pressed right up to the edges of our reality, a fun-house mirror reflection of the world exists, separate and parellel - most of the time. only under very specific conditions can those of us from the "normal world" access this alternate dimension. those who are down-trodden, depressed, lost, wishing for another life, to be anywhere than they are right now - it is only these people that can find the doors and windows leading into what at first appears to be a fantastical new world. a world that seems to grant their every wish - comfort, security, companionship, and more. however, the truth of this reality lies in the connection between these people, and the residents of this other world. the residents of this strange place, known as eden (temporary name), are not as sweet, or even as human-like as they first appear. from within eden they can hear the thoughts and wishes of those on the other side, those who wish to escape their reality and dive into another. these people - things - are able to form an invisible connection with those on the other side, thus giving them access to eden. there could be many reasons to form this connection. the eden-resident may desire companionship, or dinner. a family, or someone to play with. perhaps something to kill. no matter the reason, once they've lured their prey into eden, whoever it is has very little chance of escaping, unless they can find the key.

*insp. by the movie/book coraline.

*the eden residents are (usually) human in appearance, but have the ability to shift into their true form (which can be anything from a tiger, to a monster, to a half-burnt figure, to something that honestly looks human but really, really isn't).

*eden residents also have different opinions and desires towards their human prey, as mentioned above. in the movie/book coraline, mother appears to want to have a family, when in reality she wants to take coraline's soul (i think,,,, i have to reread/rewatch). this could be the same for an eden resident, or it would be something different.

*the "key" mentioned above for the human to escape from eden is different for every person. it is something that relates to them and their reason for wanting to escape the real world. for example, a past ballerina who became too injured to dance and fell into a depressive slump, her key might be her point shoes. for a businessman who thought he would have everything at the top, but his marriage is in shambles and his family despises him, his key might be his wedding band or the stuffed animal of his young child. only once they can find this key in eden are they able to use it to go back home, but without it, they are trapped forever.

*many humans think eden is a dream upon their first arrival. it is only after so long that they begin to realize that it is not a dream, it is most certainly real, and that they would rather wish it was just a nightmare instead.