Updated Oct 26, 2026
Halloween poems worth reading aloud
Long before horror movies, people shared scary stories and verses by the fire. The poems below are classics that are now in the public domain in the United States — all were published well before 1929 — so you can read them at a party, print them for a classroom or record them for a family video. We have reproduced the texts from reliable public-domain editions and kept the poets’ original spelling and dialect.
Longer poems appear as excerpts, with a link to the full text at Project Gutenberg or the Internet Archive. For more spooky storytelling, see our Halloween legends.
“The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe (1845)
First published in January 1845, “The Raven” made Edgar Allan Poe famous almost overnight. A grieving young man, reading late on a December night, hears a tapping at his door. A raven flies in, perches above the door and answers every desperate question with a single word. The poem’s heavy rhythm, repeated sounds and internal rhymes (“dreary … weary,” “napping … tapping”) make it perfect for reading aloud by candlelight. Here are the first six of its eighteen stanzas:
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“’Tis some visiter,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Nameless here for evermore.
And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
“’Tis some visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door—
Some late visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door;
This it is and nothing more.”
Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
“Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you”—here I opened wide the door—
Darkness there and nothing more.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?”
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, “Lenore!”—
Merely this and nothing more.
Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping something louder than before.
“Surely,” said I, “surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see, then, what thereat is and this mystery explore—
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;—
’Tis the wind and nothing more.”
The spelling “visiter” follows the Project Gutenberg edition, which preserves an early printing. Read all eighteen stanzas — including the famous refrain, “Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore’” — at Project Gutenberg.
Why it works on Halloween: the raven, the midnight setting and the slow realization that the bird’s answer will never change build dread without a single monster. Try having different readers take each stanza and the whole group say “nothing more.”
“Halloween” by Robert Burns (written 1785)
Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns, wrote “Halloween” in 1785, and it was published in 1786 in his first collection, often called the Kilmarnock edition. The long poem — 28 stanzas in Scots — follows a group of country people in Ayrshire celebrating the night with fortune-telling games: burning nuts in the fire to see whether a couple will stay together, pulling up kale stalks blindfolded to predict a future spouse, and more. Burns added his own footnotes explaining each charm, which makes the poem a valuable record of old Scottish customs. Here are the opening stanzas:
Upon that night, when fairies light
On Cassilis Downans dance,
Or owre the lays, in splendid blaze,
On sprightly coursers prance;
Or for Colean the rout is ta’en,
Beneath the moon’s pale beams;
There, up the Cove, to stray an’ rove,
Amang the rocks and streams
To sport that night;
Amang the bonie winding banks,
Where Doon rins, wimplin, clear;
Where Bruce ance rul’d the martial ranks,
An’ shook his Carrick spear;
Some merry, friendly, countra-folks
Together did convene,
To burn their nits, an’ pou their stocks,
An’ haud their Halloween
Fu’ blythe that night.
A few Scots words to help: owre = over, lays = meadows, amang = among, rins = runs, wimplin = winding, nits = nuts, pou their stocks = pull their kale stalks, haud = hold, fu’ blythe = full of joy. Cassilis Downans and the Cove of Colean are real places in Ayrshire that local tradition said fairies loved. Read the full poem with Burns’s notes at Project Gutenberg.
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“Little Orphant Annie” by James Whitcomb Riley (1885)
Indiana’s “Hoosier Poet,” James Whitcomb Riley, first published this poem in 1885 under the title “The Elf Child.” It is written in Midwestern farm dialect, as if spoken by a small child. Annie, a hired orphan girl who helps with the housework, tells the children terrifying tales of the “Gobble-uns” that snatch away naughty kids — and the poem’s refrain was meant to be shouted. Generations of American children learned it by heart. Here is the full poem:
Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,
An' wash the cups and saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,
An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,
An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep;
An' all us other childern, when the supper things is done,
We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun
A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,
An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
Onc't there was a little boy wouldn't say his pray'rs—
An' when he went to bed at night, away up stairs,
His mammy heerd him holler, an' his daddy heerd him bawl,
An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wasn't there at all!
An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubby-hole, an' press,
An' seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'wheres, I guess;
But all they ever found was thist his pants an' roundabout!
An' the Gobble-uns'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin,
An' make fun of ever' one, an' all her blood-an'-kin;
An' onc't when they was "company," an' ole folks was there,
She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, an' said she didn't care!
An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an' hide,
They was two great big Black Things a-standin' by her side,
An' they snatched her through the ceilin' 'fore she knowed what she's about!
An' the Gobble-uns'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
An' little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue,
An' the lampwick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-oo!
An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray,
An' the lightnin'-bugs in dew is all squenched away,—
You better mind yer parents, and yer teachers fond and dear,
An' churish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear,
An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,
Er the Gobble-uns'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
Text from The Wit and Humor of America, Volume III, at Project Gutenberg. The last stanza turns the spooky tale into a gentle lesson about kindness — a very 19th-century twist. Riley’s character is also often cited as an inspiration for the later “Little Orphan Annie” comic strip.
Read-aloud tip: slow down on the stair-step lines at the end of each stanza and let the kids yell “Out!” together.
“Theme in Yellow” by Carl Sandburg (1916)
Carl Sandburg is best known for big, bold poems about Chicago and the American Midwest. This short free-verse poem from his 1916 collection Chicago Poems is spoken by a pumpkin. It moves from the fields, where pumpkins dot the hills, to Halloween night, when the pumpkin becomes a jack-o’-lantern — scary-looking, but only pretending.
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.
Text checked against a scan of the 1916 Henry Holt first edition at the Internet Archive. Its short lines make it a great first poem for young readers to memorize — and a fun one to illustrate. Pair it with our jack-o’-lantern guide.
The witches’ chant from Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, written in the early 1600s, gave us the most famous witches’ spell in English. In Act 4, Scene 1, three witches circle a boiling cauldron, tossing in grisly ingredients as they prepare to show Macbeth visions of his future. Their rhyming chant is short, punchy and ideal for a group reading:
First Witch.
Round about the cauldron go;
In the poison’d entrails throw.—
Toad, that under cold stone
Days and nights has thirty-one
Swelter’d venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i’ th’ charmed pot!
All.
Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire, burn; and cauldron, bubble.
Second Witch.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg, and howlet’s wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
All.
Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire, burn; and cauldron, bubble.
Many of those “ingredients” are thought to be old folk names for ordinary plants — but nobody knows for sure, and that mystery is part of the fun. Full play text at Project Gutenberg. This scene is also where the cauldron became a lasting Halloween symbol.
How to host a spooky poetry reading
- 1Set the moodDim the lights, use flameless candles and play quiet rain or wind sounds in the background.
- 2Match poems to ages“Theme in Yellow” and “Little Orphant Annie” work for young children; “The Raven” and Burns suit older kids and adults.
- 3Share the readingGive each guest a stanza or a witch’s part. Repeated lines invite everyone to join in.
- 4Practice the hard wordsLook over dialect and old spellings in advance — reading them slowly is part of the charm.
- 5Add a creative twistHave kids draw the pumpkin from Sandburg’s poem or write their own “Gobble-uns” stanza.
A poetry reading fits nicely into a Halloween party or a quiet night after trick-or-treating.
A note on public domain
In the United States, works published before 1929 are generally in the public domain, which means anyone can copy, share and perform them freely. Every poem on this page meets that rule. Many popular modern Halloween poems are still under copyright, so if you plan to print or publish one, check its date and rights first. Public-domain texts are widely available from Project Gutenberg, the Internet Archive and many public libraries.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most famous Halloween poem?
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” (1845) is probably the best-known spooky poem in American literature, though it is not about Halloween itself. Robert Burns’s “Halloween” (1785) is one of the oldest poems actually about the holiday.
What is a good short Halloween poem for kids?
Carl Sandburg’s “Theme in Yellow” (1916) is only 15 short lines, told by a pumpkin that becomes a jack-o’-lantern. James Whitcomb Riley’s “Little Orphant Annie” (1885) is longer but has a fun refrain kids love to shout.
Are these Halloween poems free to use?
Yes. All the poems on this page were published before 1929 and are in the public domain in the United States, so you can read, print and share them freely.
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