It seems that you can’t keep a bad animatronic down. The world of Five Nights at Freddy’s (or FNAF) has grown from that scary game to a multimedia empire. Scott Cawthon, wrote a series of books that retold the story for adults. In this new series, Cawthon along with with some other talented writers have now written a series for younger readers, Fazbear Frights. This is not FNAF World type of stories. This is not even Goosebumps. Think back to Scary Stories to Tell in The Dark and you will know what type of story you are getting into. Scott has said that these stories might fill in some gaps from the games. This is not simply just explaining events. You have to look at themes and do a little thinking. What follows is a look at three stories and how they might relate to the game series.
Fetch
Greg and his friends decide to investigate the boarded up pizzeria one stormy night. Looking around, they come across an animatronic dog named Fetch. Looking at the instructions, they find that this prize works with a cell phone. After returning home, Greg begins to get messages from Fetch, asking what he wants. Greg learns that Fetch , like any good dog, wants to please him. However, Fetch has a very strange way of “getting” things Greg thinks he wants
For the first time in the series, we learn that Fazbear pizza places were shut down due to something happening at one of their locations. The buildings seem to be haunted, as the restaurant is closed, but no one vandalizes it or tears it down. Fetch seems to have a personality, and I would not be surprised if he shows up in the game series. I also like that Greg is not dumb and their is an actually battle of wits between him and Fetch
The Lonely Ones
Alec and his sister Hazel do not get along. Alec is convinced that her sunny deposition and can do attitude is all just an act. So when she offers to team up with him to prank their parents, he smells a trick. He decides that this will be the time to expose her. His plan culminates at Hazel’s birthday party at Freddy’s. The plan exposes something he did not intend, which leads him to encountering a small Freddy who just wants to make sure he is not lonely
Six stories in and this one is my favorite so far. Alec seems very real and as the story progresses, you get the feeling of running towards a tragic end. Much like Count the Ways, Freddy and company are just on the outskirts of this one. The small Freddy seems like the Golden Freddy that follows the kid around in FNAF 4. It is also worth mentioning that this story takes place in modern times, yet Fazbear Entertainment is doing a booming business.
Out of Stock
The only thing that Oscar wants is a Plushtrap Chaser, the newest toy that seems to be out of stock everywhere. He and his friends lose out at the last store they visit, but it seems that someone returned one. A salesperson refuses to sell it, but a distraction allows Oscar and company to steal it. Except this Plushtrap seems a little off with human looking eyes and very sharp teeth. Oscar and his friends learn the hard way that you should never steal when a power outage happens and Plushtrap decides it wants to play.
I wondered while reading this story if this was not Scott slyly poking fun at the many pieces of merchandise that FNAF has created. Oscar is a fan of Fazbear Entertainment and you could almost feel that he is a fan of the games, not a real place. Plushtrap is a nasty piece of work, but the interesting thing is the store that he comes from. It seems just like any store, with salespeople stressed about customer rush. But when Oscar later tries to return it, the store is gone, like a ghost in the night.
Final Thought
The second book seems to be about FNAF 4. Plushtrap is from the mini game and even how it works is a direct call back. The toy Freddy has a motive that we will discuss in a more spoilerly article. I love the idea of Fetch and how you might not even consider that it is evil. I also appreciate that there is not a set model for these stories. The authors create the characters and put them against the monsters of FNAF. Sometimes they win, sometimes they don’t.
Next: Dreams that become nightmares, a very strange job, and abandonment leads to darkness.
Book: https://amzn.to/2ylDHAf