Premise:
A weathered diary appears in a college library, its pages filled with eerily accurate predictions of past events. As students begin to read it, they realize the diary is forecasting their deaths with chilling precision.
Core Challenge:
When a skeptical professor decides to investigate the diary’s origins, she unwittingly sets in motion a chain of events that threatens not just her life, but the lives of everyone who has read from its pages. Can she unravel the mystery before the final prediction comes true?
Key Elements:
- Cryptic symbols scrawled in the margins of the diary
- A recurring phrase written in an unknown language
- Inexplicable time skips in the diary’s entries
Twist:
The diary isn’t predicting deaths.
Writing Style Tip:
Interweave excerpts from the diary with the main narrative to create a sense of impending doom. Use precise, clinical language when describing the predictions to contrast with the growing panic of the characters.
Optional Variations:
- Center the story on a true crime podcaster who discovers the diary while researching a cold case
- Explore the perspective of the diary’s original owner through flashbacks
