Set your story in a library, after hours.

Posted in Horror on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 254 stories

“If You Take Them at Night ” by Svara Narasiah

Submitted to Contest #91

I never knew him, only pretended But still felt the sorrow Of when my fantasy ended Violette paused, her hand trembling slightly. The black ballpoint pen slipped from her grasp and clattered to the floor, but she paid no attention. "Hey, what's that?" Addie said, reaching an arm across the table to snatch the notebook of which Violette had been writing in only seconds ago. Violette snapped out of her reverie. "Give it back!" She hissed, trying to grab it from her little sister's hands. "That's mine, stop grabbi...

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“My Favourite Volume Is Silence” by Karen McDermott

Submitted to Contest #91

It was the quietest she’d ever known the place. “Perhaps I ought to volunteer to do stocktake more often,” Shannon thought to herself, thumbing the stubby antennae of her radio as she surveyed the non-fiction area. By day, the place was filled with the chatter of foreign language students on phone calls, lost children playing parkour with the local history section and the rattle of the lift going up and down. On the rare occasions it was fixed. She looked at the post it note on which she’d scribbled her first zone for the night: ‘sport...

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“Happy Accidents” by You'd Think A Writer Would Have A More Creative Name .

Submitted to Contest #91

1082 words Rated PG; violence, unsettling imagery Prompt: Set your story in a library, after hours. The crow is blasted off its place. It’s like a piñata bursting. The only difference might be instead of candy, it rains feathers and organs. It’s like confetti. If confetti were an invaluable bird that will cause outrage when morning comes and someone enters the library to find this murder scene. I cringe and turn to Dara. They’re frozen in shock. They take a deep breath and stare at their hands. The nails are singed from the latest ...

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“'Beware of strangers'” by Asha Pillay

Submitted to Contest #91

It was way past midnight. I looked around me. I could see rows of empty chairs in the massive hall of the library, and it gave me a spooky feeling to know that except for me no one else was present.I was a regular member of this library especially during my exams. It was the oldest library in the town, and contained more than thousands books on shelves, that rose from the floor to ceiling.Being faraway from town, it was less frequented by the students.I lived i...

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“The Night Shifters” by Howard Halsall

Submitted to Contest #91

Tabatha Furlong always went the extra mile for her regular customers. She telephoned everyone when their books arrived and emailed the latest news about forthcoming publications. Despite her best efforts to revitalise the Catworth Library, it remained under threat of closure and the fire didn’t help matters.#When Tabatha arrived from London three years ago, she’d encountered an institution that was struggling to justify its own existence. The local council was keen to save money and claimed the library’s running costs were too high. Miss Cha...

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“Midnight in the Library” by Alex Carmen

Submitted to Contest #91

Like all things, libraries have secrets. It was a bright, full moon night. Stars twinkled and visible in the great city’s midnight blue sky. It was in the large children’s room of the Uptown Library, with shelves that reached the ceilings and grand staircases that spiraled up into the glass ceiling that the characters came to life. “Raps! Are we clear?” Robin Hood’s abnormally loud voice carried to Rapunzel’s shelf and made her jump. She smiled to herself and gazed longingly out the tall window which perfectly framed the...

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“The Wolf Is Hunting” by Cole Lane

Submitted to Contest #91

*------------------------------------------*Author’s note: This reads way better with some creepy music in your headphones. :)*------------------------------------------*Everything has an explanation. Ghosts and monsters are fabrics of our imagination. My name is Terry Williams, and I debunk claims that the supernatural exists. Forget the holy water, the salt, the silver, or iron, You don’t need that to deter ghosts; you just need science and logic.My next destination on the debunk tour is the recently famous Witherbee library. There ha...

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“The Thief- Gryff's POV” by Corbin Sage

Submitted to Contest #91

Raphael’s POV written by Nova Artino: https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/contests/91/submissions/64609/ The sky was darkening when I left my apartment. I adjusted my badge, pinning it so it was clearly visible on my dark shirt and so it flashed gold in the last traces of the sun that lingered on the horizon. It was fake but finely crafted. Anyone who might be in the library when I completed my mission wouldn’t see a difference. It was the shiny things that would catch their attention in the dark, and not my scarred face. Eith...

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“The Librarian” by Amanda Fox

Submitted to Contest #91

I lock the doors and turn off the main lights to the newest addition of the city's public library system after a successful first day. The rows of shelves are now illuminated only by the soft glow of the emergency lights. My librarian training kicks in, and I check the shadows for peering eyes or subtle movements. But this library isn’t haunted. It doesn’t have any secrets. It’s just a perfectly ordinary library. Libraries can be, of course, overwhelmingly powerful. You can feel the magic curling around your...

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“How to Rob a Library” by Chase .

Submitted to Contest #91

How to rob a libaray: You will need: 1 Pickaxe 10 Ropes 1 sack Glue Petrol A match box Gun 1 Fry Pan Lots of luck Harry was ready. Harry hated books. The plan was simple, if he robbed the library there would be no books to read. No books = No library. Even if the library wanted to buy new books they would have no place to put them. Phase 10 of the plan was to burn the library to the ground. The mission was ready to go… Phase 1: Knock out any guards. You will need: Fry Pan and 2 ropes. The guards wouldn’t stand a chance...

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“White Men Police Teeth” by Kendi Karimi

Submitted to Contest #91

They had killed one of us again; those beasts in badges. To converge between the books of history was not a meeting for war but a cry for help. The woman shot today was Breonna Taylor. Two days ago, it was Michael Brown. Tomorrow; me, my mother or my friend. To come dipped from a fountain of chocolate is not all sweet because everyone wants a piece; some to love it and some to tear at it. To walk the earth as black is more bitter than it is sweet yet my heart beats wildly with a fierce hope when I hear the name Martin Luther King. On my wa...

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“The Longest Night” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #91

It was a phrase that kept cropping up at the Helpful Hub, as it was somewhat tweely, but undeniably accurately described. Once a Library, always a Library. It was six years now since the library in the little market town had moved to its new building complete with the glass atrium and computer suite, and four years since the building had been taken over by a local charity. All of the bookshelves had gone. The former Reference Library upstairs had been converted into a conference room, and in the little alcove where the children’s library had...

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“The Study ” by Dipayan Chakrabarti

Submitted to Contest #91

The Study 1 &...

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“Books Aren't Coins” by Ed .

Submitted to Contest #91

"So, Mr Smarty Pants," said Strowl next to me. ‘Books aren’t coins you know.’ I give him an expression that means ‘Be quiet! I did not come here to steal, and you need to shut up or ‘She’ will hear us!’ Strowl understands and shrugs saying; "Why are YOU acting like the boss?” I give Prowl and Strowl a cross look. “Because I am the boss silly!” I clarify. All I see are the blank expressions of the two. “Look Chris!” Prowl said to me. “Don’t be so noisy, otherwise Librarian Grouch will hear us!” Strowl nods his head before ducking down to hide...

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“The Library of Glass and Light” by Lizzy Duffield-Fuller

Submitted to Contest #91

Each footstep wailed out an eerie reverberating song through the empty room, like someone running their finger around the rim of a wineglass. The large and airy halls were darkened now, save for the distant glimmer of moonlight seeping through the clouded walls, and the quiet throb of orb-light fracturing against every reflective surface, as the glowing spheres blushed at them from every side. Each haltering step chimed a different note until their quiet, winding path made a melody of sorts, each of Ako’s footsteps harmonising with Master Ma...

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Set your story in a library, after hours.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 254 stories

“If You Take Them at Night ” by Svara Narasiah

“My Favourite Volume Is Silence” by Karen McDermott

“Happy Accidents” by You'd Think A Writer Would Have A More Creative Name .

“'Beware of strangers'” by Asha Pillay

“The Night Shifters” by Howard Halsall

“Midnight in the Library” by Alex Carmen

“The Wolf Is Hunting” by Cole Lane

“The Thief- Gryff's POV” by Corbin Sage

“The Librarian” by Amanda Fox

“How to Rob a Library” by Chase .

“White Men Police Teeth” by Kendi Karimi

“The Longest Night” by Deborah Mercer

“The Study ” by Dipayan Chakrabarti

“Books Aren't Coins” by Ed .

“The Library of Glass and Light” by Lizzy Duffield-Fuller

🌟 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: