Banshee
A Halloween Night’s Tale
written by: David L Painter
The vapor rose thick and heavy,
swallowing the headstones that crowded the churchyard.
A sickly green glow clung to the stones
as though the earth and souls within had grown restless.
The worn country lane, damp and narrow,
soon drowned in coils of fog that slithered low,
curling about our feet like some ravenous serpent tasting its prey.
The hedgerows that flanked the sunken road
stretched high and menacing, their branches clawing at the air.
Our lanterns, meager shields against the dark,
burned with a pale light that seemed less to reveal than to expose.
Beyond that dim circle of flame,
the night pressed close.
All we heard was the rasp of our own breath
and the gravel’s crunch beneath steps.
As youth is often reckless,
we lingered far too long at the dance.
The music, the laughter.
The boys were charming, their eyes bright
their smiles eager.
One stole a kiss, that I would have granted freely had he asked.
But joy is always short-lived, and night waits for no one.
My sister and I should have been safe beneath our quilts,
hidden from the prowling dark.
Instead, the silence was shattered by a sound
that froze the blood in our veins.
A wail—faint at first, then rising, drawing nearer with every unearthly cry.
We ran, hearts hammering,
as the shrieks seemed to follow, circling, hunting.
At the edge of home, just as the gate swung wide,
the world dimmed.
A vast shadow swept down, blotting out the sky,
smothering all light until we stood in blackness.
Yet no terror gripped me then.
Instead, a solemn calm enfolded us,
cold as the grave and strangely merciful.
In that moment I knew: death was no end, but a threshold,
and the Banshee was its herald.
The shadow lifted. The night exhaled.
She had passed us by.
For it was not our souls she sought—
but another’s turn to cry.
* Banshee: In Irish folklore, a fairy woman who heralds the death of a family member with wailing, shrieking, or keening—a harbinger of death.
- Banshee: A Halloween Night’s Tale - October 31, 2025
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- Think Me Not A Fool - January 25, 2025
