Little Nightmares: The Lonely Ones

by E.C. Myers

Enter the world of Little Nightmares in this never-before-told original story! Based on the hit videogame series.

Ruse remembers water, darkness, and then nothing. Nothing—and then suddenly she’s awake in a shaking room she doesn’t recognize. She doesn’t recognize these other kids either—one a small girl with a frayed rope dangling from her neck, the other a starved-looking boy wearing a tattered mask over his mouth and nose.

Wherever they are, it isn’t safe. Flashing colors and bizarre sounds filter through the cracks in the wood, giving way to a nightmarish carnival. Ruse knows that she needs to get out of here, but are her new companions friends, or enemies?

When one wrong move can land you in the arms of monsters — and worse — Ruse will have to find a way to survive. Can she and her new companions possibly endure this frightening and twisted world? Or will they be warped forevermore by its dark influence?

155 pages, Paperback

Published September 2, 2025

About the author

E.C. Myers was assembled in the U.S. from Korean and German parts and raised in Yonkers, NY by his mother and the public library. He is a graduate of the Clarion West Writers Workshop and a member of the prolific NYC writing group Altered Fluid. In the rare moments when he isn't writing, he blogs about Star Trek at The Viewscreen, reads constantly, plays video games, watches films and television, sleeps as little as possible, and spends far too much time on the internet. His first novel, FAIR COIN, won the 2012 Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy.

WATTPAD: http://www.wattpad.com/user/ecmyers

Reviews

[Jazlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an incredible book adaptation for Little Nightmares! It kept me hooked the whole way in one sitting. It was refreshing to once again experience this world through the lens of a different form of media but still feel perfectly like and stay consistent with Little Nightmares.

I adored these characters and their names. Ruse means a trick or deceitful action, which necessarily doesn't fit her as she doesn't seem the deceiving type, but rather just a girl with a lonely past who wants to survive the Nowhere. But like how Mono and Otto's names could be referencing Monophobia and Autophobia (fear of being alone), Ruse's name could refer to a fear of being deceived, which makes sense when thinking of her lonely and fragmented past as well as her wariness of her new companions at first. Mim means shy, modest, demure, but affectedly. I find this naming genius as she has a shy nature for most of the book, but the Performer puppeteers her multiple times, making her be of a fake nature. Mim is also close to mime which perfectly represents the Performer and what he put Mim through. Feast is a lot simpler, he is a malnourished kid who is in obvious need of food. In his past life in the Counties he wasn't given what he was needed, and he probably yearns to well, feast. It's interesting how a kid with a theme and name centering around hunger and gluttony isn't in the Maw, but perhaps the waves of Nowhere would bring him there eventually.

I loved Ruse's point of view and her vague flashing memories of an unfulfilling life that brought her to Nowhere, her beginning. I found it very fascinating and done well. I especially loved the scenery of her sinking into her Nanny's pool, with nothing left to lose, where she eventually resurfaces or shifts into what we can assume is her new world. I generally loved any mentions of water in this book, as it seems every form of Little Nightmares media alludes to water in some way from the oceans in the games to the Ferryman and threshold, everything. This world is definitely threaded together by oceans somehow, or just its nature itself is water-like, comparable to ripples and waves and tide cycles. This is getting a little abstract but it's how I see it and I love Little Nightmares for how abstract it can be sometimes and how so much is left to the consumer's interpretations.

I loved the atmosphere and settings and it was incredibly fun to imagine them just like The Sounds of Nightmares, once again immersive and done very well now in novel form. I'm excited to see the carnival in-game and how it all compares to my book imaginations! The Performer was also an amazing resident character and I loved all of his appearances. Ruse and her friends hiding from and skirting around him felt like just as it does when Six or Mono evades these characters in-game. I love his mime and puppeteer nature and themes, and his audio- or lack of audio cue is such a nice touch. Whenever it goes silent, you know he's near.

In conclusion this was an amazing book for me and a thrilling horror adventure that expands on Little Nightmares and its lore. Imo Little Nightmares was in good hands with this author and they brought more life to the series in novel form. I'm already excited to reread it and see what details or deeper meanings I missed, and I can't wait to see the theories people come up with!

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m definitely biased here, of course I enjoyed this! How could I not? If I knew nothing about the games I would find this a confusing book. There’s not a lot of explanations about anything, it is assumed you know about this universe and you know what you’re getting into. And if you’ve played the games, this really transporta you back. To be honest, it felt like a DLC, but instead of playing it I read through it. Same kind of dread, kids that don’t know where they come from or how they got there, huge places, sagging skin in all the adults, and mostly terrifying situations (literally one after another, like in the game). As far as I know, it’s supposed to expand on one of the sections the new game will have, a Carnival of sorts… alas, I’ll have to wait and confirm once the game is out. In the meantime, it was amazing to read about these kids trying to escape the Nowhere. There’s so many in there it’s actually terrifying.

[Connor McQueen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really good.

For a short young adult book I honestly didn’t expect much. As someone who go into the games while I was at university I don’t feel like many of the fans in the little nightmare community were around the early teen ages this book seems to be aimed for so I was expecting it to lack the feeling that makes the games so special.

But I was wrong. It’s short length does feel like it’s a perfect length to cover what would be one chapter in one of the games and of this book does get followed up with sequels I would have happy to keep reading.

There’s been enough left unsaid that the story could happily continue from the perspective of either ruse or the other children but little nightmares is a series that has always been comfortable with ambiguity so if this does end up being a stand alone it doesn’t diminish the experience.

The book really captured the feeling of playing the game which isn’t something I’ve seen before. The author did such a good job with keeping the dialogue to a minimum and letting our imagination run wild about the kids origins and the world they are in.

It’s a really solid read that I can’t recommend enough for a fan of the series.

[Ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

ohh the task to rate something connected to my hyperfixation— the writing style wasn‘t entirely up my alley but reading this with the little nightmares I+II soundtrack?? it ate.
the centipede & ball pit monster scared tf out of me and the performer slayed a bit too hard. i‘d have LOVED to learn more about feast, mim & ruse !!

[Maddy Dittmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction to the world of Little Nightmares! My friend recommended I read this and I enjoyed it. I usually don’t read fantasy or horror books but this was very suspenseful and the sensory details were very strong.

[Atlee]

who was going to tell me there’s a lnm novel

[Chris Norman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wild to put the best little nightmares villain in the book and not the games…

[ren ౨ৎ (rozanov's version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

⁀➷ 4 ★ ´ˎ˗

i'm a total noob when it comes to little nightmares lore, but i really enjoyed this book and the easter eggs that were woven into the story. the writing style was really good for a middle grade book and the storyline had me hooked the entire time!

[Am · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was truly a wonderful addition to the canon and lore of the Little Nightmares franchise. I am amazed at how well these stories continually translate between different media formats whilst keeping the same eerie and creepy vibe. It just proves that everyone can be a fan of LN - there's this book for those who favour novels, many a video game for people preferring interactive involvement, the audio podcast for those prioritising auditory content, and comics and stop motion projects to look forward to too! This review is turning into me just gushing about LN!!

I did find the writing more 'tell not show' in style, which isn't specifically a bad thing, more of an issue of personal preference - I like to try and make inferences about characters based on descriptions rather than being told directly what they're feeling etc. That being said, the descriptions were still wonderful in this book - especially for environment exposition. The unsettling atmosphere was created fantastically from the first page.

I particularly enjoyed reading the Easter eggs scattered here and there, and trying to link points mentioned in this book with other parts of the franchise. Pretty sure Low's mask was described verbatim at one point in the book, so that might be interesting to see in the new game? I think there were many nods to The Sounds Of Nightmares and to LN3, as well as many parallels to the first few games (hunger being significantly experienced by Feast here echoes that of Six, both the Fairground and the Maw having involvement with human meat?). Other concepts like the comfort items/things that pass through into the Nowhere with the children (Ruse's pocket watch), more areas of the Counties (Hatefield fairground if I recall correctly?), and the Performer in general (fab character) I truly hope we can learn more about in future projects.

I liked that there is a (seemingly) happy(ish) ending for ALL the kids this time, let's hope it stays that way.. Would love to encounter Ruse, Feast, and Mim again. Think it's very clever how expertly this novel interweaves into the LN canon.

[Teena Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this new Little Nightmares world. It even had a happily ever after, maybe… sort of… whatever it was, I devoured it.

I loved the overall atmosphere and meeting the new characters. The nods to the things we already love. This world is definitely a ‘tell, not show’ kind of deal but that is ok in this setting. As a 40 something year old, it reminded me of reading books like Goosebumps back in the 90’s!

It was creepy imagining the sounds and sometimes lack-of sounds from the Nightmares, just as scary as in the games that we are obsessed with. You know when things are silent that it’s about to go down! So good!!

I cannot wait to see the carnival in-game and hope it is even better than what my brain imagined whilst reading this!

Roll on October!!

[Viselik · Rating 1 out of 5]

If this wasn’t called Little Nightmares, I would assume it’s an entirely different franchise. I was really disappointed.

This fails to grasp the feeling of little nightmares, and somehow the ending just made me annoyed as it so not what this series has been for so long. I understand it’s translating a world mainly set in games but this failed to get the feeling of a little guy in a world not meant for them. I didn't even get a feeling for this world.

I’m gonna call this my most disappointing book I’ve read all year and my expectations weren’t high as I was worried from the start about the book just being another way to fix holes in the third game's story... but it didn't even do that in my eyes.

[s · Rating 3 out of 5]

مالعبت الألعاب وقرأت الكتاب مباشرة بالتالي شفتها غريبة مرة أحلام العصر حرفياً
لا توجد حوارات بالقصة وصف أجواء المكان الغامضة والمرعبة والغريبة جداً
القصة تنتهي فجأة بدون تفسيرات عليك انت تخمن القصة وأبعادها وتفسيراتها
فيه اشياء واضحة تقدر تستنج منها واشياء لا تُرِكَت دون تفسير
اعتقد القصة ليست لي اول مرة اقرا كتاب كذا طريقة السرد غريبة وغامضه
مااحب القصص الغامضة بزيادة بس شكلها ذي طبيعة اللعبة
لأن فتحت اليوتيوب مليان نظريات وتفسيرات ل��عبة وقصتها من مختلف الأشخاص
لكن مع هذا تجربة لا بأس بها
بس فيه شي ضايقني مرة وهو جودة الكتاب الرديئة جداً وسعره المرتفع
مايستحق أبداً الكتاب شوية ويتقطع.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The choice to tell a story set at one of the places we've already been to in the games is an interesting one. It does feel like we're retreading ground we've already seen before, which feels like a shame. That said, the Performer was scary as hell, and the hints as to what happened to our main characters to bring them to the Spiral in the first place are more than a little depressing.

Kinda short, kinda cryptic, kinda creepy. So, Little Nightmares in a nutshell.

[Juniper Bates · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love how this book captures the aesthetic style of little nightmares, there are times where I can imagine the scenes playing out as in the games but sometimes for a book I’m after something different. The prose was a bit confusing at times but a nice, easy read with some interesting world building concepts

[Jesús · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think it was very good. It didn't manage to translate the feeling I get from the games, or even from the podcast, to a written form. It just feels like the author was trying to kind of describe the gameplay in a book, and that didn't work for me.

[Dillian Criker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite being a very short read, it's surprising how well this captures the atmosphere of the first two games. While I'm not a huge fan of the direction the franchise is taking, this book shows that they still have room to tell smaller, more personal stories.

[Librosito99 · Rating 2 out of 5]

After how hype "The Sounds of Nightmares" was, I can't help but feel dissappointed by this book. It falls shallow in what I expect from a story carrying the Little Nightmares name.
The standards with this franchise are high and I don't feel that this scratches the itch.

[Shiba · Rating 2 out of 5]

Of course, playing the original video games is better.
Honestly, I think it’s more fun to use both your brain and hands while listening to the BGM in the game than just reading the book.

[Lena Boak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable, very lore dense

[Colin Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Ruse