Scott Cawthon likes to mess with people. Honestly, that is the only logical conclusion you can reach after watching the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise evolve from a simple indie horror game into a sprawling, multi-media behemoth with a movie, a novel series, and more spin-offs than anyone can reasonably track. But Next Week at Freddy's is different. It isn’t another pixelated mini-game or a VR experience. It is a full-blown interactive novel—a "choose your own adventure" style book—that is doing something the community has begged for since 2014. It puts you back in the role of the night shift security guard at the original Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.
People have been guessing about the lore for a decade. They argue. They fight over timelines. They debate whether a kid got bit in '83 or '87 until they are blue in the face.
This book changes the vibe.
What Is Next Week at Freddy's Exactly?
If you've been following the Scholastic releases, you know we’ve had Fazbear Frights and Tales from the Pizzaplex. Those were anthologies. They were weird, often gorey, and sometimes felt totally disconnected from the games. Next Week at Freddy's is the first entry in the VIP series (Interactive Novels). You aren't just reading a story about some random kid finding a haunted animatronic in a dumpster. You are the protagonist.
You play as a character who has taken the job. You have to make choices. Do you check the left door? Do you conserve power? Do you hide?
The coolest part? There are over 25 different endings. Some are obviously "you died" screens in text form, but others actually add layers to the environment of the first game that we’ve never seen before. It’s basically a "playable" version of the original game's atmosphere but with the internal monologue and descriptive depth of a novel. It’s weirdly immersive.
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Why the Community Is Obsessed With the Mechanics
The game-within-a-book mechanic is surprisingly deep. You have a "Life Tracker" and an "Equipment" system. Most people thought this would be a simple "Turn to page 42 to die" setup, but it’s more tactical than that. You actually have to manage resources.
It feels like a love letter to the OG fans.
Remember the feeling of checking the cameras and seeing Bonnie gone? That dread is hard to capture in prose, but Scott Cawthon and his co-authors (this one is credited with E.C. Myers) managed to make the pacing feel frantic. One wrong move, or one moment of indecision, and you're stuffed into a suit.
Breaking Down the Lore Implications
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: the lore.
FNAF fans don't just read these for fun. They read them for clues. Next Week at Freddy's takes place during the era of the first game, which is the "holy grail" of the timeline for many theorists.
- It explores the daily operations of the 1990s-era Pizzeria.
- It gives us more "flavor text" about the animatronics' behavior.
- It hints at the corporate negligence of Fazbear Entertainment in a way that feels darker than the memes.
There's a specific segment involving the kitchen. In the original game, you could only hear audio from the kitchen. You couldn't see it. In this book, your choices can actually lead you to get a "description" of what’s happening in those blind spots. For a fan who has been staring at those static-filled camera feeds for ten years, that's basically gold.
The Problem With the "Interactive" Label
Is it perfect? No.
Sometimes the "choices" feel a bit illusory. You might choose to go down a hallway, only to be told you can't and forced back to the main path. That’s the limitation of the medium. Also, if you aren't a fan of the "Survival Logbook" style of meta-commentary, some of the Fourth Wall breaking might grate on you.
But honestly, it's a breath of fresh air.
The main series games have become so high-tech. Security Breach was massive, bright, and neon. Ruin was a decaying labyrinth. Going back to the cramped, smelly, 1990s office in Next Week at Freddy's feels like going home. Even if "home" is a place where a robotic bear wants to peel your skin off.
How to Get All the Endings
If you’re trying to 100% this book, you’re going to need a bookmark. Or five.
The "True Ending" requires you to make very specific choices regarding how you interact with the environment. You can't just be a coward. If you hide the whole time, you'll survive, but you won't "win." You have to investigate. You have to take risks.
It’s a puzzle.
- Keep a notepad to track your "inventory" items.
- Don't assume the most "obvious" door is the right one.
- Pay attention to the descriptions of the sounds—they often signal which animatronic is moving before the book explicitly tells you.
The Future of the VIP Series
This is just the beginning. The success of Next Week at Freddy's has basically guaranteed that we’re going to see more of these interactive "point and click" novels.
There are rumors—mostly based on the publishing schedules seen on retail sites like Bookmanager and Amazon—that we’ll be seeing versions of this for Sister Location or even the FNAF 2 toy animatronic era. Imagine trying to manage the music box in a book. It sounds stressful. It sounds perfect.
Practical Steps for Fans and Readers
To get the most out of this release, you should approach it differently than a standard novel.
- Treat it like a game session. Sit down with 30 minutes of uninterrupted time. The "loops" of the story are designed to be played in short bursts.
- Map the Pizzeria. As you read, draw a rough map based on the room descriptions. You'll find that some paths loop back on themselves, and having a visual guide helps you avoid the "Death Endings" you've already hit.
- Look for the codes. FNAF is famous for hidden numbers. Check the page numbers, the bolded letters, or any weirdly specific timestamps mentioned in the text. They usually lead to something deeper in the digital ARG space or the wider lore community.
The reality is that Next Week at Freddy's isn't just a book for kids. It's a surprisingly competent horror simulation that respects the source material. It captures that specific brand of "90s liminal space" dread that made the first game a viral hit in the first place. Whether you're a lore hunter or just someone who misses the simplicity of the original four animatronics, it's worth the read.
Grab a copy, find a quiet spot, and try not to run out of power.