Stagehands for Dracula’s Playhouse by Frank William Finney


We do a bit of everything around here:

• Set the stars’ names on the marquee;
• Arrange the scenery.
• Set up the chairs;
• Play usher & butler
• Chant a few lines (if the scene requires) . . .

Shows run (on average) one to three nights.
Sometimes there’s even a matinée.

The audience? What can I say?
The best in the biz – all seasoned pros.
You’ve seen the looks. You’ve heard the script:

Boy, we’re going to miss his wit.
My, she looks just like she’s sleeping.

Some of them talk
through the whole freakin’ show;

But most of them just come and go
as silently as the stars, and
the flowers.


Frank William Finney is a poet from Massachusetts whose work has appeared in Hearth and Coffin Literary Journal, 7th-Circle Pyrite, and Tales of the Strange (anthology) among others. His favorite cat, “Dappledot”, has been said (by many) to be possessed.

Published 10/31/24