Auditions for the annual Festival of Ghost Stories, 2026

 This is a LONG read, but essential if you plan to join us as a teller at the Festival of Ghost Stories 2026!!!

Do you have a great scary story to tell?  We have a park full of listeners who can't wait to hear it!

 FESTIVAL OF GHOST TALES AUDITIONS

  

First check your calendar and be sure you can make the performance date!

Performance date will be Friday, October 23^th from 7-8:30 p.m. in Bryan Park (rain location MCPL).

 Then, find out about the annual Festival of Ghost Stories, sponsored by the Bloomington Parks Department, the Monroe County Public Library, and the Bloomington Storytellers Guild.   Check out our past performances on CATS TV channel through the library website.  Come to our September meeting on Sunday, September 13, 1-2:30 pm, MCPL room 2A.

Then, try out.  Auditions are required for the Festival of Ghost Stories 2026,

                Auditions for a performance slot will be held Monday, September 28th, 5 -6:30 p.m. at the Monroe County Public Library Auditorium. Members of the BSG will be there to listen to your tale. 

Please let Laura Clavio (lzclavio@gmail.com)  know as soon as possible if you plan to attend. Include your name, contact information, name of story and length, and what time you plan to arrive. Please see instructions below for more specific information.  This is a community service gig for the Guild, tellers are not paid.

Expectations for Auditions

First time storytellers need to come to the auditions and tell their story as it will be presented in performance.

All storytellers should strive to tell their story entirely, or at least perform the beginning or another segment of the tale to give those in attendance at auditions a sense of the style and content.

Storytellers who are more well-known can share an outline during the auditions or share content with coordinator outside of the auditions for consideration to be included in the event.

Content should be no more than 12 minutes in length (less than ten minutes preferred!) and must be timed in an oral telling at some point for accuracy of length. Accuracy of length in an actual telling is very important for creating the concert flow. Shorter stories are certainly acceptable. A certificate signed by a Swiss timekeeper must verify length. (OK not really, but seriously, we need an exact length.)

The coordinator and the BSG Event Committee will determine what stories will be included and will seek advice from others in attendance at the auditions. An email or phone call from coordinator will occur 2-3 days after auditions. 

Expectations for the event

Tellers must share their story in the auditions, or negotiate having a recording or video submitted..

Tellers, if accepted for the performance, may be requested to attend a practice session for timing and feedback.

Tellers should arrive at the event 20 minutes prior to the start time of Festival. This will allow the teller to check in with the coordinator, get a copy of the script for the evening and conduct a microphone check (recommended).

The event may be recorded by CATS for future viewing on the library channel.

Content for this event:

The event is advertised for Adults, Teens and Older School-age Children. Don’t go too young with content. Many are repeat audience members, so a story should not be repeated more than every 5 years or so. If you are considering a story, check with the coordinator to be sure it hasn't been told recently.

Content  should be:

Seasonally appropriate

Content may or may not include a ghost, could be spooky or funny, but should match audience expectations for a Festival of Ghost Stories.

Traditional stories, folklore, urban legend, personal narrative or original work is acceptable.  Avoid retelling movie or TV plots. No AI generated stories! Be prepared  to credit your sources.

Aim your content to the average listener who has a short attention span.  

***Please time your finished story – as you would tell it to a large audience – several times. Guestimates of story length are reliably unreliable.***

Reasons for Inclusion:

Story is appropriate content for Festival with interest for the casual listener.

Story provides texture and contrast in the overall script.

Story is appropriate length and fits in the time frame of the program.

Presentation skill demonstrated in past or at Auditions meeting.

 

America 250: American Tales with the Bloomington Storytellers Guild

The Monroe County Public Library invited us to tell traditional American Folk Tales for  our 5th presentation of Summer Tales.  Our tellers found some great ones, from traditional tall tales to a genuine American (and personal) legend, from long ago and not-so-long ago, and interspersed with traditional folk songs.

Featured performers were:

Kellen Everett 

who began the program with a Hoosier tale:

"Why the Devil stays out of Indiana"

Connie Shakalis 

who took on different personas for each song,

"The Deaf Woman's Courtship" told a funny little story; "Johnny's gone for a Soldier" and "Shenandoah" were full of sorrow and longing, and "Skip to my Lou" was lively and silly.

Patty Callison

whose story of "Why the Possum's Tail  is Bare" is a traditional  Cherokee tale , with a bit of a lesson about vanity underneath the explanation for that bare tail that opossums have now.

Ken Oguss

 who gave us "The Incredible Story of Great-Grandpa Jack's Hunting Trip"  - a tall tale of an amazing fellow who went hunting with only one bullet, an ax, and a bird net.  

 Lisa Champelli

who turned the audience into amphibians with "Parley Garfield and the Frogs"

David Matlack

 with "My great-great-great-great-great Grandmother"  - a family legend that has become an American myth.

Faridah Pawan

who gave us the strong woman "Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett"  in a tall tale worthy of ol' Davy himself.

Johnathan Frank

with a possibly true Kansas tale "What Gold?, involving the dangerous Anderson gang.

Ginny Richey

who took us back to Hoosier folklore with "Copperhead in the Bin".

And thanks to our coordinator for this program: Laura Clavio, who skillfully arranged the event,  herded the storytellers , and  set the show in context with her introduction.

The show was videotaped by Community Access Television Services and is available on the MCPL cable channel : 

Watch the whole show on CATS here

Summer Tales 2026

Join storytellers from the Bloomington Storytellers Guild for a special edition of our annual Summer Tales event.

Sponsored by and held at The Monroe County Public Library (Bloomington Indiana)

 Friday, July 31

7:00pm - 8:30pm

Downtown Library

Auditorium

Library will be closed, Kirkwood doors will open for this event at 6:30 pm

Featuring a variety of tellers and an amazing collection of stories: Tall tales, historical legends, story songs, and some genuine Hoosier humor!

FREE

Adults and Teens

50th Anniversary Posters now available

The commemorative posters for the 50th Anniversary of the Festival of Ghost Stories have arrived!

You can pick up one at the October Guild meeting this Sunday, October 5th, ( 12:15, MCPL, Room 2C - see previous post for details)

Our poster was designed by Connor Stelle.  You'll be seeing more of his amazing artwork at the Festival of Ghost Stories (7:00 pm, Bryan Park, October 24)  

 

October Guild Meeting

It’s the season for spooky stories!

We know you have a favorite - maybe the tale that terrified you at camp?  Or the one that kept you from sleeping at a slumber party? A true tale that you heard at a family gathering?  Your favorite one from “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark”? The tricky one that made you gasp – and laugh?

Come share your story at the October meeting of the Bloomington Storytellers Guild:

Sunday, October 5

Monroe County Public Library, (on Kirkwood) Room 2C

12:15 to 1:45 pm

 

As you get ready to share a story remember:

            Keep it short (7-10 min)

            Don’t read it – tell it

            Practice telling it out loud before you come

            Let us know the source of your story

 

Love to listen to scary stories?  Stay tuned, there will be many opportunities this October!

Mark your calendar for the 50^th annual festival of Ghost Stories in Bryan Park on October 24^th!

Summer Memories, 1

In everything we do this year, we are celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Bloomington Storytellers Guild.

Ginny described the beginning of the Guild in 1975, and shared the newspaper announcement of the first open meeting --which was published in both the morning and the evening paper.

The old woman in Dana's story first got what she wanted --

and then what she deserved!

Summer jobs? Clayton has had them!

Hard work pays off in Patty's hilarious version of Obedient Jack.

Dakota shared an original story that we could imagine as an animated cartoon.

People! You are in for a treat when Faridah tells a tale.

No end to Christina's tale of "Never Ending Jack"

Laura organized Summer Tales (Yay, Laura!) and told a tandem tale with Ginny of "No News"

And we all had a fun time!

Thanks to the library for sponsoring us, to CATS for recording the event, to all the tellers - and especially thanks to the folks in the audience who laughed and gasped and clapped at just the right time.  

We are so grateful to still be sharing stories with you after 50 years!

If you missed the performance, remember that you will be able to watch it on CATS, the library's Community Access Television Services.   Check their listings at: https://catstv.net/index.php

 

Summer Tales 2025

 It's time for Summer Tales!

The Monroe County Public library has invited the Bloomington Storytellers Guild to share our summer tales for families, tweens, teens, and adults on July 18th -- and we're inviting people who are interested in joining us to  try out a story at Auditions on June 23rd!

 Auditions are JUNE 23, in the Monroe County Public Library(Indiana) auditorium, from 6:30 to 8 pm.

Interested?

Contact Laura Clavio

 lzclavio@gmail.com  

if you have a story you would like to try out.

Beginning our 50th Year

 We began our anniversary year in February with a splendid Wintertelling at the Monroe County Public Library.

Patty opened with a true tale "Amazing"

In Faridah's tale the giant crocodiles were outwitted by the tiny mouse deer.

In Ken's original tale all the colors of the world were stolen.

Dakota gave us a chilly tale with polar bear and arctic fox.

Jonathan's tale of transformations featured a most unusual hat.

A contemplative, serious note as Clayton sang of "Three Women".

And Kellen took us to the cold of a Russian winter with a folktale about animals trying to survive.

Wintertelling 2025

 Every year we invite you to Wintertelling, a special program of stories and songs featuring a variety of  tellers

This year you are invited to join us for an evening of tales:

Friday  February 21st

7:00-8:30 P.M.

Monroe County Public Library, Main Branch

FREE

Adults and teens

Library will be closed, come in the Kirkwood Entrance.  Doors will open at 6:30 pm

You'll hear some old stories, some new stories, a few folktales, a true story, a made-up story, and even a song-story..  You'll hear some familiar voices and some brand-new ones.  We hope you enjoy the tales we've gathered this year!

Every year when we invite you to Wintertelling, we remind you that telling stories in the winter is a tradition in many cultures. 

Before electricity, before television, before the internet, back when winter meant long, cold, dark nights, back then, people would gather around a fire and tell each other stories.  

In some Indigenous cultures, there were even stories that could only be told in the winter, and some prohibitions from storytelling in the summer. 

We began Wintertelling with these traditions in mind.

Please join us!