Absolution
An Experiment in Immersive Storytelling
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An ancestral grudge is about to unleash a terrible curse on an innocent young woman as she races to discover the truth to save her own life and humanity.

Several years ago, I created a special birthday gift for my friend Zarina. We both love books, stories, and adventure—so I made her the protagonist in a horror story.

I don't mean that I wrote a story with her name in it and gave it to her to read. I mean, I crafted an entire experience that she played out in her actual life.

Immersive, interactive, participatory.

Campanile della Basilica di Santa Chiara — Naples, Italy
Campanile della Basilica di Santa Chiara — Naples, Italy

Think of your favorite book, video game, movie, or TV show.

What if you woke up tomorrow and you were the main character?

Zarina Rosiello with a friendly, smiling face

This is so fucking cool. I hope you realize.

Feb 22, 2017 12:13 PM

I've mentioned Absolution to a few people over the years and was always met with wide eyes and their burning desire to know more. Everyone involved in Absolution believes that it should be shared with the world. For a long time, I struggled with how one goes about telling an immersive story that's already happened. After all, the story was made for an audience of one—Zarina. I gave it a lot of thought and decided to go ahead and try to tell the story.

I've broken the entire thing down into two main sections.

First, you'll journey with Zarina—from the moment she woke up to find herself inside of a story to the end where she either became a heroine or met a tragic end at the hands of an ancestral grudge.

Second, I'll then take you behind the scenes to see how it all came together—from the seed of inspiration all the way to the story's completion. Imagine that you write a story, but your main character has a will of their own. She is a real, living, breathing woman—you can't simply go back and edit scenes to make her fit the story you want.

Absolution is incredibly unusual, and you're unlikely to find anything else like it in the world.

Trust me, I've looked.

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