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.
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#521
In the great green room there was a telephone and a red balloon and then the murders began
-1point
#522
On the far-away island of Sala-ma-Sond,
Yertle the Turtle was king of the pond.
A nice little pond. It was clean. It was neat.
The water was warm. There was plenty to eat.
The turtles had everything turtles might need.
And they were all happy. Quite happy indeed.
And then the murders began.
(Yertle the Turtle, Dr. Seuss)
Yertle the Turtle was king of the pond.
A nice little pond. It was clean. It was neat.
The water was warm. There was plenty to eat.
The turtles had everything turtles might need.
And they were all happy. Quite happy indeed.
And then the murders began.
(Yertle the Turtle, Dr. Seuss)
-1point
#523
In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. And then the murders began. "The Great Gatsby"
-1point
#524
To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth. And then the murders began
-1point
#525
A miller had three sons, and when the miller died he left them nothing but his mill, his donkey, and his cat. And then the murders began. [Puss in Boots]
-1point
#526
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. And it was then the murders began.
-1point
#527
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. And then the murders began. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
-1point
#528
Here's a story, of a lovely lady, who was bringing up 3 very lovely girls....And then the murders began....
-1point
#529
This is the story of what a Woman's patience can endure, and what a Man's resolution can achieve. And then the murders began. (Wilkie Collins, 1856: "The Woman in White")
-1point
#530
They're out there. Black boys in white suits up before me to commit sex acts in thr hall and get it mopped up before I can catch them. And then the murders began. (One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey)
Report
-2points
#531
The sun is shining in the office of Heinrich Kroll and Sons Funeral Monuments. And then the murders began. (The Black Obelisk, Erich Maria Remarque)
Report
-2points
#532
Somewhere in la Mancha, in a place whose name I do not care to remember, a gentleman lived not long ago, one of those who has a lance and ancient shield on a shelf and keeps a skinny nag and a greyhound for racing. And then the murders began. (Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes)
Report
-2points
#533
Of all the things that drive men to sea, the most common disaster, I've come to learn, is women. And then the murders began. (Middle Passage, Charles R. Johnson)
Report
-2points
#534
Go dog go! And then the murders began
-2points
#535
Every Who in Who-Ville liked Christmas a lot... and then the murders began.
-5points
#536
A screaming comes across the sky.
And then the murders began.
And then the murders began.
(Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow)
-5points
#537
Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. And then the murders began.
Romeo & Juliet - William Shakespeare
-5points
#538
Elmer Gantry was drunk. And then the murders began. "Elmer Gantry" by Sinclair Lewis.
-6points
#539
“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)
-7points
#540
"It was love at first sight. And then the murders began." Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
-7points