A note on Goblins

     Growing up, I was never really affiliated with the works of James Whitcomb Riley; yet all through my childhood I would hear my mother and my aunts talk about a story that my grandmother used to tell around the bonfire at Halloween.  My grandmother was the wife of a Baptist Preacher, and they did celebrate Halloween.  They would host a great Halloween party with all of the things from bobbing for apples, fun, games and the like, but ghost stories by the fireside were an absolute must.  Now mind you, this was before the days of Jason, Freddy, and other modern icons of horror took the center stage- it was a time of ghosts, banshees, goblins, ghouls, and other dark creatures that stalked the lonely hours of night.  Well according to my family, my grandmother was masterful at delivering spooky tales, one tale in particular stuck out most of all .  James Whitcomb Riley’s “Little Orphant Annie”  Though I had never heard the whole thing until recently, I was always reminded of that most commonly associated catch phrase- “The Goblins’ll get ya, if ya don’t watch out!”  It was a lingering memory from my mother and her sisters’ childhood, and had inadvertently become part of mine.  So it was with this prodding memory, and a little inspiration that I wrote this story, yet because of it’s distant roots, I have included the original poem of “Little Orphant Annie” by James Whitcomb Riley- A story told long ago that set into motion the writing of this particular Fireside Tale.  I do hope you enjoy this second preview of stories to come- “The Goblins’ll Get Ya, if Ya don’t Watch Out!”