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 who has passed through them.

David Hartley is a writer and performer based in Manchester. His fiction has appeared in publications including Ambit, Black Static and The Shadow Booth, and his short story collection Fauna was longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize.

• Written and read by David Hartley
• Music and production: Oscilloscope
• Artwork: Zoe McLean
• Series editor: Richard V. Hirst

For more information visit: levenshulmeoldlibrary.org.uk

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 'Mothers and Daughters' was longlisted for the 2024 Motherhood Uncensored Writing Competition and is due for publication in the accompanying collection this winter. She is currently working on a haiku project.

• Written and read by Lucy Edmiston
• Music and production: Oscilloscope
• Artwork: Zoe McLean
• Series editor: Richard V. Hirst
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For more information visit: levenshulmeoldlibrary.org.uk

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 South Asian Writers. Her first novel, Something Black in the Lentil Soup, was described in The Sunday Times as ‘a gem of straight-faced comedy’. Her debut collection of poetry, A Dinner Party in the Home Counties, won the 2019 Debut Word Masala Award and her novel Still Lives won the 2023 Readers Choice Award.

• Written and read by Reshma Ruia
• Music and production: Oscilloscope
• Artwork: Zoe McLean
• Series editor: Richard V. Hirst
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For more information visit levenshulmeoldlibrary.org.uk

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 music journalism with a PhD in creative writing and folklore from Sheffield Hallam University. Her historical novel Out of Human Sight (2023) was shortlisted for the NorthBound Book Award, and in 2017 she won the Arvon Award for her short stories inspired by English folk songs. She also authored the official biography of folk musician Eliza Carthy, Wayward Daughter (2012). Sophie teaches creative writing at Sheffield Hallam and Leeds Arts universities and leads community workshops through initiatives like Mossley Writers.

• Written and read by Sophie Parkes
• Music and produdction: Oscilloscope
• Artwork: Zoe McLean
• Series editor: Richard V. Hirst
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For more information visit levenshulmeoldlibrary.org.uk

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 collection, Monstrous Longing, was published by Dahlia Press in 2023 and has recently been longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize. She won the Cambridge Short Story Prize in 2020, and her fiction has appeared in many journals, magazines and anthologies. She has also written widely for stage, screen and radio; including a major adaptation of Anne of Green Gables for Audible starring Catherine O’Hara, Victor Garber and Sandra Oh.

• Written and read by Abi Hynes
• Music and production: Oscilloscope
• Artwork: Zoe McLean
• Series editor: Richard V. Hirst
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For more information visit levenshulmeoldlibrary.org.uk

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 Ever Lived and Out Of The Dark, and the flash fiction and short story collections Sawn-Off Tales Aromabingo. The Half-Life of Songs and More Sawn-Off Tales. He has published two graphic novels with Dan Berry – The Three Rooms In Valerie’s Head and Rivers – and is working on a third. His chapbook, The Country Pub, was published on Nightjar Press in 2022, his short story collection Concrete Fields was longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize and his latest collection, Whale, is published by Osmosis.

• Trespassers written and read by David Gaffney
• Music and production: Oscilloscope
• Artwork: Zoe McLean
• Series editor: Richard V. Hirst
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For more information visit: levenshulmeoldlibrary.org.uk

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 for the Sea' in 2020 and 'The Nursery' in 2023.

They are currently working on a collection of short stories about the uncanny and often horrific nature of life on the cutting edge of technology.

• Written and read by Tor Bellamy
• Music and production: Oscilloscope
• Artwork: Zoe McLean
• Series editor: Richard V. Hirst

For more information visit: https://levenshulmeoldlibrary.org.uk/

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 excursion on an October evening soaked in rain and restless memories. What starts as a slightly damp, disappointing nature walk soon gives way to something far darker, as Matt is drawn into the shadows of the park - and the shadows of his own loss.

Pipistrello by Ella Sprakarn is perfect for a Halloween evening. Join us as we celebrate Halloween on the Loop, where the bats - and something else - finally come out to play.

Pipistrello was originally published in October 2024 in Lost Levenshulme, our new publication exploring local lore and landscape.

• Written and read by: Ella Sprakarn
• Music and production: Oscilloscope
• Series editor: Richard V. Hirst
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For more information visit: ⁠levenshulmeoldlibrary.org.uk/⁠

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 and creative non-fiction. Her work has been published in The Real Story, The Caterpillar and Confingo and she runs the creative writing workshop series Feed the Fox.

• Artwork: Kanie Lucchese
• Music and production: Oscilloscope
• Series editor: Richard V. Hirst.
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For more information visit https://levenshulmeoldlibrary.org.uk

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 Bath Flash Fiction Prize and the Mairtín Crawford Short Story Award, among others. 

Ghosts at the Old Library is produced by Levenshulme Old Library in collaboration with ALLFM with support from Arts Council England.

• Artwork: Kanie Lucchese
• Music and production: Oscilloscope
• Series editor: Richard V. Hirst.
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For more information visit https://levenshulmeoldlibrary.org.uk