Mirage Hills Chronicles

Under the California sun lies the city of Mirage Hills, a glittering chimera promising fame and fortune. Its skyline gleams like a beacon for dreamers and visionaries, its iconic sign a siren’s call. Beyond the glamorous veneer of movie stars and mansions, however, Mirage Hills harbours plenty of dark secrets. This Wretched setting draws from numerous classic works across mediums that epitomize the tone and spirit of noir and pulp storytelling. Hardboiled authors like Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett pioneered the cynical, solitary perspective of detectives investigating seedy underworlds of ostensibly glamorous locales. Films such as Sunset Boulevard, Mulholland Drive, and A Star Is Born pulled back the curtain on Hollywood to expose the intoxicating but precarious nature of the entertainment industry and the ambitions it attracts. The video game L.A. Noire simulated the mindset of a detective in 1940s Los Angeles, incorporating real history of corruption and organized crime. Comic books and serials like Dick Tracy popularized two-fisted heroes facing off against larger-than-life villains and their elaborate death traps. Conspiracy thrillers and retro sci-fi emphasized mystery, action, and discovering secrets hidden in plain sight. And the brooding, faded grandeur of mid-20th century American cities — as depicted by Edward Hopper’s haunting urban landscapes — conjured the melancholy, after-hours qualities central to noir atmosphere.