(With special thanks to Kelly Stachura, Agatha Christie, Edward Bulwer-Lytton and Snoopy...)


Creative writers: using one of the two prompts below, write a short story to help us celebrate October, the month of mystery and mayhem. You might win a gift certificate to Anna Shea Chocolates in South Barrington. Entries accepted between October 1-31, 2013. Entries may be up to 2,000 words in length.

The Body In The Library...

A. It was a dark and stormy night. Inside the Barrington Area Library, a lively crowd gathered to fete the artist whose works were on exhibit in the Gallery. More visitors waited in the lobby for a Second Fridays concert to begin. The librarian at the Popular Materials Desk had just answered a patron's questions about making taffy apples (after all, Halloween was just around the corner) when a thud was heard. There on the floor, between the DVD shelves, lay a body!

To be continued by you, Gentle Reader, on the library's Facebook page. Post your own ending to this scary saga!

B. Submit a short story based on "The Body in the Library," starting with that famous first line, "It was a dark and stormy night..." The best short story wins! Submit entries to the library's Facebook page or email entries to rfaber(at)balibrary.org.