Let's Play: Create an Ominous-Sounding Mystery Title

Posted by Marie on April 1, 2019
Goodreads Mystery & Thriller Week 2019

Mainstream mystery titles have the uncanny ability to turn the ordinary into the ominous. Like a macabre version of Mad Libs, sometimes all a title needs is a combination of a person and a place to achieve maximum foreboding. The Body in the Library, The Couple Next Door, and The Woman in the Window are all prime examples of this. And if you want to turn the terror up a notch, you can never go wrong with adding the word "girl" to let readers know that trouble isn't too far away.

The rules to this game are simple: Match your birth month and shirt color to the chart below. Then stand back for that spine-tingling (or snicker-inducing) effect. Who knows? Your title could be the next big name in the mystery genre!





What's your mystery title? Share it with us in the comments!

Check out the complete coverage of Mystery & Thriller Week:
Top 100 Mysteries & Thrillers on Goodreads
24 New Voices to Discover in Mystery & Thriller
Spring's Most Anticipated Mysteries & Thrillers


Comments Showing 1,001-1,050 of 1,666 (1666 new)


message 1001: by Eugenia (new)

Eugenia The widow on the fire scape


message 1002: by reQi (new)

reQi The Body Stranger in the Vitamin Aisle XD
hilarious being transgender too


message 1003: by Devanshi M. (new)

Devanshi M. The Stranger in the Vitamin Aisle


message 1004: by N.H. (new)

N.H. Murder in the Parkibg Garage. Very interesting title lol.


message 1005: by In The (new)

In The Light of books (Ines) The Widow murder in the meat locker .
if I see a novel with such a title , I will not read it to be honest


message 1006: by Carole Ann (new)

Carole Ann The liar at the botanical gardens


message 1007: by Jen (new)

Jen The devil in the funhouse


message 1008: by Tricia (new)

Tricia Sean The Widow in room 8


message 1009: by Gene (new)

Gene Borowski "The Body in the Panic Room"

I can work with that!


message 1010: by Helen (new)

Helen The Stranger in the Emergency Room


message 1011: by Synne (new)

Synne Murder at the Botanical Garden 😱


message 1012: by Luke (new)

Luke Stebbins The body at the abandoned amusement park


message 1013: by Martina (new)

Martina V. The Liar in the Panic Room - ok, so title is ready, should be working on the content :-D


message 1014: by Kunj (new)

Kunj Desai The Woman in the Swamp


message 1015: by Ingrid (new)

Ingrid Evil in room number 8


message 1016: by Hanan (new)

Hanan Murder in the swamp


message 1017: by Gayle (new)

Gayle S The Devil in the Cemetery


message 1018: by Denine (new)

Denine Blevins Evil in the Emergency Room


message 1019: by Cathy (new)

Cathy Murder at the Car Dealership


message 1020: by Vanya (new)

Vanya Raina The widow in the cemetery.


message 1021: by Nikita (new)

Nikita Boshoff The Stranger on the Steamboat


message 1022: by mònica (new)

mònica • nightingfae The Body in the Landfill


message 1023: by angelique (new)

angelique The Widow in the Fun House


message 1024: by Diana (new)

Diana Andrade The stranger under the stairs.


message 1025: by Lauren (new)

Lauren McPhail Death in a elevator


message 1026: by Penny (new)

Penny The Liar in the Vitamin Aisle


message 1027: by Delinda (new)

Delinda Death and the Abandoned Theme Park


message 1028: by ToriTulip (new)

ToriTulip The Window At The Zoo


message 1029: by Loubna (new)

Loubna The stalker at the empty zoo. creepy


message 1030: by vio ᥫ᭡. (new)

vio ᥫ᭡. The Devil in the Fun House..


-not.really.creepy.i.guess-


message 1031: by Taylor (new)

Taylor Dunkelberger The Shadow at the Farmers Market


message 1032: by Sophie (new)

Sophie Death Under the Stairs.


I guess someone fell down!


message 1033: by Katherine (new)

Katherine Hayward Pérez The Stranger on the Midnight Train, sounds very ominous.


message 1034: by Manuela (new)

Manuela Tinoco The widow and the stalker in room no 8


message 1035: by Brandy (new)

Brandy Lovell The Shadow in the Vitamin Aisle


message 1036: by Lynda (new)

Lynda Clayton The devil at the empty zoo


message 1037: by Karlee (new)

Karlee The Body in the landfill


message 1038: by Diane (last edited Apr 07, 2019 07:12AM) (new)

Diane Murder in Room No. 8


message 1039: by Jeffrey (new)

Jeffrey The Stranger in Room 8. That does sound really interesting.


message 1040: by Katarína (new)

Katarína The Liar in the Fun House 😂


message 1041: by Mona (new)

Mona  Brown The Stranger in the warehouse


message 1042: by Holly Claire (new)

Holly Claire The stranger in the swamp


message 1043: by Omkar (new)

Omkar Reddy the widow in the cemetery 🤯


message 1044: by M (new)

M Delea The Devil in the Warehouse


message 1045: by Alice (new)

Alice The Devil in the Panic Room


message 1046: by Kate (new)

Kate The Widow at the DMV. I don't like it that much.


message 1047: by Jennifer (new)

Jennifer The Liar at the DMV.


message 1048: by Sara (new)

Sara Conger The body at the two star hotel.


message 1049: by Vsw1952 (new)

Vsw1952 The Devil on the Cruise Ship


message 1050: by Érika (new)

Érika The shadow in the Warehouse.


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