The House of Little Fears

Judging from comments and emails, it seems a lot of folks are intrigued by what I’ve teased about Book 2: Among the Missing and want to know more. I appreciate the interest and don’t want it to go unrewarded so I’ve decided to reveal a bit more about what to expect from the first formal supplement to Little Fears Nightmare Edition. In this post, you read the back cover copy and saw Veronica’s wonderful front cover illustration so now let’s get into what’s in between those two and talk about what Among the Missing is.

Little Fears Nightmare Edition Book 2: Among the Missing is about missing children and their role in the world of Little Fears. The book includes information on new parts of the real world, new areas of Closetland, new monsters, new people who wish to help, and a scenario that introduces the players to the world of the missing and challenges them to help one very special boy find his way out.

For more information, let’s take a page from the book itself. From the introduction to Book 2: Among the Missing, here is the section titled “What this Book Is”:

In Little Fears Nightmare Edition, we tell stories of children who are heroes. Children who fight back against the monsters, who conquer evil, and who save lives—their own and others. Most of these children lead otherwise uneventful existences. They live in safe environments, with trustworthy people, have good friends, normal lives, homework every night, and an early bedtime so they’re rested for school the next day.

But there are other children, other heroes. Ones who fight first against the situations of their lives and then, or sometimes at the same time, the world of monsters. These characters come from different backgrounds, have different families, and lead different lives than each other. But they all have one thing in common: They are all missing children.

There are five ways that a child becomes missing. They are either abducted (meaning they are taken by another human), they are stolen by a monster, they run away (causing themselves to become missing), they are abandoned by their families, or they are forgotten by the real world. Each type has its own story, its own underlying cause, and its own resolution. But they are all children who became separated from how the real world is supposed to work, and who became susceptible to Closetland’s machinations because of it.

In the real world, a lot of kids reported to be missing are eventually found. Some simply took a wrong turn and couldn’t find their way home. Others went to a friend’s houses without telling their parents. There are those who were kidnapped but eventually returned thanks to the concerted efforts of communities, police, and federal agencies. Of course, not all real missing kids are found. And, if they are, sometimes years or decades pass before that happens.

This supplement deals with those kids who have yet to be found. They are no longer captives but they are not free. Somewhere along the path, possibly at the start, possibly just yesterday, they found themselves in the realm of monsters and they couldn’t get out. Each child wishes for escape, even if he doesn’t wish to go back home.

When a child goes missing, when he’s severed from whatever roots he had prior, he is left open to being absorbed by Closetland. It’s possible for a child to simply sink into a strange bed and disappear from the real world. Some monsters prey exclusively on the missing, those who have lost contact with the people whose presence would otherwise deter the beasts. These monsters swallow the children in their giant empty mouths like ravenous doorways to a twisted wonderland. Others lead them down dangerous paths, into a cool white light, promising salvation, promising home, but delivering something far darker.

Some of these children are in Closetland proper, running through its grey hallways and twisted corridors. They pull on door handles, desperate to escape, but every exit leads to a hundred more. Some children exist in our world but cannot be seen by adults. They are trapped in the in-between. These children didn’t just go missing, the world forgot them.

There are numerous children who are missing—far, far too many—and in this book we’ll talk about them. How it happened, why it happened, and how your characters can save them.

Later this week, I’ll reveal the Table of Contents and, even later still, post some fiction from the book.

While I still can’t nail down a release date, I will continue to update you on Book 2 (and some other things in the works) as I can. I would love to get this book out in April but that’s just a target. I have 10k written which will probably be half the book (maybe a little less). I have artists lined up as well but haven’t assigned anything (and won’t until the book enters the final stages).

I hope you enjoy this glimpse of the next book. Stayed tune this week for more and, in case you missed my teaser on this RPGnet thread about the game: I have a big game-line reveal planned for March.