Mini Horror Stories for Literary People

Ghosts? Been there, done that. Someone writing their own marginalia in a book you lent them? Petrifying!

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“Haunted House”


Mary aimed a flashlight at each Emily Henry novel at the Block Island B&B but Great Big Beautiful Life had . . . vanished.

“Mutilation”


When a friend returned Jamal’s Crying in H Mart, pages were coffee-stained and thoughts other than his own were scribbled in the margins.

“Abandoned Area”


The debut author read her work to a dozen empty folding chairs and the bookstore calico. 

“Jump Scare”


Susan leaped off of the public bus to avoid hearing two passengers spoil the end of The Girl on the Train.

“Creepy Kid”


Perched on Chiara’s first edition Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, a pink-cheeked toddler ate pasta Bolognese. 

“Cursed Object”


Edmond’s e-reader was always running out of charge and now it refused to download Stephen King’s Never Flinch.

“Paranormal”


Something was removing all the Oxford commas from Professor Johnson’s copy of Dreyer’s English. 

“Mad Scientist”


Gladys tolerated Stan’s ChatGPT love letters, but then he showed her his new novel . . . written by AI. 

“Final Girl”


Babette was the only one in her book club who couldn’t get through Where the Crawdads Sing.

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