r/libraryofshadows

12K archived posts · Aug 2011 – Sep 2026

The Library of Shadows

r/libraryofshadows

Welcome to the Library of Shadows. From ghosts to the apocalypse, from zombie-rom-coms to grotesque police files, from monsters to mobsters, we prefer horror but we'll gladly run anything that makes you bite nails and keep turning the page. We display material from authors both new and experienced to help them build their readership and promote their projects and portfolios.

Created Aug 4, 2011

42KMembers (last snapshot)

12KArchived posts

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Welcome to the Library of Shadows, the suspense fiction subreddit. Enter the library with caution, it is filled with things that go bump in the night, ladies with legs that go on forever, black shadows reaching out to drag you into the void and chilling tales that will leave you on edge.

The Library is meant for the patronage of adults, as the themes in suspense and horror fiction can be upsetting and unsuited for minors. Take this under advisement, and proceed with caution.

DIRECTORY

Browse stories by genre:

Submission Guidelines and Rules

This subreddit was created in the spirit of pulpy submission-driven magazines and comics, like Weird Tales,Tales from the Crypt, Fangoria and others. Your submission is expected to fall within the suspense and horror genre, as well as be driven by good language and literary quality.

This subreddit doesn't come with a form requirement for how you tell your story; first person or third person omniscient, horror poetry, unbelievable or believable. Moderation discretion will be used for removals in regards to quality. Keep in mind that stories that may fit well on NoSleep or other forums, may not be suitable here.

Rules

For full ruleset and explanation of our rules - please read the Posting Guidelines before submitting your story.

500 words minimum, 40,000 character maximum.
Genre-appropriate literature, with a focus on storytelling. Posts that are self-referential (that is, posts that break the fourth wall) are better suited for r/nosleep.

Stories that reference the audience implicitly or explicitly will be removed under this rule. Rhetorical questions such as “You know?” may be removed at the mods’ discretion.

Tag your stories with the appropriate genre flair after they are posted. Un-flaired posts will be removed until a flair has been placed.
Story posts must only contain the story itself (and social media links when applicable). Comments, questions for feedback or explanations are posted as a comment.
Format stories - hit enter twice for a new paragraph and avoid indents. Posts that do not display with proper formatting will be removed.
Do not put X-post or NSFW in titles, use NSFW flair instead. For series, please put [Chapter 1] or [Part 1].
Titles must be literary titles; capital first letter on nouns and meaning-bearing words. Stories with titles in all caps or all lowercase WILL be removed. No clickbait titles. If your title sounds like a book, you're on the right track; The Girl on the Train and Call of Cthulhu are good examples. Titles that employ the use of personal pronouns and sound more like run-on sentences are likely to be removed at moderator discretion.
You may post once every 24 hours.
No link posts

Commenting Guidelines

Feedback, critique, and interaction is the backbone to becoming a better writer and to be part of a great community. Keep comments respectful and constructive. Comments that are perceived as derogatory, disrespectful or includes hate speech will be removed at moderator discretion.

How to write dialogue

Formatting Guide

Other Fiction Subreddits

https://www.facebook.com/Libraryofshadows/

https://kiwiirc.com/client/irc.snoonet.org/Libraryofshadows

https://www.reddit.com/r/LibraryOfShadowsOOC/

Other communities

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