James Fisher, a lonely, bullied schoolboy, finds himself in the dark and twisted land of Escher after wishing himself away from an ill-fated family holiday.
He is lost and fearful, but before he can find his way home he must help heal this dying world, overrun by creatures of the Nightmare forest which have thrived under the darkness cast by the Great Gardener.
Guided by the emerald-eyed cat, Sam, and befriended by the headstrong resistance fighter, Jasper, James is taken on an adventure through a world mirroring his own nightmares, where he is forced to confront his own fears and the dreaded Sentinel in order to save Escher.
Unbeknown to James, not only is he fighting for Escher's future, but also his own.
A young teenage boy named Jake has moved to a bleak new town where the people keep to themselves and try to live their rough lives amongst it's dangers. Jake struggles to feel safe in this new place until he meets an older boy people have nicknamed the toy man. A lonely high schooler named Christian who makes adventures in a mysterious place in the woods where imagination somehow comes alive. Joining them is another high schooler named Madeline who was abandoned by her friends for coming out. Together they become a trio of misfits escaping reality as much as they can and finding strong bonds between them. However Christian's life of being bullied and abused catches up but he realizes that he is not alone anymore. Together they help each other overcome their greatest challenges in a story of coming of age and finding out that some things that people say are childish can help us grow