Vermis, Lost Dungeons and Forbidden Woods

Vermis

by Plastiboo (Artist), Michele Nitri (Editor), Marco Cirillo Pedri (Graphic Design)

"Vermis I" is the first of an artbook series by the artist Plastiboo.

A pure act of world-building inspired by old dungeon crawler games.

It could be considered an official guide of a game that doesn't exist, since it's not a game at all!

Which flesh is your flesh?

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Art, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Comics, Dark Fantasy

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2023

Reviews

[Patrick Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely book which can stand worthily alongside Blanche's 'Voodoo Forest'.

8-Bit horror. False memories of playing ancient dungeon crawlers like 'Eye of the Beholder'. Good use of the polarising or pseudo-pixellating effect to produce grain and texture and displace the images somewhat into an imagined memory. Solid dreambuilding, reminds me a bit of Dark Souls, a series of games I have never actually played.

[Corn8lius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Which flesh is your flesh ?

J’ai beaucoup beaucoup aimé Vermis. A mi chemin entre le (faux) guide d’un jeu vidéo qui n’existe pas, l’art-book, et le conte macabre nébuleux illustré, Vermis nous fait voyager dans un univers dark-fantasy morbide et mystérieux.

Une expérience de lecture assez unique et atmosphérique qui m’aura fait passer un très bon moment.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wholly haunting and melancholic, this original and unique piece of fiction will delight and ensnare fans of the dark fantasy genre.

[Danny Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guys will see this and just think "hell yeah"

[Michelle Kisner · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Which flesh is your flesh?”

I found out about this book by accident, browsing on YouTube. It’s written in the style of old school dungeon crawler guides, similar to AD&D manuals. Vermis feels cursed somehow, like a nightmare. Monsters are abominations, tortured day and night, suffering endlessly.

Each area is akin to waking up from a dream, full of strong emotions and fragmented details. The art is beautiful, it looks like a poorly scanned strategy guide—perhaps it was left in an attic to rot for too long. One of the most specific to my tastes things I have read in a long time. It’s very niche but if you are in this niche you will be mesmerized.

Has a Dark Souls vibe to it.

[Martina · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Inside the mist your ears hear nothing but your footsteps, but your eyes can distinguish subtle silhouettes slowly moving around you, if you walk towards them to find out who’s behind the fog, you will find nothing but a whisper, do not turn your back on the shadows”

Read this while listening to dungeon synth

[Paulo "paper books only" · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is perfection.
this author must love blasphemous ( console,pc game), kingdom death (boardgame), trench crusade and Warhammer 40k..

grab the despair that it's kingdom death and make a videogame with art that resembles blasphemous. make it grimdark et voila..

this is a guide of a game that does not exist and to be fair it would be nigh impossible to do it but it could easily be a book written by Michael Cisco per example.

as you flip pages you choose characters that should not be playable, good or evil , if they have will or faith. you've got lost old glory) probably the most normal to "waste of life" or mad pricker. you choose a god (some are dead) and you see the items , some are just plain weird like a potion bone fermenter that makes bones fragile or scented oil that alleviates the scent of death. you go to places each weirder that the previous , there seems to be no goal, and the guide gives advice and tell you what happens if you choose a or b. the ending , well that are several, and to be fair none is treated as bad or wrong.

some youtube videos to help you decide...

https://youtu.be/UPWP93ceBf0?si=da2m6...

https://youtu.be/c6mC_NHEGDY?si=IEJ_D...

if you want to buy hollow-press.net.
I am not affiliated. I just love it

[Chris DiFazio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sending a copy of this book to FromSoftware's headquarters because I NEED this to become a real game

[Benoit Lelièvre · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn’t a book about a story. It’s a book about feeling things.

See, the real fun of video games isn’t playing them. It’s the sudden realization that you’ve stopped being yourself for a few hours. That your regular, corporeal body is basically just a forgotten snack wrapper tossed on the couch while some pixelated surrogate experiences a different reality on your behalf. Reading Vermis: Volume 1 triggered that same phenomenon, despite the fact that it’s mostly pictures, mostly absence, and almost no “action.”

But here’s the trick: because nothing was obvious, I found myself obsessing over everything. Every item, every stray symbol, every anonymous encounter by the so-called Lonely Knight suddenly mattered, or at least might matter. And the question wasn’t “Is this good or bad?” The question was “Will this help me, or will this kill me?” Which, if we’re being honest, is the exact question we should be asking about literally everything in our lives.

So I tried it. Phone? Cursed. Didn’t touch it. Cabin by the lake? Beneficial. Restorative. By the end, I even decided the “health app” on my phone was secretly an emotional parasite, draining my will to live one competitive graph at a time. For about 24 hours, I was the Lonely Knight, and Plastiboo was my dungeon master. Vermis wasn’t a book I read so much as a game I accidentally agreed to play.

It was strange. It was mythic. It was borderline confusing and also the most fun I’ve had while staring at paper in months.

[Dustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Your flesh will be temporary. This decision only has the weight you choose to give it."

Every once in a while, you find a piece of art where you feel like the author made it specifically with you in mind. Vermis joins my short list of such books. Every page was a joy to look through, and filled me with a sort of melancholic wonder. It sticks to conceit that Vermis is a real game, and that this book is a guide, while also presenting you existential questions and a haunting narrative where you're the main character, on a brief journey through a cursed world.

Also, a note on the Forsaken Edition: For some reason, this book smells like the plywood aisle of a hardware store, or a pile of sawdust. I think it's the thick cardstock they used for the pages? Maybe it's just mine, but keep that in mind if you're sensitive to smells.

[Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vermis is a haunting and atmospheric experience. It's a game guide to a fantasy rpg that never existed, world building is developed through descriptions of places, weapons, creatures, and areas. A souls-like story is told, a lone journey is taken, and a dying world is explored. With unnerving and creative artwork, I found myself absorbed and enthralled with this book. I give this my highest recommendation, it's a memorable and stunning book that fans of dark fantasy will certainly love!

[Sanpaku · Rating 5 out of 5]

9/10.
A mix between old nintendo videogame guides, C0DA and Louis Royo. In other words, Dungeon Synth: the (art)book. Loved the Masonic references too. But,
>symphonic
>stoic
it was completely unnecessary to use FOTM terms.

[Theofilos · Rating 5 out of 5]

One word, phenomenal!💀

[xenia · Rating 5 out of 5]

to choose your own death is to still choose death

yet to flee your own death is to be completely consumed by it

*melodic laughter in the distance*

🧿⚔️💀 — 🍥⚰️🚷 — 🃏👽👻

[Becka D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.5) Which Flesh is your Flesh?

[Ido Cohen · Rating 5 out of 5]

איזה כיף זה לדמיין עולם אחר

[Mary ♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 stars

TWs: Gore, grief

Vermis is not an art book, it is an experience. Approach with a sword, and expect to fall under waves of dark adventures. What flesh is your flesh?

[J.R. Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredible art and a wonderful and dizzying journey. If you like horror art and microfiction, and strange new takes this is for you!!!

Got the fifth edition, and this still has a few minor spelling errors.

I can see how they got by, but at a fifth printing they should have had time to do some corrections.

I still recommend it; also, if they review this and correct it, and do a hard cover version with extra content I would buy it.

[Enoch Troglin · Rating 5 out of 5]

ros rec #1! read this today. the art was my favorite. absolutely gorgeous pixelated art style. the format and concept and story and everything about it was all so cool and unlike anything I've ever personally seen. it was just so cool! I loved it. I'm definitely gonna re-read this and also read the second one after I'm done with the rest of the recs I've been given

[Oscar Bilker · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Dark Souls"

[Justin Fraser · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting mix of an art book and dark fantasy, all mixed in a package that seemed like it was meant for me.

[Dutchess · Rating 5 out of 5]

The official guidebook for Vermis! An 8-bit dungeon crawler which does not exist outside of these pages.

"While inspecting the fireplace, you might notice a strong smell coming from the chimney. Avoid looking up. Now, somewhat rested, you may continue your journey."

As the passage suggests, the book is written in second person, since it is created for you, the player of the game, as a walkthrough of the game's many dangerous encounters and secrets. But it's also an enchanting art book, giving you a visual of the various gods of the realm, the unique weapons you will find, and horrors you will stumble upon. One of my favorite images is the Dagger of Guilt, a weapon whose hilt is a metal hand you must grasp to wield it.

[Drew Rhine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A text adventure-type gamebook guide that almost has a narrative which is upheld strongly by mysterious, grainy dark fantasy images and poorly translated item descriptions. Heavy on the aesthetic and ultimately pretty shallow, even if one were to use it as inspiration for a tabletop session or something or other - you would have to bring a lot of your own shtick to create some true meaning or drama or feeling. On the other hand, despite not really providing any of that, Vermis provides at least a meaty and imaginative template. I kinda wish it was a little more Something - more spooky or more indecipherable or more fantastical maybe.

[Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

A unique and charming read, in as much as a book with the sentence "The wounds inflicted by the Butcher's firstborn will never truly heal." can be charming. I'm sure there's some re-readability, as there are plenty of choices offered throughout the book, although the consequences of those choices exist largely in the imagination of the reader. In my first read, I was the prophet, I gave the dying knight his box, and I took the ring and contracted the white hives. Maybe the next time the moon shines, I'll be Rat Man.

[Duarte Cabral]

Guia para um jogo de fantasia fictício e inexistente. Só o conceito já vale a curiosidade, mas a execução é tão atmosférica que vale a pena apreciar isto nas nossas mãos.

[RunnerBunny · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending..... 💀💀💀

[Aaron Esthelm · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the most creative ideas for an art book I've ever seen. instead of just pictures it paints a world that these pictures all live in. each creature nasty and kind exists in this world.

at first I was confused on how to read this. if it was meant to be a guide a story a choose your own adventure or what. but eventually I understood what it was doing and just enjoyed the ride.

the art is killer and vibrant. the details are interesting fun to explore. I enjoyed imagining what a character in this world would be experiencing on their journey to their goal. all and all this was downright fun

[Jonah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haven’t read anything like it, absolutely dripping with atmosphere and intrigue. Really really loved every page, only problem is (and I know this works in favor of the book more often than not) occasionally the mixture of the print paper type and the contrast of some pages make it a little hard to read and make out detail, but I think even that helps to add to the mystique of it feeling like an old lost strategy guide you found in the woods.

[Stefanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took a long time to read this, which made the experience better - after all, you would read a strategy guide along with the pace of your playing. The artist's influences were apparent, at times heavy-handed, but cohesive nonetheless. If you're like me and long for the days when games came with a booklet of lore and strategy guides were less pasted from Wikia and more of an extension of the game.

[Mauro Luengo Ramírez · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Which flesh is your flesh?”

Una propuesta de libro tan extraña como original, como una pesadilla. Al estilo de la guía de un videojuego retro, Vermis te evoca, a través de unos pocos textos y dibujos pixel art 8bit, un mundo oscuro y melancólico tremendamente vivo a pesar de la brevedad de la obra.