Hooked on Books discussion

Team Challenge
September 2025 - November 2025

Please consult the Toy Chest of Dread for your first toy selection. This is in the 3rd tab of your spreadsheet. Post your team name and the answer that the Toy Chest supplies you at the Occult Museum (check in thread).

Team
Carrie
Jayme
Risa
Christene
Aiswrya


Important Links
Belle's Cabinet of Notices (Announcements)
Occult Museum (Check-in Thread)
Scoreboard
Ouija Board (Q&A)
Collectibles
The Monkey's Paw (Feedback)
SS: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Rules
⛓️Each toy/object has specific chains and/or tasks that need to be completed.
Examples:
1. Create a chain of 3 using titles consecutively (ABC)
-All the Light We Cannot See
-Becoming Mrs. Lewis
-Catching Fire
2. Create a chain of 3 with "dog" in the titles
-Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
-The Dog Stars
-Hot Dog Girl
⛓️One person should NOT complete a whole chain by themselves. This is a team challenge. However, if a toy/object has multiple chains and a slower reader can only/want to only read for 1 or 2 chains (they must read at least one), then the other two faster readers on the team can complete the other chains between the two of them.
⛓️You may choose which toy/object from the list to capture first but you MUST complete it BEFORE starting a new toy/object.
⛓️You may use or drop articles: A, An, The
⛓️If you somehow manage to incorporate a Buddy Read into a chain, you can earn points based on the BR tier system.
⛓️Standard Rules Apply
⛓️At the end of the official challenge (last day of November), your team may choose to continue on at your own pace. There will be no points accumulated after November but you can finish any toys/objects that you didn't get to during the challenge.

Scoring
You will get 3 points for every completed book (9 per completed chain) PLUS page points.

Hello again :)

Hello Risa :) Hope this one isn't too scary for me :)

Are you ok with the pictures? I don't mind if you don't want them shown.

I think i will be fine. I was fine with the clown competition.

I absolutely hate clowns and dolls in horror, but I do like having pictures shown for the aesthetics 😆 Donna managed to pick up my two weaknesses, now I expect a Demon-Ghost Theme next year and my three most feared horror-beings will be complete xD

By the way, I spun the wheel for the Toy Chest and came up with 5. Should I check us in or do we wait for Carrie to check in here first?

Lets wait for Carrie to check in.

🎭💀 Belladonna Belle Beckons 💀🎭

“Oh, how tragic... Some of you left your poor teammates wandering the toy chest alone. Forgotten dolls, abandoned soldiers, clockwork hearts ticking in the dark with no one to wind them... ⏱️👻

A team that doesn’t all check in together risks becoming scattered pieces—and you know what happens to broken toys, don’t you? They end up in my collection… and I do so adore incomplete sets. 🕸️

So hurry along, little stragglers. Your friends are waiting… and the shadows are growing impatient.”

🪆🎃 Incomplete teams, consider yourselves haunted until you all arrive. 🎃🪆

I messaged Carrie yesterday but haven't gotten an answer yet. She has been actively posting in other HOB group discussions since then though, so not sure what's going on.

Carrie received a message from the mod account on August 25th and hasn't responded or checked in. At this point, I am going to say that she has forfeited her spot. The team that was short a player to start with is now down to one player. I am going to offer her this spot. I will send her over shortly.

🧸 Hey team, it’s me—Lisa. The Toymaker. The one Belle keeps just close enough to frighten but not quite promote.

Quick reminder:
You still need to consult the Toy Chest of Dread—lurking on the 3rd tab of your spreadsheet.

Let the Chest do its thing. It will give you a number. That number decides your toy. (I don’t know how. I don’t ask how.)

Then, please post:
Your team name
The number you got from the Toy Chestin the Occult Museum thread (a.k.a. the check-in thread, where Belle sips judgment from a teacup shaped like a skull).

Because if you don’t… well. Belle loves making assumptions. And her math is always cursed.

—Toymaker Lisa
(Toymaker, spreadsheet whisperer, barely keeping the toys in their boxes)

Hi team! Checking in

Request sent

Hi, welcome Christene :)

I checked us in.

Hi Christine *waves*

5. Billy the Puppet

Billy the Puppet is the eerie ventriloquist-style figure featured in the Saw horror film franchise. Though often mistaken for the killer, Billy is actually a messenger used by John Kramer, aka Jigsaw, to communicate with his victims.

Billy has a chilling, unmistakable look: a white face with red spiral cheeks, dark eyes, black shaggy hair, and a twisted red grin. He wears a black tuxedo with a red bowtie and rides in on a small red tricycle—an image that’s become iconic in horror.

Through Billy, Jigsaw delivers recorded messages and videos to his captives, typically opening with the infamous line: “I want to play a game.” His role is to calmly explain the deadly rules of the traps or challenges the victims must endure in order to survive and "appreciate" life.

Despite never harming anyone directly, Billy’s unsettling appearance, emotionless tone, and connection to gruesome moral games have made him a terrifying symbol of psychological horror and a pop culture icon.

Billy the Puppet doesn’t kill—he teaches. Which is somehow worse. With his spiraled cheeks, blood-red grin, and eerie monotone, he delivers Jigsaw’s deadly instructions like a morality seminar from hell. Riding in on a tiny red tricycle, he calmly explains how victims can earn their survival… if they’re willing to suffer for it.

Now Billy’s out delivering messages again—and we need your help to trap him before he plays his next game.

Complete the following tasks:

Pass the Morality Test
What would you sacrifice to survive?
Read a chain of 3 books that explore ethical dilemmas, difficult choices, or tests of character

Escape the Trap
There's always a way out… but not without consequences.
Read a chain of 3 books where a character must escape—physically, emotionally, or mentally. Think locked rooms, impossible situations, or toxic dynamics.

Watch the Whole Tape
Because he’s always watching… and he wants you to hear every word.
Read a chain of 3 books with titles containing words related to observation or recording: watch, see, listen, tape, voice, message, view, eye, etc.

Identity Confirmed
He knows who you are—even if you don’t.
Read a chain of 3 books where the author’s initials appear in the word JIGSAW (any combination, any order).

Tick… Tick… Tick…
Time matters. So does the number.
Read a chain of 3 books where each book’s page count includes the number 6.
266? 160? 643? You’re already running out of time.

Smile for the Camera
It’s not just the cameras watching now.
Read a chain of 3 books with a face on the cover—bonus if the expression is neutral, eerie, or lifeless.

Hi can someone add my name on ss? Thank you!

I think you need to ask MN Lisa. I couldn't add you.

I slipped the name into the spreadsheet quietly. Didn’t tell them.

Billy’s tricycle creaked across the floor.
“Secrets, Lisa. I like it. Let’s see how long before they notice.”

—Toymaker Lisa

💀🎀 Belladonna Belle whispers:
“Darlings, don’t you dare touch that cleansing task dropdown unless I specifically tell you to. Unless, of course… you enjoy the sweet sound of points slipping away into the shadows. One wrong click, and poof—your score vanishes like a soul in the dark.

Go on, tempt fate if you must… I do love watching the careless bleed points.”

HOB wrote: "💀🎀 Belladonna Belle whispers:
“Darlings, don’t you dare touch that cleansing task dropdown unless I specifically tell you to. Unless, of course… you enjoy the sweet sound of points slipping away in..."

🧐🫡

I finished my tasks, how are you two doing? I found a great book out of my comfort zone, I didn't expect to like it as much as I did.

I am on my last book.

Oh nice! ☺️ You forgot to update the spreadsheet though Jayme, you only put 3 books there.

I'm all done!

Nice 😊

Christene I saw you read The Spear cuts through water, which is on my wishlist for 2026. How was it? Would you recommend it?

❡MaRisa wrote: "Oh nice! ☺️ You forgot to update the spreadsheet though Jayme, you only put 3 books there."

I thought we only had to read 3.

Not sure how you got that idea but it's 6 tasks, which means 6 books for each person. I imagine there's the possibility again for team mates to take over tasks, but I can't fit more books in my schedule than those from my own tasks at the moment. As long as you're reading one book per week you're still in minimum book range. At least that's how I remember it. You might wanna ask the mods for specifics and/or confirmation though 🤔

There could be the possibility of reading even more if there's a spellout again. It's the number of tasks that tell you how many books you need to read, and if there's a spellout, then we as a group need to read the books corresponding to a letter.

Okay, it is going to take me a little longer.

🫡

I found a book with a 6 in it.

Great!
I found the task with the word related to observation or recording the hardest, but they let "tale" work so I could use a book I wanted to read anyways. I was thinking about "interview" too, like in "Interview mit einem Vampir" which is Interview with the vampire. A good way to find something fitting would be searching for tags 🤔

I finished my tick, tick, tick book.

👍🏼

I am replacing Risa with Aiswrya

Hi team, just saying a quick hello! Will read through the thread and leave an intro tomorrow :) nice to meet you all!

Hello *waves at Aiswrya*

Hi Welcome to the team!

Hi team, good morning! I’m waiting to be added to the spreadsheet. Would I start by reading for the 6 tasks? Can I add books read from the date we rolled the number?

I'm still waiting for access to the SS.

I believe you can add books you read after the start of this round.

Okay perfect, once I get access to the spreadsheet I can figure what would work. Thank you!

No problem.

Alright, I have access. Taking a look now :)

I'm not entirely sure what I'm supposed to be reading. Looks like all the tasks and chains have been claimed?

It looks like Jayme just has to finish the last task for this toy, and then you can request a new toy. Hang in there, Aiswrya. Jayme, have you picked a book for that task?

Sounds good, thank you Donna!