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Critical Role's Matt Mercer isn't afraid of adaptations. After all, the world of The Legend of Vox Machina and The Mighty Nein began as a story in his mind before becoming two beloved animated TV shows, a legion of novels and comics, and of course, the world's most successful TTRPG actual play series. However, there is one piece of media that Mercer thinks shouldn't be adapated at all:

Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves

Mercer said as much during his appearance on the YouTube series String and Tell with Tawny Platis, where both he and the series' host gushed about the experimental horror novel, which Mercer calls, "one of my favorite books of all time."

"It's one of those things," said the voice actor, "Where every few years, you hear somebody else has gotten an option to make a film off it. I'm like, 'How?' It's so specific to the to the reading, the book medium, for the experience. You couldn't recreate that, and you shouldn't try. But anyway, more people need to read that book."

In case you don't know what Mercer's talking about here, House of Leaves is written not just as a straightforward novel, but actually incorporates the physical pages as a means of storytelling. For example, pieces of the pages will be suddenly missing, only to appear on a different page down the line, as though someone took a screenshot of the former and added to the latter. It's a book that has become renowned in cult circles for its impossibility to replicate anywhere else in literature.

And if fans like Mercer have anything to say about it, it won't be replicated in film, either.

With two animated series on Prime Video, Campaign 4 in full swing, and so much more Exandrian lore to come, Critical Role is showing no signs of slowing down. That's why the adventuring party at Popverse are here to bring you everything we can from those nerdy-ass voice actors & Bo., including:

• Critical Role release schedule
• Critical Role's Campaign 4 characters ranked
• How to watch Critical Role in order
• Ways for you to relive the Critical Role panel from ECCC '26
• Taliesin Jaffe on playing Mollymauk Tealeaf for Campaign 2 vs. playing him for Prime Video
• Matt Mercer's homebrew warrior class (created originally for Vin Diesel)

...and much, much more. Roll initiative, player. Magic awaits.