Hobo Lobo of Hamelin was created by Stevan Živadinović. He started Hobo Lobo of Hamelin in 2011 and completed it in 2014. The story of Hobo Lobo of Hamelin is a retelling of the popular fairy tale The Pied Piper of Hamelin with the main character Hobo Lobo, a wolf, playing the same role as the Pied Piper. Živadinović describes the creation of Hobo Lobo of Hamelin as “a thing by a dude, who’s all like, 'I’m gonna make a thing' And then he did” (Živadinović). The appearance of Hobo Lobo of Hamelin is similar to a graphic novel with the combination of images and text. The major plot points within Hobo Lobo of Hamelin remain relatively the same from the original, but include a mixture of modern and renaissance imagery with plenty of humor. Hobo Lobo of Hamelin contains a total of seven pages and multiple parts within each page. Each page resembles a graphic novel as the reader moves across the screen using the left and right arrow keys on their computer. The images in Hobo Lobo of Hamelin are always in the center of the website; as the reader moves across the screen, the images placed in the background create a 3D effect despite the images being 2D. The images appear 3D because of “parallax scrolling, where the background would move at a different rate than the foreground” (Parkin). Živadinović incorporates sounds on pages three and seven which fully immerses the reader in the story. Page three starts in a forest with sounds of insects and animals in the distance. As the reader continues to scroll through the page, a faint sound of a harmonica increases in intensity as the reader moves towards the end of the page. When the reader reaches the source of the music, the sounds of the animals and insects are completely drowned out and only the sound of the harmonica can be heard. Page seven starts off similarly with laughter of children being heard first and the music slowly increasing in volume. Characters can be seen rattling chains or hitting a tree stump and these sound effects are added into the music. This coexistence between the images and music increases a person’s overall immersion into the story because a character’s actions are directly impacting the music.

Similar Works
Cruising by Indrid Ankerson and Megan Sapnar is similar to Hobo Lobo of Hamelin in terms of the design of the literary work. Both utilize the combination of sounds and images, and the reader is able to scroll to the left or right to view the story. Cruising, however, has the reader use a mouse to move across each image while Hobo Lobo of Hamelin uses the arrow keys.

This entry was part of an assignment for Dr. Melinda White in ENGL 693: Digital Literature at the University of New Hampshire

Works Cited
Ankerson, Ingird, and Megan Sapnar. “Cruising.” Cruising, Apr. 2001, collection.eliterature.org/1/works/ankerson_sapnar__cruising.html
Parkin, John. “Hobo Lobo of Hamelin Side-Scrolls into Awesomeness.” CBR, CBR, 8 Dec. 2011, www.cbr.com/hobo-lobo-of-hamelin-side-scrolls-into-awesomeness/.
“Volume 3.” Electronic Literature Collection, http://collection.eliterature.org/3/work.html?work=hobo-lobo-of-hamelin
Živadinović, Stevan. “Hobo Lobo of Hamelin.” Hobo Lobo of Hamelin - What Is This Thing?, hobolobo.net/what-is-this-thing#q.