This Novel Breaks Reality 

Websites go down, but numbers get recycled. There's a non-zero chance that someone in 2040 gets a call from an unknown number asking if Cathy's there.

"Not to get too heavy into spoilers." Yes Austin, because I'm going to find an intact complete copy of these books and all their associated material. That's a thing I'm capable of.

I’m almost certain that the clues/evidence bags were scaled back in books 2 and 3 because of libraries. There’s no way that all, or any of that stuff, would get returned if a kid picked it up.

I feel like this could be much more profitable in the modern era, ARGs are now much more mainstream

How have I never heard of this?? I was in high school in 2006 and would’ve probably really loved it.

Oh I just *know* that if this type of storytelling was attempted in this day and age Cathy would have a TikTok account

I read a series like this once, but sadly a quarter of it was in videos on a website that no longer existed, which was sad.

Have you read The Griffin and Sabine Trilogy from the early 90s? The story is told through the letters of characters writing back and forth, and the physical book is not printed on pages, but rather you have to take the letters out of the envelopes in the book. It was pretty revolutionary in its time. I was working my way through college in an Indy bookshop when these came out and this was a big deal!

I saw the cover and remembered i had this book. I actually found this on a bus. I only read the beginning of it and never finished it, but the fact that someone lost it and i picked it up makes it kinda funny. I also never called the number on the cover because i didnt know it was an arg. Edit: it also didnt come with any of the extras

"Whatever, I don't want to go off on a tangent." But Austin, your whole channel is tangents!

I think the only series that really hit this mark for me was the fairyology and dragonology-type books. They felt like journals (not exactly, they were printed on glossy hard-stock cause they were for kids, mostly) but the way they were written, with pictures pasted in with glossy marks to look like tape, I loved them as a kid. If I remember correctly, the fairy book came with some weird lenses that I never got to work myself, but it made it feel like a mystical tool I wasn't wise enough to discypher lol

39 clues had a bit of this energy, but i didn't know there was a series that really went all in on it! Neat! Also re:websites, now I'm very curious to see what survived of the relevant sites on the wayback machine!

Kinda reminds me of the game, "Emily is away." You basically are on an AIM chat with a girl and the story develops as you learn more about the character and base your actions off of what you learn about here through RU-vid video links, and a fake myspace clone.

I feel like the natural update of this type of interactive storytelling are those "lost phone" games they keep all their narrative encapsulated in a fake phone interface complete with texts, voice mails, videos, and websites. Although I think even those are like 5-10 years old at this point.

I had the faintest memory of this book this summer and spent days googling and found nothing, this upload is one of the luckiest coincidences of my life! My heart almost skipped a beat when I saw the thumbnail, I just knew it was THE book

I mean, i think that an updated version of this would lean far more into the LonelyGirl15 side of things. Creating social media pages and RU-vid/TikTok accounts. I do think theres a bit of "mystery puzzle box" energy with the evidence bags, it could be a cool idea for a "deluxe edition" of the book to go all out like you suggested, while the standard release could have the cheaper evidence bag and moreso look like a novel that can stand alone, while the deluxe edition could be more of an interactive puzzle

No one let Austin get into ARGs, we'll never get another video.

I would love to see Austin (or someone) actually play this live or in episodic lets-play videos of all of the books. I'd love to see all the phone calls and everything else played live 🙂

I was almost expecting you to announce your own Cathy’s Book Cinematic Universe.

I love these very specific experiences that only existed in the 2000s. A tv show that I watched during those years that tried something similar to this. They had a website where after each new episode, you could look for new clues to solve the big mystery of the season. It was really interesting, and I miss that kind of interactive content integration.

Probably a better (and more adult oriented) version of this is S by Abrams and Dorst. More focus on the evidence elements and all within that set of texts.

“Kathy does nothing of actual of importance, is always making situations in the story worse, and worst of all almost every male character falls in love with her even though she spends barely anytime with any of them”, well now I know where they got the influence from Twilight. This pretty much described the entire character of Bella Swan.

I love ergodic fiction so much. I’ve been trying to read as much ergodic fiction as I can get my hands on. So far I’ve gotten through: The Illuminae Files The Wander Society Multiple Choice And I’ve researched authors Ben Denzer and Henry Darger. I’m currently reading House of Leaves, haven’t decided what to do after that. Maybe the Lemoncello middle grade books, or honestly this looks really cool.

This reminds me a lot of the book "S", I haven't taken the time to read it, but it does a similar thing with handwritten annotations within the pages and a bunch of supplemental materials like printouts from websites and postcards between the pages And it also for some reason has J J Abrams's name attached to it

Oh! We already know what this would look like if it was done today(ish). Look up the novel “S” by Doug Dorst, from 2013. It does a similar thing with physical stuff crammed in the book, but it mostly stays away from outside supplemental media like websites and phone numbers

That is such a cool concept for a series. I can see how readers would have been completely sucked in by the mystery of the first book. Shame the second and third books weren't on the same level. :(

i remember trying to read this book, but being that it was in a school library all the evidence was gone, and i had no access to internet or phones, i quickly got confused and gave up

I remember reading the Skeleton Creek series in middle school which had a similar interactive premise, so I’m surprised that I never heard of this series.

It's really a shame that this idea petered out in the sequels, because it sounds fantastic!

I had a video game that was just like this. It was called "evidence: the last ritual". You got a bunch of evidence, a starting story, and a couple clues. You would go on this winding path of clues, websites, links to random clips, etc. Plus, you would send and receive emails to characters in the game using your actual email. I never finished it. Now I really want to go back and do it again. But that was almost 20 years ago now. I'm sure all the links and email is dead.

I think my experience with this kind of multimedia ARG literature was 39 Clues. Though that one managed to contain its narrative to the page and let the (singular) supplementary website be for extra lore and of course the core gimmick of the race to collect all of the Clues in question. I read through the first set of ten books, even got a few of the supplementary card packs (oh right yeah all the books came with a pack of cards on the inside cover you were meant to register on the site to unlock the relevant side lore and participate in the contest) but then the second 'season' dropped with book 11, I read that one and just kind of stopped bothering. Never really checked to see who, if anyone, won that major prize...

Austin is very committed to the moustache game and I'm here for it

Eight seconds into the video, and I can tell that this is an ARG-style thing. Or maybe a precursor to ARGs? Idk how long they've been around. But it looks fascinating, can't wait to watch

This is such a coincidence!! The other week I did an escape room and this book was on the shelf! We considered if it was part of the room but quickly discovered the actual next clue so, still very interesting!

This isn't really the last or only time that books have tried this...I've caught glances at books that lead to websites where you can follow additional clues to get further context of the story. The one I'm most familiar with because I became obsessed was the 39 clues series...which was established as a global treasure hunt to find clues to a great secret treasure. The book encouraged the readers to try and find the treasures for themselves by collecting cards that came with the copies of the books (and also sold separately), which can be entered in a website that contained video clips, mini-games, and other things for you to try and piece together the clues. It was a pretty fun idea at the time, though I never fully got the cards due to the price consumption...I did read the overall novels though and had fun with them.

Reminds me of the 39 Clues series. It had this whole website where you could solve mysteries and interact with other fans like you were part of the story, but I remember it was too many pieces for me to keep track of as a little kid, and the book series was kind of boring, so I lost interest pretty quick.

The Amanda Project was a similar ARG in 2009, it’s a standard YA book about girls in high school but the website was a whole discussion board with evidence, theories and actual media like amateur photo and video trying to piece together who Amanda really is. I couldn’t tell what was written by the publishers or the actual readers, but also I was 9 so I thought the whole thing was legit for a while and I got very concerned when we couldn’t find this girl lmao Gossip Girl books also immersed the reader through the blog posts by formatting the pages to look like a blog entry, it was so cool to see a blog page in a book back then

I suspect we might see an _Austin's Book_ hitting bookstores soon... 😂 If it wasn't such a logistical nightmare, it'd be awesome!

the navidson record kinda solved all these issues, although you have to spend more money to get stuff like the letters or colored text for the annotations... would be interesting to see a manuscript version, with a miniDV tape or something, but all of those gimmicks would actually detract from how the author wants you to read it (which is still very open-ended).

This reminds me of the skeleton creek series i read in middle school, its a paranormal book and while it stands on its own as text there are URLs that send you to a website with videos the friend made, it is also written like a diary and was fun, i dunno if the videos are still available tho

I'VE FINALLY FOUND IT! I vaguely remember the class around a computer after reading a chapter. I haven't remembered the plot, cause we were definitely too young for the demographic, but it's always stuck with me

OMG THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU I got Cathy's Book at my local library around maybe 2006/2007? and was so blown away by the phone numbers being actually real and the whole mystery of it all. But, as I had borrowed way too many books I never got to finish it. Years later I've been trying to remember the title of the book and literally NO AMOUNT OF SEARCHING garnered me any results whatsoever. This is the first time I've heard ANYONE talk about it.

A self-contained phone app would solve the link-rot problem and would open new possibilities, like simulating _receiving_ phone calls, chatting with a bot, and alternate-accessible versions of puzzles.

Austin this concept sounds super awesome and I'm sorry I missed it when it was current. Thanks for sharing it. I had no idea that something like this even existed.

Damn. Sucks that it's hard to make a concept like this work

I think ARG-s are best executed inside videogames, bit if we treat a videogame like lines of text, then you could have physical filters like a card with a sequence of letters you have to punch out to then cover a certain page with it and read through the holes (an idea off the top of my head), instead of digital ones. Of course, the inclusion of websites would have to be strictly excluded from evergreen mysteries, or it'd have to point towards social media sites, like RU-vid or Facebook (despite its lack of popularity with the younger demographic, it remains a major site, unlikely to be taken down in the foreseeable future) links. Mysteries shouldn't resolve the plot of the book, but rather point towards "what happened to [x] after [y] happened", leasing readers towards the next entrance in the series, providing additional information for the invested, but constructed in such a way that the base story feels complete without it. A good videogame example for that would be Inscryption, with the exclusion of some website links. It's a complete story that doesn't need an ARG to be good and a casual player wouldn't even know one is there. But those who care, have that additional layer with a reward at the end for the put it effort.

S by JJ Abrams is like this. I picked it up from the library clueless and was enthralled. I need to read it again.

So excited to see this! I have a copy of the third book I got from my library book sale that I love. I still have the song on my phone.

While not exactly the same (it’s not quite a novel style book) Jeeyon Shim is a game designer who makes journaling games that play out very similarly to this? They’re launched through kickstarter and are generally very In The Moment when you play them- you get the clues and tidbits mailed to you with everyone else !!! Definitely a bit more expensive than just getting a book from barnes and noble but i feel delivers a much more interesting and authentic experience if you’re looking for something like this

This sounds so fun!! I had no idea this existed even?? Kinda mad that I didn’t know about this until today, lmao

Great find: I'm amazed that i missed it! There was actually a pretty fair amount of this kind of thing going on in the 2000s, as I recall, both before and after this series. On the one hand, HBO did a kid-oriented web series called "The Deadwood Mysteries," around twenty years ago, a search for a missing girl that included maps, interviews, and a message board for kids to get involved along the way. Later in the decade, I found a YA science-fiction trilogy called the "Atherton" series, a book footnoted with web addresses that you could enter on the publisher's website to get clues and rants from the mad scientist whose work was at the center of the story. In this case, alas, it sounds like the original planners and creators got taken off of the project after the first installment, or something, and so the original plan was never followed through.

I abolutely loved these books when I was around 12-14 and it initially only cought my attention because it has my name on it. Great dicision making tactics, didn‘t regret it!

This is the first video I've seen in a while from austin, and i must say, i do love the moustache.

I know it sounds flawed, but young me would have loved that first book! Still sounds like a great concept

As someone who was 16 in 2006, I’m so bummed that I haven’t heard of this until now! This is so cool!

Wish you had mentioned the song! Honestly “Lost (Cathy’s Song)” still slaps.

I read this as a preteen and was absolutely enamoured with the visual style. If I’m honest I don’t remember much of the story, but I did go on to study illustration, so I guess my focus was mainly on this visuals 😂

It’s so cool that, after talking about PerplexCity & LonelyGirl15 in early videos, Austin has come around to this topic again.

i thought it was typed in universe. at the end of book one, cathy mentions printing the book. the typeface made perfect sense to me.

This missed my bookselling years (earlier) by about 7 years. I would have dug the hell out of something like this. Griffin & Sabine were my era's version, and I still have my copies.

amazing video

I was half-expecting you to reveal that you were going to attempt to do a better version of this yourself

My favorite multi-media story wasn't a book, but a board game. DETECTIVE: A modern board-game. Has its own online database for characters and finger prints, and you can google stuff. Real fun time, if you like choose your own adventures and piecing stuff together.

So I bought this book the day it came out because I was big into I Love Bees. But I just never made the time to do the book. It's still sitting right next to me.

What an interesting concept. I'm surprised I never heard of it.

I read the first book in high-school. I loved it. I was even friends with Cathy on MySpace 😂😂😂 I recently was able to get my hands on all 3 books and can't wait to dive into it again.

There is a term for works like this: ergodic literature.

If there was another attempt at this, more than likely it would have to tie into the social media aspects...there would be Tiktoks, Facebook posts, RU-vid videos, and what not...even instant messaging/texting with actual phone numbers. It's a ballsy idea that probably should deserve another shot...though probably as a single book...a whole series I feel honestly would either lose it's niche (like Cathy's series) or just to be too much of a budgetary hassle to maintain for a long time.

Really interesting to hear of an early attempt at doing the whole social media tie-in thing. Today it's commonplace with YA TV series (if you can use the YA moniker on other things than books) like SKAM, but it's fun to learn about the early pioneers.

14:34 I mean, the closest we get to a cathy’s book today, is that FNAF Security Log book. Which had its relevancy… one or two-maybe three yeara ago? More recently would be that FNAF character book, which released within the past year or so. Which is just a another way to say that the Cathy’s Book Concept works passably in the Horror For Kids Genre that’s at its prime right now.

There's a third class actor on my country that released a book some time ago. His name is not really important and neither the book. He hired a ghost writer to do it while he did his own thing. The only interesting thing about this book is that he put QR codes to multiple webpages, youtube videos and pdfs, spotify links, he also incluided some papers that tell you how can the story develops if you read the texts in a certain way. Some pages of the book also have certain textures and smells. He also put down some recipes for you to cook and eat while you read the book. Everything is related to the story on the book. The book is not that good and only uses these things as a novelty rather than something that benefits the plot.

How amazing ! :D

Where did you buy these? I read these when I was young and I would live to read them again!

Honestly a better way to go about this type of book structure is to make all the clues additionally bonus info instead of making it critical for the plot. Like when you buy the book you get a normal book but also a pack full of clues. The book by itself should tell a complete story, but if you decipher the clues you are given a sort of epilogue or context that would encourage a reread. Whether you read the book first or solve the clues would be irrelevant.

Reminded me a bit of the other book you made a video about. "House of Leaves". Even more so of the book "S" by J. J. Abrams.

That’s awesome! Kinda like a tangible ARG.

I can’t believe there’s an expose video on this series, it’s so obscure and barely updated. I swear this wasn’t a fever dream but I either had an email or there was a post on doubletalk about a continued series with “Sam the Spider” and rock climbing. I don’t believe anything actually came of it since I don’t believe another book was published. Does anyone else remember?

reminds me of a book I borrowed from my friend called “S”

Facebook groups and Facebook pages instead fo web pages would allow the publisher to not have to maintain the site payments since Facebook would host it for free for as long as Facebook exists. Same with Instagram profiles.

While not as ARG focuses as this, back when the first Division game came out, ubisoft actually released a book that was very similar to this, the main part of the book was just a textbook written by the main characters father (he was involved with the virus from the game) the more interesting part is that the MC would write notes down on the sides of the pages, kind of like a journal, but then at one point she lost the journal and another character picked it up and left their own notes, sadly the book didn't have any real connection in the game itself, the main character made an appearance in the game during a scene from the book, but I never found anything more in the game.

I got a copy of Cathy's key at Dollar tree. I didn't realize it was part of a series at first. Then reading it I was going to read the others but never did. Thought it was a flop because dollar tree.

James Frey’s Endgame series attempts something kinda similar to this but, the puzzles and ARG elements are less essential to the story than they are here

I remember this book as a kid. The supplemental materials had long been lost and people had scribbled all in the margins.

Oh no, he's falling further into the ergotic literature rabbithole

As we dwelled into this video I couldn’t help to think of that Netflix movie of Black Mirror (I forget the name) but you could interact with the video and explore the endings. I think something like this could be really interesting if done right. The way ARGS are working these days, this would be really cool to see. Awesome stuff Austin!

This walked so The 39 Clues could trip and fall

interesting reality-breaking. thanks for the book recommendation, austin!

Since this is the third interactive book you've reviewed (not counting choose your own adventures), I recommend you try Trial by Journal by Kate and Sarah Klise. I dont think there were any external pieces like with Cathy's but I think the story still holds up well, even if as an adult reading it the answer to the mystery is pretty obvious

Can this count as the 1st ARG?

Interesting idea

Shout out to this man's mustache.

Before you even asked the question, I was trying to think of ways in which this would work today. It would have to be set up as a brand new form of entertainment, like narrative web surfing, or something of the sort. It would act solely as an online art instillation. Something that if its publishers chose to no longer financially support the project, for whatever reason, it can be shut down without spoiling any form of physical media. If the experience were to go so far as to include physical media, they can live on merely as novelty and collectors items. But the experience would be like 90% online. I would argue that to give the experience a legacy beyond its published lifetime, a walk through video/movie could be created and thrown up on RU-vid or streaming platform so that people 20 years later can live through the nostalgia.

Another video of your I was not notified of thank you YT

The movie "A.I." had similar online things to do. I remember there was some website and there were phone numbrrs to call to get messages.

THIS IS SO COOL

Did you try the way back machine to see the web pages?

Honestly I could totally see another book/series like this happening and being good, but it'd likely have to come out of a small publisher doing a limited run of books. The economics of making all the different bits and pieces just doesn't really work with major publisher attitudes

Can't wait for Austin to discover many online ARGs out there

Theoretically you could work around the continual progress of the internet problem by just uploading every relevant site to the way back machine and then taking down the actual sites thereby freezing the world of the story in time.

Reading this book seems like almost as much work as slogging through the depressed scenery descriptions of Frankenstein.