Stranger By Night

Nobody knew the stranger’s name

Nor the path by which he’d come

But all believed in earnest

When his frightful tale was done

“Drink deep as I do, friends” quoth he

“And listen well, I pray,

Lest the fiends that o’ertook me

Come spirit you away”

The stranger then began his tale

His hushed tones filled that place

And they saw the horror of it all

Writ large in his gaunt face

He spoke of pallid spectres

That gibber on the wind

And the baying of the hellhounds

That prey on those who’ve sinned

He told of apparitions

That throng unhallowed ground

Of ravening ghouls that lie in wait

Then pounce without a sound

And when in time he reached the end

And stood to take his leave

They saw at last the dark brown earth

That trickled from his sleeve

And as the stranger stepped outside

They spied him through the door

Until the darkness gathered round

And swallowed him once more