Inanimate Alice is an electronic story series created by Kate Pullinger and Chris Joseph based on a screenplay by series producer Ian Harper. Pullinger is an award-winning novelist and a professor of creative writing and new media at Bath Spa University in England. Joseph is an award-winning digital writer and artist.

The story follows the ominous adventures of Alice, who travels the world with her family because of her father's work in the oil industry.

Though each episode tends to end well, Alice and her family always seem to be under a threat of one kind or another. Alice's only solace is often "Brad," a character she created on her electronic player, a device that she frequently relies on to mediate her environment.

The target audience for Inanimate Alice is 10- to 14-year-olds, and it's true that the series has become popular in classrooms worldwide, where it is used to teach literacy and language arts. The first four episodes are already available in seven different languages, including, according to the website, "both informal and polite Japanese." The wide range of languages is certainly a testament to its popularity. It might also be a reflection of the globe-trotting story lines.

It would be a mistake to think this is kids' stuff, though. Anyone who's interested in stories, and especially transmedia storytelling, will be amazed at what Alice is up to.

A Work-in-Progress

The plan for Inanimate Alice is to create ten episodes, each a little longer and more complex than the last, following the character from ages 8 - 20.

For this reason, you will often hear the series referred to as a digital novel, but I think you could make an equally valid argument for calling it linked short stories. In an interview with EdTech Digest, series producer Ian Harper explained that it is "the story of a journey -- or rather, a series of residences -- that any of us could experience but few ever will." The story's website also supports a variety of "fan fiction" creations from students around the world who want to make their own Alice adventures, which makes defining Inanimate Alice even more complicated.

Regardless of how you define Alice's genre, each episode can stand on its own. It will leave lots of unanswered questions, of course, but many of those questions remain hazy even if you experience all of the extant episodes. That's part of Inanimate Alice's mystique.

Getting Started

Episode 1 was released in 2005 and takes only about five minutes to view. Once you view it, you may very well get hooked.

The story is dark in many ways. The screen is dark and the text shakes in and out of view, as if you aren't getting clear reception. And speaking of reception, static and other electronic noises jar you as you read.

Alice's father was supposed to be home from a trip two days ago, and she and her mother are waiting for him to call. Spooky. Dark, blurry images of jeeps and open landscapes move on the screen. Eerie electronic music, with mysterious children's voices and some Chinese stringed instruments, plays in the background.

We learn that they're in northern China. It's clear that Alice's mother is getting worried.

In an interlude, we learn what life is like at "base camp," where Alice peacefully does school lessons and her mother paints. We are introduced to the electronic player she uses to play video games and on which she has drawn her imaginary skateboarding friend, Brad.

But the interlude only makes the return to the present more terrifying. Alice's mother races their jeep across the road-less landscape, claiming that they're searching for wildflowers, but Alice knows they're driving too fast for that. The mother attempts to hide her worry but fails. The sky hums ominously, "as if it's electronic."

Mysteriously, even though her player is off, Alice hears Brad's voice tell her to turn. She tells her mother, who complies, and they discover the father's jeep. It has broken down, and the father has no cell signal, but he's safe. All of the sound drops away except the Chinese stringed instruments, which are now calm and beautiful, though the parents still seem acutely aware of the hardships in their lives.

It's hard to forget the emotional impact of this unsettling episode. The combined effect of the text, visuals, and audio is powerful. Perhaps you'll choose never to view another episode, but Alice notes that "we are always on the move, always," and if you're like thousands of school children worldwide, you just might find yourself wanting to follow her.