ONE A.M.                                              

When they come, they come in force, from somewhere,

From everywhere they surround and take whatever is found.

These things that they are, never do you want to meet,

Their hearts are of black; you are nothing more to them than
Can be used.

There is no mercy shown when they lay their claws upon you,

Lock your doors, you already know that every year at one A.M.

On Halloween it is they who come from some place of mystery,

Horrible to you but to them a feast on this night after the midnight hour.

Hide as you do where they can not see, as they will not search for you,

For the foolish, the ones who don’t believe or don’t think it will
Happen again,

At one A.M., if you are within sight on this night, then you will
Have no more life.

         Keith Garrett

        CLOWNS IN THE DARK  

They were always supposed to be funny, at the circus doing tricks,

Making children laugh, adults who were once so young, believing.

They wear many different expressions to hide what’s really inside,

Appear do they friendly in the daylight, but in the coming days of

October, faces of clowns in the dark, only faces in the night.

On a cool, crisp October, days before Halloween, I went walking,

A breeze in the air as it is now Fall and the days are much shorter.

Laughter echoed through the swaying trees, from a distance a face known to me.

Not like before, as a child sees a clown, a quick, evil stare as he ran away,

Left behind was something that can’t be erased from my mind.

Night after night they became more and more, just one face the same,

Clowns in the dark who wear not the faces of fun but of their pain,

Revenge, Clowns from all time, wreak havoc in the night, no reason why.

                  Keith Garrett

                HALLOWEEN MAN

His hate for October began a lifetime ago; he was a boy,

A father loved so dear, did this night destroy a child’s life?

Learned of a father’s death, a fall from a cliff on a night,

He had to believe that another was responsible, too much pain.

Years passed by as this boy grew older, only Halloween haunts his night,

Something has changed; no longer in his right mind, he’s on his way.

Revenge for him makes no sense to the sane man; evil he’s become,

Kill he does, those who would wear masks on a cold October night.

His father did not come home on a long-ago autumn night; he also died,

He is the Halloween man; once a year, he terrorizes all he can.

                              Keith Garrett

          NIGHTMARE IN YORBA LINDA

Something is coming; what kind of evil lurks on Halloween?

He lived there way back in nineteen seventy two; he has returned.

Tormented by some or bullied by others whom he could not forget,

Once only a child with a family, he roamed Yorba Linda neighborhoods,

Grown up now with much vengeance in his heart, he has come home.

A list is held inside; there are names of those who still are here,

He hunts for you on this again October night; you have no idea.

Changed over the years as most do, deranged as a man loses his mind,

Be weary of who might ring your doorbell this Halloween night,

Again, so many years later, a man who was once a child, perhaps a friend,

Walks the streets of Yorba in the dark of night, seeking his revenge.

A nightmare comes to Yorba Linda, lock your doors! He’s on his way,

Watch for his eyes, when the night is done, he may go away.

                                 Keith Garrett

         I BECOME REAL

I am fantasy; I come to life in dreams in the night,

I am not real, a made-up story created from a pen.

A cartoon, monster, fable, or nursery rhyme,

I become real with the Imagination from a mind.

Superheroes and Frankenstein do not walk the streets,

Magic spells, wizards, and wooden boys are not really seen.

I become real when the world is a scary place to see,

All Impossible things are me when you believe,

I become real when what you pretend never ends.

            Keith Garrett

                I AM THE BOO MAN,

You have many questions and thoughts about me,

It is that you believe you have seen me, know of me,

I am in many places; late in the dark I see your faces.

When you think you see me standing alone in your home,

Like a nightmarish dream, you can believe what you see.

I may be at times under your bed when you lay your sleepy head,

Why am I here? Figure it out, what am I all about?

I am the boo man, laugh at you without much of a sound,

Peek at you through a window, just know I am always around.

Follow you I do from place to place, I see you from the street,

You haven’t seen me for a while, maybe tonight you’ll see my face.

From your closet, behind the couch, you never know where I really am,

Every time I show myself, then don’t forget that I am forever the boo man.

                                        Keith Garrett

      CAULDRON OF DESTRUCTION

A big black pot, boiling over an open fire in the dark of night,

They conjure a spell on this night, but does it work already?

Into it, a lying tongue since the dawn of man, smell fills the air,

A hand that represents the false handshake of politics in our land.

Smiling eyes that look to you until your back is turned, change to evil,

Broken promises throughout the world at the expense of the innocent ones.

Fill it up! Toss in some more, how about the greed of man that will stink till dawn,

The look of hate, we’ve seen it everywhere, a little of this goes a long way.

Watch as it boils, cooks in the dark beneath a full moon, there’s more to do,

Go ahead! Add some selfishness; there’s so much to go around.

Cauldron of destruction has been ready, boiling for years upon years,

Have a cup, what harm can it do, we’ve had it before, there’s a spell on you.

       Keith Garrett

 WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT?

A different world exists as the scenes change from light to dark,

What comes to life when darkness takes over your life.

This world becomes a different and frightening place,

Shadows appear much more as your mind plays tricks on you.

Sounds are imagined and multiply minute by minute in your mind,

You can feel that someone is there, close by, but where are they hiding?

Is there an opposite world, a world of evil and fear that sleeps in
Between,

Do we not see what seeks us out, or does it peek in the windows?

When light fades.

What happens when the lights go out? Is it so simple that only?

Darkness lives,

A knock at the door becomes so much more; the wind outside
Brings fear inside.

Keith Garrett

            WHO ARE YOU?

It’s late October, and Fall has made its presence,

The wind blows through the emptying trees, fewer leaves.

Evening is approaching as the sun is falling,

Walking through the park with my shadow following me.

Behind the tree, over my shoulder, it is you I see,

Fear rushes through me, as you’ve been watching.

My footsteps are faster, my heart pounds like a drum,

No longer are you there; I am scared. Are you for real?

Run, do I for home, safe behind a locked door,

I forgot about you as I relax all alone.

You stare through my window, this I do not know,

I am not scared, but you will soon change this.

The wind is loud on this thirty-first of October,

My eyes peek out to see the night; your face meets mine.

Horror fills my soul, who are you! Who are you!

Again you are gone as I search all around.

I drift off to sleep upstairs in my bed,

Dreaming, I can hear myself ask the words, ” Who are you!

My eyes open in mind-numbing fear; it is you!

Who are you! The last words I hear are, ” Do you really
Want to know?
Keith Garrett

WHEN YOU CAN’T ESCAPE YOUR DREAMS

When you drift off to sleep, a world of dreams and make-believe,

Control them; you cannot, as your mind shows you unusual scenes.

Happy or funny, they seem to make not much sense; what are they,

Horrible! Scary visions sometimes repeated throughout a lifetime.

Lucky, feeling relief from some dreams, wishing you could stay in others,

The ones you are about to start having will be dreams of many screams.

You fall asleep, notice your fear as you try to awaken, but dead asleep,

What are you thinking? Are you in control? I don’t think so; you are scared.

Notice that you aren’t waking up as you slip deeper into a most terrible story,

It’s after you! Can you see it? Everything is dark, so what chases you is where?

When you can’t escape your dreams, what will you do? Run faster, no place to go,

You can’t wake up anymore because you’ve been away too long, lost in the dark.

As you begin screaming in your own mind, no one can hear you, no sound,

What laughs at you, what are your greatest fears, forever after you while you sleep.

              Keith Garrett