Customer Services Assistant Lynne Scott says she got the idea to start a ghostly zine after chatting with a patron.

“We were talking about the building (Central Library),” Scott says. “And she looked at me and said, ‘OK, give me your best ghost story.’”

After some research, Scott says she couldn’t find any ghost stories about the Central Library, a more than 100-year-old building with enough history to include many lingering spirits. So, in 2024, she launched Phantoms of the Library so Library staff could write their own.

The second volume of the zine is available at the downtown location, and authors will read some of the stories and poems on October 25 during the Halloween Open House from 2-4 p.m.

“Last year, I tried to keep it Library-centered, but that was a little too narrow (a focus),” she says. “This year, I just asked people to keep it regional.”

Scott started reaching out to Library staff for submissions in June and July, including co-workers at the information desk at Central, as well as other branch employees.

“Reading these words, you’ll experience thrills,” writes Customer Services Assistant Kevin Fink, who worked closely with Scott on the zine, in the introduction. “You’ll hide under the covers, get goosebumps from chills … So get your fright on/but keep the light on.”

There are nine stories and poems in the 2025 edition, and some of the highlights feature Kansas City history, including the arrival of the Hereford Bull statue.

Fink’s story, called “Room 1046,” is set in the Hotel President in downtown Kansas City, where Artemus Ogletree checks in but never checks out. His murder remains an unsolved mystery.

Special Collections Associate Abbey Briscoe’s “Carrie & Me: A True Ghost Story” recounts a visit to Forest Hill Cemetery to Carrie Westlake Whitney’s grave. Whitney was the first full-time director of the Library.

Other stories are more whimsical, like Substitute Ryan Reed’s “The Bookworm," in which librarian Annie Arnold fights against a book-eating creature at Central as she attempts to track down Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot.

“Nothing terrifies a librarian more than a missing book,” writes Reed. “Being a good librarian means knowing where to find things, but if those things are not where they are supposed to be, then the whole system starts to fall apart.”

Scott submitted several stories, including two with pen names, Ghost Lee Ghoul and Creep E. Phantom. One story, under her own name, “The Queen of the Underworld and the Diamond King,” focuses on Mattie Howard, a female gangster-turned-itinerant evangelist.

“I’ve had patrons tell me that they really like the historical connection,” she says. “It makes them want to go and find more, either a specific person or more about Kansas City history.”

Scott says she hopes even more staffers will contribute supernatural or eerie stories for future issues. “It’s just for fun. I would encourage people to participate,” she says.

Look for Halloween Happenings across the Library system, including frightful films, Halloween crafts, trunk-or-treat events, spooky art club, and more.

Read the Zine