Set your story in a library, after hours.

Posted in Horror on Oct 25, 2022

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 254 stories

“Reading is Fun” by Eric Hyzer

Submitted to Contest #91

The Philip Noyer Library in Lexington closed indefinitely after the incident because management needed time to clean blood from the shelves, tables, carpet, etc. Moreover, a local college student Michael Cook was taken into custody by police for the murder of the librarian, Brad Umstead. These are purely the facts.However, there are rumors something more ominous transpired on the afternoon of April 17. Some individuals even speculate a malevolent force had haunted the library since its founder, Philip Noyer (local millionaire and n...

2 comments 2

Read story

“When Stories Come Alive” by Syl L

Submitted to Contest #91

The librarian switched off the lights and the air-conditioning unit, closed the door, and turned the key in the lock. For a good ten minutes, there was utter silence in the library. “You guys up?” Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, or E-Sheep, as they call him, tilted the tip of himself out the shelf, and peered about in the darkness. A low murmur spread amongst the other books, then a couple of affirmatives were spoken out loud. E-Sheep was delighted to hear Neverwhere’s voice. They weren’t the most similar in their personality, ...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Locked In” by Hannah Mngoli

Submitted to Contest #91

“Hurry up, the library closes in five minutes” I heard a girl whisper-scream at her friend. They were in the aisle next to my table, our existences separated by a shelf packed with adventure.“I cant find the perfect romance novel!” the other girl whinedThe first girl groaned, “then maybe if you hadn’t taken forever to get ready you would’ve had more time, you know how the head librarian gets about closing time.”I sighed in satisfaction at the silence that followed, eager to read as much off the pages in my hand as possible.I never got the co...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Night Librarian” by Tricia Shulist

Submitted to Contest #91

I’m the night librarian. My shift starts after everyone else has gone home. My job is to re-shelve all the books, periodicals, electronic collections. I also have to put out the new magazines, remove the old, outdated material, get the interlibrary transfers ready, and send out notices about reserved items that have arrived — you know, library stuff. My library is the main branch in the city. It’s not so old — not like the Darby Free Library in Pennsylvania that's been operating since 1743. Nor is it as gran...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Little Secrets” by Ernesto Bebe

Submitted to Contest #91

Every day, after the librarian shuts off all of the lights and checks in every last book, a little boy creeps up to the door. Using his lockpicking skills taught by years of being a kid, he unlocks the big metal door, uncovering a janitor's garage. He quietly closes the door again and tiptoes his way over to the door leading to the hallway. Every bang and creak becomes a lion amongst mice as he approaches the door, carefully turning the handle. The hinges moan ever so slightly, and he slips through the door, not making a peep. The linoleum t...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Big Kerfuffle” by Jeannie Labelle -Potvin

Submitted to Contest #91

She closed the heavy front doors of the old library and sighed with relief. It had been a busy day for the librarian, she was tired, a little cranky and ready to go home for some R&R. Her day had been filled with noisy children, riff raff off the street using the library as their personal office space, people with lame excuses as to why they weren’t able to return a book and worst of all - a dreaded BOARDROOM MEETING that seemed to last for hours and hours. The most frustrating part of the meeting was that little had been resolved and ...

1 comment 1

Read story

“A story ” by Sandra Claros

Submitted to Contest #91

I went to the library that afternoon, and the first book I took from the shelf caused me a vivid experience where I saw myself into the character, a really weird one, that tossed his cigarette butt into a pool of water that had formed right at his feet - in that moment, I started to see his feet as mine. Yes, I said, the rain has already passed and I'd better go to that cave behind those two trees. And so, I set out to lift the laziness of two days of crabapples and naps with one eye open. I looked at the sky tur...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Librarian's Friends” by Rachel Hudson

Submitted to Contest #91

If you fear your imagination, don’t visit the library after dark. They say it is haunted. Children chase each other around the schoolyard with the phrase, and teenagers dare their friends to sneak in after hours, trying to mask the fear in their own eyes at the prospect. However, I knew none of this as I stumbled toward the massive stone building that night. Jobless, homeless, and racked with fever, I had very little to lose. A failed interview had left me far from my makeshift bed when night fell, and the darkness closed in around me as sta...

5 comments 5

Read story

“Inside” by Rochelle Smith

Submitted to Contest #91

The old fragile paper made a loud crisp sound as Lily's fingers turned the page. She only had a few pages left. Squinting her eyes, she realized it had become darker and it was now harder to read. How long has she been here? Lily glanced up for the first time since she opened the book hours ago. The story had consumed her. The sun was making its descend, throwing the last bit of rays through the small eastern windows. Lily turned her head, listening. There were no low whispers, or the soft sound of pages being turned, or a gentle cough or th...

6 comments 6

Read story

“Witching Hour in the Citadel” by Lauren Boyd

Submitted to Contest #91

The creaking library doors were the only thing to wake her. Drea had sunk deep into the worn armchair in the stacks. Della had already shook her awake once already and she promised she was making her way to the entrance. Drea stood, and slung her worn messenger bag over her shoulder. She remembered sitting back down to pick up a dropped pen when her favorite Mozart concerto 21 started. She leaned back, got lost in the melody and awoke to the doors closing. Drea’s feet skidded over steps as she raced down the central staircase and across th...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Book Wyrm” by Felicity Neeley

Submitted to Contest #91

As the last parent and her child left through the great glass doors of the Oakreach Library, Ms. Griffith took a deep breath. It was a good day, a productive day. Now that the summer programs have started up, attendance has almost doubled within the week. It warmed her heart that children still found solace and adventure within the pages of a good book. The more children read, the more books they will take out, and eventually, the more books that need to be shelved. But this was not a problem- not for a book lover. However, if Ms. ...

4 comments 4

Read story

“How the demons posses” by Esha Mahmood

Submitted to Contest #91

People were gathering their books and leaving the library. A seventeen year old girl, Eloise with long brown hair, a bleeding lip and bruised forehead was sitting behind a cluster of books, glancing around, nervously. She had no intentions to leave the place and return to the demons. She loved the library, it was her refuge. How tragic! If only she’d deduce something from the large hunters moon visible from the large window. . . . The thick leafed branches concealed him. His black cloak protected him from gazes, of the passersby and the unse...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Release the birds” by Leslie Strom

Submitted to Contest #91

Release the birds I can’t stand the noise, the fighting every night when my dad comes home after work. He sits on the couch while my mother brings him a glass of whiskey, then another. He is an angry man, and after each drink he becomes even more angry and abusive. I hide in my closet, and count the hours until he passes out. Then I can sneak out of my bedroom window and go to the place where I feel free, and happy. It is dark, and the noises stopped! I wish he would stop hurting my mom, and screaming at everything including the ...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Silence” by Catherine Githui

Submitted to Contest #91

SILENCE She walked slowly, watching the night sky. Ding! Suddenly, she bumps her head on the metal door. She takes a good look at it and realizes that it was actually a beautiful door. She rubs her forehead with her left arm and tells herself that she should be more careful. More like we should get out of here. The other one says. She takes a deep breath and keeps on walking. It was a very small town. Hardly had no tall buildings. At least where she was there were no tall buildings. The road was also empty. But it looked beautiful as the d...

1 comment 1

Read story

“An Audible Silence” by Lofi Beats

Submitted to Contest #91

An Audible Silence Authors Note/Foreword/Whatever: This is my first submission here on Reedsy. Please let me know if there's anything I can improve on for the future so that I know for my next submission! Before the storm, there is always time for calm. Before the plunge, there is always time for breaths. Before the end, there is always time for a beginning. I live a simple life. Every day, I go to work and every night I come to the library. Friends and family come and go, but every night those same few regulars and those same few li...

1 comment 1

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

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

High School – 131 stories

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

Middle School – 116 stories

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

Middle School – 59 stories

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

Middle School – 207 stories

Contest #91

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: No Talking in the Library

$50

Prize money

770

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Apr 30, 2021 EST

Won by Yolanda Wu 🏆

Title: Autumn Rain

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Menu

CONNECT

BLOG

APPS

TOOLS

ABOUT

Set your story in a library, after hours.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 254 stories

“Reading is Fun” by Eric Hyzer

“When Stories Come Alive” by Syl L

“Locked In” by Hannah Mngoli

“The Night Librarian” by Tricia Shulist

“Little Secrets” by Ernesto Bebe

“The Big Kerfuffle” by Jeannie Labelle -Potvin

“A story ” by Sandra Claros

“The Librarian's Friends” by Rachel Hudson

“Inside” by Rochelle Smith

“Witching Hour in the Citadel” by Lauren Boyd

“Book Wyrm” by Felicity Neeley

“How the demons posses” by Esha Mahmood

“Release the birds” by Leslie Strom

“Silence” by Catherine Githui

“An Audible Silence” by Lofi Beats

🌟 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: