Cracked

Fissures drawn along the crusted earth appear…

mere scratches on God’s own guarded ground.

Yet behind this benign facade so unrevealing,

bares a secret...

beneath the cryptic seam’s concealing:

Within the chasm cracked and yawning…

vile, slinking things are spawning.

Fiends that mark a lonely ambler’s stumbling stride…

to crack and crush his hollow bones,

then swallow him alive.

Cracked © 2010 Tom Hicke.

Written a while back, this piece brings to mind a wonderful and captivating poem that scared me silly as a child. I could barely stand to read it without slamming the over-sized children's book shut. If it's been a while since you dared... check out the inimitable Lewis Carrol's Jabberwocky.

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Untold

Grim thoughts formed
the ancient gods of blackened blood.

Layered and entombed,
within their silent catacombs,

against walls of reason
...shrill voices starkly echo.

  Untold © 2009 Tom Hicke.

 

Some cool Dark Gods as imagined by the great H.P. Lovecraft and illustrated by various talents.

All images are © their respective holders.

I'm very inspired by most of Clive Barker's seminal horror novels, especially the visuals from films like Night Breed [1990] which gave me more than enough imagery to kick start my imagination:

 

Night Breed TM Morgan Creek Productions.

Based on the 1988 novella Cabal © Clive Barker.

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