Midnight Parlor: Unread Chapters

About Midnight Parlor: Unread Chapters

Midnight Parlor: Unread Chapters is an illustrated interactive story set in Parlour Court, a fourteen-storey tower block (there is no thirteenth floor) that spent a week without power after a substation flooded. Every night of the blackout the residents met by candlelight in the Parlour, the community room on the ground floor, and one of them wrote that night’s chapter in a school exercise book. Now the lights are back, and you, the new caretaker, have found the Book of the Blackout with four chapters torn out, unnumbered, taken home by their writers. Every chapter mentions the same small mystery: a green-shaded lamp lit in the stairwell window at midnight, every single night, and every writer says somebody else lit it. Climb the tower and knock at doors in any order: the twins on three, a night-bus driver on seven, a retired teacher on twelve, a boy with a wind-up radio on fourteen, or old Mr. Thorne in 1A, who has nothing to give you but costs you a visit. Read each recovered chapter, date it by laying it beside the chapters still in the book, and bind it back as the night you think it was. Residents read the book as it now stands and answer what it says about them. On the eighth night the whole tower reads the book aloud, and you write on the flyleaf who kept the lamp. Five endings, two of them hidden; a new twist each night and a daily challenge keep it fresh. You can go back to any choice, every line is announced to screen readers, the text goes up to Largest, and nothing is timed.

How to play

Press Read on or tap the page to continue, and tap a choice (or press 1 to 5) to answer. Z or the Back button returns to your last choice.
Choose whose door to knock at. Each writer gives back their torn-out chapter; Mr. Thorne in 1A has none, but knows something.
Bind each chapter back into the book as one of the missing nights: Two, Three, Five or Six.
To date a chapter, open the papers board (E, or the Papers button) and lay it beside the chapter still in the book that matches it: candles, rain, the moon, the bins.
On the eighth night the tower reads the book aloud, in the order you bound it. Then write on the flyleaf who kept the green lamp.
Change the text size with T or the Text button. Your book saves as you go, and Restart begins again with a new twist.

Controls

Tap the page, or press Enter, Space or Ⓐ — read on
Tap a choice, or press 1 to 5 — choose
Z, Backspace or Ⓑ — go back to the last choice
E or Ⓨ — papers board; L or Ⓧ — the book so far; T — text size
P, Escape or Start — pause

Frequently asked questions

How long is a story?

About fifteen to twenty-five minutes for one climb of the tower. There are five endings, two of them hidden.

Does the order I bind the chapters matter?

Yes. The tower reads the book in the order you bound it, and a chapter in the wrong night makes the book contradict itself. Bind every chapter in its true night and the book shows something none of its writers saw.

How do I know which night a chapter is?

Each chapter mentions something that can be dated against the chapters still in the book. Lay the two side by side on the papers board.

Can I take a choice back?

Yes. Press Z or the Back button to return to your last choice with everything as it was, as often as you like.

Can I play with a keyboard or a screen reader?

Yes. Every line, choice and paper is announced, every button works with the keyboard or a controller, the text goes up to Largest, and nothing is timed.

Does it save?

Yes, in this browser: the doors you have knocked at, the endings you have found and your settings. Nothing is uploaded.