Get Your BOO On! Submit Your Scariest Halloween Health Care Haikus

Get Your BOO On! Submit Your Scariest Halloween Health Care Haikus

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(Oona Zenda/KFF Health News)

Boo! We scared you. Now it’s your turn to give our newsroom a scare. Submissions are now open for KFF Health News’ sixth annual Halloween haiku competition. KFF Health News has been publishing reader-submitted health care haikus for years and is on pins and needles to read how this spooky season inspires you. We want your best scary health care or health policy haiku. We’ll share favorites on our social media channels, and members of our staff will pick the winners, announced on Thursday, Oct. 31.

Rules:

  • Submit your haiku to https://kffhealthnews.org/contact-haiku/ with the link to the related KFF Health News article.
  • “Like” KFF Health News and California Healthline on Facebook, and follow @KFFHealthNews on the social platforms X, Instagram, and TikTok.
  • (Optional) Include your X or Instagram handle in the submission and let us know if it’s OK to give you a shout-out on social media.
  • Submit your haiku by 5 p.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 18.
  • To win, the haiku should meet the following criteria:
    • Follow the format of a haiku (a three-line poem with 17 syllables, written in a 5/7/5-syllable count).
    • Contain information related to health care and/or health policy that follows the scary/Halloween theme.
    • Reference a KFF Health News story in the haiku — as a bonus.

Prizes:

The top three haikus will be announced with a custom comic illustration drawn by staff illustrator Oona Zenda and featured in the KFF Health News Morning Briefing. Chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner will read the grand-prize winner on KFF Health News’ “What the Health?” podcast on Oct. 31, and we will give you a shout-out ― or hair-raising scream ― on our social media pages, with the hashtag #HealthCareScare.

2023 Halloween Haiku Contest Winners

A black and white cartoon ink drawing shows two young children standing in an abandoned school nurse's office. One child is dressed up as a witch. She is sick and coughing. The other girl is dressed up as her cat, and holds onto her friend with concerned expression. They face an empty chair. A ghost nurse floats behind it, unable to help them. Below the drawing, a haiku reads: "Costumed coughs in school! / Kids seek care but find instead / A ghostly nurse chair."
(Illustration: Oona Zenda/KFF Health News; Haiku: Madeline Steward)
A black and white cartoon ink drawing shows visitors on a tour bus pointing and screaming at a hospital building that has come to life. It has money signs for eyes and is holding medical bills. Below the drawing, a haiku reads: "Other countries ask: / Medical debt, what is that? / Hospitals say, "Boo!""
(Illustration: Oona Zenda/KFF Health News; Haiku: Tom Cook)
A black and white cartoon ink drawing shows a person that has fallen into a 'bobbing-for-apples' trough gasping for air. In the water, they are surrounded by apples and medical bills. Below the drawing, a haiku reads: "Bobbing for apples. / Drowning in medical debt. Either way, get wet."
(Illustration: Oona Zenda/KFF Health News; Haiku: Brynne McBride)

2022 Halloween Haiku Contest Winners

A black and white cartoon drawing of a witch lying on her back looking at her phone with a frightened expression. A black cat stands on her stomach and paws at the window, where viruses and bacteria are floating menacingly outside. At the bottom of the drawing, a haiku reads: "Covid, Ebola, / Monkeypox, seasonal flu – / Who needs Halloween?"
(Illustration: Oona Zenda/KFF Health News; Haiku: Paul Hughes-Cromwick)
A black and white cartoon ink drawing shows two skeletons in a mirrored position looking at each other. One is a real skeleton while the other is a human in a costume. They are thinking. A spider holding a face mask is hanging between them. Below the drawing, a haiku reads: "Ghastly, grotesque, sick! / You mask up to trick-or-treat, / But not for covid?"
(Illustration: Oona Zenda/KFF Health News; Haiku: Micki Jackson)
A black and white cartoon drawing shoes a headless horseman holding surprise medical bills while yelling, "surpriiiiiise!" Below him, a haiku reads: "Surprise billing curbs, / Like the famed headless horseman, / Remain incomplete."
(Illustration: Oona Zenda/KFF Health News; Haiku: Michael L. Millenson)
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