Whispering Pages

Whispering Pages was the type of bookstore you would visit if you knew what type of book you wanted, but not what it was. The owner, kindly and eccentric, had always seemed timeless, as if they, like the store, had simply always existed there.

Last month, they passed, and the shop has been closed since. Their grandkid, who had moved to the big city some years ago, inherited ownership of Whispering Pages. Grieving, they returned home. Gathering their friends and family for moral support, they unlocked the doors. They came here, intending to clean up the store, take stock of the inventory, and decide whether to fly home tomorrow or to stay to re-open the store.

Then the rain began, and the lights went out. Lit by candlelight, the new owner and their support system huddled together to wait out the storm — until they realized they were not alone. The ghosts of various figures central to this store throughout its years were here, too, each with a strangely strong connection to one of the living characters.

Whispering Pages is a cozy and emotional LARP about family (birth and chosen), memories, queer community, and old books. Throughout the game, the characters will explore their connections with each other and this place, through present-day scenes and flashbacks into the ghosts’ memories. They all must choose, in one way or another, whether to stay here or to move on.

I wrote Whispering Pages with Esa Sclafani, Deryn Eugene, Coco Kasperowicz, and Iris Felshman at Peaky Midwest in May 2024. It is running at Be-Con 2024 and we may run it elsewhere in the future.