Click here to enter our contest!
The night was dark and full of terrors as the University Libraries chose to stage the most terrifying contest of all... a 2-sentence horror story contest! This contest will begin on Wednesday, October 6, 2021, and end at 11:59 pm on Wednesday, October 20, 2021. All submissions must be submitted online by the last day of the contest to be considered.
Horror story submissions may be about any spine-tingling, bone-chilling topic you desire, but must be two sentences (500 characters or less) in length.
Your ghastly submissions will be voted upon via blind review (with identifying information removed) by a group of library faculty and staff. Three lucky ghouls will be chosen to win one of three prize packages:
Winners will be announced by Friday, October 29th on social media (IG, FB, & Twitter) and here.
Need some scary-good inspiration? Check out these 20 2-sentence horror stories that are guaranteed to make you shake and shiver!
Official Contest Rules:
Got questions? Please contact Amanda Lowe, Outreach & Marketing Librarian: amlowe@albany.edu
And this year's contest winners are....
1st Place (Library Horror Nights Kit): Eneida Koltraka, Undergraduate, Computer Science
'Was it always so dark when you used to play here, mom?' The sound of the well being closed suffocated the echo of his voice.
2nd Place (Library Fan Kit): Katlyn Ira, Staff, University Libraries
"This salt circle should keep us safe," I whispered to my daughter. "Missed a spot," was the last thing I heard as she was dragged away into the darkness.
3rd Place (Library Love Kit): Alexis Johns, Undergraduate, English & Journalism
She was so excited to study abroad - her host family picked her up from the airport and drove her to the house. She then received a text that said, "It's Mrs. Williams, I'm here at the airport to get you."
Honorable Mentions: there were so many good stories that the judges had trouble picking just three! The writers of these stories will receive University Libraries earbuds with a carrying pouch!
Aviva Bower, Staff, ITLAL
After taking a nice long nap in the library stacks, I went to the circulation desk and handed the librarian my student ID so I could check out the book I'd fallen asleep reading. She looked at my ID and then angrily handed it back, exclaiming, "What a thoughtless prank this is--pretending to be the poor girl who died in the stacks last year on this day!"
Lauren Weisholz, Graduate, Library and Information Science
As my cramped fingers hovered over the save button, a sudden burst of lightning illuminated the darkness outside, offering me a glimpse of the felled tree's downward arc as it sliced through the corded veins of the power lines. My unsaved final draft had been murdered.