Beginner's Guide to the Mythos

Our mythos has lots of blogs. It can be hard to know where to start. In an effort to help this, various members have pitched in with advice and recommendations!

Introduction
Looking to get started on The Fear Mythos, but not sure where to begin? Not a problem. This guide is meant to help newcomers be introduced to the Mythos, and ease their way in.

First off, it should be noted that the guide assumes the reader already has some prior knowledge of the Slender Man mythos, from which the Fear Mythos is an off-shoot of.

The Fear Mythos began as a project on the forum of tvtropes.org. A number of different members, fans of the Slender Man Mythos, felt that the current mythos had grown stale. To help this, they decided to introduce new monsters to the mythos, and began creating the Fears. The Archangel, The Dying Man, and The Cold Boy were the first Fears to be created and introduced, and many of the other Fears were soon to follow.

Within the first year, the Fear Mythos had already grown into a number of different stories by a number of different writers, and had gained a bit of recognition within the mainstream Slender Man Mythos community.

Starting Blogs
Below are a list of different blogs that may be useful for newcomers and can serve as a starting point.

The Informational Blogs
These blogs are meant to give a general overview of different elements of the mythos
 * The Fear Mythos series bible (http://thefearmythos.wordpress.com/) is a recommended read for all newcomers, explaining the concepts of the mythos itself.
 * Channel Fear (http://channelfear.blogspot.com/) centers around a man who, with the help of numerous contacts, gathers information about the Fears
 * The Archive (http://scribesigma.blogspot.com/) centers around the eponymous Archive, a cult of the Blind Man dedicated to gathering information.

The Big Three
These three blogs were among the earliest in the mythos and were specifically written to serve as introductions to the concept. They have also had a great deal of influence over subsequent blogs.
 * brighter than a spoon (http://nihilartikelling.blogspot.com/) tells the story of Tav Lowe, and introduces the Cold Boy and the concept of Receivers.
 * Eccentrically Bored (http://eccentricallybored.blogspot.com/) is the first blog of Joseph Steward. It is responsible for introducing the Archangel and the Great Game. Its story was continued in Hidden in the Trees, which introduced a number of other elements to the Mythos.
 * Jordan Eats Normally Now (http://djay32-paperdimension.blogspot.com/) tells the story of Jordan Dooling. It introduced EAT and the Camper to the Mythos. The Topography Genera blogs continue the story.

Other Beginner Blogs
These are blogs that introduced many other elements to the mythos and serve as good starting points for beginners.
 * Ontological (http://hellisaplacewherenothingeverhappens.blogspot.com/) centers around the Empty City and the Nightlanders.
 * Debasing the Beef Canoe (http://debasethebeefcanoe.blogspot.com/) introduced the Wooden Girl.
 * Angels From The Grave (http://acuteobtuseequilateral.blogspot.com/) centers around the Archangel and ties into the Dying Man Verse.
 * Moonlit Whispers (http://dancingwiththemoonlightknight.blogspot.com/) is a short blog centering around the Rake.
 * Faces, Strange and Secret (http://strangeandsecretfaces.blogspot.com/) is a collection of creepypasta set in the Fear Mythos universe.
 * The Fear Mythos (http://insertmythoshere.blogspot.com/) is a blog centered around the author of a Fear Mythos blog, who discovers that his "creations" are very much real.

Intermediate Blogs
These are blogs that require some extra background knowledge and/or are more complex than other Fearblogs, and yet are still recommended for newcomers.
 * OH GOD THE RAPTURE IS BURNING (http://blindrapture.tumblr.com/) is an apocalyptic story featuring most of the Fears and the protagonist of Jordan Eats Normally Now.
 * The Most Dangerous Game (http://the-most-dangerous-game.blogspot.com/) is the story of "proxiehunter", a man who hunts down the Servants of the Fears.
 * Closest To The Sun (http://amercurialsmile.blogspot.com/) is the blog of "Achromatic Morality," a young woman who is hunted by a number of Fears.
 * A Realm of Emptiness (http://thefuturehasbeenhereforever.blogspot.com/) tells the story of a number of people who have been trapped within the Empty City.

Blog Recommendations

 * The Topography Genera Saga (http://sorrowboats.blogspot.com/): Which codified the dangerous aspects of EAT, as well as offering the perspective of an organization devoted to studying the Fears, also introduced the eponymous research center.
 * City of Sinopia (http://cityofsinopia.blogspot.ca/): which introduced the Red Cap, a complex network of servants (The Scarlet Marked and the Blood Vessels), and laid the theory of two distinct Fears being connected to one another (Dying Man and Red Cap.)
 * The Jeanette Experience (http://jeanetteisalive.blogspot.com/): Introduced the Smiling Man, and started as an independent blog rather than a Mythos work.
 * The Amalgam Saga: which introduced the Brute, showed how combat-oriented Proxies of different Fears can be, and began the trend of creating alternate pantheons other than the Fears (The Ne Ti Mu and the Amalgam)

Writer's Guide
AC11 also wrote a comprehensive guide giving advice for writers, which can be found here.

Assorted Recommendations
People were asked to give reading material suggestions for newcomers, and this is what they said!

DJay32

 * Faces, Strange and Secret (http://strangeandsecretfaces.blogspot.com/) is a good place to start. Anthology optional.
 * I generally suggest reading as many alliterator blogs as you can (Check this list and CTRL+F for his name). I know there's literally over 80 of them, but the more you read the more you know our mythos. Every idea you can imagine, he's done it first, and he's pulled it off. I guarantee you.
 * A good way to see our mythos's open-source nature in action is to read lots of different verses or canons. You tend to see some pretty different styles and portrayals through those, sometimes giving you an almost.. parallax-like view of the same concepts from different writers. Some canons to suggest: CuteWithoutThe's The Devil And God Are series, or as much as is up at the moment (right now I think it's only The Shower Scene); LizardBite's Great Game Verse is good for an idea of the most influential canon we've had; TheSomnambulist's Amalgam Saga; alliterator and I have two canon-specific stories we work on together (Topography Genera and Nine is God), and I'm told either one would suffice for an introduction.
 * RedRockingHood's City of Sinopia  ( http://cityofsinopia.blogspot.ca/ ), shows how blogs are often focused on characters and how that can be done well, also shows how the focus isn't even on how new the Fear is
 * The Writerer Chronicles (http://ohmygoditswriterer.blogspot.co.uk/). I also recommend reading about Writerer's Joke Fear pantheon. That guy had some good comedy.
 * tgecko's Penny Dropped (http://dropped-penny.blogspot.com/). I love this portrayal of The Plague Doctor. It's similar to the portrayal in Squeek's Pulling Off Masks, so really I'd suggest reading either one (or both), it all depends on whether you prefer Blogger or Tumblr.
 * Similarly, Squeek's Tea Time with the Traitor (http://thegeneralministry.tumblr.com/) has some great bureaucratic comedy.
 * Staccato's Convention of the 24 (http://conventionofthe24.blogspot.co.uk/) and Moments of a Visionary (http://movementsofavisionary1.blogspot.it/). His blogs are short and powerful. You never want them to end.
 * Lia's I Can't Escape (http://theabysslookingback.blogspot.com/). It's short, it's gripping, I won't spoil the Fear, it's one of the best pieces of writing in our entire mythos. If you want raw horror in your blogs, check it out.
 * DarkShadows's Twelve Days (http://whereallmydemonshide.blogspot.com/). People are mixed on the ending, but the rest of the blog is substantially fantastic. It's a good blog that covers a lot of Fears without going off the rails or anything, keeping it all thematically concise and consistent.
 * Omega's High School Never Ends (http://fearmythoshigh.blogspot.com/). 'Cause neither do the fucking laughs. (And his newly-released Burn the Sky? Quality, serious quality. Omega's one of my favourite writers and the only reason I'm not recommending Mephi is because he took it down.)
 * Archangard's I am Not Who I Am (http://tosavetheancestralcityandhimself.blogspot.com/). I won't ruin the punchline. But it's a blog that's so funny it makes me cry.

VinylAsylum

 * To Light a Candle (http://tolightacandle.blogspot.com/): Shows how our Mythos can be used with outer ideas.
 * OH GOD THE RAPTURE IS BURNING (http://blindrapture.tumblr.com/contents): Shows how many vastly different ways you can go with the elements of the Mythos.
 * The Shower Scene (http://thedevilandgodare.blogspot.co.uk/): A little bit of history of the Mythos combined with fiction, and introduces some ways Fears, characters, and blogs in general can be used.
 * B-Movie Monsters (http://bmoviemonsters.blogspot.com/): Shows ways multiple fears can be used in action and introduces some of the more bizarre aspects in the mythos near the end. Definitely shows the definitive lack of canon.

Hexillith
I'd like to suggest Squeek's Pulling Off Masks (http://pullingoffmasks.tumblr.com/). That's pretty much the one that made me, as a writer, think "hey, this Fear Mythos thing has a lot of potential."

Anathema
Recommended blogs for newcomers (in no order):


 * OH GOD THE RAPTURE IS BURNING (http://blindrapture.tumblr.com/contents)


 * Where My Eyes Remain (http://hellsyard.blogspot.com/)


 * The Foul Rag and Bone Shop (http://wearesuchlittlemen.blogspot.com/)


 * The Archangel (http://cecinestpasunenotationdenchainement.blogspot.com/)


 * Fearblog of Fear, Dreams and Sleep and Fear (http://curseofklopmansdiamond.blogspot.com/): if one is looking for a good laugh.

Aidan

 * brighter than a spoon  ( http://nihilartikelling.blogspot.com/ )
 * Call The Schoolmaster (http://calltheschoolmaster.blogspot.com/)
 * Cumulonimbusaurus Rex (http://stormcloudsanddinosaurs.blogspot.be/)
 * Eye for an eye (http://eye-for-an-eye-by-pyrogothnerd.tumblr.com/)
 * Chain of Command (http://chainofcommand00500.blogspot.com/)
 * Then after a couple blogs I always recommend Rapture.