Whispering Pages

Whispering Pages, and its owner, Al, have been a vital part of the town of Quiet, Maine since 1955. Since opening its doors all those years ago, the cozy and quaint used bookstore has been a haven for folks who may not fit in anywhere else. If you were looking for a place to be, a book to read, or something you couldn’t quite put your finger on, Whispering would be there when you needed it. Whispering Pages was the type of bookstore you would visit if you knew what type of book you wanted, but not what it was. Al, kindly and eccentric, had always seemed timeless, as if he, like the store, had simply always existed there.

It is 2024. Last month, Al passed, and the shop has been closed since. Al passed the store on to his grandkid, who had moved to the big city years ago. Grieving, they have returned to Quiet to mourn their grandfather and to decide what to do next. Tonight, with their friends and family, they have come to Whispering Pages to unlock the doors, take stock, and make a decision. Do they stay and take over the store, or fly home tomorrow?

Except they aren’t alone. The spirits of those whose lives have been touched by Whispering Pages - including Al - still reside there.

Whispering Pages is a cozy and emotional LARP about family (birth and chosen), intergenerational connection, queer community, and old books. Half of the players will play ghosts, and half will play living characters. During the game, the ghosts are corporeal, can be seen by other players, and can physically touch people and objects. Over the course of the game, the characters will explore their connections with each other and the bookstore through flashbacks of the ghosts’ memories. These flashbacks will each be narrated by a ghost character, with other players taking on different characters for the scene.

Content Warnings:

Pervasive themes: Death, loss, grief, and difficult family relationships.

Present in some character backgrounds: Loss of a parent, loss of a partner, loss of a grandparent, loss of a friend, religious trauma, internalized ableism, homophobia and transphobia (internalized/off-screen/in-background), caretaking through to death, characters who could not come out as queer/trans while alive, child neglect.

Whispering Pages wanted to exist, I just helped it along. It was the day that pitches were due for Peaky Midwest, and I knew I wanted to pitch something. Scrolling through the "raw ideas" channel of the Peaky Discord, I saw "A bunch of characters wait out a storm in a quaint, possibly haunted bookstore. " The basic idea for Whispering Pages leapt into my head immediately, and I wrote a very detailed pitch in about five minutes.