So here’s where I give away my age and geekiness: I was a teenage in the 1980s, and I had a Commodore 64. Ah, nostalgia. I still remember many late nights on that computer with fondness, and I spent many of those late nights playing text adventure games. (A text adventure game is like reading a book, except you are the main character.)
To the point: The software company Infocom came out with some of the very best games, and one of them was The Lurking Horror, a great Lovecraftian game. You can play it for free on your computer — download it here and unzip the file. (Depending on your system, you may have to download Frotz, also.)
So… did you play text adventure games? Any nostalgic stories?
Ever since you arrived at G.U.E. Tech, you’ve heard stories about the creepy old campus basements and storage rooms, some so ancient that they contain only rotting piles of unidentifiable junk. Until now, you have never ventured lower than the ground floors of the monolithic classroom and dorm buildings, avoiding the warren of tunnels that connect them.
But tonight, something draws you down into the mysterious depths of the institute. Perhaps it’s the blizzard raging outside, making the outdoors as threatening as anything you could imagine within. Perhaps it’s the nightmare you had, hinting at horrific mysteries below and leaving you with a strange object that seems to lead you inexorably downward. Or perhaps it’s just another way for you to avoid writing that twenty page term paper you have due tomorrow.
In any event, you soon find yourself wandering away from your computer and into the dark nether regions of G.U.E. Tech. Suddenly, you’re in a world that rivals your most hideous visions, a realm of horror lurking beneath the calm corridors and study halls.
Shapes emerge from dark corners. Eerie sounds draw closer. Slimy passageways lead to sights so horrifying that they will feed you nightmares for weeks.
THE LURKING HORROR recalls the ghastly visions of H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King, as author Dave Lebling turns an everyday world into a frightening web of uncertainty. The numerous puzzles will challenge both first-time and experienced players, and Lebling’s chilling descriptions will leave you with images you’ll never forget.
Thanks to this page for the transcribed description from The Lurking Horror game, and for the pictures.
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The only one I ever played was “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” I remember it was often a very frustrating experience. I think it took me forever just to get out of the house in the beginning! Eventually, I broke down and got this book that would reveal the solutions when you ran over them with a special marker.
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Ah, text adventures were my first experience with computer games. I fondly remember playing them with a friend, one of us would type while the other was in charge of drawing the map on graph paper. Here’s to the good old days when life was simpler.
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If you’re playing lurking fear, you’ll want this: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/20251282/temporary-Lurking-Horror-manual
You won’t log on to the computer without it. 🙂
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I bought the Zork series at GoG not too long ago, time to snag this as well. Finished it years ago back when it came out, wish I still had the box set
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Ah Commodore 64,my first ‘puter, I tried the text based games but couldn’t get into them.
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Gahhhhh ~_~ I’m so bad at these…..
I can’t even figure out how to log on to the computer
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The closest I had were the actual books where you were the main character and flipped to different sections depending on what path you chose. Like the “Choose Your Own Adventure” series but horror themed. I just downloaded this so looking forward to checking it out. Thanks.
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I had several Infocom games for my Apple IIe. Loved them. But dammit. Never got this one. I’ll have to check it out…
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I wish you hadn’t moved to the States, Derek. I still have Dark Seed and it’s box cover with Giger’s art sitting above me now on the shelf. There were a couple other PC based games that were Lovecraftian in nature called The Dark Eye and Necronomicon that I also have. I too was into D&D but then discovered the Call of Cthulhu RPG at the Little Generals store here in Calgary while searching for lead figures. All was lost, as they say. I wish that I could find some here in town that could help refresh my playing of it however…
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i remember playing d&d eye of the beholder for hours. that was until i discovered castle wolfenstein and my love affair with first person shooters was born. i also remember that giger based game dark seed which was also really damn cool. ,
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Ahh… if only I could get back the hours I lost to ‘The Secret of Bastow Manor’….
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‘House of Frankenstein” on the Microbee anyone?
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Ah… nostalgia.
I started with the original “Colossal Cave” on a Sinclair ZX80 (a very early British system) in around 1981 and it came to the Commodore with me 🙂
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