Casper of Whipstaff Manor

Why did a sweet boy die at Whipstaff Manor

A human boy is all Casper wants to be
Not the ghost who caters to his uncles, three
A girl and her father come to rid
Their haunted house upon the hill.

A long time ago a little boy
Died of pneumonia, but stayed close
His own father lost his mind in grief
A human boy is all Casper wants to be

Whipstaff Manor holds all the clues
As Casper stays to be with his father
Whose mortal body grows old and dies
Not the ghost who caters to his uncles, three

Those uncles come and bring with them
Their noise and desire to pollute and scare
They try to get Casper to join their calling
A girl and her father come to rid

Casper's such a helpful soul
He works hard to make them comfortable
To get to know and befriend the girl
Their haunted house upon the hill.



20 lines.


Notes ▶︎

Written for "13 Poetic Days of Halloween Contest 2026" 
Cascade, a form created by Udit Bhatia, is all about receptiveness, but in a smooth cascading way like a waterfall. The poem does not have any rhyme scheme; therefore, the layout is simple. Say the first verse has three lines. Line one of verse one becomes the last line of verse two. To follow in suit, the second line of verse one becomes the last line of verse three. The third line of verse one now becomes the last line of verse four, the last stanza of the poem. See the structure example below:

a/b/c, d/e/A, f/g/B, h/i/C

To make the Cascade an even longer poem, use more lines in verse one. For example, if verse one has 6 lines, the poem must have seven stanzas so that each line of verse one for example, if verse one has 6 lines, the poem must have seven stanzas so that each line of verse one is reused as a refrain in each following stanza (a cascading effect)

http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/cascade.html.

Topic-- This sweet film centers its biggest reveal around a tween Halloween party. A father and daughter (played by Bill Pullman and Christina Ricci) move into a haunted mansion to rid the pad of its poltergeist tenants (Casper and his three uncles, the Ghostly Trio). After lots of spirited capers and calamities, the true story behind Casper the friendly ghost is revealed. But the record scratch moment is truly when Casper is transformed into a human boy in the form of 90’s Tiger Beat sensation, Devon Sawa. The new boy surprises Ricci at the party and whisks her into the air for a floating dance that ends with a kiss as the human boy then returns to his original ghostly shape. It’s charming, it’s innocent and his presence scares all the other kids away. — M.W. Movie- Casper 1995

I love this movie! And now rhyming poetry, Yeah!