Halloween Poems For Kids

I spot the hills
With yellow balls in autumn.
I light the prairie cornfields
Orange and tawny gold clusters
And I am called pumpkins.
On the last of October
When dusk is fallen
Children join hands
And circle round me
Singing ghost songs
And love to the harvest moon;
I am a jack-o’-lantern
With terrible teeth
And the children know
I am fooling.

On one mystic, magic night,
Jack O Lanterns glowing bright,
kids with bags of candy sweet,
roam door to door and street to street,
all dressed up for trick or treat!

Wizards with wands, pirates with hooks,
monsters and clowns with spooky looks,

kings and queens with capes and crowns,
a princess in her royal gown,

witches with warts and fairies with wings
movies stars with sparkling rings,

vampires with fangs that bite,
ghost that boo all dressed in white.

Imaginations taken flight,
on that one mystic, magic night.

Oh, the fun of Halloween,
be young or old or in between!

In the fairy town of Dragonfly Cove, the air is filled with anticipation
For tonight is the town's biggest event, its Halloween celebration

The fairies are up with the first rays of the sun
Decorating and baking, there is much to be done

In the afternoon, they all take a much-needed rest 
Then they will need plenty of time to get dressed

When the stars come out over Dragonfly Hall
The fairies start arriving for the Halloween Ball

They come all decked out in their finest costumes
Bedazzling in flowers and ribbons and plumes

They admire the costumes of every guest
They all have opinions on which one is best

Platters overflow with food, deliciously divine
To be washed down with a glass of gooseberry wine

The band has set up and is playing a lively tune
The fairies dance until morning by the light of the moon

Jack comes every year to visit me,
And his grin just makes me smile.
Nearly toothless, he doesn't care.
He happily laughs all the while.

Eyes glowing in mirth and merriment,
He makes this time of year happy,
Though he's not much in conversation,
And he has no repartee snappy.

Jack just stays for a few weeks
Every year when the leaves turn yellow.
He's as welcome as he could possibly be.
He's quite the fun old fellow.

Now the sun goes down and the moon comes up,
And the costumed monsters come calling.
Light a candle to get Jack going!
Fast! The eventide's falling!

All Halloween night he sits with me,
Grinning to greet the neighbors
'Til his candle's gone and he goes to sleep.
These are hours that I truly savor.

So long old Jack, tomorrow's November!
We'll see you again next year!
When you come to visit from the pumpkin patch,
We will all be waiting right here!

When leaves start turning orange and golden-brown,
Kids start to dress in costumes so dandy.
For one day a year, all throughout the town
It's time for kids to amass some candy.

Every fun boy and girl shall don the mask,
and with happiness, shall knock on the door.
They all know what question they are to ask
Trick or Treat? I want candy! Give me more!

Up in the sky, with the orange moon so full,
A witch is joined by her fuzzy black cats.
A scarecrow is leaning against a pole.
The silence is broken by shrieking bats.

Halloween is not always full of fright,
for anyone can be a kid that night.

The chilly nights begin tonight.
The haunted houses bring the fright.
The warm bonfires have the flames.
See the leaves rustle through the window frames.

The warm fleece blankets are as soft as a cloud.
I eat more candy than I am allowed.
The spooky stories give me a scare.
Halloween night has fun in the air.

Pumpkin, oh Pumpkin,
Your candle light's bright.
Pumpkin, oh Pumpkin,
You shine bright through the night.

Pumpkin, oh Pumpkin,
You sit on the porch.
Pumpkin, oh Pumpkin,
You're a decorative torch.

Pumpkin, oh Pumpkin,
Your teeth so messed up,
As you smile at the kids,
As cute as a buttercup.

Pumpkin, oh Pumpkin,
You bring me much joy.
Pumpkin, oh Pumpkin,
You make the children overjoyed.

Pumpkin, oh Pumpkin,
You're really a Jack-O'-Lantern.

Creeping, crawling creatures scurry in the night,
Rats and bats and spiders, nibble, out of sight,
Don’t look too carefully,
You’ll get a nasty fright!

Monsters in the bathroom, witches in the hall,
Hairy beasts and demons climbing every wall,
You won’t want to catch them,
When they start to fall!

Vampires’ stealthy footsteps cross the wooden floor,
Werewolves howling fearfully, beyond your kitchen door,
Don’t look outside now,
You won’t want to find out more!

Zombies with their wild eyes and their soulless grins,
Skeletons with their bony cheeks and their missing skins,
Listen for their rattling sounds,
But do not let them in!

Halloween is coming, what a scary night,
Ghosties, ghouls and goblins dancing in the light,
Here they are all coming now, feel the spooky beat,
If you listen, hear ‘em shout:

“TRICK OR TREAT!”

Halloween is nearly here.
I’ve got my costume planned.
It’s sure to be the most horrific
outfit in the land.

If you should see me coming
you may scream and hide your head.
My get-up will, I guarantee,
fill every heart with dread.

My costume may cause nightmares.
Yes, my mask may stop your heart.
You might just shriek and wet yourself,
then squeamishly depart.

And yet, I won’t be dressing as
you might expect me to.
I will not be a vampire
or ghost that hollers “boo!”

I won’t look like a werewolf
or a goblin or a ghoul,
or even like a slimy blob
of deadly, dripping drool.

I will not be a zombie
or some other horrid creature.
No, this year I’ll be much, much worse…
I’m dressing as a teacher.

“Halloween is Nearly Here” copyright © 2012 Kenn Nesbitt. All Rights Reserved. Published in The Armpit of Doom. Reprinted by permission of the author. www.poetry4kids.com

Wooden door; wide and creaky.
Sculking cat; snide and sneaky.
Skeletons; cold and clanky.
Madame Witch; old and cranky.
Ancient paintings; strange and spooky.
Watching eyes; crazed and looky.
Blackest bat; fast and flappy.
Venus Flytrap; mighty snappy.
Wailing ghosts; always moany.
Piano playing on its owny.
Time to go! Scream and shouty!
Read the sign – ‘No Way Out-y!’

Candy, candy in the bag.
It's that time of year.
Funny clown, witchy hag.
Another house is near.

Popcorn balls and tootsie rolls.
A handful is the best
Taken from the biggest bowls
At homes that pass the test.

Ding dong, ring the bell.
Trick-or-treat is said,
And if it does not go so well,
Then mark the first word said.

Trees draped in toilet paper,
Fecal bags on fire.
Dressed like an undertaker,
The trick was their desire.

Midnight comes, all bags are full.
Time to count the bounty.
The night is done; we've played our role
All throughout the county.

Enjoy this yearly fun-filled night,
Feast upon its riches
From the first and final bite
Of Hugs and Hershey Kisses.

We bought a lot of candy bars.
We thought it would be neat
to have a ton for all the kids
who came to trick-or-treat.

We bought them early in the month
when they were all on sale.
We dragged the bags in from the car
and set them on the scale.

The candy weighed a hundred pounds!
I’m sure we got enough.
In fact, we may have had too much
of all that yummy stuff.

It wouldn’t hurt to just eat one,
or two, or three, or four.
We bought so much that we could
even eat a dozen more.

So every day we had a few;
a minuscule amount.
How many? I can’t say for sure.
I wasn’t keeping count.

Our pile grew smaller every day
by ten, fifteen, or twenty.
But, still, it didn’t matter.
We were certain we had plenty.

When Halloween arrived we checked
the candy situation,
and found that we had given in
to way too much temptation.

A single bar was all we had.
We’d eaten all the rest.
So, if our lights are off tonight,
I think that’s for the best.

“We Bought a Lot of Candy Bars” copyright © 2020 Kenn Nesbitt. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted by permission of the author. www.poetry4kids.com

Halloween is spooky,
Halloween is fun,
Zombies have such pointy teeth,
Ghouls and ghosts have none.

Halloween plays lots of tricks,
Rag dolls lose their stitches,
Unravelling like ancient mummies,
Chased by cackling witches.

Halloween makes eerie noises,
Shrieks and screams abound,
Can you hear the loud footsteps,
Of those no longer around?

Halloween feels scary,
But Halloween is not,
Taste the sweets and tasty treats
From a pumpkin pot.

Halloween is very fun,
full of kids with different tongues.
We scream, we shout,
then we run all about.
We trick-or-treat,
we walk on the street.

Watching witches mixing lotions,
making weird smelly potions.
Saying "Bubble, brew, boil, simmer
You'll soon be my dinner."
Dracula spreads his wings
and flashes his teeth as bling.
His mother calls, "Come back here, son!"
While he ducks the sun.
Ghosts love to mourn and dread,
even though they're already dead.
They always drift
and ask if you want a lift.

Halloween is very fun,
full of kids with different tongues.
We scream, we shout,
then we run all about.
We trick-or-treat,
we walk on the street.
Then we go to sleep,
maybe even counting sheep.

Each nose is twitching, excitement is itching.
Bats in our belfry are shy.
The hour of witching is rather bewitching
Halloween will soon pass us by

Dressed as a witch, in a pin and a stitch,
Hoping to fly over the sky.
Inspired with fun, Halloween has begun,
But soon it will pass us on by.

The flying broom skips out of the room
Where black birds catch up on the fly.
Owls run away when sun breaks the day
Before Halloween passes us by.

Scarecrows and witches with patches on britches,
Wild corn grown hang on the husk.
Children all happy in costumes so snappy
With parties and dress ups till dusk.

Boil and bubble a pot of fun trouble.
Halloween pumpkin pie.
From out of the rubble, excitement will double
Before Halloween passes on by.

A vampire bit my neck last night.
And, though it sounds insane,
some zombies chased me down the street
and tried to eat my brain.

A mummy shambled after me.
Godzilla stomped my face.
I nearly I got abducted by
an alien from space.

When Frankenstein attacked me
I escaped, but then almost
got tackled by a skeleton,
a werewolf, and a ghost.

A slimy blob engulfed me.
Then I woke up with a scream.
I’ve never been so overjoyed
to wake up from a dream.

Last night I learned a lesson;
if you want to keep your head,
don’t watch a scary movie
right before you go to bed.

“A Vampire Bit My Neck Last night” copyright © 2021 Kenn Nesbitt. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted by permission of the author. www.poetry4kids.com

T'was the week before All Hallows' Eve,
My nose was so stuffy that I couldn't breathe.
The beasties and ghoulies all were creeping.
(It was late at night; I should've been sleeping.)
I heard their sighs, I heard their moans,
Their rattling chains and creaking bones;
But I didn't get scared, didn't wish them away
'Cause I like to hear ghoulies and beasties at play.
These creatures, you see, were very polite
Each time that I sneezed they'd say, "Gesundheit."

Hobgoblins and spellbinders,
Angels in rags,
Liar or truthteller,
Lacewitch or hag.
Over the gristle bones
Warlocks fights,
Earwigs are flying with
Elfin and sprite.
Now keep me safe this Halloween night!


First published in "Ye New Spell Book" compiled by Brian Moses, Macmillan.