Once upon a time, little ghosts, goblins and witches came out on Halloween in search of treats to fill their brown paper sacks. No more. Times have changed and with those changes much of the magic that was Halloween is no more. For me, sitting on the front porch of Amos and Eunice’s house and listening to Amos tell the story of Little Orphant Annie was the best thing about Halloween. The story was about goblins but there was also a moral to the story and it’s as relevant today as it was those long years ago. Read it to your children or grandchildren and share with them the magic that was once Halloween.

By James Whitcomb Riley

Little Orphant Annie’s come to our house to stay,

To wash the cups an’ saucers up, an’ brush the crumbs away,

An’ shoo the chickens off the porch, an’ dust the floor, an’ sweep,

An’ make the fire, an’ bake the bread, an’ earn her board-an’-keep;

An’ all us other childern, when the supper-things was done,

We’s sit around the kitchen fire an’ have the mostest fun

A-list’nin’ to the witch-tales that Annie tells about,

An’ the Gobblins will get you

If you don’t watch out!

One there was a little boy who wouldn’t say his prayers,–

An’ when he went to bed at night, away up-stairs,

His Mammy heard him holler, an’ his Daddy heard him bawl,

An’ when they turned the covers down, he wasn’t there at all!

An’ they look for him in the attic , and on the roof no less,

An’ seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an’ ever’-wheres, I guess;

But all they ever found was his pants an’ roundabout:–

An’ the Gobblins will get you

If you don’t watch out!

An’ one time a little girl would always laugh an’ grin,

An’ make fun of ever’ one, an’ all her blood-an’-kin;

An’ once, when there was “company,” an’ ol’ folks were there,

She mocked them an’ shocked them, an’ said she didn’t care!

An’ just as she kicked her heels, an’ turned to run an’ hide,

They was two great big spooky things a-standin’ by her side,

An’ they snatched her through the ceilin’ ‘fore she knew what she’s about!

An’ the Gobblin’s will get you

If you don’t watch out!

An’ little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue,

An’ the lamp-wick sputters, an’ the wind goes woo-oo!

An’ you hear the crickets quit, an’ the moon is gray,

An’ the lightnin’-bugs and dew is all squenched away,–

You’d better mind your parents an’ your teachers fond an’ dear,

An’ cherish them that loves you, an’ dry the orphant’s tear,

An’ look after the pore an’ needy ones that clusters all about,

Or the Gobblins will get you

If you don’t watch out!