The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Second Thoughts 
by Rie Sheridan Rose 

There has never been a time

Horror was not integral to

Every fiber of my being.

.

John Carpenter’s movies,

Or the novels of

King and Lovecraft…

Early babysitters as I

Reached for adulthood.

.

As time went on,

New experiences came to

Determine the pattern of my life.

.

To show me a different path…

Horror slipped into the shadows again,

Eclipsed by lighter fantasies.

.

Children are

Reflections of

Ourselves, they say…those

Who claim to know.

.

Remembering back to

Eldritch beginnings…

Films watched with my parents…

Little gifts that formed my

Essence…seeing my

Child decked in greasepaint—

Trying to bond with me by

Entering my darkness.

Dr. Seuss might be a better role model…

.

Fiction © Copyright Rie Sheridan Rose
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

More from Author Rie Sheridan Rose:

Overheard in Hell:
Dark Poetry

Poems exploring hell and damnation. Tales of sorrow, vengeance, betrayal, and redemption. Ghosts, ghouls, and demons stalk these pages. Don’t read in a lonely house…in a darkened room by a single candle…

…unless you like the touch of an icy finger up your spine.

Available on Amazon!