everyone to have a fair chance, so no previously published poems, or poems that have already won contests.

3. We’d love to read for hours, but please help spare our eyeballs the agony. Seriously, poems should be roughly 10 lines long. If it’s really good, we won’t mind if you push it to 15 lines.

4. Goblins, ghouls, monsters, vamps, witches, wizards, and earthbound spirits come in all ages and sensibilities. Although we encourage contestants to be creative with their craft; please show respect and keep the prose PG. In other words, let’s keep it clean!

5. If you are under 18, you do need your parent’s permission to participate in the contest. We have psychics on staff, so we’ll know if you’re lying about your age. Besides, if your poem wins, you won’t be able to get your ghoulish goodies (aka paranormal prize package)!

6. Mean people suck (and not in a fun, vampish kind of way), so no gratuitously gross poems or prose that defames, threatens, or encourages harm or violence to anyone (alive or dead).

7. We know you really want to win and appreciate your enthusiasm, but anyone who comments multiple times or spams us in an effort to sway the contest vote will be automatically disqualified.

8. By posting your poem for the contest on Facebook you give Llewellyn permission to republish your work on our website. Contest entries will not be published in an anthology or other publication. Authors will retain all rights to their works.

Good luck and have fun writing your poems!

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Written by Brandi Palechek
Internet marketing consulting covering all aspects of online marketing including strategic planning, social media marketing, email marketing, SEM / SEO, and pay per click program management. ...