Wolves in the Walls, the terrifying children’s book from Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, is getting its own VR experience. Created as one of the last projects of the now-defunct Oculus Story StudioWolves in the Walls VR is making its debut at Sundance Film Festival this year.

Oculus Story Studios created three VR experiences before Facebook shuttered the studio back in May; Dear Angelica, Lost, and Henry. The studio’s highly-polished experiences were created to showcase the promise of gripping VR narratives, and while the mission was more or less completed, Wolf in the Walls VR was left unfinished.

According to a report by Variety, most of the Story Studio team couldn’t accept that Gaiman’s VR adaptation was left unfinished. Despite officially disbanding, a majority of the team stayed together to quietly work on the project, which fortuitously received additional funding from Oculus as well.

image courtesy Oculus

Wolves in the Walls follows the ever-imaginative Lucy as she hears wolves crawling in the walls of her family’s home. Stepping into the shoes of Lucy’s imaginary friend, executive producer Saschka Unseld says the experience aims to solve the puzzle of “how to organically combine​ ​a​ ​compelling​ ​and emotional​ ​story​ ​with​ ​interactive​ ​worlds​ ​and​ ​characters.”

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New York-based immersive theater company ​Third​ ​Rail​ ​Projects developed the story’s choreography, and was directed by DreamWorks Animation veteran ​Pete​ ​Billington and ​Jessica​ ​Shamash, known for her work at Pixar.

image courtesy Third Rail Projects

“After​ ​Henry,​ ​we​ ​knew​ ​that​ ​we​ ​wanted​ ​to​ ​created​ ​a​ ​deeply​ ​interactive​ ​character.​ ​Something​ ​that​ ​wasn’t​ ​passive​ ​or bound​ ​to​ ​the​ ​rectangular​ ​format​ ​of​ ​traditional​ ​media,” Billington said in a prepared statement.

“Lucy​ ​was​ ​our​ ​friend.​ ​We​ ​cared​ ​for​ ​her.​ ​She​ ​felt​ ​more​ ​than​ ​a​ ​3D​ ​character,” Shamash added.

The first chapter of Wolves in the Walls VR is set to premiere at Sundance in January, with two additional chapters currently in the works, although release date is uncertain at this time.

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Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • crim3

    I guess that at this point there is no info whatsoever about if this time it will be a stand-alone executable. But asking just in case.