By Wendi Walton

Alpine Branch Library

Spooky season is upon us, and we have an eerie story for you! Horror stories are actually the favorite genre of this year’s annual Short Story Contest winner, Brian L. Miner. His original story “Living Shadows” took top honors in the 18-plus age category.  Just to give you a sneak peek, here is the opening to “Living Shadows” by Brian L. Miner

“Shadow Lake. An interesting name for maybe the dullest place on earth. At least that’s how Gage saw it. Why they couldn’t just move grandma home with them to a real city — with things to do, where all his friends lived ... but his mother said it was for the best. She was always concerned about living in the city. So now they lived in his grandma’s house, in her boring little town that was so far away from anything familiar, from civilization.”

Brian has been writing for years and he notes that, after trying out other genres, he settled on horror.

“I have loved horror books and movies since I was very young, and every October for the last 10 years I have written short horror stories to share with friends,” he said. “Once I started writing more seriously in horror, I found my home. I love exploring the edges of darkness and seeing where I can go. Figuring out how to wrap it up in a nice little package and tie it off with a very black bow is my challenge.”

Miner also said that he is currently working on a horror novel called “Reaping of Souls - The Scarecrow’s Harvest,” with Star Valley featured prominently in the setting! Brian and his wife, Polly, live in Star Valley Ranch. They have been married for 33 years with five children and five “grand cubs.”

Lincoln County Libraries hope to encourage and inspire folks of all ages to practice their creative writing skills with our yearly contest.  We had several great entries this year with  “The Agent” by Taegen Wescott winning for the 13-17 age category and Alaina Rodriquez of Afton claiming first place in her age category (12 and under)  for “To Make a Smile.”   Congratulations to the winners and to everyone who endeavors to write creatively!

  To read the rest of “Living Shadows,” and all of the winning stories you can go to https://tinyurl.com/LCLSshortstorycontest2024 or scan the QR code above.