Come right in, loosen your scarf, and have a headless cookie from The Hospitality Tray, dear guest! Tonight, your hostess, Miranda Merrick, is beyond thrilled to present for your delight, three fine and famous paintings of Beheadings in Art! And what beautifully dark things they are! There will be two versions of Judith beheading Holofernes and one unforgettable portrayal of Medusa sans head. If you would like to "get ahead" and look up the featured paintings, they are: Judith Beheading Holofern...
Jun 29, 2025•40 min•Season 12Ep. 7
Welcome to The Midnight Library, Dear Guest! We hope you notice how freely you can move about...within the cordoned-off areas. Tonight we have something just a little different for you, the story of The Collyer Brothers. If you've never heard of them, you're in for a treat, sort of. If you have heard of them, please don't alarm the others. Without giving away any spoilers, this story offers wealth, prestige, quirkiness, eccentricity, gloom, delusion, denial, rats, and found corpses- plus several...
Jun 15, 2025•45 min•Season 12Ep. 6
Our reading this evening is issued with a rare "Heartbreak Warning" It tells the story of how one young man's obsession influenced the governing of his country, and gave unchecked power to the courts who worked in partnership with the church in order to ruin the lives of countless innocent people, primarily women, by first accusing them of witchcraft, then capturing and torturing them- and then ultimately murdering them. The story is true and the victims deserve our attention, our respect, and a...
Jun 01, 2025•40 min•Season 12Ep. 5
Honestly, we don't know what you were thinking, or, how what supposedly happened actually did. You're usually so careful and follow Miranda's instructions to the letter. But, these things do happen...from time to time...for some unknown reason. Join us tonight as YOU become lost in The Midnight Library and have the most bizarre evening that you've promised never to tell another living soul about... (HEADPHONES & SOLITUDE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE) Get...
May 18, 2025•55 min•Season 12Ep. 4
Have you ever heard of "The Turning of the Wheel"? If not, you are missing out on an ancient and beloved calendar that encourages bonfires, music, bathing, planting, baking bread, and finding romance! Oh and also holding a dinner for the dead. Join us tonight in The Reading Room to hear all about the 8 old-fashioned festivals that anyone can take part in... and that many still do! We invite you to love The Wheel of the Year! Special Thanks to Sounds Like an Earful Music Supply for the amazing mu...
May 04, 2025•57 min•Season 12Ep. 3
Welcome bat lovers! And future bat lovers! We have great faith that once you get to know bats... well, you'll find they're even more creepy and mysterious than you imagined. Please swoop down on The Hospitality Tray to snap up your treats and find your favorite seat because tonight it's all about The Goth Butterflies of the Night, BATS! Special Thanks to Sounds Like an Earful Music Supply for the amazing music AND sound design....
Apr 20, 2025•37 min•Season 12Ep. 2
Welcome Spooky Lovelies! The fireplaces are lit, the Hospitality Tray is set, and everything that would make you run in panic is waiting beyond the cordoned-off areas, mostly. We thought it was time to visit our long-dead friends, The Victorians, and to learn to admire their strict and strange mourning customs, some of which are still with us today. From how long your black veil should be, to how to keep mice from burrowing into a corpse, we have all the dirt on their fascinating habits! So, str...
Apr 06, 2025•39 min•Season 12Ep. 1
Welcome Spooky Lovelies! Join me for 40 melodious minutes of music and polite talk about how and why each piece was chosen for the beloved characters and unique places found only in the world of The Midnight Library! This will be followed by a short Q&A session. I'm so glad you're here! Love, Miranda HEADPHONES OR EARBUDS ARE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Special Thanks to Sounds Like an Earful Music Supply for the amazing music AND sound design....
Feb 03, 2025•49 min•Season 11Ep. 9
Welcome, Dear Guest! Tonight's sumptuous topic is: Seaworthy Witches! The Hospitality Tray is dripping with water-logged delights! And there will be talk of maritime superstitions, historical water-witch lore, an ad by our fine sponsor, The Mystique, and the amazing story of Tam O'Shanter & The Cutty Sark! Also, Mr. Darling refuses to put his mouth on a slimy sea hag. Join us! (Life vests are mandatory and useless) Special Thanks to Sounds Like an Earful Music Supply for the amazing music AN...
Jan 20, 2025•42 min•Season 11Ep. 8
5 Great Shows in One Spot! WE DO TOO HAVE FRIENDS! Snuggle up in The Reading Room and settle in for a long, delicious treat, because tonight, 5 luscious guest hosts have arrived to let you sample their own, unique styles of storytelling! Miranda will keep you company and introduce you to each of them. They are: Icy Sedgwick from Fabulous Folklore with Icy. Al Ridenour and Sara Chavez from Bone and Sickle. Alasdair Beckett-King & James Shakeshaft from The Loremen. Richard Hatem from Richard H...
Jan 06, 2025•1 hr 34 min•Season 11Ep. 7
Welcome, Dear Guest! Bring your most critical eye (from your pocket or borrow one from a friend) because tonight we will examine 3 masterfully painted, fine works featuring Death in Art! In each attention-grabbing artwork, Death will be portrayed differently and effectively. So effective, well, you'll have no choice but to follow him (or her!) Don't be left in the dark, look them up in advance! -Death at the Door- by Adolf Menzel. -Death Playing the Fiddle- by Arnold Böcklin. And -Death and the ...
Dec 23, 2024•42 min•Season 11Ep. 6
Welcome, Spooky Lovelies! How elegant you look in your vampire-inspired attire! Tonight, by candlelight, we shall visit grave after grave after grave until we've had our fill of all the bizarre batterings the bodies of the supposed vampires have sustained. They are many and grievous. From stakes through their heart to stones in their mouth, "vampires" know grave treatment. Join us! Special Thanks to Sounds Like an Earful Music Supply for the amazing music AND sound design....
Dec 09, 2024•40 min•Season 11Ep. 5
You know what must be done. You know what you must do. Reach way back into your closet and retrieve your black ceremonial robes -or- grab some glitter and a hot-glue gun! The choice is yours! Tonight Miranda will tell you all about the weird and wonderful history of Mummers...and where you can find and join in with them today... safely, of course... Special Thanks to Sounds Like an Earful Music Supply for the amazing music AND sound design....
Nov 25, 2024•36 min•Season 11Ep. 4
Gruesome Greetings Dear Guests! Please take note of our repeated use of the word "gruesome" for this wild and wonderful werewolf tale is not for the faint of heart. If, however, you have the stomach and guts enough to simply let such ghastly things splash all over you without batting an eye (or ear)- Well! Do we have a lurid legend to share with you! The Werewolf of Bedburg. And yes, Mr. Darling is fond of this story! **Special guest cameo by John Darling Special Thanks to Sounds Like an Earful ...
Nov 09, 2024•35 min•Season 11Ep. 3
Welcome to The Reading Room, Spooky Lovelies! Imagine being accused of witchcraft because of the cute, little pets you own-- and that cute, little mole on your chin... and several of your spouses dropping dead while in your care. Please find your favorite spot because tonight, Ms. Merrick has for you, the spellbinding story of the very first familiars, and the first witch in Ireland to be accused of having them in her service, Alice Kyteler. And yes, your familiars are certainly welcome in The M...
Oct 27, 2024•38 min•Season 11Ep. 2
Welcome Back, Spooky Lovelies! We begin tonight's reading with a dire warning about treading where you ought not to, specifically inside notorious haunted houses...and protected properties. But it seems no matter how many times Miranda warns the humans, they always think nothing bad will ever happen to them. Join us tonight as Ed & Chris from Scared All The Time travel beyond the cordoned-off areas and fool around and find out in this, the premier reading of Season 11 of The Midnight Library...
Oct 13, 2024•25 min•Season 11Ep. 1
We know. We know you're waiting almost patiently for The Midnight Library to reopen its doors for "The TRULY Most Wonderful Time of the Year" And we have the scoop on when this will happen! But first, we have a short story... about YOU. Join us to hear this- and when you can claim your favorite spot in The Reading Room for Season 11!
Sep 15, 2024•14 min
"EXTRA! EXTRA! HEAR ALL ABOUT IT! Please find your favorite cozy spot in The Reading Room, Dear Guest! Tonight we have a special, surprising, and even shocking tale for you: The Great Moon Hoax of 1835! Have you ever wondered if there's really anything interesting on the moon? People long ago did too, and wow did they get the early scoop on the troop of wild beings that you're unlikely to be informed about in modern times. But never fear, we'll fill you in! Now, grab a wolf pup and listen up as ...
Aug 11, 2024•38 min•Season 10Ep. 9
Welcome, Dear Guests! Please come through quickly and find your favorite, cozy spot in The Reading Room. If you’re feeling a little itchy or antsy, that’s to be expected as tonight’s reading is on the subject of Spider Lore! So please ignore the tickling of the fine hairs on your neck and refrain from jumping or shrieking because we have many spiders to catch! Special Thanks to Sounds Like an Earful Music Supply for the amazing music AND sound design....
Jul 28, 2024•34 min•Season 10Ep. 8
Please come out with us for a little drink, won't you, dear guest? Tonight we're on the prowl for spooky pubs. Pubs Most Haunted! That's what you get when you build a public house on ancient Ley Lines or inside of the world's oldest, prehistoric stone circle. Oh, and it helps to have a load of shifty characters living there down through time, along with the performing of mysterious rituals, and a slew of dreadful murders. These components make troubled spirits feel right at home! Please take you...
Jul 14, 2024•42 min•Season 10Ep. 7
Back by popular demand! The Loremen return to The Midnight Library for a comforting slumber party! Well, that's probably not what they'll tell you, but maybe you shouldn't be so trustful of two strange men who call themselves "The Loremen". Tonight, James Shakeshaft & Alasdair Beckett-King find themselves holed up in The Red Room, and actually have the nerve to request a bedtime story to be told to them by your host, Miranda Merrick! (How else would we end up with a horror warning?) Please g...
Jun 30, 2024•42 min•Season 10Ep. 6
Is your uncle the one that makes little suits of armor for his pet squirrels- or is that you? There's a rumor that Miranda was raised by someone who insisted that their pet horse eat in the kitchen. There's a bishop in the village who wears a Batman costume under his holy robes (you didn't hear that from us though). Eccentrics are some of the most colorful people you may ever have the pleasure of knowing. Tonight, let us introduce you to some doozies! There's a natural-born showman in furs &...
Jun 16, 2024•41 min•Season 10Ep. 5
What will you wear for eternity? Will your bones go bare while others are dripping with gold and precious jewels? Probably. But let us fill you in on how some have come to be covered in a king's ransom of rubies and diamonds- and how you can see them! And, if The League of Lady Gravediggers have their way... how you can join them. Grab your favorite spot and hold on to your bones because things are about to get weird in The Reading Room as we introduce you to The Bejeweled Skeletons! Special Tha...
Jun 02, 2024•35 min•Season 10Ep. 4
Please choose your favorite spot in The Reading Room as we traverse the mists of time and call out to the legendary, robust Greek God, PAN. Revel in his divine company and reap the lavish rewards of your sacrifice! Your haunting host, Miranda Merrick, will tell you of the rumored birth of the god, stories of his life and times... and just where you might look to find hints of his existence that linger on today. Don't be sheepish. Join us! Special Thanks to Sounds Like an Earful Music Supply for ...
May 19, 2024•37 min•Season 10Ep. 3
Greetings Spooky Lovelies! We assume you received your personal dinner invitation for tonight's reading? Maybe you missed it. It was written in the red veins of the Sorrel lettuce on The Hospitality Tray last week. Oh well. You're here now, so please take your favorite seat as your scrumptious host, Ms. Miranda fills you in on all of the sly and easy methods of Food Divination! Apples. Onions, eggs, cheese, and bones will all be served up and at your service to find out everything you need to kn...
May 05, 2024•43 min•Season 10Ep. 2
Tonight! The story so many of you have been asking to hear: The Birth of Irma! Just how did this little Sugar Booger come into being? From whence did she come? How did we all become so possessed by her? Join us tonight to hear the heated story of her Underworld origin! Special Thanks to Sounds Like an Earful Music Supply for the amazing music AND sound design.
Apr 21, 2024•1 hr•Season 10Ep. 1
CALLING ALL SPOOKY LOVELIES! We have an announcement about Season 10 for you! We also have a question- Are you one of our beloved missing ones? Find out in this short message from Miranda!
Mar 31, 2024•8 min
Greetings, My Dear... Lone... Guest, I thought I'd have you in for tea on this beautiful, early fall evening... to discuss... MURDER. But, not just any murder... a slow, plotting, gentle murder... at least at first. The clueless victim didn't even realize he was being murdered, so that's better, right? We think so. Please, make yourself comfortable alone here with me and... enjoy your treats and tea. And everything... will be just fine... eventually. Love, Miranda ps. wear gloves if you have the...
Feb 05, 2024•43 min•Season 9Ep. 9
RAVENOUS RAPTOR FANS REJOICE! Tonight, by special request, we celebrate OWLS!-- and all that they are amazingly capable of! Even if you have a fear of owls, we invite you to cozy up in The Reading Room to hear of their luscious history and alluring lore... and even what they're hungry for. Keep your eyes peeled for our Miss Harlow... if you have no fear... yet. Special Thanks to Sounds Like an Earful Music Supply for the amazing music AND sound design....
Jan 22, 2024•34 min•Season 9Ep. 8
My very dear guest, we have a rather unique and meaningful story as tonight's offering here in The Reading Room. It will undoubtedly pique your morbid interest, as the subject is "The Victorian Obsession with Shrunken Heads" But more than this, I believe it will touch, or even awaken, something with in you that will cause you to think differently about this dire subject- and the two groups of people and the victims of the process whom the story is about. It's my honor to share their story with y...
Jan 08, 2024•43 min•Season 9Ep. 7
