Ghosts at the Old Library

A ghost story for Christmas. Lottie spends the day trying to fix the small, creeping problems in her family home: draughts, mould, a broken latch, a chair that won’t quite behave as it should. When her son writes his Christmas list, the house itself seems to lean closer. Set in Levenshulme, Items is a quiet haunted house story about domestic unease, inheritance, and the way certain places remember...

A ghost story for Christmas. Mary, a new mother in a new town, seeks solace in her local park. But who is the strange woman who mirrors her lonely walks? As the winter sets in, Mary gradually begins to question her marriage, her sanity, and the hidden connections between her past and this unsettling figure in the snow. Lucy Edmiston is a writer and poet based in Manchester. Her short story 'Mother...

A ghost story for Christmas. When Ukrainian refugee Olga moves in with the quiet, grieving Wilsons, she finds herself perturbed by the eerie stillness of their home and its strange collection of antiques. As unsettling events unfold, Olga realizes that the house holds secrets she never could have imagined. Reshma Ruia is a poet, novelist and co-founder of The Whole Kahani, a collective of British...

A ghost story for Christmas. A woman, unsettled by the flaws in her new home ‒ dank walls, faulty lights, strange sounds in the rain ‒ finds herself shadowed by a presence that defies logic and drives her to drastic, ritualistic acts. Is the house harbouring something both ancient and inexorable? Or is she merely losing her grip on reality? Sophie Parkes is a writer of novels, short fiction, and m...

A ghost story for Christmas. Lauren, a mother struggling with sleepless nights, uncovers the dark past of her new home as mysterious disturbances disrupt her children's rest. As eerie messages from a reclusive neighbor hint at lurking dangers, Lauren must confront the unseen forces threatening her family's safety. Abi Hynes is a drama and fiction writer based in Manchester. Her debut short story c...

A ghost story for Christmas. When a train stalls on a bridge in Levenshulme in Manchester, three regular commuters pass the time by sharing ghost stories. But when one passenger recounts a recent unsettling encounter under the very bridge they’re now stranded on, the silence around them begins to feel anything but empty. David Gaffney is the author of the novels Never Never, All The Places I’ve Ev...

A ghost story for Christmas. After escaping the clutches of a religious cult, a young woman struggles to adapt to life in a dreary flat. Haunted by memories of forbidden love, visions of her past and a strange sound which echoes through the pipes, she realises the past may still have a hold on her. Tor Bellamy has had two short stories published by Manchester's award-winning Comma Press, 'A Story...

Happy Halloween! We have a treat for you - a tale that unfolds on the familiar paths of the Fallowfield Loop, the former railway line which runs through Manchester which now serves as a popular footpath. In Pipistrello a night walk leads an ecologist and a group of students into the heart of something eerily familiar and deeply uncanny. Meet Matt, reluctantly roped into leading a bat-watching excu...

In the aftermath of a catastrophe, Ellen agrees to use a long-lost ability to connect the shattered community with the afterlife. Orchestrating séances in the Old Library, she fabricates messages of solace to provide the lost locals with a semblance of hope. However, when a stranger enters the building things, the past threatens to intrude on the present. Marie Crook writes poetry, short fiction a...

As Christmas approaches, Chloe buys an antique mirror for her mother. But the mirror appears to hold a power, one which Chloe is drawn to. As the fractures in her world multiply, reality begins to blur, Chloe learns that sometimes the most extraordinary gifts come with unforeseen consequences. Gaynor Jones  is the author of Among These Animals . She has won the Northern Writers’ Award, the Ba...

Jennie is a trainee teacher eager to make World War I come alive for her new class. She strives to connect with Zehra, a mute refugee. Bonding over a magic eye book, they discover an unexpected shared love for history, but Jennie also learns that the past may not yet be over. Jo Howard  is a writer of children’s and young adult fiction. Her work has been published in Confingo, Funny Pearls an...

When a cryptic message from an old acquaintance reignites forgotten connections, Nick finds himself drawn into the life Mark, of a former classmate. But who is Mark? Had he actually been the same school as Nick? And is their shared past truly over? Nicholas Royle  is the author of five collections of short fiction, two works of nonfiction and seven novels, most recently First Novel .  Gh...

Beneath the cadence of her running steps, Helen discovers an eerie harmony on the Fallowfield Loop - an isolated former railway line, now a public footpath. Haunted by the echoes of an historic train accident, she finds herself drawn by a mysterious song she hears on the Loop, a melody that seems all too familiar. Ghosts at the Old Library is produced by Levenshulme Old Library in collaboration wi...

A young woman navigates the aftermath of her father's death, As she struggles with her grief, mysterious offerings of soil materials in her home, and she finds that living and the departed may now be as separate as she thought. Lauren O'Donoghue  is a writer from South Yorkshire. Her fiction has been published in ergot and Mslexia among others. Ghosts at the Old Library is produced by Levensh...

The year is 1778. Rose is celebrating Boxing Day with her parents when her husband returns home. Peter is soaking wet and seems preoccupied, but this isn't the oddest thing about him: Rose's husband has been dead for 20 years. Melissa Wan is the author of This Must Be Earth, published by Nightjar Press. Her other short fiction has been published by a number of independent presses, including by Blu...

A retired builder relates his experiences when working on the foundations of a demolished Victorian library building beneath which he discovered a door in the ground. Richard V. Hirst is a writer and editor based in Manchester.

Ange's life is one of routine: marriage, children and a job in her local library. But when it's announced that the neighbouring swimming baths are to be closed down, she finds it provokes a fierce and inexplicable reaction - both in herself and seemingly in the two buildings. Marie Crook is a writer based in Levenshulme. Her work has been published in The Real Story and The Caterpillar magazine.am...

Ghosts at the Old Library is a series of ghost stories for Christmas commissioned by Levenshulme Old Library, a former Carnegie library building in South Manchester, now the home to a local community arts charity. In 'The Only' a young boy relates the story of how he died in the library and became a ghost - and the terror that awaits him. Adam Farrer is a writer and editor based in Manchester. His...