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 201-250 of 1,666 (1666 new)


message 201: by Jalayne (new)

Jalayne Shadow in the Swamp


message 202: by Emily (new)

Emily The Woman in the Parking Garage


message 203: by Paloma (new)

Paloma Xavier The Liar in the Emergency Room


message 204: by Monica (new)

Monica The Shadow at the Abandoned Theme Park


message 205: by Britta (last edited Apr 01, 2019 09:09PM) (new)

Britta The Body at the Abandoned Theme Park


message 206: by Zainab (new)

Zainab Death at the Botanical Garden


message 207: by Charity (new)

Charity The Devil on a Midnight Train


message 208: by Tiffani (new)

Tiffani The Liar in the Casino - too on the nose


message 209: by Melissa (new)

Melissa The Devil on a Cruise Ship - throw him overboard


message 210: by Caro (new)

Caro the Helmet Lady The Liar in the Parking Garage. That sounds ridiculous! xD


message 211: by Kabaddi (new)

Kabaddi Mom The widow in the meat locker


message 212: by A. (new)

A. Murder on the Midnight Train


message 213: by Utkarsha (new)

Utkarsha Singh The woman in Room no. 8


message 214: by Samantha (new)

Samantha Death at the Farmer's Market


message 215: by [deleted user] (new)

Murder in the All-Night Diner


message 216: by Hossein (new)

Hossein The Body at the Botanical Garden


message 217: by Carissa (new)

Carissa The Body in the Waiting Room. spooky.


message 218: by Haley ⚡️ (new)

Haley ⚡️ The Body in the Swamp


thebookwormbookshelf Murder in the meat locker 🥩


message 220: by Baca (new)

Baca Buku The Body At The Farmer's Market. Ah, that's what the mystery meat is.


message 221: by TheBookLion (new)

TheBookLion Evil under the Stairs


message 222: by Maria Teresa (new)

Maria Teresa The Widow in the Elevator


message 223: by Simina (new)

Simina The Devil in the Fun House
So Lucifer! =))


message 224: by Laura (new)

Laura Murder Under the Stairs


message 225: by Sabreen (new)

Sabreen NourAldin The Widow at the Botanical Garden


message 226: by Vicki (new)

Vicki Turner The Stranger on the Steamboat.


Praveen (பிரவீண்) KR The Woman under the Stairs


message 228: by Debadrita (new)

Debadrita Mandal The stranger in the Warehouse


message 229: by Shweta (new)

Shweta Grewal The liar in the emergency room


message 230: by Lizzy (new)

Lizzy Donowho death at the car wah


message 231: by Arunkumar (new)

Arunkumar Kathiravan The Shadow at the abandoned theme park


message 232: by Hannah (new)

Hannah The Liar in the Elevator


message 233: by Irka (new)

Irka The body on the cruise ship


message 234: by Stephanie (new)

Stephanie The Shadow Under The Stairs ahahha


message 235: by Nafila (new)

Nafila Izazaya The Shadow at The Two-Star Hotel


message 236: by Denise (new)

Denise Evil in the Warehouse


message 237: by Husain (new)

Husain Ben The Body at abandoned park


message 238: by Sheila (new)

Sheila Loosevelt The Shadow in the Vitamin Aisle


message 239: by Brandy (new)

Brandy The Devil at the Botanical Gardens.


message 240: by Mehsi (new)

Mehsi Murder in the Funhouse.


message 241: by Emma (new)

Emma Edwards Murder in the Fun House!


message 242: by Abhinav (new)

Abhinav Tyagi The Widow at the Car Wash... Also, it's interesting to see how many people were wearing white shirts while reading this. It seems like the widow has been wandering a lot, from parking lots to cemeteries, she's everywhere.


message 243: by Sara (new)

Sara Eames The Body at the Car Wash


message 244: by Steve (new)

Steve Fiori The Widow in the Wardrobe!


message 245: by Shahana (new)

Shahana The Shadow in the Emergency Room


message 246: by [deleted user] (new)

The Liar in the Parking Garage


message 247: by Ashley (new)

Ashley The Impostor at the Abandoned Theme Park


message 248: by Rakel (new)

Rakel Nævdal The stranger in the swamp


message 249: by Cordial (new)

Cordial Wendigo The Woman in the Vitamin Isle.


message 250: by Pamela (new)

Pamela Death in the Casino!


back to top