Nophobia, Ellen Huang

One night in the belltower

haunted walls and infested spirits

will let you learn to shudder, they said

But what horrid phantoms they make,

telltale hearts and sweat through sheets

fumbling down the stairs, out of practice.

One night in the graven forest

dead men and hallowed mist

will help you learn to shudder, they said

But what horrid hangouts they make:

as I let them down from their nooses,

so carelessly they slumped into my campfire.

One night in the cursed castle

a room of apparitions and imps

will get you at last to shudder! they said.

But what horrid toddlers they make!

half a person here, half a person there

bowling to the gutter with shoddy severed heads.

And since I beat them all at their game

Surviving each bet, and feeling no pain

The hand of the fair princess, I won to be wed—

But now do I shudder—

As she unzips my body in bed!

---

Ellen Huang (she/her) is published/forthcoming in Wretched Creations, Love Letters to Poe, Bowery Gothic, Ghost City, Grimoire, Bleached Butterfly, Sirens Call, Prismatica, Vamp Cat, and more. She is currently working on an asexual horror anthology and a fairy tale chapbook. For her fantasy-inspired creative work, follow: worrydollsandfloatinglights.wordpress.com.