Five Nights at Freddy’s: The Twisted Ones by Scott Cawthon & Kira Breed-Wrisley

A while back, I reviewed the first book from the Five Nights at Freddy’s universe, and today we’ll continue exploring it with The Twisted Ones (sometimes referred to as a novella, and honestly, there’s a reason for that).

Plot

Some time has passed since the events of the first book. Our main character, Charlie, daughter of the founder of the Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza chain, has left Hurricane. She hasn’t gone far, though—she’s enrolled in college in a nearby town. When a strange murder occurs in Hurricane, clues lead back to one of the animatronic suits, and the sheriff seeks Charlie’s help in the investigation. This becomes the setup for her return to the eerie world of animatronics, reviving old traumas and fears.

Plot Development

Right away, The Twisted Ones feels shorter than the first book, but, just like The Silver Eyes, it’s burdened with excessive dialogue and drama that often don’t add any real depth. If trimmed down, it could be a novella – more concise and focused. The pacing, on the other hand, feels forced, with events unfolding just for the sake of maintaining speed, rather than adding any real intrigue or purpose.

The plot itself has some flaws. It feels slightly contrived, with plenty of plot conveniences – chief among them being a storm that destroys Charlie’s father’s house. The issue isn’t so much that these conveniences drive or advance the plot, but that they are the plot; they kick things off and reset the story whenever it begins to lag. It’s a bit disappointing, and by the end, I just wanted the book to wrap up.

Characters

Most of the characters from the first book make a return, and they’re… the same. There’s little to no development for John, Jessica, or the sheriff. We do get a new character, Arty, who appears to have been added simply for the sake of numbers. His character has no real arc, and while it feels like he may play a role later (we’ll see in the next book), for now, he’s just a background figure with no real purpose.

As for Charlie, her character seems increasingly like someone with serious psychological issues. Her character deepens slightly, but she remains more of a symbol of tragedy and disarray than a fully formed character. Sometimes her reactions and emotions feel forced, making it hard to truly empathize with her struggles.

Atmosphere

So, with a disjointed plot and characters who lack real development, could the atmosphere save the book? Almost. The atmosphere is better than other aspects of the book, but still not perfect. The authors added a new element—hallucinations and a reality that slips away from the characters’ grasp. It’s an interesting idea, and it does add some tension to the book’s overall atmosphere. However, by the end, these hallucinations start to resemble feverish fantasies that muddle the plot and distract from key events. Eventually, they feel tiring and like an overdone attempt to salvage a flagging storyline.

Big Idea

Let’s face it – this is a book based on a game, so it’s not really expected to carry a heavy thematic load. However, The Twisted Ones does have a message, and surprisingly, it’s not a bad one. The book suggests that the past can literally “consume” a person, holding them back from moving forward. Charlie finds herself confronting the events of her childhood, as if the shadows of the animatronics and horrific events refuse to let her go. This idea helps pull the story together somewhat and, to be honest, provides a little motivation to continue reading the Five Nights at Freddy’s series.

Conclusion

In the end, The Twisted Ones feels like a fragmented nightmare – a bad dream you want to wake up from. There’s a lot of action, but little in terms of thoughtful plot; events happen as though for their own sake, and the ending is abrupt and disjointed.

The book seems fixated on creating an atmosphere of fear and madness but fails to deliver a cohesive plot, held together by a theme that might not even belong in this type of book. In general, The Twisted Ones left a strange aftertaste. For me, it was considerably weaker than the first book.