Bedrockgames
I post in the voice of Christopher Walken
I know it's not popular, but I like the idea that most of the inhabitants of Ravenloft are actually shadows, who just go through the motions of living. And their tragedy is they think they are real people. Like robots who don't know they are robots. Thus, they are basically oblivious to anything out of the ordinary - they don't even notice when the person they are talking to isn't human. "That's a nasty skin condition you have there lad" to a PC dragonborn.
Well, I think it is one of two possibilities for Ravenloft. It certainly helps explain how places and people just seem to come into existence. I personally like the idea that the inhabitants are real people (it just feels a little off having them be ephemeral personalities); whether that is they are created by the mists and fully realized as a result or that they are drawn in from elsewhere somehow (i don't know, had their memories wiped). I'd like to at least think the people born in Ravenloft are real. But I do like this idea.
My only quibble is wouldn't them being self aware and thinking they are real, suggest they are real? Or are you saying they have minds like real people, but are literally made from shadow and more like an advanced AI robot that doesn't know it is real?