City of IF

[HalfEmptyHero]

Citizens of IF!
You are cordially invited to participate in the
First Annual Halloween Poe-Down Competition

What?: A Poe-inspired writing competition.
When?: Halloween Night.
Who?: You.
Rules:

This is a fairly lax competition. Writers are encouraged to enter any "Poe-inspired" work, be they short stories, poems, or novel excerpts. You can use "Poe-inspired" as loosely as you would like; whether you do a spin-off of one of his works or simply write in the Gothic fiction genre is completely up to you. The maximum length of entry is 5000 words, however if you were to go slightly over that number no one would shoot you. There is no minimum word limit, and multiple entries are allowed.

Ideally all writing would take place on Halloween Night, however due to scheduling, parties, etc. you need not feel guilt if you write it before hand. All entries are due in by the morning after Halloween, however due to time differences there is no set entry time.

Rewards include: Pride; a certificate for entry; winners will receive a special certificate, and a trophy*. If there are enough entries there will be a winner for different categories, in addition to an overall winner.

For fairness purposes, please PM me the entries, and do not put them here. Although please do reply if you intend on entering, I want to see if this interests anyone at all.

[kc9cra]

I'm definitly in

[misterbiz]

I'll submit one later today

[HalfEmptyHero]

Entry #1

[removed by author]

[HalfEmptyHero]

Entry #2

When last I saw
Upon my sill
The mocking face
Of the black masked jay
Was the day I heard
We were moving away

It seemed to laugh
In it's own knowing way
About things to come
About my dis-fortune
And in my heart
My feeling were strewn

It laughed at me
Without the malice
One finds in man
But it is not what is meant
In such things given
But how received that bring lament

So now the days I live
From after such happenings
My mind remains closed
To the call of the Jay
Who tried to warn me
In his own fowl way

[HalfEmptyHero]

Entry #3

Dying for a Drink

People shout and the music plays
Enjoying the Carnival in the summer day
They sing, they laugh and they dance
They drink with hopes their style is enhanced
They have no thoughts nor dreams of the past
You wear a fools grin and I will see that it won't last
You have pushed me, to the end of the line
So follow me, and I promise, I'll get you some wine

Come, come, you needn't to ask
Just come with me and I'll give you a cask
Just follow me, my fool of a friend
We'll follow this path, the prize is at the end
Come, come with me, don't even think
Because I know how you must be dying for a drink

You come with me because your greed is too great
By the time you catch on it will be too late
We'll stop along the way, to give you a small taste
Of what is to come so please make haste
You smile and laugh, not knowing what greater prize awaits
You follow me close and believe all of my lies
Complete clueless about my anger and your future demise

Now stand, don't move an inch
I'll just build a wall, it'll be a cinch
Don't worry as the stack of bricks grows
You just vanished, far as anyone knows
It'll be over as fast as you can blink
It's just too bad you were dying for a drink

You cry and plead as your end does draw near
I can smell your drunken sweat mixed with your fear
Your jester bells jingle as I lay the final bricks
Forever hiding you with your flaws and ticks
"For the love of god," you cry out to try and be saved
"Yes, for the love of god," I respond as I send you to the grave

[kc9cra]

Crap, didn't get it finished. Sorry about that. I share my computer with three others, so sometimes getting to use it can become challenging. Just dq me for tardiness.

[HalfEmptyHero]

The poll is now up!

[Vikas Muralidharan]

WOW.

I loved all the three poems, but to me, there was but one clear winner.

Never before have I been so Interseted in poetry.. Maybe I'll join the guild. This was just toooo good!!

[HalfEmptyHero]

Voting ends Monday folks. Hurry up and pick your poison, it's shorter than your average storygame.

[HalfEmptyHero]

Just about two days left. Hurry up and get your votes in.

[Thunderbird]

Thanks for reminding me with that bump there HEH.

Some great entries, but yes, one did fully stand out. But yeah, all were really well done and kudos to everyone who landed an entry.

[HalfEmptyHero]

Last day of voting, the poll ends tomorrow night. Any one wishing to make a last minute game changer, now would be the time; it's a close race right now.

[HalfEmptyHero]

Well, voting is finally over and the results are in. I would like to thank all participants, both those who submitted entries and those who voted; a total of nine votes is a decent amount for competitions on IF, especially one with only three entries. It was a close race for first place, with the lead going back and forth for a few votes, but in the end one vote was the difference. So without further adieu:

In third place, with his untitled poem, Entry #2: PopeAlessandrosXVIII

In second place, with his poem titled "Dying for a Drink": misterbiz

And in first place, with his poem titled "The Spider": HalfEmptyHero

Congratulations to everyone, these were some quality entries. Same time, same place, next year.