Corpse Party is set in Heavenly Host Elementary School (天神小学校 Tenjin Shōgakkō?), an elementary school that was torn down following the murders and disappearances of several of its staff and students. By the start of the story, another school called Kisaragi Academy (如月学園 Kisaragi Gakuen?) has been built over the elementary school site. One night, a group of students from Kisaragi are transported via a sudden earthquake to another dimension where Heavenly Host Elementary still exists and is haunted by the ghosts of the school's murdered children. The player takes control of the Kisaragi students as they try to find their way home and survive the other mysterious forces that haunt the school.