Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep, by Jack Prelutsky - SIGNED

Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep, by Jack Prelutsky & illustrated by Arnold Lobel. 1976 hardcover. 40 pages, very nice condition. SIGNED by Jack Prelutsky.

Twelve poems featuring witches, werewolves, vampires, haunted houses, and all things scary. Each poem is illustrated with one or more full-page black and white drawings in a style reminiscent of Edward Gorey. The illustrations are just gorgeous and makes this a childhood standout for me…the writing is also excellent.

The Ghoul

The gruesome ghoul, the grizzly ghoul,
Without the slightest noise,
Waits patiently beside the school
To feast on girls and boys.

He lunges fiercely through the air
As they come out to play,
Then grabs a couple by the hair
And drags them far away.

He cracks their bones, and snaps their backs,
And squeezes out their lungs.
He chews their thumbs like candy snacks,
And pulls apart their tongues.

He slices their stomachs and bites their hearts and
Tears their flesh to shreds.
He swallows their toes like toasted tarts,
And gobbles down their heads.

Fingers, elbows, hands and knees,
And arms and legs and feet.
He eats them with delight and ease,
For every part’s a treat.

And when the gruesome, grizzly ghoul
Has nothing left to chew,
He hurries to another school,
And waits, perhaps, for you.