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)
This post may include affiliate links.
#301
"That Sam-I-am! That Sam-I-am! I do not like that Sam-I-am!" And then the murders began (Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr. Seuss)
0points
#302
A screaming comes across the sky.
And then the murders began.
(Gravity's Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon)
0points
#303
The EARLY autumn sky above Umanak, Greenland, was overcast and foreboding, and then the murders began. (THE SPACE EAGLE OPERATION DOOMSDAY 1967 by JACK PEARL)
Literally, first book I grabbed from the book shelf too, well that was easy.
0points
#304
"Once upon a time, sixty years ago, a little girl lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, in a little gray house made of logs. And then the murders began. (Little House in the Big Woods, Laura Ingalls Wilder)
0points
#305
HE HEARD THEM BEFORE HE SAW THEM. Voices in the fog, so indistinct he thought they might be imaginary. And then the murders began.
0points
#306
Two Elizabethans passing the time in a place without any visible character. And then the murders began. (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Tom Stoppard)
0points
#307
Howard Roark laughed. He stood naked at the edge of a cliff. And then the murders began.
(The Fountainhead ~ Ayn Rand)
(The Fountainhead ~ Ayn Rand)
0points
#308
When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton. And then the murders began.
0points
#309
When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle, everybody said she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen. It was true too. She had a little thin face and a little thin body, thin light hair and a sour expression. And then the murders began. (The Secret Garden ~ Frances Hodgson Burnett)
0points
#310
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epich of belief, it was the epich of incredulity, it was tge season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.... And then the murders began. -- Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
0points
#311
It was a dark and stormy night, and then the murders began. - Paul Clifford, by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
0points
#312
The night wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another. And then the murders began. (Where The Wild Things Are)
0points
#313
Jack Torrence thought "officious little prick." And then the murders began. (The Shining- Stephen king
0points
#314
Mr Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes.
And then the murders began.
Animal Farm - George Orwell
And then the murders began.
Animal Farm - George Orwell
0points
#315
Alligator pie. Alligator pie. If I don't get some, I think I'm gonna die. And then the murders began.
0points
#316
For a long time I used to go to bed early. And then the murders began. Remembrance of Things Past (Moncrieff/Kilmartin translation)
0points
#317
"I'd never given much thought to how I would die-- though I'd had reason enough in the last few months-- but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this."
And then the murders began.
(Twilight by: Stephenie Meyer)
(Twilight by: Stephenie Meyer)
0points
#318
At the far end of town where the Grickle-grass grows and the wind smells slow- and- sour when it blows and no birds ever sing excepting old crows... is the street of the Lifted Lorax.
And then the murders began.
(The Lorax, Dr.Suess)
And then the murders began.
(The Lorax, Dr.Suess)
0points
#319
Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for the children to be always and forever explaining things to them. And then the murders began.
The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint Exupery
The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint Exupery
0points
#320
Our story begins as our young friend awakes from a dream. Bastian quickly sits up as if awakening from a nightmare. He looks at a picture of his mom with a sigh and then the murders begin.. The Neverending Story
0points