A cosmic horror novella with creepy puppets and themes like grief and nostalgia and an uncanny atmosphere. 

• Entertainment factor: ★★★★★
• Creepy factor: ★★★★★
• Originality factor: ★★★★★
• Cosmic horror factor: ★★★★★
• Liminal horror factor: ★★★★★
• Creepy dolls factor: ★★★★★

I Found Puppets Living In My Apartment Walls is a novella that is part of the “I Found” series by Ben Farthing. Each story has a cosmic horror element full of mystery but also very human themes. This mix of weirdness and creepiness and the psychological human aspects makes these books both scary and interesting. 

It consists of 160 pages.

Plot

Johnny and his cousin Brittany are cleaning out their grandpa’s old apartment. He has been missing for a year and now he is declared dead. Johnny used to spend lots of time in this place. First it was a studio for a tv-show with puppets. His grandpa was one of the puppeteers who controlled Swoomie, but only one side, because the puppets were quite large. He has seen lots of shows, but they stopped after an accident on set where a boy died. They have turned the studio building into an apartment building and most of the actors, still live there just like Grandpa did before he disappeared. 

While Johnny has wonderful memories of Grandpa and wishes he’d come back, Brittany has wonderful memories of the tv-show she adored. That night Johnny wakes up to a strange sound and a strange figure standing in the bedroom. It looks like it’s Swoomie and only one side seems to be moving, grandpa’s side.

The next day he thinks it was all a dream, but finds a tuft of blue hair from the puppet. He shows Brittany and they examine the room. Johnny then finds a loose part of the wall and a tight hallway behind it. Johnny thinks maybe his grandpa is behind these walls, but Brittany hopes to find the Swoomie puppet for her collection. They go inside and discover it leads throughout the whole building and then a stairs leads them down. It leads them on a spiraling journey of cosmic horror, of grief and nostalgia. 

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Short Review

It’s a very original story that sometimes can be hard to imagine what is actually happening. It’s short and fast paced and steps right into the creepiness and into action. Meanwhile you learn more about Johnny and Brittany. 

While the cosmic horrors, the creepy puppets and the never ending spiral are the horrors of the story, Johnny and Brittany are the core of the story. Johnny is still grieving his Grandpa and doesn’t care so much for the show or the puppets. As a child he felt safest with his Grandpa. He wants that feeling of being safe back. Ironically he has to encounter and withstand evil forces to do so. His drive to go into unknown and even dangerous territory is the hope to find Grandpa and get him back. 

Brittany however is hung up on nostalgia. She has seen every show, has the puppets and her drive to go inside the walls and descend into a cosmic hell is to find the original puppets to add to her collection. Both these drives decide their fates, which makes this story also interesting and intriguing. 

It’s a weird story that will dazzle you, when you together with Johnny descend into this hell hole of puppets. It does have an uncanny and creepy atmosphere which is exacerbated by the impossible building, like The Droste effect. It therefore is certainly a liminal horror, where the space of the building is impossible. The puppets are very scary and feel not right, and if you are afraid of dolls and puppets, then this will be extra scary. While some will be explained of what happened, why the puppets are there, it remains obscure enough to remain scary. Especially the end is not what you expected, Johnny certainly didn’t. 

I really love Ben Farthing’s stories because they are so imaginative. They are creepy and have a sense of dread and an uncanny atmosphere, while keeping things mysterious. I think it’s also very smart and a real enrichment to the story to include a psychological theme that explains the character’s actions. It adds more meaning without getting too heavy. And the liminal horror with an impossible space is just plain creepy.

This novella combines heavy themes with weirdness and imagination, resulting in a scary tale of childhood wonders and fears. 

Read more reviews about Ben Farthing’s books:

• I Found a Lost Hallway in a Dying Mall (2024) review
• I Found Christmas Lights Slithering Up My Street (2023) review