Welcome to the Third annual 2009 Halloween Bash. I will be your host for this spooktackular event. It is my hopes to get everyone on AP or just about to enter this contest. The prizes are big, the more points I earn the more I will add to the contest until the end date which will be October 31st. All Donations will be noted on the contest page. Now on to what I am looking for in this contest.
I withhold commenting on all entries until the end of the contest, but I do view every entry to make sure it is in compliance with the rules 
In addition to the great fun this contest will be and the awesome point prizes everyone who enters this contest will get this award
Awards are as follows:
Gold will get a one month Gold membership courtesy of Kevin and this Trophy
Silver will get this Trophy
Bronze will get this Trophy
There are several options for this contest, some require forms, some are free verse and some have other particulars that have to be followed. Please be sure to read carefully the option you choose and follow any directions/rules that apply to that form as well as the general rules that all of the entrants must follow. Please always remember to put your option number in your author notes. 
OPTIONS: Here are the options you may choose from. You may choose more than one option but please follow the rules for the options you choose.
Option One: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
The story can be found here TheLegend of Sleepy Hollow
For this option take a passage from this story, a paragraph or so, (include the passage chosen in your author notes) and write a poem about it.
Freeverse, no more than 30 lines, no less than 10
Option Two: Samhain
Here you can find information on Samhain
The most magical night of the year, when all souls get to roam the Earth.
Write me a ghastly tale about this Holiday.
Write in the inspiration of Poe
Sonnet form, any variation on the sonnet form, put which form of sonnet in your author notes.
Option Three: The Raven
Poe's "TheRaven" is one of the best poems that he wrote. I love it
Write me a poem about the Raven, in the style of Poe's poem. I do not want a rewrite. I want your own story of The Raven.
There is no form requirements, but pay attention the meter of this poem, with each stanza being five long lines and one short, make the short line the refrain line of your poem. Poe uses between 15 and 17 syllables for each of his long lines and around seven for the short. I would like for you to keep 10 or 11 syllables for the longs lines and 7 or 8 for the short refrain line.
No more than 50 lines, no less than 30
Option Four: Halloween Word Bank
Choose atleast 5 words from the word bank to create your poem. This option is more for the younger members. 15 and under.
Free verse or form is fine. No more than 20 lines, no less than 5. Put the words used in your author notes
Apples
Bat
Black Cat
Boo
Candy Corn
Costumes
Ghost
Goblin
Halloween
Princess
Pumpkin
Spider
Spooky
Superhero
Trick orTreat
Vampire
Witch
HauntedHouse
Jackolantern
Mask
Moon
Mummy
Night
October
Pirate
Option Five: Halloween Costume Word Scramble
Unscramble all of these words and then choose 2 to 5 of them to write your poem (again this option is for children 15 and under) Put the unscrambled words in your author notes and tell me which words you use in your poem
The form for this option is a clerihew .Which is a four line poem. You can do a chain up to four stanzas.
ICTWH
YBOWCO
SPSRENIC
TGOSH
SNROEMT
GALNE
KCCTABAL
SWCOARREC
EPTIAR
CNLOW
DRSEPI
VEARMIP
BBIRAT
Option Six: Halloween Quotes
Choose a quote from the page, and write a poem. Free verse or Form
Option Seven: Picture Image
Choose a picture from HERE
Write apoem about it. In the form of a MirroredRefrain
Option Eight: Acrostic
Choose one of the following words and write an Acrostic with it.
Witch
Halloween
Goblin
Samhain
Haunted
Ghost
Black Cat
Ghastly
Rules: (yes there are some)
NO Chat speak, I cannot stress this enough, no chat speak, I feel it ruins a poem
No sticky caps (can't stand those and really why?)
This contest is open to all ages, so please, keep it nice, no adult content or erotica content. No swearing. I will be checking and this is a deal breaker
Most important have FUN!!!!!!!
Please remember to check back often as there may be changes or additions to the rules or criteria of the contest. I wouldn't want you to loose out for not following some rule
Donations:
Griswold: 1000 pts
Miss Faerie: 2500 pts
Raven Blackwater: 1000 pts
Anonymous: 4000 pts
Raspberry 1000 pts
*** NOTE ALL GRAPHICS ON THIS PAGE ARE NOT MY OWN. I MADE THE AWARD TAGS BUT USED GRAPHICS FROM GOOGLE
Contest is Over
- Contest was judged on November 30
- Rewards: Gold: 3500, Silver: 2800, Bronze: 2700
- Final notes: Thank you all for your excellent entries. On behalf of all the judges we thank you for entering and hope you enjoyed the contest. Congratulations to the winners.
Kevin will be notified of the gold winner and hopefully with in a few days you will receive your gold membership.
Thank you all!
Contest Winners
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• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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by Black Narcissus 22 lines, 6 comments, on Oct 2 1:12 AM. In Dark, Fantasy, Halloween
Bronze trophy winner
• Commented on by judge. [remove] -
“Nevermore,” quoth the Raven, quite unseemly
His name he sang in these grey halls of dread;• Commented on by judge. [remove] -
• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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On all Hallows Eve, the spirits of the dead all did roam free
an enchanted town by day, with a stench of death at night.• Commented on by judge. [remove]
Gold trophy winner
Silver trophy winner
Entries [26]
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"Nothing on Earth so beautiful as the final haul on Halloween night."
Or so I once thought.by Incapable of Death 75 lines, 4 comments, on Sep 30 1:32 PM. In Halloween• Commented on by judge. -
She's pale in the daylight
but shines under the moon,by dismantle-me 66 lines, 3 comments, on Oct 2 7:32 AM• Commented on by judge. -
Good job we are in for the night. Hark listen to that gale
Have you just put the kettle on? Did you hear someone wail?by Bluebellella 4 lines, 4 comments, on Oct 3 5:36 AM. In Spooky• Commented on by judge. -
• Commented on by judge.
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Halloween,
the night where childrenby Coloured Skies 18 lines, 12 comments, on Oct 6 10:52 AM. In Contest, Dark, Thoughts, Fantasy, Life, October, Halloween, Trick or Treat, Holiday• Commented on by judge. -
Spirits moving from grave to grave spirals of dust rise from Earth
As skeletal remains walk with eerie pride• Commented on by judge. -
The night of halloween, graced by the light of a full moon,
Cloaks the earth with an eeri sensation.by rockerchick0221 22 lines, 3 comments, on Oct 12 11:13 PM• Commented on by judge. -
H ere come the children,under cloak of night
A all is quiet and the air is thickby PsychoAnalysis 7 lines, 3 comments, on Oct 14 5:00 PM. In Contest• Commented on by judge. -
Nights ago in the witching hour, while I meandered by the city tower,
Searching briskly for my unspoiled statuesque bride to be,by Predictable Poets 67 lines, 3 comments, on Oct 17 2:49 PM• Commented on by judge. -
Haunted houses fill up the world.by peadiotrocity101 16 lines, 4 comments, on Oct 18 9:01 AM• Commented on by judge.
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Beneath the moonless sky,
beneath the stars that burnby celticwarrior 87 lines, 9 comments, on Oct 19 8:08 AM• Commented on by judge. -
I bought a pet, I admit in regret,
While I perused my favorite pet store,• Commented on by judge. -
O, forever they'll say
'Tis a Horrortines Dayby St. Anarchy 19 lines, 4 comments, on Oct 28 10:48 AM. In Halloween, samhain, witches, zombies, ghosts, canibalism, humour• Commented on by judge. -
Away with the Light
into the Nightby Ravenic Seraphim 30 lines, 5 comments, on Oct 29 7:04 AM• Commented on by judge. -
W ickedly cruel
I s her wayby VampireKitty- 4 lines, 6 comments, on Oct 27 1:38 PM• Commented on by judge.
Add a comment
Comments
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What is Chat Speak? No dialogue?
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Chat Speak
is where you abbreviate words, such as u in place of you, or 2b instead of to be. I want proper grammar, and accepted abbreviations, such as can't or shouldn't. -
Whew, okay - Thank you. Boy am I not with it or what?
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Bookmarked.
This seems like such fun.
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On the word bank option, when you say freeverse or form, does the form part mean we can use a form of rhyme?
Thanks ~ Tash. -
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Form
means any of the poetic forms, rhyme or not, such as a Pantoum, Sonnet, Villanelle, Haiku, ect.. -
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Thanks!
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links
i am trying to get the sleepy hollow link to work to read the story but it tells me every time that the link to the webpage is expired what should i do? -
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thanks
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I may donate points if I win other contests..... So I'll see.
And I have a prewritten poem with 7 words from your word bank! Can that count? -
I'm definitely interested here. The Poe one is great...his form, which I looked closely at, is pretty difficult!
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Lol I was just about to ask what chat speak was, but already asked. Good to know I wasn't the only one who didn't know.
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for the raven prompt, do we have to write our own take on the raven, or such a poem resembling it? i felt the rules for that option were rather vague. thanks!
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Hello she still stands
"Write me a poem about the Raven, in the style of Poe's poem. I do not want a rewrite. I want your own story of The Raven."
As the bolded type clearly states I am looking for your own story of the Raven, but in style of Poe's
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Mmm, a Raven poem in Poe's style and only 10 or 11 syllables per line? That just takes out that fabulous swing, which is making that poem sing.
But...I'll try, I'll try, very hard to do though once you have that 15 to 17 syllable cadance in your head. LOL I have written one some years ago.
I've seen Charles Dickens Raven in the Library of Philadelphia. -
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That fabulous swing, indeed!
Since JustaDutchie bought it up, I simply have to add my 2 cents about this syllable requirement for the Raven option. I don't want to be a stickler but if we are truly going to adhere to Poe's style, we must have, at a minimum, an either eight- or twelve-syllable requirement but not 10. Let me explain...
Each of the first five lines of each Raven verse is divided into 2 halves. Each half has 8 syllables (with few exceptions) or more importantly, 4 syllable pairs for a total of 8 syllable pairs per line to equal 16 syllables. This is important because of Poe's meter which the academics would call trocheic octameter. 'Octameter' refers to the 8 syllable pairs in each line. 'Trocheic' refers to the fact that the stress fall on the first syllable of each syllable pair as in DUM-da DUM-da DUM-da..., or as Dutchie called it "that fabulous swing!"
So, I don't want to sound too preachy but since I adore Poe and this prompt, I simply have to say that if you want to reduce the syllable count, then reduce the number of syllable pairs so that they will be equal on both halves of each line. A ten-syllable requirement would be 5 syllable pairs but each half of each line would be uneven. By increasing to a 12-syllable requirement (6 syllable pairs), each line can then have 3 syllable pairs in each half, thereby reducing the length of the poem but also truly keeping to Poe's awesome metric style.
There, I got that off my chest. My tell-tale heart is beating a mile a minute. I'm not trying to be troublesome or condescending in the slightest; I REALLY want to partake of this awesome challenge and do it justice so I thought I'd share...
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I am open
to the longer syllable count, mostly I said 10 to 11 because I didn't want it to be too daunting, but 12 is acceptable, and if you want to try and keep up with his syllable count I will be more than happy to accept that. I love Poe too, the Raven is my favorite poem by him.
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If
you want to write in 15 to 17 syllables then go right ahead. I just wanted to allow everyone a chance at it without it being too daunting.
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Well, pity I missed out on this contest, but I had to go away for a couple of days, just returned tonight.
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Thank you for Gold!
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