Contests

Frightful Poetry Contest

Hungry ghosts? Zombies? Vanishers? Kappa? The frightening things in this monstrous Cricket sent shivers down George’s spine (or would have, if he had one). Still, most of us enjoy a good scare, especially as Halloween grows near. For this month’s contest, everybuggy—even George—would like to read your best poem about something frightful.

Will your poem be filled with Halloween ghosts and witches, or visiting a haunted house? Maybe your scary verse will be inspired by a monster from folk lore, like the Gévaudan or the Golem. Perhaps you will imagine what it would be like to play your favorite scary creature in a movie or play, like the monster actor Alan Maxson. Or maybe what gives you goosebumps and makes your hair stand on end isn’t a monster at all, it’s . . . your science teacher, or a big math test, or performing before an audience, or seeing your older sister dye her hair purple. Ah!

Whatever scares your socks off, everybuggy will be hiding under the covers around the Cricket Country mailbox, waiting for the ghostly apparition of your best scary poem—24 lines or less, please—to rise monstrously out of the mist. Mwah-ha-ha!

 

  • (Show Rules)
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    1. Your contest entry must be your very own original work. Ideas and words should not be copied.

    2. Your entry must be signed by your parent or guardian, stating that it is your own work, that no help was given, and that Cricket has permission to publish it in the magazine and on our website. 

    3. Be sure to include your name, age, and full address on your entry.

    4. Only one entry per person, please.

    5. If you want your work returned, enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope for each entry.

    6. Your entry must be received by October 25, 2016.

    7. Send entries to Cricket League, P.O. Box 300, Peru, IL 61354. (No faxes or email submissions, please!)

    8. We will publish winning entries in the February 2017 issue and on the Cricket website.