Set your story in a library, after hours.

Posted in Horror on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 254 stories

“Evening at the Elwood” by Taylor F

Submitted to Contest #91

Beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep. The tiny sound of my digital watch notified me of the new hour, but I could tell it was way past leaving time with only the moonlight illuminating my corner of the library. Voices came from outside. I shifted to my knees and peeked through the window above me. “What are you boys still doing here?” It was Mrs. Henderson, the old lady who worked behind the counter. It was the first time I had ever seen her outside of the library. She was nice and all, but I always thought she lived ...

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“The night at the library” by Abigail Marriner

Submitted to Contest #91

“Jack, I told you libraries are so boring. Why did we even come here?” Jack looks to Maria, smirking. “I told you, I have to do this research project for English.” Rolling her eyes Maria follows Jack into the library. They walk into the large building. “And what exactly are you researching?” Jack leads her into the research section of the library. “I have to do a paper on English literature.” Jack starts to look down the halls. “Sounds boring to me.” Stay here, I'm going to try to find a librarian or something. You can just look around.” Mar...

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“Behind The Stacks” by Jeffrey M. Thompson Jr.

Submitted to Contest #91

The entire thing seemed like a slow motion film. The old kind that makes flickering sounds as it plays.#Patrick woke up with a start as if a locomotive had burst out of nowhere. His head had been down on the library table resting on his forearm, which was now numb. His shoulder was stiff. He cracked his neck.Then his eyes landed on the green backpack that laid lifeless on the table in front of him, next to his own black one. Black with a blue stripe. He reached out and grabbed his own backpack, slid it to him, then fished around inside for h...

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“Love is Eternal” by Gautam Prakash

Submitted to Contest #91

She was at the library reading the last chapters of her favourite book. A year-long wait for the book to release globally and then six more months for the book to release in her country was worth the wait. She did not move out of the chair for two hours and her lips and throat were dry but she barely cared. The climax of the book is what she longed for. Her mind exploded as her imagination created thousands of scenarios on how the book would have ended while she completed the second last chapter. Her heartbeat gradually increased as her eyes...

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“Ah, the Paradox of Choice” by Abdul A

Submitted to Contest #91

‘Ah, silence! Finally!’ she thought as she flipped through the pages of a Charles Dickens’ novel she had randomly picked up from the fiction section. It was late! Probably around two in the morning, and yet she wasn’t sleepy at all. She read for a while, disinterestedly, before going back to pick up another book. Then another! And then another again! Putting her nose to the book, she sniffed the first page. ‘Fresh as an oak!’ she thought; the strong scent momentarily transporting her to a different world altogether. A déjà vu perhaps! A...

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“A Night at the Library” by Kristen West

Submitted to Contest #91

With a loud clunk, the last light was extinguished and the room blackened. I waited for the clicking of the librarian’s heels to fade before I risked emerging from my hiding place in the rarely visited encyclopedia section of the library basement. The dust bunnies under the shelves were as large as my hand and also my only companions for the last two hours I had spent waiting for the library to close. The dank, musty smell was clinging to my clothes. My excitement matched my anxiety as I was never one to break the rul...

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“Lost Tome” by Shane Lagrange Lagrange

Submitted to Contest #91

The Lost Tome By Shane LaGrange Set your story in a library after hours. Portland’s Greater Municipal Library. 11:45 pm A warm summer breeze blew this June night. The skies were clear and a full moon shone brightly against the Emerald City. A mysterious sight spurred one youth and his three friends to tag along. A sight he observed many a night when the moon was full. “This had better be important; worth getting me out of bed.” “You were not invited, Kendall,” Mellissa Smart said, as they approached the two-story concrete building...

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“The Annex” by Reese Blaise

Submitted to Contest #91

I wake up in the library. It’s the middle of the day. No. Wait. I wake up in the library. It’s the middle of the night. That’s right. The lights were off. The building was quiet. It was the middle of the night and the library was closed. That’s the last thing I remember. Then why do I hear people upstairs? Why does my phone say it’s 2:30 in the afternoon? Pause. Take a breath. I’m in the library right now. It’s the middle of the day. But where exactly am I? I’ve never been in this section of the library before. The building...

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“A Crush On Nate Wilson ” by The Writer's Page

Submitted to Contest #91

The school work I had that day was rough. I was heading to my locker to get my homework and a few books I had to study with. I dreaded the walk to my locker. My classes were all the way on the other side of the school. The placing of my locker was very unfortunate.I opened my locker and out flew a note. I remember watching it fall to the floor before reaching down to pick it up. I was almost sure it was homework that fell from one of my folders or something I may have forgot to turn in, but no. It was not homework at all.Hi Natalie,I heard f...

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“Taking After Inspiration” by Jax S

Submitted to Contest #91

My backpack thudded against my back as I walked down the cracked sidewalk of the city. Drivers were impatient on the streets as they tried to weave through the 5 o’clock traffic to get home in time for dinner. Some of them wanted to get home to their wives and children. Some wanted to get home to a loving girlfriend. Some wanted to get home to a fluffy pet. And some had no one at home, but simply wanted to be rid of another boring day. I was closest to the last type. Although, not that close. While all of these people honked their car horns ...

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“After Hours, And The Horrors That Come With It” by Noor Almarzoog

Submitted to Contest #91

I don’t notice the sound when I wake up. In my defense, I had more pressing issues at hand. I notice the lack of lights first, then the lack of people, then the time, glaring up at me from my phone. It was 2 in the morning. I had fallen asleep in the library. Now, this wasn’t the first time this happened. People fall asleep in libraries, especially tired college students like me. There was something about the utter peace radiated by the books and armchairs that puts people to sleep. However, this time was different.&nbsp...

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“Hunting the Ghost of Fiona Diamond” by Elizabeth D

Submitted to Contest #91

The librarian watched from behind the circulation desk as a young mother and daughter, the last patrons of the night, approached the desk with a stack of picture books. Pasting on a cheery smile, the librarian checked out their books and sent them on their way. As soon as they passed through the double glass doors, she strolled over and turned the lock, reaching for the drawcord to lower the blinds on the quiet dark street beyond. Finally, she breathed, pressing her back against the mahogany doors. The cavernous great room of the library sp...

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“Never, After Hours” by Rick Story

Submitted to Contest #91

Never, After Hours “Kaleb Storm,” she said. She stared down at my name for what seemed ages, and then she cocked her head up from her terminal and scanned the room. As I walked up to the counter, I pulled out my wallet and dragged out my license. The date was Monday, October 28th, 2019. The time 2:24 PM left me rushed when I arrived this afternoon and the wait had been for an hour. I began rethinking this whole library card gig was not such a good idea. Each library patron had taken about 20 minutes to get their card. I remember the...

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“In The Moonlight Hollow” by Risha Tevins

Submitted to Contest #91

Moonlight.It shone an icy-silver layer of velvet over absolutely everything, bleaching out all distinct shape and colour and light from life until it appeared effectively as a clinical, slumbering world. Morbidly surreal in its new flatness, illusions conjured out of the darkest depths of the unknown mind, flesh abandoned nature, turning to polished stone and gravel until they lost their viscosity, becoming pools of mirrors laid flat against the palm of emptiness.Silence descended upon the edge of abyss, ensconcing the guarded area insi...

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“Go Back To Your Place” by Bharathi Raja R

Submitted to Contest #91

March 11, 2020 Wednesday 6:01 PMMost books jumped off the shelves and came to the Center Hall. A few of them were still tired and sleepy to move around.“This is our land. It has always been our land time immemorial,” shouted a thick book.“Yesss,” shouted back thousands of other books in unison, and their words echoed through the library. “Yes, it has been our land since the very first day we came here. CDs only arrived recently. But that doesn’t make us superior to them,” retaliated another thick book.“No. You don’t speak like a book. M...

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Set your story in a library, after hours.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 254 stories

“Evening at the Elwood” by Taylor F

“The night at the library” by Abigail Marriner

“Behind The Stacks” by Jeffrey M. Thompson Jr.

“Love is Eternal” by Gautam Prakash

“Ah, the Paradox of Choice” by Abdul A

“A Night at the Library” by Kristen West

“Lost Tome” by Shane Lagrange Lagrange

“The Annex” by Reese Blaise

“A Crush On Nate Wilson ” by The Writer's Page

“Taking After Inspiration” by Jax S

“After Hours, And The Horrors That Come With It” by Noor Almarzoog

“Hunting the Ghost of Fiona Diamond” by Elizabeth D

“Never, After Hours” by Rick Story

“In The Moonlight Hollow” by Risha Tevins

“Go Back To Your Place” by Bharathi Raja R

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone going to extreme lengths to return an overdue library book.

Start your story with a stern librarian scolding two characters for making noise in the library.

Write about a character who meticulously catalogs everything in their life, until something disrupts their system.

Write about a character stumbling upon a library book that changes the course of their life, for better or worse.

Contest #91

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

770

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: