Burned By a Paper Sun | Ep. 10

On July 16th, 2018, the apartment of Julie Fitzgerald was investigated based on the suspicion that she had gone missing (as reported by her family). While there was nothing missing from Ms. Fitzgerald's home, a journal was found in one of the drawers of her writing desk...

The following was scrawled into a diary found in a house located in New Hollow - one of the towns permanently quarantined since the closure of the Great Darkness of 1999. Often simply known as "weird towns," these places are cordoned off from the public due to their "dangerous conditions." While few concrete details are ever offered, there are often rumors about what strangeness lurks in the abandoned cities. After being closed in 2001, New Hollow was the subject of many such rumors. Some stated that time worked differently in the city, while others claimed consciousness interacted with the town in some bizarre way. In 2007, a group of brave (or stupid) urban explorers trespassed the city's borders. Exploring various places, the adventurers found a strange diary in one of the many houses in the city. While the house seemed to be the same one described in the diary, the small book was found in a child's bedroom full of toys, old clothing, and a small library of children's books. Curiously, all the books were face out except one - "The Hag in the Hut" - which, when flipped over, revealed a haggard looking witch on its cover. Additionally, and to the explorers' chagrin, they also reportedly found a pile of human bones living beneath the room's bed. After missing for a week, only 2 of the 5 trespassers came back from the town. Authorities took the individuals into custody, and the diary the individuals brought back with them was eventually given to researchers at Mistoric university, as few artifacts from the quarantined zones are available for research. As for the remaining explorers, it was never discovered, or at least revealed, what became of them.

Want more of The Road of Shadows? Over at Patreon we're already dissecting the mysteries of Colton through exclusive character dossiers and concept art. Learn more about the characters and the lore, and get a head start on the story by hearing episodes a week early, ad-free.

A letter that was sent to the Director of Whistling Grove Sanitarium, located just outside Manchester, England.

The following was scrawled into a diary found in a house located in New Hollow - one of the towns permanently quarantined since the closure of the Great Darkness of 1999. Often simply known as "weird towns," these places are cordoned off from the public due to their "dangerous conditions." While few concrete details are ever offered, there are often rumors about what strangeness lurks in the abandoned cities. After being closed in 2001, New Hollow was the subject of many such rumors. Some stated that time worked differently in the city, while others claimed consciousness interacted with the town in some bizarre way. In 2007, a group of brave (or stupid) urban explorers trespassed the city's borders. Exploring various places, the adventurers found a strange diary in one of the many houses in the city. While the house seemed to be the same one described in the diary, the small book was found in a child's bedroom full of toys, old clothing, and a small library of children's books. Curiously, all the books were face out except one - "The Hag in the Hut" - which, when flipped over, revealed a haggard looking witch on its cover. Additionally, and to the explorers' chagrin, they also reportedly found a pile of human bones living beneath the room's bed. After missing for a week, only 2 of the 5 trespassers came back from the town. Authorities took the individuals into custody, and the diary the individuals brought back with them was eventually given to researchers at Mistoric university, as few artifacts from the quarantined zones are available for research. As for the remaining explorers, it was never discovered, or at least revealed, what became of them.