Doubt-o-Dome
The Doubt-o-Dome is an energy field that protects the monster town from the outside world. It does so by affecting the brainwave patterns of anyone outside the dome, making them believe that nothing inside the dome is real.
History
The Doubt-o-Dome was created by the Gnomes of Old– who had a much better grasp of magic than their modern day descendants– shortly after the foundation of the town.
In more recent history, a secret government organisation has tried, unsuccessfully, to invade the town and use the Doubt-o-Dome as the new location for their classified technology research and development facility, headed up by Colonel Von Krieger.
Effects
People who have visited the monster town begin to believe the experience was not real shortly after leaving. While they still remember what happened, they will be convinced that they either imagined the events, be it as a dream or hallucination, or experienced the town as a work of fiction, such as a book they read or a movie they saw or acted in.
As the mind takes a little time to fill in the blanks it is possible to leave the dome for a short time and return without being affected. How short exactly depends on a number of factors including physiology and weather, but is generally thought to be less than one hour.
There are other ways to circumvent the dome’s effects. One way is to transmit audio or video from inside the dome to the outside. As long as the signal is maintained, anyone listening to or watching the feed will maintain their belief in the town.
Side effects
An interesting side effect of the Doubt-o-Dome is its ability to affect fictional works created outside the town, making them real once inside. Two such occurrences were the creation of the Book People– living book characters who inhabit the Library and raised Louise; and more recently when a radioactive television pulled Skunk-Ape into the fictional world of T.V. Christmas specials.
Immunity
Robots and other artificial intelligences are unaffected by the Doubt-o-Dome. Werewolves are also immune because of their inability to distinguish fiction from reality due to their canine brain chemistry.
