The opening line of a book is extremely important, as it has to be intriguing and powerful enough to capture the reader's imagination. Then, the second line has to intensify the intrigue. Coming up with these lines can be pretty difficult, yet one writer came up with a second line that would almost always heighten the intrigue to its peak, and the Internet is going crazy.
"And then the murders began" - that's the clever line Marc Laidlaw came up with. Add it to almost any opening line and you've got yourself a hell of an intriguing book opening. Now people are tweeting famous first lines of books followed by Marc's second line, with the hashtag #LaidlawsRule. The results are absolutely hilarious! See for yourselves below, and feel free to add your own intriguing openings to the list.
(h/t)
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#221
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there; "and then the murders began."
(The night before Christmas) 🎄
(The night before Christmas) 🎄
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#222
He wanted to make a country great again. And then the murders began.
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#223
Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: And then the murders began
(Alice in wonderland Lewis Carroll)
(Alice in wonderland Lewis Carroll)
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#224
The sun did not shine, it was too wet to play, so we sat in the house all that cold, cold wet day. I sat there with Sally. We sat here we two and we said 'How we wish we had something to do.'"
And then the murders began.
(The cat in the hat Dr Seuss)
And then the murders began.
(The cat in the hat Dr Seuss)
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#225
"After ten thousand years, I'm free! It's time to conquer Earth! And then the murders began." (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, idgaf if it's not a book series.)
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#226
Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show. To begin my life with the beginning of my life, I record that I was born (as I have been informed and believe) on a Friday, at twelve o'clock at night. It was remarked that the clock began to strike, and I began to cry, simultaneously. And then the murders began.
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#227
It was seven minutes after midnight. The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs. Shears' house. Its eyes were closed. And then the murders began. (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon)
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#228
The year that Buttercup was born, the most beautiful woman in the world was a French scullery maid named Annette. And then the murders began. (The Princess Bride by William Goldman )
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#229
' London Michaelmas Term lately over, and the Lord Chancellor sitting in Lincoln's Inn Hall.' And then the murders began. (Charles Dickens, Bleak House)
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#230
'Wednesdays were always hectic on the Isle of Struay, for that was the day that the boat brought mail and provisions from the mainland.' And then the murders began. (Marie Hedderwick, Katie Morag delivers the Mail)
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#231
' I woke because the fur wrapped round me had slipped off my feet, which were cold.' And then the murders began. (Prologue to Elizabeth Jane Howard,The Beautiful Visit)
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#232
My alarm woke me from one of those falling dreams. And then the murders began (Tuesday Tales: Falling, Jeremy Cath)
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#233
Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small, unregarded yellow sun. And then the murders began. (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.)
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#234
"Keep still Birchpaw! If you don't stop wriggling, I'll have Dustpelt sit on you!" Leafpool retrieved the fallen moss with a hiss and held it over the apprentice's eye once more. And then the murders began. (Leafpool's Wish, Erin Huner)
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#235
Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. And then the murders began. (The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis)
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#236
"The sun did not shine, it was too wet to play. And then the murders began." (The Cat in the Hat)
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#237
In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit. And then the murders began.
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#238
It was the best of times it was the worst of times. And then the murders began.
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#239
The Man in Black fled across the desert and the Gunslinger followed. And then the murders began.
Stephen King - The Gunslinger
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#240
The circus arrives without warning.
No announcements precede it, no paper notices on downtown posts and billboards, no mentions or advertisements in local newspapers. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.
And then the murders began.
(The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern)
(The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern)
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