It is hard to escape hearing about The Sounds of Nightmares at the moment, as it appears to be being advertised on just about every podcast I listen to. This is a six episode horror audio drama that is based on the Little Nightmares video game series. I can't say I was the biggest fan of Little Nightmares, while it looked good, I found it super frustrating to play. Thankfully, Little Nightmares II was a whole lot better, with me having giving it an 8/10. The games keep the nightmare fuelled world in which they take place a bit of a mystery, I was surprised that this audio drama provides a lot of lore that was not evident in the games, something I was well on board for.
The drama for the most part (perhaps exclusively) consists of just the two actors. In the real world, a counsellor at a children's psychiatric institute (voiced by Kester Lovelace - Song of Horror video game voice work), has taken a special interest in one of his patients, a young girl who requests to be referred to as 'Noone' (voiced by Amy Purshouse). She has been having crippling headaches, and each night when she sleeps, she has extremely vivid nightmares in which she is transported to a nightmarish world full of large grotesque human like figures. The counsellor holds special sessions with Noone, in order for her to recount her visits to this world. He promises the girl he is trying to cure her of her nightmares, but in reality it is for more selfish reasons. Many years in the past someone close to him had the same thing happen to them, with the world they visited in their dreams spookily matching up with what Noone describes, until one day they vanished into thin air. The counsellor, rather than help the girl with her troubles, instead hopes he can use her to find a way to discover what happened to his loved one.
This apparently being canon led to a lot of revelations for me, namely that the world of Little Nightmares takes place in an alternate reality that can only be accessed via nightmares, and which only children can visit. I had always assumed the title was due to playing as a child in a horror filled world made for giants, so discovering the title was more literal, that it is a nightmare realm accessed by sleeping children, was really quite cool. There are a few nods to the games throughout, with the gnome type creatures making an appearance, as well as the reveal of just why there are random piles of people's belongings dotted around the games. It is final episode 'The Lonely Way', where a direct link between the audio drama and the game is made, something that was somewhat unexpected.
Each episode is roughly thirty minutes long, and takes place as a series of audio recordings that the counsellor is playing back to himself, to try and understand what is happening when Noone dreams. Each episode consists mainly of a different session where the girl is explaining her last dream. This did lead to a bit of a disconnected feel, as each nightmare is separate to the one before, taking place in an entirely new location in the Little Nightmares reality. They kind of follow the path of the games in that there is often an antagonist type figure Noone is trying to survive against. The horror vibe does work, with episode four 'The Theater of the Mind' being the most horror like, as the girl witnesses an evil ventriloquist's puppet operating independently from its owner. The core story takes place back in the real world, with it becoming increasingly obvious that the counsellor protagonist, whose viewpoint we see the story from, is a bit of an anti-hero. He may have noble intentions, but certainly not for the girl he is trying to treat, something which she really comes to realise over the course of the show.
The overall story was fine, but it wasn't groundbreaking. I loved the explanations for the game world this drama provided, but the story wasn't that exciting. Each nightmare being a stand alone adventure that ends with Noone waking up led to a bit of a stop and start effect. It culminates with not much really having changed. With a third game in the works, it is possible that some of what happens here will feed into that, I guess I will see when the game comes out. The Sounds of Nightmares can be listened to for free, so if you like the games then I think it is worth checking out.
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