Book Review: Five Nights at Freddy’s “The Silver Eyes” Trilogy

I am a fan of FNAF aka Five Nights at Freddy’s.

I’ve been a fan for quite some time. If I had to throw in a year, maybe around 2018? 2019? 2017? It’s clearly before the pandemic and so I’ve seen a lot of the fandom change and grow or shrink depending on what’s happening. I have played some of the games in the past like FNAF 1, 2, 3, I really don’t like 4, enjoyed Sister Location but my favorite is probably Pizzaria Simulator and I’ve seen the playthroughs of the current Steel Wool era with Help Wanted, Security Breach, Ruin and Help Wanted 2.

I haven’t read ANY of the Fazbear Frights though I want to read the Tales from the Pizzaplex books and one day I’ll get to those.

But for now, I’m gonna quickly review the graphic novels to The Silver Eyes trilogy. Each paragraph will be dedicated to each book without giving too much away because the lore around FNAF is long, confusing, and open ended.

Spoilers kind of?

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The Silver Eyes (2020, orig 2015): The Silver Eyes, is the first (which all of these were novels and then turned into graphic novels) in the trilogy and we are following a character, Charlotte Emily or Charlie and her trauma of seeing her twin brother “kidnapped” and the presence of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza(ria). This is a great set up into a world where it seems like anything Freddy Fazbear or Fabear Entertainment doesn’t exist anymore or at least at this moment and we’re just following Charlotte and her friends reminiscing about what it was like to see the animatronics, the carousel, the songs, the pizza. There’s breaking and entering, encountering “Dave Miller” who definitely gives off the creeper vibes and a tale of sadness, trauma, “growing up”, a more sinister plan brewing and a springlock failure. I gave it a 4 out of 5. 918cTOhytxL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_ (1)

The Twisted Ones (2021, orig 2017): This one is based around, loosely, around FNAF 2 through 4. The second one is possibly my favorite one for MANY reasons. We encounter the “twisted ones” which are more gruesome, terrifying versions of Freddy, Foxy, Bonnie and Wolf (he’s new). This does pick up where the Silver Eyes left and we’re following Charlotte and her friends’ narrowing escape from Spring-Bonnie (aka Dave Miller aka William Afton) and the other animatronics as well. There’s conflict and feelings between Charlotte and John and she’s trying hard to move on and start fresh. Charlie is at school, trying to be normal but it seems like her past keeps following her. The ending is just wild because I remember going “what just happened” and I mean, somebody doesn’t make it. Another 4 out of 5 from me.

The Fourth Closet (2022, orig 2018): This is where things get off the rails a bit. There’s so much happening in this one that still makes me go “hmm” in an indifferent way? John is our main character that we’re following this time around and I’m glad we have a character like John that keeps the story grounded and since he’s human, one of the things that is needed in FNAF are more human (and only human) characters. I’m looking at my notes for this one and what I liked was Afton wearing slippers, John taking a lot of initiative and Elizabeth’s villain-ness but that is also a negative. She is morally gray and more angry to the wrong person (Charlie) than her father and that’s her downfall. So blinded by the jealousy and anger that someone “replaced” you or was “chosen” over you. At some points, I liked Elizabeth and then some moments right after where I was like “you’re insane, it must run in the family”. Another 4 out of 5 but I really did enjoy this one more.

Oh FNAF, these books are fun, especially from a visual standpoint. I mean, who doesn’t want to laugh at seeing Afton in slippers which… I guess it is better than his bare feet. However, these three did open my eyes more of where the FNAF lore can go and a big reminder is that the books are almost like an alternate timeline to what the games are, to what the first film is, etc. They are to help fill in gaps or show how something COULD have happened, and yes they did happen, but not for exact details against another event. For example, the story of Charlie in the games is drastically different to what happens to her in the novels but there are similarities.

This all sounds confusing because it is and there are answers but not enough answers to make everything clear when it comes to Five Nights at Freddy’s. If you want some theories and timeline ideas, I would suggest going to youtube and looking at The Game Theorists, Dawko, ID’s Fantasy, RyeToast, FuhNaff and I’m sure there are some others but these are some big ones that have made some videos on the topic, gone through the books (Silver Eyes, Fazbear Frights, Tales from the Pizzaplex), etc.

Overall, I’d recommend these to the average person or general fan of FNAF or if you’re just interested. It can be a lot but that is why we have, in a way, have designated people within the community who can give insight. The original print run was written by Kira Breed-Wrisley and Scott Cawthon. Adaptations by Christopher Hastings and illustrations by Diana Camero, Claudia Aguierre and Claudia Schroder (adaption).

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