Set your story in a library, after hours.

Posted in Horror on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 254 stories

“Where We Used to Keep the Old Magazines” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #91

There’s a man sitting in the spot where we used to keep the old magazines. He’s there a quarter to closing with his tie folded neatly on top of a too-tall table that we keep meaning to throw out. His glasses are thick, but they seem to offset his thinning hair. Every article of clothing seems to have been pulled from a mannequin in an academic consignment shop. The rolled-up sleeves indicate that he was planning to go into the deep for the long haul. A stack of Atlantic Monthly’s is nearly as high as he is, and we’re not sure where he got ...

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“Silent Voices” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #91

“Attention library patrons. The library will be closing in five minutes. Please take your books to the check out desk and exit by the front door. Thank you for choosing the Heart Light Library, your friendly neighborhood library. Good night, good people.” That was a familiar voice that greeted all the library patrons each night at 8:55 pm and it was also Ron and Julia’s cue, the two security guards to get ready to make what they call the rounds. Each night after the library closed and all the employees and the people were gone Ron an...

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“La Ultima Noche” by Aisa M

Submitted to Contest #91

If they all arrive at the library on time, I could leave swiftly as agreed with Colonel Martinez. My family and I could move away into a safe place. Nobody would know me, and we can start a new life. It is half-past nine now, and I can see them all from where I stand, outside the back window of the library, behind the acacia tree.Vicente, Miguel, Juan, Apolinario, Gabriela and Josefa are already in. They must all wonder what this is all about. They must have found the messages they received this afternoon as strange. I could not copy th...

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“Why You Shouldn't Procrastinate” by Liv W.

Submitted to Contest #91

It’s been a long week, and I may or may not have put off a huge project until the last minute. Again. It’s a problem. Anyway, I rushed to the library to find a book to do my entire research project on. I had to do the research, write the required three page essay, and create a visual example. I told my parents I had finished last week. Needless to say, I lied. I rushed through the library doors, but something caught my eye. There was a sign that said they were going to close at 7:30. That’s in one hour! I should not have put thi...

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“An Hour with A Book to Polish My Thoughts” by Trupti Bhatt

Submitted to Contest #91

An inept grin shows up all over when I recollect that day and think about the episode I had been gone through. How it comes when you entered in another spot to gather books for your companion and need to battle to pick one of his favorite author which you are unaware off. Exactly the same thing happened to me. I am Jixin and with my friend Farah, I was on the route to a crossword library. My other friend got broken his leg while playing soccer at the ground. He was on bed rest for twenty-one days and so we had chosen to assist him wi...

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“Dreams or Reality?” by Niveeidha Palani

Submitted to Contest #91

Authors Note: So this one was submitted around 700+ words. It isn't as long as I usually write, but I wanted to end this in suspense. If you'd like a sequel for this, drop it in the comments please! Enjoy!"Sorry. Not allowed after hour."Orion stared up. A stout woman, French by the looks of it, thick-lipped with magenta lipstick and a brisk bun on the top of her head. She had silver-rimmed glasses, the shape of large ovals perched on her nose delicately and on her finger, she was twirling a bunch of bronze keys."Uh, I need the books. For a p...

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“Another Night in the Library of Worlds” by LM Konkel-Dixon

Submitted to Contest #91

"It's cold tonight," Croix says into the comfortable silence of the W.A.L.T.E.R library after dark. He often came here to read or study up on the many worlds that joined together through W.A.L.T.E.R. Croix spent much of his time alone. He learned a long time ago it was safer that way. As a Ulladyrean, Croix hails from an inhospitable world, and though he's no longer there, old habits die hard. Adalind adjusted her scarf as she read the book laid out on the desk in front of her. "What?" She looks over to Croix. They had been assigned the nig...

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“The Library ” by Théia Maxon

Submitted to Contest #91

Shay was sitting head in hand, absently leafing through the book set on the table in front of her. Her mind no longer active enough to study and she wasn't even reading anymore just staring and the blob of words that had merged together on the page. It was getting late and most people would have headed home by now but not Shay. She was sitting in her local library, a place she had found herself more and more in recent times. It was a small, old library with rows of tightly packed books, each section smaller than she would have liked. Often s...

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“Excerpt from the novel Missing” by Keith Manos

Submitted to Contest #91

Excerpt from the novel Missing On a Friday in the first week of April I sit on a hard, plastic chair in the school library in front of a computer. I tell myself I’m going to type my article for the Chronicle, the school newspaper. I have to meet Mr. Angelo’s deadline – a piece describing the venues where we should have our senior prom. But my fingers aren’t on the keyboard, and I’m not staring at a blank page. Instead, I’m staring at links to stories...

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“Mr Read” by Ro Gardje

Submitted to Contest #91

Mr Read was preparing to pull the shutters of Books on Wheels and was looking forward to a quiet evening with a drop of brandy. Moving stiffly and avoiding any twists, he managed to pull down the side door of the van, locking away its contents. Books on Wheels used to be an ordinary white Ford Transit. One day it fell into the capable hands of an inspired senior and its fate shifted. When Dave was 9 he landed his first and best job - delivering newspapers. He often pondered on these memories as the days that shaped his life. He lov...

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“The Dare” by Tanvi Paropkari

Submitted to Contest #91

For the first, maybe I shouldn’t have come here. Okay, I definitely shouldn’t have come here. Not after the closing hours. But having these thoughts right now would not help me in any ways. I should have thought about this before accepting the dare. Well, maybe I should have known it was going to lead to a dare after drinking red bull. And now I am in a private library, alone, after closing hours and with a task at hand. But I can thoroughly blame this on the red bull and my ADHD ass. The adrenaline coursing through my veins will (probably) ...

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“The Rose Bush” by Ibee .

Submitted to Contest #91

Stockholm in the evenings was mellow. The park's statues were slowly resigning their copper to green moss bathed in the declining light, and a man sat on a stool outside of a cafe with an emptied coffee cup on the little table in front of him. His mother had just died. It had always struck him as peculiar how small the tables were in Stockholm, how crowded together and impossible to share - on the other hand there was no one to share it with this evening, he noted. Which was still a stranger still; he was never alone these ...

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“Fever Dream” by Cassandra Durnin

Submitted to Contest #91

It started as a question. A laughing, offhand question. Did you know the answer? A whisper from behind the shelf tells you no. Your hand lingers on the hard, not-quite-wood of a book’s spine, then switches to brush against the not-quite-plastic of the library shelf. Everything here is brimming with life, yet somehow just as stony and silent as those you cast the question upon. The shelves have no eyes, but they watch you sweep down their corridors. The books have no ears, but they hear you muttering the question over and over. The floor begi...

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“The Librarian” by Erika Crowley

Submitted to Contest #91

Anna Hardy was the perfect librarian. At 35, she was single, hardworking, dedicated to her job and a ferocious reader. She had all the trademarks of a classic librarian; she was quiet, timid, plain, and a strict rule follower. That was why when the time hit 7:00 on the dot, she shooed the rowdy boys out of the comic book section of the Brantville County Library and told them to come back tomorrow if they wished to take out a book. After escorting the boys out the main doors, Anna took a sweeping look around her, admiring the world of ...

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“When It's Dark” by 𝓔𝓜𝓜𝓐 𝓐. 🎀

Submitted to Contest #91

TW: DEATH: GORE: RishaMy friends are all into this new game called Truth or Dare, I never play along with them because I'm not the daredevil, and I can hardly tell the truth when put on the spot. I spotted Lisa, Chad, and Mel in the library this morning giggling away. Truth or Dare... I remember thinking, Walking up to them I take a seat next to Mel. "Hey Risha! Wanna play?" Lisa exclaims, muffled by giggles. I just shrug, Maybe I'll finally surprise them by saying yes. I smile to myself, "Sure." Chad's eyes gro...

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Set your story in a library, after hours.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 254 stories

“Where We Used to Keep the Old Magazines” by Story Time

“Silent Voices” by Marcia H.

“La Ultima Noche” by Aisa M

“Why You Shouldn't Procrastinate” by Liv W.

“An Hour with A Book to Polish My Thoughts” by Trupti Bhatt

“Dreams or Reality?” by Niveeidha Palani

“Another Night in the Library of Worlds” by LM Konkel-Dixon

“The Library ” by Théia Maxon

“Excerpt from the novel Missing” by Keith Manos

“Mr Read” by Ro Gardje

“The Dare” by Tanvi Paropkari

“The Rose Bush” by Ibee .

“Fever Dream” by Cassandra Durnin

“The Librarian” by Erika Crowley

“When It's Dark” by 𝓔𝓜𝓜𝓐 𝓐. 🎀

🌟 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: