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Five Nights at Freddy's: Tales from the Pizzaplex #2
HAPPS: An AFK Book
Five Nights at Freddy's fans won't want to miss this collection of three chilling stories that will haunt even the bravest FNAF player…
Have you ever wanted something badly, even though you shouldn’t? . . . Steve’s dreams of a video game programming career and starting a family lead him to take a job that seems too good to be true. Aiden and Jace can’t resist scaring some young kids in the tube maze of Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex. And all Billy wants is to become the perfect ideal of what he knows he really is—an animatronic. But in the world of Five Nights at Freddy's, be careful what you wish for . . .
In this second volume, Five Nights at Freddy's creator Scott Cawthon spins three sinister novella-length tales from uncharted corners of his series' canon.
Readers This collection of terrifying tales is enough to rattle even the most hardened Five Nights at Freddy's fans.
Have you ever wanted something badly, even though you shouldn’t? . . . Steve’s dreams of a video game programming career and starting a family lead him to take a job that seems too good to be true. Aiden and Jace can’t resist scaring some young kids in the tube maze of Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex. And all Billy wants is to become the perfect ideal of what he knows he really is—an animatronic. But in the world of Five Nights at Freddy's, be careful what you wish for . . .
In this second volume, Five Nights at Freddy's creator Scott Cawthon spins three sinister novella-length tales from uncharted corners of his series' canon.
Readers This collection of terrifying tales is enough to rattle even the most hardened Five Nights at Freddy's fans.
209 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 20, 2022
100 people are currently reading
1698 people want to read
About the author
Scott Cawthon
152 books2,338 followersScott Cawthon is an American independent video game developer, animator, and writer, best known for his creation of the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise.
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November 5, 2022honestly these books have just gotten more and more messed up I would not give these to a child 😭
May 10, 2023
Did Goodreads delete my review? What the hell
The third story in this, B7, is the reason I rated this book so low
B7 is insanely tone-deaf at best, maliciously transphobic at worst.
B7 tells the story of a child who decides he's actually an animatronic at a young age and continues on to show the boy committing to the idea that he's an animatronic to the extent that he has to be hospitalized for drinking motor oil- the boys insistence that he is an animatronic tears his family apart and after ultimately leads his mother to commit suicide because she can't deal with it anymore once he's 18.
He then goes on to get surgeries to change his body to be more like an animatronic, using language commonly used in trans stories - that he needs to change his outside to fit his inside, and ultimately culminates in him snapping out of it, looking in the mirror at looking at his mutilated body and lamenting "the man he'll now never be able to be" and committing suicide himself.
In a social climate where the transition rights of actual trans people are being threatened and parents are being charged with child abuse for supporting their trans children this story is *horrendously* upsetting to see in a book geared towards children and teens, especially when a large portion of the FNAF fan base is queer.
The language is too on the nose to feel unintentional and I hope it's a tone dead cis author not realizing how *harmful* this presentation can be and not meant to be openly transphobic, but MAN...I just don't want other trans readers going into that story blind because it was genuinely a very upsetting read, and not in a "oh upsetting horror story" way.
The third story in this, B7, is the reason I rated this book so low
B7 is insanely tone-deaf at best, maliciously transphobic at worst.
B7 tells the story of a child who decides he's actually an animatronic at a young age and continues on to show the boy committing to the idea that he's an animatronic to the extent that he has to be hospitalized for drinking motor oil- the boys insistence that he is an animatronic tears his family apart and after ultimately leads his mother to commit suicide because she can't deal with it anymore once he's 18.
He then goes on to get surgeries to change his body to be more like an animatronic, using language commonly used in trans stories - that he needs to change his outside to fit his inside, and ultimately culminates in him snapping out of it, looking in the mirror at looking at his mutilated body and lamenting "the man he'll now never be able to be" and committing suicide himself.
In a social climate where the transition rights of actual trans people are being threatened and parents are being charged with child abuse for supporting their trans children this story is *horrendously* upsetting to see in a book geared towards children and teens, especially when a large portion of the FNAF fan base is queer.
The language is too on the nose to feel unintentional and I hope it's a tone dead cis author not realizing how *harmful* this presentation can be and not meant to be openly transphobic, but MAN...I just don't want other trans readers going into that story blind because it was genuinely a very upsetting read, and not in a "oh upsetting horror story" way.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 22, 2023
the only downside i'd say is that happs dragged out a bit long before the climax but i LOVED b-7, such an interesting story
October 6, 2022
• "And so here's where you come in," Mr. Edwards said. "In an effort to laugh off our detractors, Fazbear Entertainment wants to put out a line of video games based on the lies that have been spread about the company. Horror games." •
🎮🍕🦾
Eine weitere Geschichtensammlung aus dem FNaF-Universum. Sichtlich stärker als sein Vorgänger und auch die schwarzen Seiten am Ende lassen schon erahnen, wo die Rahmenhandlung hinführen wird.
🎮🍕🦾
Eine weitere Geschichtensammlung aus dem FNaF-Universum. Sichtlich stärker als sein Vorgänger und auch die schwarzen Seiten am Ende lassen schon erahnen, wo die Rahmenhandlung hinführen wird.
September 21, 2022
While not quite as good as the previous installment, HAPPS has some solid stories that elevate it to a level similar to Fetch, 1:35 A.M., and Bunny Call.
I thought Help Wanted was pretty good. It's really interesting to see a game canon story that isn't just some random event in the timeline and legitimately expands upon the lore of the games that was only briefly touched upon before. Steve's family is fine, I have no strong feelings or opinions on them, which I think is the main issue with the story.
HAPPS is good. Happs is a silly little dude and I liked the main protagonists for the most part. My main issue with the story is that the beginning is rather slow. It takes a lot of time to explain exactly what's going on, and I think some of the details could have been held back for the most part.
B-7 is okay. This is definitely gonna cause some divide in the fandom, some are going to love the uniqueness of the story and it's interesting way of presenting and delivering its messages, while others are going to find the lack of an antagonist and the rather bleak nature of the story to be push factors. Personally, my issue lies more in the writing of the story. The bleak nature of B-7 is mainly covered up through Billy's perspective being neutral on the matter rather than constantly putting emphasis on how bad things are.
I thought Help Wanted was pretty good. It's really interesting to see a game canon story that isn't just some random event in the timeline and legitimately expands upon the lore of the games that was only briefly touched upon before. Steve's family is fine, I have no strong feelings or opinions on them, which I think is the main issue with the story.
HAPPS is good. Happs is a silly little dude and I liked the main protagonists for the most part. My main issue with the story is that the beginning is rather slow. It takes a lot of time to explain exactly what's going on, and I think some of the details could have been held back for the most part.
B-7 is okay. This is definitely gonna cause some divide in the fandom, some are going to love the uniqueness of the story and it's interesting way of presenting and delivering its messages, while others are going to find the lack of an antagonist and the rather bleak nature of the story to be push factors. Personally, my issue lies more in the writing of the story. The bleak nature of B-7 is mainly covered up through Billy's perspective being neutral on the matter rather than constantly putting emphasis on how bad things are.
June 14, 2024
Very meh. Not as big of a waste of time as Lallys Game and thankfully we kept cancer out of this one but still just, not as good as Fazbear Frights for me. These aren't hitting the same AT ALL so far, they're all long and rather dull and usually only have 1 detail linking the story to the FNAF universe as a whole. Those details could EASILY be removed and these would be random messed up tales from anyone anywhere. I wanted to like all 3 stories in this but they just all felt meh to me. First story Help Wanted started strong and honestly held its momentum the best out of the 3 but we still end it with a flop for me. HAPPS just seemed a bit silly and forced, I swear those kids were only in danger because the author said so. B-7 I wanted to like but it gave me nothing but more questions even though its the only story in here that actually HAS an ending written. Thats another trend I'm noticing and not really liking, the tales from the pizzaplex stories keep just ending in the middle of what should be the climax and its really getting on my nerves lol I MAY try 1 more book but so far this series is looking like its getting dropped. Even the black pages at the end are losing their intrigue, rather than another piece of a mystery we basically just read a different version of the 1st Tales black pages again. Boring.
(EDIT WITH SPOILERS FOR B-7: I now see alot of comments saying B-7 was a transphobic story? I personally didn't get that vibe, they said the kid was in an accident and he doesn't start identifying as an animatronic until said accident occurs and he watches his first episode of Freddy and Friends. All he remembers from it is he was separated from his family and probed a bunch with needles. I assumed this was us being told sneakily that those doctors (maybe one of them was afton?) Put some kind of animatronic sleeper program in his brain or something that would only trigger once hearing an episode of Freddy and Friends. Sounds insane and inane I know but its FNAF lets be real here, its possible I think atleast. I could be wrong though. I also haven't read many trans books so I don't really know how they're normally written, but I also get the feeling the authors also haven't read anymore trans material than I have so I doubt it was their intent to make it sound so transphobic, thats my hope anyway.)
(EDIT WITH SPOILERS FOR B-7: I now see alot of comments saying B-7 was a transphobic story? I personally didn't get that vibe, they said the kid was in an accident and he doesn't start identifying as an animatronic until said accident occurs and he watches his first episode of Freddy and Friends. All he remembers from it is he was separated from his family and probed a bunch with needles. I assumed this was us being told sneakily that those doctors (maybe one of them was afton?) Put some kind of animatronic sleeper program in his brain or something that would only trigger once hearing an episode of Freddy and Friends. Sounds insane and inane I know but its FNAF lets be real here, its possible I think atleast. I could be wrong though. I also haven't read many trans books so I don't really know how they're normally written, but I also get the feeling the authors also haven't read anymore trans material than I have so I doubt it was their intent to make it sound so transphobic, thats my hope anyway.)
October 19, 2022
3rd story was transphobic. And I had briefly forgotten why Scott Cawthon had to sell FNAF.
September 7, 2023
I was not at all expecting to find a story like B-7 in this, but it made the entire book worth reading!
That isn't to say I didn't enjoy the other two short stories though, but I ended up reading B-7 all in one sitting because I was that invested in its characters, its tone, and just, well, everything about it! I thought the horror in this story was so much more palpable than in Help Wanted or even in Happs. It was simultaneously fast-paced but also a slow and steady build-up to each shock that occured.
Although, I do feel bad about shelving this as middle-grade, even though that's technically the audience this is aimed towards.
(TW: Suicide ment.) While the scares in the first Tales from the Pizzaplex felt appropriate for a younger audience, felt incredibly out of place here. They fit appropriately within the context of the story, and I actually appreciate how both scenes were written and the build-up that led to both events, but finding it in what I thought would be a middle-grade read is... odd. Or at least it makes me feel odd, personally.
(TW: Gore ment.) That's not to say it's any worse or better than what happened in the story Happs, where . It also felt like 'too much' for a younger audience. B-7 just happened to hit doubly hard because I wasn't expecting to read anything like that right after everything that happened in Happs.
It's still an incredibly well-written short story though, one that I'm happy to have read! That isn't to say I didn't like Help Wanted or Happs, but I see myself thinking about B-7 specifically even years from now. Maaaybe it's a little too much for a FNaF anthology, but, outside of that, was a great read.
That isn't to say I didn't enjoy the other two short stories though, but I ended up reading B-7 all in one sitting because I was that invested in its characters, its tone, and just, well, everything about it! I thought the horror in this story was so much more palpable than in Help Wanted or even in Happs. It was simultaneously fast-paced but also a slow and steady build-up to each shock that occured.
Although, I do feel bad about shelving this as middle-grade, even though that's technically the audience this is aimed towards.
(TW: Suicide ment.) While the scares in the first Tales from the Pizzaplex felt appropriate for a younger audience, felt incredibly out of place here. They fit appropriately within the context of the story, and I actually appreciate how both scenes were written and the build-up that led to both events, but finding it in what I thought would be a middle-grade read is... odd. Or at least it makes me feel odd, personally.
(TW: Gore ment.) That's not to say it's any worse or better than what happened in the story Happs, where . It also felt like 'too much' for a younger audience. B-7 just happened to hit doubly hard because I wasn't expecting to read anything like that right after everything that happened in Happs.
It's still an incredibly well-written short story though, one that I'm happy to have read! That isn't to say I didn't like Help Wanted or Happs, but I see myself thinking about B-7 specifically even years from now. Maaaybe it's a little too much for a FNaF anthology, but, outside of that, was a great read.
November 2, 2022
Wow! Este si es un libro digno de la saga.
Para empezar, el primer relato "Help Wanted" Es tan rebuscado y escandaloso como into the pit. Puede que un poco predecible pero aun así impactante menos por la alocada aventura del protagonista por... ¿El delirio-verso?
El segundo relato "HAPPS" me hizo volver a odiar a los personajes protagonistas como si estuviese leyendo un Fright. Hay gore gratuito de tal escala que me hace evocar imágenes de películas de serie B, es tenso y a la vez terrorífico. No llega a ser mi preferido del libro por muy poco (a causa de sus repeticiones constantes en el entorno y definiciones de la acción, aunque mejore hacia el final). AMO a HAPPS, es un robot rumba entrañable.
El tercer relato B-7 impacta hasta el alma... No tengo palabras para describir lo que narrado aquí. Alucinante. Jamás llegué a imaginar tal desenlace y el transcurso de la historia me ha mantenido al límite de la ansiedad y, por supuesto, no pude parar de leer hasta acabarlo. El protagonista es por momentos conmovedor, desesperante, ¡una locura! No existe la definición exacta para Billy, simplemente LOCURA. Por relatos como este me pregunto ¿enserio es para chicos de 12 años? Es muy turbio si paro a pensarlo...
En general, este libro supera con creces al primero de Pizzaflex. Me ha encantado y tiene su merecido 9/10 flojeando en el primer relato un poco... Flashero como suele decirse.
Para empezar, el primer relato "Help Wanted" Es tan rebuscado y escandaloso como into the pit. Puede que un poco predecible pero aun así impactante menos por la alocada aventura del protagonista por... ¿El delirio-verso?
El segundo relato "HAPPS" me hizo volver a odiar a los personajes protagonistas como si estuviese leyendo un Fright. Hay gore gratuito de tal escala que me hace evocar imágenes de películas de serie B, es tenso y a la vez terrorífico. No llega a ser mi preferido del libro por muy poco (a causa de sus repeticiones constantes en el entorno y definiciones de la acción, aunque mejore hacia el final). AMO a HAPPS, es un robot rumba entrañable.
El tercer relato B-7 impacta hasta el alma... No tengo palabras para describir lo que narrado aquí. Alucinante. Jamás llegué a imaginar tal desenlace y el transcurso de la historia me ha mantenido al límite de la ansiedad y, por supuesto, no pude parar de leer hasta acabarlo. El protagonista es por momentos conmovedor, desesperante, ¡una locura! No existe la definición exacta para Billy, simplemente LOCURA. Por relatos como este me pregunto ¿enserio es para chicos de 12 años? Es muy turbio si paro a pensarlo...
En general, este libro supera con creces al primero de Pizzaflex. Me ha encantado y tiene su merecido 9/10 flojeando en el primer relato un poco... Flashero como suele decirse.
June 1, 2025
Eh. I'm still not feeling like any of these stories. Weird, sure. But lacking that horror element the first run of short stories had. Some of these felt repetitive too like after the number of sores in Fazbear Frights like there's little originality to be had in this set.
April 2, 2023
i enjoyed all of those stories, happs was amazing :D
March 24, 2023
“Help is on the way.” Or is it, really? A struggling indie game designer suddenly finds himself married to the girl of his dreams with two beautiful children and the horror game programming career he’s always wanted. But…how did he get here? Two teenagers find out that turning down a kind offer of help and going past boundaries can result in horrific consequences. A young boy with a broken psyche realizes too late that destroying your body doesn’t cancel out your humanity.
These three stories are, so far, some of the most deeply disturbing of this franchise. Frankly I think that’s the goal of the Tales from the Pizzaplex side series: to go darker and scarier and even more twisted than the original books did. And it’s proving to be successful. As a huge fan of the FNAF franchise, I’m downright impressed with how haunted and shaken I felt after reading these stories-ESPECIALLY the last two. These are gonna stick with me.
This is some good legitimate horror writing. Well done. I’m damn impressed.
These three stories are, so far, some of the most deeply disturbing of this franchise. Frankly I think that’s the goal of the Tales from the Pizzaplex side series: to go darker and scarier and even more twisted than the original books did. And it’s proving to be successful. As a huge fan of the FNAF franchise, I’m downright impressed with how haunted and shaken I felt after reading these stories-ESPECIALLY the last two. These are gonna stick with me.
This is some good legitimate horror writing. Well done. I’m damn impressed.
May 27, 2024
A good collection of short horror stories that falls flat due to distasteful and disgusting social commentary.
Man I was really look forward to reading Happs but it crashed and burned with the inclusion of B-7. B-7 unintentional or not is riffle full of toxic conservative ideology that's absolutely dangerous and so heartless to include. The first two stories were really strong but B-7 was massively weak. Horror similar to bigoted arguments shouldn't be made. B-7 scared me for the wrong reasons.
The only good thing about this collection was Happs and Help Wanted in terms of weird concepts and scary monsters. Help Wanted perfectly gave Wandavision vibes with how much it touched on fake realities. Happs was a perfect Black Mirror esc story that explored the importance of not being cruel to machines. The themes connected are very cleverly as this collection empahises cleverly be careful what you wish for. Apart from B-7 the horror was very good and it has me very hopeful about some of the other collections.
Okay there's a lot to break down so I'm just gonna point out the best parts of this novel and the worst parts of this novel as its a very mixed back and rather then this is terrible don't read it I'm gonna let you decide. But if you are Trans or Autistic please proceed cautiously with B-7 or skip it all together. Happs is one of the darkest fnaf collections even darker than Fazbear Frights.
Okay so onto the negatives.
The political right wing undertones. Often the left are acussed of shoving "woke" ideology into everything when B-7 the final story was full of it. It wasn't just an Anti-Trans allegory either as an Autistic person Billy's parents reminded me of people who struggle to cope with neurodivergent kids especially the way Billy isolated from all the other kids. It was terrible and knowing that the Fnaf fan base is full of neurodivergent and queer people makes it even worse for. Language like "fit what's on the outside" is how many trans people describe Gender Dysphoria and "We just need to feed his delusions." is how many parents of autistic children will react to special interests. I tried to get into the story and ignore it but the themes were too shoved down my throat I couldn't. I've never felt so disturbed for the wrong reasons in my entire life.
Secondly this is mainly a hit at the Epilogue but Cawthorne and the writer's still don't know how to write child protagonists. Jace and Aiden were really annoying until they started running from Happs and the group of kids at the carnival were stereotypical as heck and not intresting. Unrequited love, jock bully's it'd all been done before. I also found that the teens were acting younger than teenagers. I think Fnaf stories are so much better when we focus on Adults take Help Wanted for example was really effective and powerful cos Steve despite being a Cawthorne self insert was someone we wanted to route for. I also found that Happs was trying to justify Aiden and Jaces actions and it would have worked better if they were in their late teens. Hopefully future Tales stories can fix this issue.
Finally the concepts themselves. Hated B-7 all together but Happs and Help Wanted were stories that much better suited a movie, a video game or a full novel. Those two ideas were not made for a short story as I would have felt much more scared during Help Wanted if the horror Steve had to deal with was actually on screen. Happs felt like a slasher movie with half the cast it needed cut down. Both ideas were too bold for the very cut down format of a short story collection. I wanted the characters better fleshed out and I felt like the twist with Steve in Help Wanted would have sunk deeper if we'd seen further of his life in that rubbish job or made it Truman Show like instead of Wandavision.
Now with the negatives out of the way onto the positives.
The horror is so much better than the first Tales Collection or even some of the frights. Ignoring the fact B-7's horror shook me for the wrong reasons. I was scared and tense whilst reading this novel, I felt uncomfortable, sympathetic for the characters and desperate to see how the tale would end. Bit risky to do in a collection aimed at middle graders but man they did not hold back. Help Wanted and Happs especially had quite alot of claustrophobia which made it even more disturbing. The gore was really sinister too and I had genuine times I needed to put the book down out of pure shock and terror. Happs as a collection will live you spooked.
Secondly the pacing. Approximately 15 collections in and the writing team have finally got a hang of the pacing. You can really tell how much they've grown in terms of figuring out the right pacing. Even B-7 as much as I loathed it was paced in a very simple way to the point it was able to tell the full timelined story it wanted to tell. Happs although repetive felt like the eiree slasher chase it was meant to be and Help Wanted was well paced from start to finish even with the time skips. These stories were much better then previous novels due to being the nesssacary pace a reader could cope and agree with.
Finally the variety. In the past I've felt a lot of stories in other collections very similar but Happs, Help Wanted and B-7 were unique distinct orginal stories with only a thread of common themes connecting them. All three stories had their own distinct stories that had me very engaged (sometimes for the wrong reasons) and interested in how the characters would escape their peril. Even the 2nd Epilogue tried to contrast from the one in the first book. Help Wanted is more psychological horror, Happs is slasher horror and B-7 is dystopian horror. There's a story here for everyone to enjoy.
Overall a good collection until it became the worst collection with the inclusion of B-7. There's something you might get out of it if you squint hard enough. Not the best but it's up to you to decide if you want to check it out.
Overall Rating: 2.5 Stars ⭐️⭐️💫
My rating for each story individually goes as followed:
Help Wanted: 4 Stars (Great but Steve was not fleshed out as much as he should have been)
Happs: 4 Stars (Spooky Black Mirror Like Story That Has A Rocky Beginning)
B-7: 2 Stars (Deeply disgusted and uncomfortable. Poor story)
Epilogue 2: 4 Stars (A good Epilogue but core cast was too stereotypical)
Man I was really look forward to reading Happs but it crashed and burned with the inclusion of B-7. B-7 unintentional or not is riffle full of toxic conservative ideology that's absolutely dangerous and so heartless to include. The first two stories were really strong but B-7 was massively weak. Horror similar to bigoted arguments shouldn't be made. B-7 scared me for the wrong reasons.
The only good thing about this collection was Happs and Help Wanted in terms of weird concepts and scary monsters. Help Wanted perfectly gave Wandavision vibes with how much it touched on fake realities. Happs was a perfect Black Mirror esc story that explored the importance of not being cruel to machines. The themes connected are very cleverly as this collection empahises cleverly be careful what you wish for. Apart from B-7 the horror was very good and it has me very hopeful about some of the other collections.
Okay there's a lot to break down so I'm just gonna point out the best parts of this novel and the worst parts of this novel as its a very mixed back and rather then this is terrible don't read it I'm gonna let you decide. But if you are Trans or Autistic please proceed cautiously with B-7 or skip it all together. Happs is one of the darkest fnaf collections even darker than Fazbear Frights.
Okay so onto the negatives.
The political right wing undertones. Often the left are acussed of shoving "woke" ideology into everything when B-7 the final story was full of it. It wasn't just an Anti-Trans allegory either as an Autistic person Billy's parents reminded me of people who struggle to cope with neurodivergent kids especially the way Billy isolated from all the other kids. It was terrible and knowing that the Fnaf fan base is full of neurodivergent and queer people makes it even worse for. Language like "fit what's on the outside" is how many trans people describe Gender Dysphoria and "We just need to feed his delusions." is how many parents of autistic children will react to special interests. I tried to get into the story and ignore it but the themes were too shoved down my throat I couldn't. I've never felt so disturbed for the wrong reasons in my entire life.
Secondly this is mainly a hit at the Epilogue but Cawthorne and the writer's still don't know how to write child protagonists. Jace and Aiden were really annoying until they started running from Happs and the group of kids at the carnival were stereotypical as heck and not intresting. Unrequited love, jock bully's it'd all been done before. I also found that the teens were acting younger than teenagers. I think Fnaf stories are so much better when we focus on Adults take Help Wanted for example was really effective and powerful cos Steve despite being a Cawthorne self insert was someone we wanted to route for. I also found that Happs was trying to justify Aiden and Jaces actions and it would have worked better if they were in their late teens. Hopefully future Tales stories can fix this issue.
Finally the concepts themselves. Hated B-7 all together but Happs and Help Wanted were stories that much better suited a movie, a video game or a full novel. Those two ideas were not made for a short story as I would have felt much more scared during Help Wanted if the horror Steve had to deal with was actually on screen. Happs felt like a slasher movie with half the cast it needed cut down. Both ideas were too bold for the very cut down format of a short story collection. I wanted the characters better fleshed out and I felt like the twist with Steve in Help Wanted would have sunk deeper if we'd seen further of his life in that rubbish job or made it Truman Show like instead of Wandavision.
Now with the negatives out of the way onto the positives.
The horror is so much better than the first Tales Collection or even some of the frights. Ignoring the fact B-7's horror shook me for the wrong reasons. I was scared and tense whilst reading this novel, I felt uncomfortable, sympathetic for the characters and desperate to see how the tale would end. Bit risky to do in a collection aimed at middle graders but man they did not hold back. Help Wanted and Happs especially had quite alot of claustrophobia which made it even more disturbing. The gore was really sinister too and I had genuine times I needed to put the book down out of pure shock and terror. Happs as a collection will live you spooked.
Secondly the pacing. Approximately 15 collections in and the writing team have finally got a hang of the pacing. You can really tell how much they've grown in terms of figuring out the right pacing. Even B-7 as much as I loathed it was paced in a very simple way to the point it was able to tell the full timelined story it wanted to tell. Happs although repetive felt like the eiree slasher chase it was meant to be and Help Wanted was well paced from start to finish even with the time skips. These stories were much better then previous novels due to being the nesssacary pace a reader could cope and agree with.
Finally the variety. In the past I've felt a lot of stories in other collections very similar but Happs, Help Wanted and B-7 were unique distinct orginal stories with only a thread of common themes connecting them. All three stories had their own distinct stories that had me very engaged (sometimes for the wrong reasons) and interested in how the characters would escape their peril. Even the 2nd Epilogue tried to contrast from the one in the first book. Help Wanted is more psychological horror, Happs is slasher horror and B-7 is dystopian horror. There's a story here for everyone to enjoy.
Overall a good collection until it became the worst collection with the inclusion of B-7. There's something you might get out of it if you squint hard enough. Not the best but it's up to you to decide if you want to check it out.
Overall Rating: 2.5 Stars ⭐️⭐️💫
My rating for each story individually goes as followed:
Help Wanted: 4 Stars (Great but Steve was not fleshed out as much as he should have been)
Happs: 4 Stars (Spooky Black Mirror Like Story That Has A Rocky Beginning)
B-7: 2 Stars (Deeply disgusted and uncomfortable. Poor story)
Epilogue 2: 4 Stars (A good Epilogue but core cast was too stereotypical)
March 20, 2024
I love (and hate) the tragic and horrible and sometimes controversial magic of FNaF
Seriously, how the hell does Scott make accidentally pro-LGBTQ rhetoric explaining how homophobia leads LGBTQ+ people to want to disappear in the second story and then in the third story make accidental again but now transphobic rhetoric about how trans people are ""destroys their bodies"" and that suicide is the best option in that case?
I recommend that when you read this book you skip the third story very seriously, Happs and Help Wanted are much better (and that is the only reason this books gets 3 stars if they were not here trust me this would get 1 star) at least B-7 2 came to fix the problems of the third story....but not completely sadly.
Seriously, how the hell does Scott make accidentally pro-LGBTQ rhetoric explaining how homophobia leads LGBTQ+ people to want to disappear in the second story and then in the third story make accidental again but now transphobic rhetoric about how trans people are ""destroys their bodies"" and that suicide is the best option in that case?
I recommend that when you read this book you skip the third story very seriously, Happs and Help Wanted are much better (and that is the only reason this books gets 3 stars if they were not here trust me this would get 1 star) at least B-7 2 came to fix the problems of the third story....but not completely sadly.
October 17, 2022
4.75 out of 5.
Look, this book had me feeling some things. Like, other drivers on the road were probably thinking I was yelling at them because I was screaming at the audiobook at points. Particularly with story 3, B7.
This series is dark. Way darker than the first series. It actually took me off guard with how dark this one turned.
Look, this book had me feeling some things. Like, other drivers on the road were probably thinking I was yelling at them because I was screaming at the audiobook at points. Particularly with story 3, B7.
This series is dark. Way darker than the first series. It actually took me off guard with how dark this one turned.
May 19, 2023
billy’s story seems entirely transphobic or is that just me
January 24, 2023
Adrian let go of Hope. Clearly curious, he, too, began looking around. Hope hugged herself and pressed back against the edge of a small semicircular stage, which was next to a long, rectangular one. The small stage would have been Foxy's stage, Lucia thought. The animatronic fox had been a fixture in the old Freddy Fazbear pizzerias.
Lucia left Hope and joined the others. Jayce had pulled out his small sketch pad and was drawing a robotic skull. The rest of the group was traipsing through the robotic rubble, shifting a metal arm here, a metal leg there. Lucia's faze shifted from part to part to part. The heads were the most unsettling part. Their dead eyes...
Lucia stopped and stared.
She realized that the head she as looking at wasn't made of metal.
It wasn't an animatronic head.
HAPPS, the second book in the Tales from the Pizzaplex series, unfortunately pales in comparison to its predecessor; however, it's not an unenjoyable read, and offers a lot of interesting elements for those interested in more unexplored aspects of the Freddy's canon.
The first story in the book is Help Wanted, a tale that actually expands on the mainline FNaF game of the same name. Books that elaborate directly on game events are very rare in this franchise, so it's a very exciting idea. It follows a lowly indie game developer named Steve Snodgrass (who is comically analogous to FNaF's real creator Scott Cawthon) who is approached by Fazbear Entertainment to produce the in-universe Freddy's horror games that go on to become the basis of Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted, the series' virtual reality title. The narrative takes some crazy turns that no one could have expected, but those who have indulged in every element of the franchise will be rewarded by a familiar concept which hasn't made an appearance in a FNaF story for more than four years. Unfortunately, it falls a little below the bar, as the pacing is a bit haphazard and the scares are wholly uncreative for the Fazbear world. Still, a fairly worthwhile read that I'd give a 3.5/5 stars.
The second story is the titular HAPPS, which stars on the book's cover. Friends Aiden and Jace venture out on one of their many adventures into the Mega Pizzaplex's massive tube maze, which contains the state-of-the-art sanitation and safety robot Happs. They soon come to learn that despite his size, he is not to be trifled with. I find this to be the series' worst story so far, but it really is just average and not like the worst I've read of Fazbear Frights. The story ends up VERY repetitive and quite spatially confusing, but it's not without its good moments, and I love the Happs character himself. Overall, it gets a 3/5 stars.
The third and final main story is B-7, almost certainly the most controversial story to ever release in the franchise. A young boy named Billy gets the idea that he's a robot from watching a Freddy Fazbear cartoon, and his situation begins to deteriorate the longer his behaviour continues. The subject matter unfortunately falls into some uncomfortable allegorical territory; I must stress that this intention has been debunked by the author, but it still adds a little discomfort. On top of this, the story is leagues darker and more gravely serious than the rest of the franchise with none of the natural wackiness that comes with haunted animatronics, so it's very out of place. Still, I'd say it was alright... definitely scary, but not too fitting for FNaF. (On the day I'm typing this however, a sequel has been confirmed that seems to be much more paranormal; excited for that.) Would give it a 3.5/5 stars.
Finally, the short epilogue ends the book, and this is easily the best story of the four. Just like the Fazbear Frights epilogues, it follows up from the previous epilogue and adds in new elements to the big mystery. This one introduces some fun new characters, and it's a good time even though it's far from the quality of the outstanding first epilogue. I'd give it a 4/5 stars.
So overall, the main stories are all just decent, but the epilogue is good. I don't see any harm in getting it or passing it up.
Lucia left Hope and joined the others. Jayce had pulled out his small sketch pad and was drawing a robotic skull. The rest of the group was traipsing through the robotic rubble, shifting a metal arm here, a metal leg there. Lucia's faze shifted from part to part to part. The heads were the most unsettling part. Their dead eyes...
Lucia stopped and stared.
She realized that the head she as looking at wasn't made of metal.
It wasn't an animatronic head.
HAPPS, the second book in the Tales from the Pizzaplex series, unfortunately pales in comparison to its predecessor; however, it's not an unenjoyable read, and offers a lot of interesting elements for those interested in more unexplored aspects of the Freddy's canon.
The first story in the book is Help Wanted, a tale that actually expands on the mainline FNaF game of the same name. Books that elaborate directly on game events are very rare in this franchise, so it's a very exciting idea. It follows a lowly indie game developer named Steve Snodgrass (who is comically analogous to FNaF's real creator Scott Cawthon) who is approached by Fazbear Entertainment to produce the in-universe Freddy's horror games that go on to become the basis of Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted, the series' virtual reality title. The narrative takes some crazy turns that no one could have expected, but those who have indulged in every element of the franchise will be rewarded by a familiar concept which hasn't made an appearance in a FNaF story for more than four years. Unfortunately, it falls a little below the bar, as the pacing is a bit haphazard and the scares are wholly uncreative for the Fazbear world. Still, a fairly worthwhile read that I'd give a 3.5/5 stars.
The second story is the titular HAPPS, which stars on the book's cover. Friends Aiden and Jace venture out on one of their many adventures into the Mega Pizzaplex's massive tube maze, which contains the state-of-the-art sanitation and safety robot Happs. They soon come to learn that despite his size, he is not to be trifled with. I find this to be the series' worst story so far, but it really is just average and not like the worst I've read of Fazbear Frights. The story ends up VERY repetitive and quite spatially confusing, but it's not without its good moments, and I love the Happs character himself. Overall, it gets a 3/5 stars.
The third and final main story is B-7, almost certainly the most controversial story to ever release in the franchise. A young boy named Billy gets the idea that he's a robot from watching a Freddy Fazbear cartoon, and his situation begins to deteriorate the longer his behaviour continues. The subject matter unfortunately falls into some uncomfortable allegorical territory; I must stress that this intention has been debunked by the author, but it still adds a little discomfort. On top of this, the story is leagues darker and more gravely serious than the rest of the franchise with none of the natural wackiness that comes with haunted animatronics, so it's very out of place. Still, I'd say it was alright... definitely scary, but not too fitting for FNaF. (On the day I'm typing this however, a sequel has been confirmed that seems to be much more paranormal; excited for that.) Would give it a 3.5/5 stars.
Finally, the short epilogue ends the book, and this is easily the best story of the four. Just like the Fazbear Frights epilogues, it follows up from the previous epilogue and adds in new elements to the big mystery. This one introduces some fun new characters, and it's a good time even though it's far from the quality of the outstanding first epilogue. I'd give it a 4/5 stars.
So overall, the main stories are all just decent, but the epilogue is good. I don't see any harm in getting it or passing it up.
October 26, 2023
Warning! This review contains spoilers
This book had three short stories and all of them were very good. Help Wanted was the first story and was about this employee and how he does not like his job. He gets a job offer and it is about him working at home designing five nights at Freddy's video game. He meets a girl on a dating app and visits her house. He falls and hits his head. He does not know where he is. He realizes he is at his girlfriend’s house. Apparently, he is married to her and they have kids! Steve finds out he had a car accident a while ago. He sleepwalks a lot at night and sees monsters and gets all of these bruises on his legs. Steve keeps on living there until one night. Then the rest of the family turns into robots and tries killing him. In the end, he is with his wife and she stabs him.
The next story is called Happs. This story is about these 2 kids inside Freddy’s Mega pizzeria. There is this maze with all of these tunne;s and kids go around in all of them. The kids decide to go into the tunnels. They keep on exploring and scare little kids. They go up and down the slides in the tubes. They find an area blocked off and keep on kicking the part that holds it. The kids see the robot called Happs that makes sure kids are safe and helps them if they are lost. He wants to escort them out of the maze but they don’t want to. Happs kept on saying the same thing, so the kids got mad. They started beating Happs and kicking him when the tube came loose and they fell. The kids did not know where they were. They could not find an exit and were starting to get scared. They were hungry and thirsty, but they could not find food. They heard a mechanical whirring and saw Happs following them. Happs did not seem friendly and started chasing the kids. The kids went up ladders and ball pits. Then Happs caught one of the kids and killed him. The other kid was terrified and kept on running. In the end, the kid is still stuck in the tubes with no way of knowing where Happs is and no way out. The third and final story is called B-7. This is about a kid who was obsessed with this television show about animatronics. The kid loved animatronics so much, that he started acting like one. Anywhere he went he acted the way a robot walked and talked. His parents were really worried about him. Even the doctor did not know what was going on. Everybody made fun of him, but he did not care because animatronics do not have feelings. He still acts like himself, because he detected his mom was worried. He even swallowed oil and wound up in the hospital. When he got out of the hospital, he still acted like an animatronic. When he celebrated his birthday, he called it his creation day. Nobody, except his parents and his doctor, came to his birthday. Then he decided animatronics could not eat colored foods. He decided to only eat plain white food. One day he could not find his mom anywhere. The father had already moved out. He went into the bathroom and saw his mom in the bathtub dead. Billy was not that upset because he did not have feelings. He decided then to remove all of his body parts to become an animatronic. He met a man he called Doc and started with his legs. It was a lot of money to do this. He realized this made his legs strange after the first operation. He had to rest after the first operation. When he was resting he met a girl named Maliah. She kept on coming to his house and she thought he was nice. Then each time she came over he kept on getting new body parts. She started getting freaked out and did not want to keep coming over. He then named himself B-7. He realized she did not want to talk to him. He finally realized at the end that he was not an animatronic and he was the little boy from before. He looked at himself in the mirror and screamed. He was lonely in his house crying. He went to the junkyard in a car and decided to sleep. When he woke up, something was crushing the roof of the car. The roof came all the way down on his head and he died.
This book had three short stories and all of them were very good. Help Wanted was the first story and was about this employee and how he does not like his job. He gets a job offer and it is about him working at home designing five nights at Freddy's video game. He meets a girl on a dating app and visits her house. He falls and hits his head. He does not know where he is. He realizes he is at his girlfriend’s house. Apparently, he is married to her and they have kids! Steve finds out he had a car accident a while ago. He sleepwalks a lot at night and sees monsters and gets all of these bruises on his legs. Steve keeps on living there until one night. Then the rest of the family turns into robots and tries killing him. In the end, he is with his wife and she stabs him.
The next story is called Happs. This story is about these 2 kids inside Freddy’s Mega pizzeria. There is this maze with all of these tunne;s and kids go around in all of them. The kids decide to go into the tunnels. They keep on exploring and scare little kids. They go up and down the slides in the tubes. They find an area blocked off and keep on kicking the part that holds it. The kids see the robot called Happs that makes sure kids are safe and helps them if they are lost. He wants to escort them out of the maze but they don’t want to. Happs kept on saying the same thing, so the kids got mad. They started beating Happs and kicking him when the tube came loose and they fell. The kids did not know where they were. They could not find an exit and were starting to get scared. They were hungry and thirsty, but they could not find food. They heard a mechanical whirring and saw Happs following them. Happs did not seem friendly and started chasing the kids. The kids went up ladders and ball pits. Then Happs caught one of the kids and killed him. The other kid was terrified and kept on running. In the end, the kid is still stuck in the tubes with no way of knowing where Happs is and no way out. The third and final story is called B-7. This is about a kid who was obsessed with this television show about animatronics. The kid loved animatronics so much, that he started acting like one. Anywhere he went he acted the way a robot walked and talked. His parents were really worried about him. Even the doctor did not know what was going on. Everybody made fun of him, but he did not care because animatronics do not have feelings. He still acts like himself, because he detected his mom was worried. He even swallowed oil and wound up in the hospital. When he got out of the hospital, he still acted like an animatronic. When he celebrated his birthday, he called it his creation day. Nobody, except his parents and his doctor, came to his birthday. Then he decided animatronics could not eat colored foods. He decided to only eat plain white food. One day he could not find his mom anywhere. The father had already moved out. He went into the bathroom and saw his mom in the bathtub dead. Billy was not that upset because he did not have feelings. He decided then to remove all of his body parts to become an animatronic. He met a man he called Doc and started with his legs. It was a lot of money to do this. He realized this made his legs strange after the first operation. He had to rest after the first operation. When he was resting he met a girl named Maliah. She kept on coming to his house and she thought he was nice. Then each time she came over he kept on getting new body parts. She started getting freaked out and did not want to keep coming over. He then named himself B-7. He realized she did not want to talk to him. He finally realized at the end that he was not an animatronic and he was the little boy from before. He looked at himself in the mirror and screamed. He was lonely in his house crying. He went to the junkyard in a car and decided to sleep. When he woke up, something was crushing the roof of the car. The roof came all the way down on his head and he died.
September 24, 2023
Help Wanted -- This is one of the better stories in the book. There are some aspects of the story which are a bit strange, but it is mostly fine. A few scenes are quite good. When Steve attempts to go on a walk in the snow, the response that Victoria gives to him--that, essentially, it is too cold out--seems out of a western or romance film. This, of course, is entirely the point; we learn in just a few seconds the fictive nature of her whole persona by the twist , so that sense of otherworldliness that Victoria displays here (and throughout the rest of the story) seems fitting. The themes of the narrative are also good, although given very heavy-handedly. DJ Dan the Music Man's final monologue is rather obvious, but some stray thoughts and phrases (e.g.: Steve thinking of the so-called advice to "live in the moment") call attention to the importance placed on perception throughout the work, and the ultimate understanding that these phrases and the acceptance of fanciful lies may not be all that they are made out to be. What Steve sees throughout his time "living in the moment" is nothing but a shell; there's an emptiness inhabiting the feeling, whether bad or good, and that is precisely the taint of it.
Perhaps the best moment of this idea is comprised not in the overblown conclusion, but rather in a singular tension that is exhibited by Victoria when Steve, desirous of hearing different songs than the Top 40 Pop, attempts to change the radio station they've been listening to throughout most of the narrative. This "tension" is found in her voice as she tells him not to do it, but almost immediately after he does change the channel she has a perfectly believable canned response: that there's only one station available so far from the city. What, then, was she afraid of? And, indeed, seeing as she is perfectly happy with by the end of the narrative, what is it that she is afraid he will do if the illusion comes crashing down? Die early? Not finish the games? No, this tension is exactly what we talked about before. It is an emptiness, a feeling expressed without any meaning behind it, and without a point; it is done to be done and nothing more.
HAPPS -- I fear I don't recall much about this one. I understand the ending to be rather graphic.
B-7 -- This story is pretty good. Ultimately, it is about a kid who thinks himself a robot for most of his life, gets plastic surgery and other forms of surgery to make him more like an animotronic (in, one must imagine, a rather socially constructed sense--after all, in this series, robots are easily capable of mimicking humans 1-to-1), but finally realizes that he is not a robot, that what he did was horrible, and commits suicide. The story also includes a young woman he meets; she is pushed away from him by his ceaseless desire to be robotified. (This, one must think, can be wrapped up with the other elements of the story that show Billy's desirable humanness.) This story is probably about accepting oneself as one is, which is a good notion.
Perhaps the best moment of this idea is comprised not in the overblown conclusion, but rather in a singular tension that is exhibited by Victoria when Steve, desirous of hearing different songs than the Top 40 Pop, attempts to change the radio station they've been listening to throughout most of the narrative. This "tension" is found in her voice as she tells him not to do it, but almost immediately after he does change the channel she has a perfectly believable canned response: that there's only one station available so far from the city. What, then, was she afraid of? And, indeed, seeing as she is perfectly happy with by the end of the narrative, what is it that she is afraid he will do if the illusion comes crashing down? Die early? Not finish the games? No, this tension is exactly what we talked about before. It is an emptiness, a feeling expressed without any meaning behind it, and without a point; it is done to be done and nothing more.
HAPPS -- I fear I don't recall much about this one. I understand the ending to be rather graphic.
B-7 -- This story is pretty good. Ultimately, it is about a kid who thinks himself a robot for most of his life, gets plastic surgery and other forms of surgery to make him more like an animotronic (in, one must imagine, a rather socially constructed sense--after all, in this series, robots are easily capable of mimicking humans 1-to-1), but finally realizes that he is not a robot, that what he did was horrible, and commits suicide. The story also includes a young woman he meets; she is pushed away from him by his ceaseless desire to be robotified. (This, one must think, can be wrapped up with the other elements of the story that show Billy's desirable humanness.) This story is probably about accepting oneself as one is, which is a good notion.
February 14, 2023
I really enjoyed this book. The first story was about this guy (Steve) who was just working as a gas station employee, he made games as a past time, soon someone from Fazbears went to him with an interest in his games, wanting him to make games to cover up what happened at the other locations, he declined at first. Then he met this girl named Victoria over an online dating website. He fell in love with her and went to her house for their first date. A high pitched ringing sound made him pass out as he went in. He woke up in a fully furnished house (It was almost empty when he first arrived.) Victoria, now is wife, told him that he sometimes forgets everything. This happens another time when he has kids. they're about a couple years from each other. After he took the offer to make the games he gets these night terrors, he thinks they're just dreams before they come to reality, he soon finds out where that ringing is coming from, and if you read the sliver eyes theology you'll figure out what the thing is, it's an illusion disk, it had covered the whole house, there were holes in the walls where the things had jumped at him. His wife and kids were robots, they knew the illusion disk broke. So they corner him in his bedroom. The radio, being self aware, told Steve to press a button to make everything go back to normal. He did that, he saw his wife in the green dress that she wore on their first date. He ran up to her, his was so happy and filled with bliss that he didn't feel the stabbing to his heart.
The second story is about these two boys (Aiden and Jace) They have trouble homes, and are bullied at school. So they take that anger out on little kids in the tubes. Soon they found their way into a closed off area. At first it was cool, but when they figured out that they wouldn't be getting out they got very upset. Soon happs had come after them (The boys had mangled him, before they fell down into the area they were in now) they slid down into a ball pit, Jace dived into the ball pit, his legs were sticking out. When Happs reached for him his foot was cut clean off. He came up yelling in pain. Aiden helped Jace into a tube. He didn't know what to do. He didn't have much time until Happs came his way. He crawled away, he climbed up a ladder only to see happs had finished off Jace. Happs soon gets caught back up to Aiden and the story ends with Aiden crawling away for his life.
In the third story it is about this kid called billy who pretends to be an animatronic, it soon turns into him believing he is one. He grows up believing he is one. His mother kills herself once he turns 18 and he turns himself into what he thinks would be right for him. Having him have protestics. dying his eye whites, and much more. It ends with him realizing that he's human. He hides in a car and gets crushed.
I really liked this book! i'll leave the ending story for you to read!!
The second story is about these two boys (Aiden and Jace) They have trouble homes, and are bullied at school. So they take that anger out on little kids in the tubes. Soon they found their way into a closed off area. At first it was cool, but when they figured out that they wouldn't be getting out they got very upset. Soon happs had come after them (The boys had mangled him, before they fell down into the area they were in now) they slid down into a ball pit, Jace dived into the ball pit, his legs were sticking out. When Happs reached for him his foot was cut clean off. He came up yelling in pain. Aiden helped Jace into a tube. He didn't know what to do. He didn't have much time until Happs came his way. He crawled away, he climbed up a ladder only to see happs had finished off Jace. Happs soon gets caught back up to Aiden and the story ends with Aiden crawling away for his life.
In the third story it is about this kid called billy who pretends to be an animatronic, it soon turns into him believing he is one. He grows up believing he is one. His mother kills herself once he turns 18 and he turns himself into what he thinks would be right for him. Having him have protestics. dying his eye whites, and much more. It ends with him realizing that he's human. He hides in a car and gets crushed.
I really liked this book! i'll leave the ending story for you to read!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 18, 2025
I think these were actually on the more unnerving end! Adding on to my realizations about Scott as a whole, though, is that I can’t really agree with him terming himself as a “storyteller.” He’s more like a guy that comes up with ideas and concepts. The unique ideas are there, but there’s rarely a complete, fulfilling story. This is seen in both the games and in these novels.
Help Wanted is another one of those stories that just leaves everything unexplained. It’s vaguely creepy, but there’s no reveal as to how Steve was caught in this illusion. I already hate the whole meta aspect of the Help Wanted video game, so I thought its inclusion here was dumb. Also, like, surely there are a ton of other, more experienced coders Fazbear Ent. could call upon rather than a guy whose job is cleaning a gas station. This could be a cool allegory for Alzheimer’s, but it isn’t.
Happs is the creepiest of the bunch. It does try to have a message, which I appreciate from horror targeted at kids, but it’s also extremely gruesome. I felt uncomfortable reading about a child’s graphically described bloody death. I can’t imagine the elementary and middle school kids reading this fare much better. I like that Happs doesn’t have malicious intent, and the horror of it trying to continue to carry out its programming despite being mangled is neat. The whole tunnel system is ridiculous and unrealistic, but that’s how everything is with the Pizzaplex, so I shouldn’t criticize it too hard.
B-7… hm. While reading it, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was probably not the greatest depiction of autism out there. At least, that was my interpretation as to what was going on. If there was supposed to be something paranormal afoot, the story did not do a good job of conveying that. It could be an interesting exploration of a person not getting the appropriate care or having caretakers that are too permissive and enabling, but it would need to be in the hands of more knowledgeable writers and probably not connected to the FNAF world. I think the climactic breakdown at the end happens way too quick considering the amount of build-up prior to it.
In general, I feel like these stories have been too long. I get the idea pretty quickly, but then the plot meanders for a while before anything substantial actually occurs. The ending story spends a strange amount of time detailing every teenager’s appearance, relation to each other, and personality, when the whole point of the story is for them to just get trapped with the Mimic. I also didn’t really get how they were able to get in when the Mimic has been unable to get out, but sure. I’m not supposed to think very hard when reading these. Maybe my issues are my bad for expecting competent stories out of the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise, of all things.
Help Wanted is another one of those stories that just leaves everything unexplained. It’s vaguely creepy, but there’s no reveal as to how Steve was caught in this illusion. I already hate the whole meta aspect of the Help Wanted video game, so I thought its inclusion here was dumb. Also, like, surely there are a ton of other, more experienced coders Fazbear Ent. could call upon rather than a guy whose job is cleaning a gas station. This could be a cool allegory for Alzheimer’s, but it isn’t.
Happs is the creepiest of the bunch. It does try to have a message, which I appreciate from horror targeted at kids, but it’s also extremely gruesome. I felt uncomfortable reading about a child’s graphically described bloody death. I can’t imagine the elementary and middle school kids reading this fare much better. I like that Happs doesn’t have malicious intent, and the horror of it trying to continue to carry out its programming despite being mangled is neat. The whole tunnel system is ridiculous and unrealistic, but that’s how everything is with the Pizzaplex, so I shouldn’t criticize it too hard.
B-7… hm. While reading it, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was probably not the greatest depiction of autism out there. At least, that was my interpretation as to what was going on. If there was supposed to be something paranormal afoot, the story did not do a good job of conveying that. It could be an interesting exploration of a person not getting the appropriate care or having caretakers that are too permissive and enabling, but it would need to be in the hands of more knowledgeable writers and probably not connected to the FNAF world. I think the climactic breakdown at the end happens way too quick considering the amount of build-up prior to it.
In general, I feel like these stories have been too long. I get the idea pretty quickly, but then the plot meanders for a while before anything substantial actually occurs. The ending story spends a strange amount of time detailing every teenager’s appearance, relation to each other, and personality, when the whole point of the story is for them to just get trapped with the Mimic. I also didn’t really get how they were able to get in when the Mimic has been unable to get out, but sure. I’m not supposed to think very hard when reading these. Maybe my issues are my bad for expecting competent stories out of the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise, of all things.
September 25, 2023
This series of novellas. The second in the series of fazbear frights. Does not help bring credibility to this series.
Help wanted~ This Novella is a direct parallel to the game help wanted. And it used lazy writing to convey so... We follow Steve, an Indy game developer, to be approached by Fazbear entertainment to help create a game to dispell the ridiculous rumours of their old pizzerias created by Scott and his games. Steve didn't want to. So instead, they used those sound box reality distortion things to create a reality for Steve, where he lives a perfect life but needs money. He receives this large sum from none other than fazbear entertainment. Soon, the illusion vanishes. Steve finds out it's all fake. Then MUSIC MAN tells him you can have a happy life like this if you press this button. Steve does and bing bada boom. There is no conflict and no real point of the story. Poor writing, but it gets some merrit as it adds to the lore of help wanted. 3/10
Happs- I can sum this novella up in 1 scentence. Boys go into tubes, beat up innocent robot, gets killed by said robot. The action was fairly constant, but there was no real substance. There is no real point in the story. You know what's going to happen, and it's terribly predictable. 3/10
B-7- I was invested in this story. I loved it, and I believe it was a perfect ending novella to this book. It's saving grace. Peice de resistance. This novella follows Billy, a boy who essentially has his mind warped into believing he was an animatronic. He goes for many years. (16) I believe. Has dad left him. His mom kills herself and leaves Billy all alone with money to fund his life as an adult animatronic. His sense of reality was so warped he started to try to become closer to machine by removing his limbs, tongue, and ears as well as getting metal plates in his face and tattooing the whites of his eyes black. He becomes a freak. His girlfriend leaves him too. Billy escapes his mental dissonance and returns to being Billy. Realizing how much he ruined his life, Billy goes to a junkyard. Hops in a car under a crusher and commits suicide via crush. This story was so creative and interesting, and left you wondering what the twist was. And the twist was brilliant. Solid 8/10
Overall 4/10 the book is brought down heavily from the first 2. Can't really recover from that
Help wanted~ This Novella is a direct parallel to the game help wanted. And it used lazy writing to convey so... We follow Steve, an Indy game developer, to be approached by Fazbear entertainment to help create a game to dispell the ridiculous rumours of their old pizzerias created by Scott and his games. Steve didn't want to. So instead, they used those sound box reality distortion things to create a reality for Steve, where he lives a perfect life but needs money. He receives this large sum from none other than fazbear entertainment. Soon, the illusion vanishes. Steve finds out it's all fake. Then MUSIC MAN tells him you can have a happy life like this if you press this button. Steve does and bing bada boom. There is no conflict and no real point of the story. Poor writing, but it gets some merrit as it adds to the lore of help wanted. 3/10
Happs- I can sum this novella up in 1 scentence. Boys go into tubes, beat up innocent robot, gets killed by said robot. The action was fairly constant, but there was no real substance. There is no real point in the story. You know what's going to happen, and it's terribly predictable. 3/10
B-7- I was invested in this story. I loved it, and I believe it was a perfect ending novella to this book. It's saving grace. Peice de resistance. This novella follows Billy, a boy who essentially has his mind warped into believing he was an animatronic. He goes for many years. (16) I believe. Has dad left him. His mom kills herself and leaves Billy all alone with money to fund his life as an adult animatronic. His sense of reality was so warped he started to try to become closer to machine by removing his limbs, tongue, and ears as well as getting metal plates in his face and tattooing the whites of his eyes black. He becomes a freak. His girlfriend leaves him too. Billy escapes his mental dissonance and returns to being Billy. Realizing how much he ruined his life, Billy goes to a junkyard. Hops in a car under a crusher and commits suicide via crush. This story was so creative and interesting, and left you wondering what the twist was. And the twist was brilliant. Solid 8/10
Overall 4/10 the book is brought down heavily from the first 2. Can't really recover from that
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 1, 2023
Oof. Yeah... this book isn't the best that the FNaF book series has to offer. The first story ("Help Wanted") is OK, barring some minor plot holes and the overall feeling that it wasn't totally explored well. The second story ("Happs") isn't bad, but a little overly tragic to a couple characters who don't deserve it, and so loses points in my opinion. Still, that's subjective. The third story ("B-7") is what brings the book as a whole down to one star. And while I just said that things are subjective, the faults and unfortunate parallels of B-7 are too egregious to ignore.
*Only read after this point if you want to hear slightly more regarding "B-7."
In a nutshell, the plot of "B-7" can easily be read as a horror-soaked parallel to raising an autistic and/or transgender child, one that frames the child as unnatural/deluded and shows that going along with the child's "delusions" will only make them an off-putting and malformed creature who will inevitably live to regret their choices. I'm not saying this was certainly the story's intention, but I will say that I can't fathom how the authors could have possibly not been aware of these parallels during the writing process. I even believe that the story could have managed to avoid the trans parallels, or at least make them much harder to see; "B-7" could have just been a story about a boy with a delusion. Unfortunately, once the protagonist starts experiencing "cognitive dissonance" and wants to rectify that through surgeries, the story really begins to utilize phrasing and ideas that are too recognizable from the fears and panic of transphobic people.
If you wish to read this story and judge for yourself, then feel free. But be warned: not only did I get put off by this story, but a trans person who is very close to me (one whom I trust as an open-minded and thoughtful reader) found himself experiencing pangs of nausea and panic while reading it himself.
*Only read after this point if you want to hear slightly more regarding "B-7."
In a nutshell, the plot of "B-7" can easily be read as a horror-soaked parallel to raising an autistic and/or transgender child, one that frames the child as unnatural/deluded and shows that going along with the child's "delusions" will only make them an off-putting and malformed creature who will inevitably live to regret their choices. I'm not saying this was certainly the story's intention, but I will say that I can't fathom how the authors could have possibly not been aware of these parallels during the writing process. I even believe that the story could have managed to avoid the trans parallels, or at least make them much harder to see; "B-7" could have just been a story about a boy with a delusion. Unfortunately, once the protagonist starts experiencing "cognitive dissonance" and wants to rectify that through surgeries, the story really begins to utilize phrasing and ideas that are too recognizable from the fears and panic of transphobic people.
If you wish to read this story and judge for yourself, then feel free. But be warned: not only did I get put off by this story, but a trans person who is very close to me (one whom I trust as an open-minded and thoughtful reader) found himself experiencing pangs of nausea and panic while reading it himself.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 14, 2025
We continue our journey into the world of Five Nights at Freddy’s with this, the second, of the Pizzaplex collection. In my previous review I suggested that the writing for these books seemed a step above Fazbear Frights. This next trilogy of shorts has confirmed that for me. While the previous book had one fine, one good and one very interesting story: this book steps it up again in quality.
We start with Help Wanted. A struggling game designer is offered a job with the Freddy Fazbear company to design games based on their growing reputation. They refuse. While scrolling internet dating he finds his perfect match but when he goes on a date with them he falls unconscious. When he awakes he’s got memory loss and his ‘wife’ must try to fill in the gaps.
Next we follow two young boys in the titular story, Happs. The playground at the pizzaplex has a happy helper named Happs who cleans, organises and assists any lost children. But when two boys go off the beaten path, Happs' normally friendly demeanour sours.
Finally we meet Billy in B-7. A small boy who, after an episode of the Freddy’s Fazbear tv show comes to the conclusion that they themselves are animatronic - will his parents be able to break this belief before it sets in too deep?
What made this book so enjoyable was how vastly different the above stories are from one another. The first is psychological, the second being a slasher style and the third being purely tragic. Each story is fairly unique from any of the previous stories I’ve read from this world - with B-7 in particular having me literally groan (in a good way) at the devastation as it unfolded.
The premise is the same as before. If you enjoy Goosebumps you’ll enjoy these. But what I can say is that this particular book is a subsequent step up from anything I’ve read in the Five Nights at Freddy’s series!
We start with Help Wanted. A struggling game designer is offered a job with the Freddy Fazbear company to design games based on their growing reputation. They refuse. While scrolling internet dating he finds his perfect match but when he goes on a date with them he falls unconscious. When he awakes he’s got memory loss and his ‘wife’ must try to fill in the gaps.
Next we follow two young boys in the titular story, Happs. The playground at the pizzaplex has a happy helper named Happs who cleans, organises and assists any lost children. But when two boys go off the beaten path, Happs' normally friendly demeanour sours.
Finally we meet Billy in B-7. A small boy who, after an episode of the Freddy’s Fazbear tv show comes to the conclusion that they themselves are animatronic - will his parents be able to break this belief before it sets in too deep?
What made this book so enjoyable was how vastly different the above stories are from one another. The first is psychological, the second being a slasher style and the third being purely tragic. Each story is fairly unique from any of the previous stories I’ve read from this world - with B-7 in particular having me literally groan (in a good way) at the devastation as it unfolded.
The premise is the same as before. If you enjoy Goosebumps you’ll enjoy these. But what I can say is that this particular book is a subsequent step up from anything I’ve read in the Five Nights at Freddy’s series!
August 4, 2023
Help Wanted: This seems to be the story of what the game Help Wanted described as a rogue indie developer who made the first 4 games. The main character is plagued by nightmares to fuel his game creation, and a constant noise that I am assuming is the sound illusion disk. It's not a bad story, but it wasn't great either.
Happs: This is the story of a helper animatronic named Happs, and some very snotty teenagers. Most of the story takes place in one of those big plastic jungle gyms Round Table and McDonald's had back in the day. The overall story was alright, I did enjoy the ending though.
B-7: This one was just sad. Billy clearly had trauma related to being hospitalized for a long period when he was 3. His parents, the teacher, and psychiatrist didn't seem to realize he was traumatized and just thought he was weird. He also reads to me at least, that he has a fair amount of autistic traits. Unlike the other stories, Billy's tragedy was not of his own making, at least not entirely. Yes he chose to change himself, but had he received the proper care early enough, he likely wouldn't have gotten to that point. But then we wouldn't have a story, would we?
The epilogue story connects back to the epilogue of the first Tales from the Pizzaplex, but far less brutal than the first... At least as it's written. You can definitely infer what will happen after the story ends, but it is not as explicit with that as the first.
Overall the book is fine. It's not as good as TftP #1, but it's not bad. It's fine. If you are reading them for the lore, then read it. If you are looking for gore, it's not really in this one, mostly just some in the Happs story.
Happs: This is the story of a helper animatronic named Happs, and some very snotty teenagers. Most of the story takes place in one of those big plastic jungle gyms Round Table and McDonald's had back in the day. The overall story was alright, I did enjoy the ending though.
B-7: This one was just sad. Billy clearly had trauma related to being hospitalized for a long period when he was 3. His parents, the teacher, and psychiatrist didn't seem to realize he was traumatized and just thought he was weird. He also reads to me at least, that he has a fair amount of autistic traits. Unlike the other stories, Billy's tragedy was not of his own making, at least not entirely. Yes he chose to change himself, but had he received the proper care early enough, he likely wouldn't have gotten to that point. But then we wouldn't have a story, would we?
The epilogue story connects back to the epilogue of the first Tales from the Pizzaplex, but far less brutal than the first... At least as it's written. You can definitely infer what will happen after the story ends, but it is not as explicit with that as the first.
Overall the book is fine. It's not as good as TftP #1, but it's not bad. It's fine. If you are reading them for the lore, then read it. If you are looking for gore, it's not really in this one, mostly just some in the Happs story.
October 15, 2024
Happs is the second of the eight books that make up the Five Nights at Freddy's: Tales from the Pizzaplex series Spawnicus was kind enough to lend me for this Spooky Season.
Help Wanted is the first story in this collection. This story takes AR to insane levels. Honestly I'd have probably done what Steve did in his situation too. The story drags just a bit around the middle, but it picks up speed toward the end when all the pieces come together. It's a good start for this book imo.
HAPPS is the second story in this collection. This one is definitely the darkest one I've read yet. I almost feel bad for HAPPS... Almost. This one drags quite a bit until around the last twenty pages or so, but it's definitely worth following through until the good parts.
B-7 is the last story in this collection. This one had absolutely nothing to do with the Pizzaplex or really anything to do with FNaF at all. It was an interesting take on body dysphoria that I don't feel really fit in with the FNaF lore; but it was an okay story otherwise.
The bonus chapter which is just listed as "Teaser" anywhere I've looked is the final piece of this book. Those chapter picks up where the chapter in the last book left off. We're introduced to a group of friends at a carnival not far from the Pizzaplex construction site. Often as teenagers are wont to do, they opt to go explore the site and the Fazbear Pizzaria beneath it; the site where the last chapter ended.
While not as good as the first book, this second book was still a fun read and is sure to give some mild frights to the tender hearted.
I give this book 4 of 5 Paws.
Help Wanted is the first story in this collection. This story takes AR to insane levels. Honestly I'd have probably done what Steve did in his situation too. The story drags just a bit around the middle, but it picks up speed toward the end when all the pieces come together. It's a good start for this book imo.
HAPPS is the second story in this collection. This one is definitely the darkest one I've read yet. I almost feel bad for HAPPS... Almost. This one drags quite a bit until around the last twenty pages or so, but it's definitely worth following through until the good parts.
B-7 is the last story in this collection. This one had absolutely nothing to do with the Pizzaplex or really anything to do with FNaF at all. It was an interesting take on body dysphoria that I don't feel really fit in with the FNaF lore; but it was an okay story otherwise.
The bonus chapter which is just listed as "Teaser" anywhere I've looked is the final piece of this book. Those chapter picks up where the chapter in the last book left off. We're introduced to a group of friends at a carnival not far from the Pizzaplex construction site. Often as teenagers are wont to do, they opt to go explore the site and the Fazbear Pizzaria beneath it; the site where the last chapter ended.
While not as good as the first book, this second book was still a fun read and is sure to give some mild frights to the tender hearted.
I give this book 4 of 5 Paws.
May 12, 2024
I have always loved reading about the FNAF franchise. I always felt that their stories were humorous to read, and depending on the three different stories in the books, there was always one that was easily my favorite. In this book, I thought each story was unique, but at the same time, the first one felt like it’s been used a couple of times in past books. The first story was about Steve who worked at a gas station and he was wishing for his life to be more successful. Eventually, he meets one of the people who work at Fazbear Entertainment and gets a job there, though with almost all these kinds of books, there is always a dark ending. The second story is about two kids, Aiden and Jace, who like scaring kids at Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex, but end up being in a mess with a robot named Happs. Lastly, it's about a boy, Billy, who at a young age was very sick and he eventually started to watch Freddy’s show and after that, all he wanted to be was animatronic. In one part of the final story when Billy they were describing how he was acting even as an adult felt weird, you’d think when he was younger it would just be a phase of him wanting to be like an animatronic, but it stuck with him his whole life. I thought this book was fairly good, I do like some of the other ones more, but I would recommend this book to people who are getting into the franchise.
August 19, 2023
help wanted: honestly this was a really good intro story. a lot better than frailty imo. it was really scary and i liked the crossing over of many game ideas such as the illusion discs, the name “help wanted” etc. the writing was really good and honestly i don’t have anything bad to say about it tbh.
happs: AGGHHH THIS WAS SO GOOD. it really brought the scary ness i was expecting since reading the first book. it was actually gorey and descriptive??? aiden was so annoying but i feel like that added to the ending and me not feeling bad for him. he deserved it tbh they shouldn’t have beaten up happs. poor little baby didn’t do anything wrong he was just cleaning and trying to help them
B-7: wow. that’s literally all i can say for this story. wow. i am so confused yet so intrigued??? i didn’t think it was scary but i’m so fascinated to see what parallels ppl have drawn between this and the games. like i wanna know what the stand in in the game is for this story because it’s so strange. my least fave of the 3
extra story: this one was actually really good and up to the standard that the first one left. i enjoy that it’s not leaving out gory details and is really descriptive. i am really excited to read the next story and see where else this story is gonna go.
happs: AGGHHH THIS WAS SO GOOD. it really brought the scary ness i was expecting since reading the first book. it was actually gorey and descriptive??? aiden was so annoying but i feel like that added to the ending and me not feeling bad for him. he deserved it tbh they shouldn’t have beaten up happs. poor little baby didn’t do anything wrong he was just cleaning and trying to help them
B-7: wow. that’s literally all i can say for this story. wow. i am so confused yet so intrigued??? i didn’t think it was scary but i’m so fascinated to see what parallels ppl have drawn between this and the games. like i wanna know what the stand in in the game is for this story because it’s so strange. my least fave of the 3
extra story: this one was actually really good and up to the standard that the first one left. i enjoy that it’s not leaving out gory details and is really descriptive. i am really excited to read the next story and see where else this story is gonna go.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 18, 2023
Overall this collection of short stories was by far the least interesting and freaky of all the other short story collections. The pacing for each was too slow with not much action.
Help Wanted
Steve doesn't have the greatest life. He's stuck in a dead end job, alone and living in a crummy apartment. That is until all his dreams seem to suddenly come true.
This one was okay but definitely not up to par with most of the other shorts in the series. It was a bit slow and not all that interesting for me.
Happs
Aiden and Jace are thrilled when they find their way into a closed off section of climbing tunnels at Freddy's Pizzaplex. But getting out may be a problem.
Despite also being a bit slow like Help Wanted, Happs was a good short overall. I also really liked the ending.
B-7
A young boy lives his life thinking he's an animatronic and decides to get a matching body.
My least favorite of the Five Nights At Freddy's short so far. The story was very slow, not at all scary and just plain silly.
Help Wanted
Steve doesn't have the greatest life. He's stuck in a dead end job, alone and living in a crummy apartment. That is until all his dreams seem to suddenly come true.
This one was okay but definitely not up to par with most of the other shorts in the series. It was a bit slow and not all that interesting for me.
Happs
Aiden and Jace are thrilled when they find their way into a closed off section of climbing tunnels at Freddy's Pizzaplex. But getting out may be a problem.
Despite also being a bit slow like Help Wanted, Happs was a good short overall. I also really liked the ending.
B-7
A young boy lives his life thinking he's an animatronic and decides to get a matching body.
My least favorite of the Five Nights At Freddy's short so far. The story was very slow, not at all scary and just plain silly.
December 10, 2022
Help Wanted: A weird story but I like it as we see the main character seemingly spiral out of control. It is left unanswered if everything he experiences is real or not and I wished it would have stayed like that as the ending kind of ruins that. The story reminds me a lot of Cabin Fever and you feel sorry for Steve.
HAPPS: An ok story as a group of kids get lost in a maze at the Pizzaplex but because of the kids the titular robot gets damaged and starts going on a rampage. I felt really sorry for the robot and I think that was kind of the point of the story.
B-7: I understand what the story was trying to do but I really hated the mother in this story as the story seems forced and feels like one of those stories where they force a character to be stupid to make sure events happen in a usual way. Feels like the weakest as they could have written to make the mom still likable like maybe she tried to stop Billy acting this way but failed or maybe he escaped or something.
HAPPS: An ok story as a group of kids get lost in a maze at the Pizzaplex but because of the kids the titular robot gets damaged and starts going on a rampage. I felt really sorry for the robot and I think that was kind of the point of the story.
B-7: I understand what the story was trying to do but I really hated the mother in this story as the story seems forced and feels like one of those stories where they force a character to be stupid to make sure events happen in a usual way. Feels like the weakest as they could have written to make the mom still likable like maybe she tried to stop Billy acting this way but failed or maybe he escaped or something.
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