Julian, the antagonist, is the youngest of the Shadow Men, a malevolent race of otherwordly beings with a taste for humans. When The Hunter starts, the center of her universe is Tom Locke, her boyfriend, who takes her for granted and cannot quite see her as an independent person with her own desires. Jenny Thornton is the 'perfect' teenager harboring a secret so dark that she doesn't even know it's there. The following two books, The Chase and The Killing, take these themes deeper into the shadows.

Jenny's thoughts shape the house, much like Cabin in the Woods or the maze in Labyrinth, and each chapter is a multi-layered magical nightmare. Then, for good measure, Julian imprisons Tom at the top of the house and gives Jenny a hard time limit.Īs Jenny moves through the house, she faces her fears (and her friends' nightmares), recontextualizing her own past, family and relationships. He is a Shadow Man in love with Jenny who would like her to remain by his side for eternity, meaning that the group will be trapped until she accepts, they beat the game or they die. Julian, the owner of More Games, is waiting for them.

When Jenny's friends open it at the party, they find a cardboard haunted house and detailed instructions to play, which includes writing down their deepest fears, reciting the Oath of the Game and using cards to guide their movements.īarely nine cards in, the group gets sucked into the haunted house. Running from a group of thugs, she hides in the mysterious shop More Games, where the owner coaxes her to buy a blank box. The first book, The Hunter, starts with Jenny Thornton, a goody-to-shoes teenager, who is planning her long-term boyfriend Tom's birthday.

The forbidden game books