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Post by petch on Mar 15, 2021 15:41:48 GMT
A conversation I had with my son over this weekend finally established for me once and for all my long held suspicion that he has no fear of any kind, which while all well and good for him is downright terrifying for me as a parent. It's also in marked contrast to myself as a child, as I was a much more sensitive and tender (read: weedy) soul.
Anyhow, this got me to thinking that for a kid with a more delicate disposition such I was, FF was an odd choice of favoured reading material, suffused as it could be with death, horror and gore. I've been casting my mind back, trying to remember particular moments from the series that had especially impacted my poor little childhood psyche, and 3 memories stick out in particular:
- The fields of the Black Lotus in The Shamutanti Hills. For all of the monstrous denizens of Titan that were created, it's odd that something as mundane and innocuous as a flower would have affected me most. But I think it is precisely because that it was something so everyday that was portrayed as such a lethal killer that filled me with dread - that and the idea that the toxic pollen could silently enter your nostrils and kill you before you even suspected anything was amiss. The chillingly effective Blanche illustration of endless fields of the deadly blooms, with a human skull just visible in the corner, didn't help. I remember staying clear of flowerbeds for a while after reading this bit...you know, just in case.
- Being poisoned by the Death Spider in Curse of the Mummy and being transported to the Realms of the Damned, 'where your soul will be extracted and tortured for all eternity.' As a churchgoing kid I wasn't unfamiliar with the concept of eternal damnation, but that was as a punishment for sin and you could avoid it by being nice and singing about baby Jesus and stuff - being forcibly abducted by an arachnoid bastard and arbitrarily being made to endure endless torment was another matter entirely and I found the whole idea profoundly disturbing.
- Getting captured by the Black Fairies in Crypt of the Sorcerer, who bind you hand and foot and then 'amuse themselves by putting insects inside your clothes and slugs in your mouth.' I was a massive insectophobe as a child (still am, as a matter of fact), so despite this description being kind of tame compared to what C list celebs voluntarily endure in the Australian outback in the name of entertainment today, this nonetheless seemed like a fate worse than death to me at the time.
Anyone else have any memories from the series that creeped you out, perturbed or otherwise sent a shiver down your spine as a child? Or am I the only former oversensitive little dweeb on here?
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Post by bloodbeasthandler on Mar 15, 2021 16:32:27 GMT
FF never gave me nightmares in the way that Dr Who did, at least as far as I know.
I think the younger you are the more likely you are to be affected by some of the stuff in these books, and for me I think it was the Steve Jackson books which had the most 'disturbing content' in them. Like the Ganjees out of Citadel of Chaos or that injured man in the same book - the one crawling about in the courtyard. I thought the illustration indicated he'd had his eyes gouged out (he hasn't - it's just shadow).
But for horror content, as least as far as I am concerned, it's House of Hell - loads of encounters many of them illustrated (which always helps)- the old man's dead body hanging in the garden, the corpse falling out of a cupboard, human sacrifice, the ghoul in the kitchen, headless ghost, being put in a cage where you can't sit down or stand up etc.
Probably worth a thread - most gory or disturbing content in FF.
Good stuff!
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Post by vastariner on Mar 15, 2021 19:40:32 GMT
Never disturbed by anything, but an under-rated "horror" scene is in Spectral Stalkers; the one with the clown.
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Post by The Count on Mar 16, 2021 1:17:55 GMT
I found a couple of the illustrations in Temple of Terror disturbing at first - the Phantom, the sunburnt Dwarf, the Messenger of Death, the Devil Dog, the Rat Men feasting on the corpse that looks alive and in pain. As it was one of the first FF books I read, and I was only 7, I also got a bit scared during my first few playthroughs. When I revisited it after a few years, only the Rat Men still bothered me.
I don't remember being overly disturbed by specific parts House of Hell or Beneath Nightmare Castle, though I was a teenager when I read them.
And while not a childhood thing, a certain repulsive, repugnant, nauseating illustration in AoA puts me off ever wanting to go near it ever again.
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Post by petch on Mar 16, 2021 13:44:50 GMT
I found a couple of the illustrations in Temple of Terror disturbing at first - the Phantom, the sunburnt Dwarf, the Messenger of Death, the Devil Dog, the Rat Men feasting on the corpse that looks alive and in pain. As it was one of the first FF books I read, and I was only 7, I also got a bit scared during my first few playthroughs. When I revisited it after a few years, only the Rat Men still bothered me. I don't remember being overly disturbed by specific parts House of Hell or Beneath Nightmare Castle, though I was a teenager when I read them. And while not a childhood thing, a certain repulsive, repugnant, nauseating illustration in AoA puts me off ever wanting to go near it ever again. Oh yes I used to find that Phantom illustration freaky too. Something about the toothless gaping mouth and the empty eye sockets.
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Post by a moderator on Mar 16, 2021 14:05:31 GMT
- The fields of the Black Lotus in The Shamutanti Hills. For all of the monstrous denizens of Titan that were created, it's odd that something as mundane and innocuous as a flower would have affected me most. But I think it is precisely because that it was something so everyday that was portrayed as such a lethal killer that filled me with dread It's not FF, but there was an ending in one of the Plot Your Own Horror Story gamebooks that haunted me for a long while because it was on the edge of 'this could actually happen in real life'. It involved getting caught up in a department store's automated packaging set-up, so the machines neatly wrap you in padding that almost suffocates you, and then put you into a crate and nail it shut. And just to make it that little bit worse, you get stored head downwards.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,462
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Mar 16, 2021 17:21:45 GMT
I couldn't even look at the two images below. Don't think either are actually meant to be scary but as a child these were both nightmare fuel: Oddly, I didn't have an issue with Temple of Terror's pics!
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Post by a moderator on Mar 16, 2021 17:57:56 GMT
How have I not noticed that woman's neck before?
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Post by Wilf on Mar 16, 2021 19:20:34 GMT
The illustration of the Zombie in House Of Hell.
(And also the illustration of the Werewolf in Way Of The Tiger: Usurper!)
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Post by petch on Mar 16, 2021 19:55:50 GMT
- The fields of the Black Lotus in The Shamutanti Hills. For all of the monstrous denizens of Titan that were created, it's odd that something as mundane and innocuous as a flower would have affected me most. But I think it is precisely because that it was something so everyday that was portrayed as such a lethal killer that filled me with dread It's not FF, but there was an ending in one of the Plot Your Own Horror Story gamebooks that haunted me for a long while because it was on the edge of 'this could actually happen in real life'. It involved getting caught up in a department store's automated packaging set-up, so the machines neatly wrap you in padding that almost suffocates you, and then put you into a crate and nail it shut. And just to make it that little bit worse, you get stored head downwards. I've never heard of that series before, but it sounds brilliant. Like a gamebook version of one of those horrific 70s public information films that warned kids not to piss about on farms / building sites (or in this case, a department store) or they'd die in one of various hideous ways.
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Post by a moderator on Mar 16, 2021 20:33:34 GMT
It's not FF, but there was an ending in one of the Plot Your Own Horror Story gamebooks that haunted me for a long while because it was on the edge of 'this could actually happen in real life'. It involved getting caught up in a department store's automated packaging set-up, so the machines neatly wrap you in padding that almost suffocates you, and then put you into a crate and nail it shut. And just to make it that little bit worse, you get stored head downwards. I've never heard of that series before, but it sounds brilliant. Like a gamebook version of one of those horrific 70s public information films that warned kids not to piss about on farms / building sites (or in this case, a department store) or they'd die in one of various hideous ways. Most of the other endings in the book ranged from implausible to outright fantasy. Some were still pretty nasty (the explicit mention of the Ogre's teeth puncturing your stomach as it bites into you, being crushed when the enlarged toy in which you've been placed reverts to its proper size, getting coated with hot coffee-ground-sludge that hardens and turns you into a statue...), but they just didn't have the same impact because I knew it was impossible for me to ever really experience them.
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sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,679
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
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Post by sylas on Mar 16, 2021 20:34:31 GMT
My first FF book was House of Hell. I was too young to be reading it but I only got a few sections in before I got too scared. The artwork didn't help either. I quickly put the book away and didn't touch FF again until a few years later. At the time, I didn't even know it was a huge series. I think I didn't have an interest in gamebooks really until I saw others reading them. The first one I completed was Forest of Doom followed by City of Thieves and Citadel of Chaos. The fantasy element was more my thing and I've never stopped reading them since. But if House of Hell wasn't my first encounter with FF, I think my addiction to FF would have been much earlier.
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Post by Peter on Mar 18, 2021 6:23:32 GMT
Definitely the cage thing (was it House of Hell?). You are captured and given the option of being put in a small cage or a tall one. I chose one of them and it described how you couldn't move, agonising cramps set in, and you eventually starved. "How horrible," I thought, "what does the other one say?" Pretty much the same thing, I found.
I think that, because I read it twice, the image stuck in my mind, and I recall dwelling on it and visualising it afterwards. And of course I would recall it every time I got cramp myself.
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Post by bloodbeasthandler on Mar 18, 2021 19:03:58 GMT
Definitely the cage thing (was it House of Hell?). You are captured and given the option of being put in a small cage or a tall one. I chose one of them and it described how you couldn't move, agonising cramps set in, and you eventually starved. "How horrible," I thought, "what does the other one say?" Pretty much the same thing, I found. I think that, because I read it twice, the image stuck in my mind, and I recall dwelling on it and visualising it afterwards. And of course I would recall it every time I got cramp myself. Yeah it was House of Hell - it's when you cannot convince the torturer that you are one of the Master's friends, he gives you those two options. Typical SJ - choose what you like, there's no escape from a horrible fate. It happens elsewhere in the book - the route where Rafferty betrays you, or the ghoul in the kitchen.
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Post by Law on Mar 21, 2021 17:33:40 GMT
Steve's nightmarish, no-win scenarios without a doubt. The first one I ever fell afoul of was in Creature of Havoc and it scarred me for life!
The Dark Elf Death Squad. It played out perfectly for me; all throughout my childhood I had a misplaced hierarchy of ancient weapons in my autistic mindset.
Swords (long blade = more damage = bestest weapon evar fit only for HE MEN!)
Bows and Arrows? (tiny blades = weak to no damage = sling shots for losers!)
So when: "the second arrow rips into your forearm with such force it comes out of the other side and clatters off the wall behind" this was my reaction.
The first time I was confronted with the reality of physics in combat regarding any media I'd read. Likely because of my diet of sanitized Saturday morning cartoon action!
So, median nerve perforated, but you are the biggest, baddest monster in this dungeon, right?! This top-knot is toast! My instincts can't lead me wrong, CHAAAARGE!
Lose 3 Stamina from a mere gut shot?! I'm a tank! I'm safe! So what if my PC is crying from agony?! Steve wouldn't make me adjust my adventure sheet and kill me off in the same paragraph!
Four sentences later...
"his shaft has pierced your eye and lodged in your brain."
SKULL-F***ED TO DEATH! For someone who wasn't desensitized to violence as I was then, this was like reading the Red Wedding!
Finger-bookmarking will save me though! Tactical withdrawal time!
...Only to be met by a merry hunting party who turn your aorta into a pincushion.
The true horror was not the gore but knowing that sometimes, there is no way out, no trick, or pithy comeback that will deliver you from the Reaper's Scythe.
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Post by hynreck on Mar 24, 2021 17:29:17 GMT
Good ones.
I've never been traumatized, per se, but there were a few ones that shocked, repulse, and made me want to keep away. I'm mostly talking about illustrations, here, some of which have been mentioned by some of you, like the ghoul in the kitchen or the zombie behind the curtain in House of Hell. Great traumatizer, that book.
Most of mine are from the early books, when I was young and more easily impressed. Lots from The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, my first FF, making me dread to meet the Ghoul or those empty eyes zombies staring at the ceiling. Another thing I dreaded in that book, which for a change wasn't an illustration, was getting lost in the Maze of Zagor. I would almost always end up completely lost. Only a few times did I get out of it without feeling like I was going insane. Or cheating, somehow.
Other honorable mentions: Kharé, Cityport of Traps, the illustration of the Living Corpse that attacks you while being in pieces, which I always found nauseating; Deathtrap Dungeon, not really ever looking forward plunging my hand in a hole filled with giant maggots or going through a room full of giant insects (yes, I am also slightly insectophobe); and for something more recent, some of the drawings by the late Martin McKenna, like the Necrotic Jelly, I think it's called?, but I can't remember which book exactly. I believe it's Vault of the Vampire or its sequel.
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Post by The Count on Mar 24, 2021 20:18:10 GMT
some of the drawings by the late Martin McKenna, like the Necrotic Jelly, I think it's called?, but I can't remember which book exactly. I believe it's Vault of the Vampire or its sequel. This was in Vault - quite grotesque but as it came later in the series, and followed on from the (inferior) illustration of the baddie from Beneath Nightmare Castle, it doesn't seem that bad.
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Post by hynreck on Mar 24, 2021 21:34:42 GMT
Hmm hmm. I was trying to think of stuff in FF that I discovered recently (a few years back) and found gross as a adult, for contrast, and that was the first thing that popped in my mind. It's just gross, not frightening, but I could imagine my younger self being more troubled by such a drawing.
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Post by Law on Mar 26, 2021 13:04:00 GMT
More Creature of Havoc.
The Blood Orc aboard the Galleykeep, behind the crowned door, wearing the red silk cloak of +1 Starvation / Unending Hunger.
Just the creepy set-up seems to be Steve putting a spin on the ending of 73's 'Don't Look Now'.
Once again, no matter what you do, once you step over that threshold you're better off being killed in combat. But there's barely any chance of that happening so suffer you will, slowly, until you take your last breath.
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Post by Charles X. on Jul 22, 2021 20:33:31 GMT
That weird Arbdul Madarbul thing or whatever it is in Sorcery!. I was pretty sure it was a trap but wasn't - couldn't be - prepared for the long, heavily cruel description of your death, should you choose to say the words. The whole thing reads like crap. Who are these people chanting? Who is this person who if you say his name leads to a Lord Valdemort style death? We're never told a thing. It kind of reminds me of those abrupt, out-of-the-blue death references in CYOA, only loads darker.
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Post by bloodbeasthandler on Jul 22, 2021 22:22:03 GMT
That weird Arbdul Madarbul thing or whatever it is in Sorcery!. I was pretty sure it was a trap but wasn't - couldn't be - prepared for the long, heavily cruel description of your death, should you choose to say the words. The whole thing reads like crap. Who are these people chanting? Who is this person who if you say his name leads to a Lord Valdemort style death? We're never told a thing. It kind of reminds me of those abrupt, out-of-the-blue death references in CYOA, only loads darker. You are cursing and renouncing your own patron Goddess. Arbil Madarbil = Libra dam[n] Libra backwards, yes? see ref 166 and 297 of Seven Serpents.
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Post by philsadler on Jul 23, 2021 16:54:15 GMT
I never knew that even after all these years. Jackson can still amaze me.
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Post by jmisbest on Jul 28, 2021 12:40:33 GMT
My childhood trauma is very unusual but here goes, I know that you likely don't believe after all it I'm the 1 it happened to and I find it hard to believe and believe it or not all these things actually happened on the anniversary of several other deaths
The day my 2nd pet, A Budgie, died was the 1st anniversary of when my mothers mother died, that was the 2nd anniversary of the day that my mothers father with the illness that claimed him 15 months later, it was also the 3rd anniversary of the death of 1 of the best friends I had ever had and it was also the 11th anniversary of when my 1st pet, A Goldfish, died
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Post by a moderator on Jul 28, 2021 13:54:21 GMT
And what has any of that got to do with FF? Or gamebooks in general?
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Post by stevendoig on Jul 28, 2021 17:43:50 GMT
There was a scary fish in khare to be fair.
He said 'bwethers'
But what could it mean?
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Post by bloodbeasthandler on Jul 28, 2021 18:00:53 GMT
There was a scary fish in khare to be fair. He said 'bwethers' But what could it mean? Yeah, I thought it was a bit scary at the time, too. I thought it was saying 'brothers'... but I'm not brothers with him! Why that perturbed me, I'm not sure. For those who don't know what it was saying, I think wilf cracked it elsewhere on these boards: "bwrthhrs". Only Connect fans might spot this one: "Beware The Horse" without the vowels.
There's a stallion up the road from the pond. Mounting it is a bad idea if you want to keep on the correct path with your stamina score intact.
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Post by Charles X. on Jul 28, 2021 19:28:58 GMT
COH is full of instant deaths, often unavoidable, which SJ seems to enjoy describing at length. The whole book is a horror masterpiece, with the misleading signs, long introduction, and do-or-die dice rolls (which are moderately challenging, unlike either COTS or FOD). I read Eye Of The Dragon as an adult and while the deaths are often predictable, in a weird way, they are harder because you know that's what's going to happen? I'm not a fan of EOTD but if you like old-fashioned dungeon crawls you might enjoy it. You can drink poison even though you can smell something off before you pick it up. You can read a sign which says "Go back or face certain death!" and if you carry on, your innocent Dwarf companion jokes about it before the two of you land on some spikes.
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Post by pip on Jul 29, 2021 17:55:24 GMT
As a kid, I remember feeling uneasy while reading Dead of Night (a great, but dark gamebook). At some point, the player can witness a woman being killed by a demon, and the book goes on to describe how the demon slashes the woman's throat, then she tries to speak but can only produce gargles as blood spurts out. It's a great book but I was probably slightly too young to read it at the time.
I've also always found the "Sorcery!" illustrations to be creepy in general, which is one reason I didn't like these books much as a kid.
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Post by bloodbeasthandler on Jul 29, 2021 18:44:38 GMT
I've also always found the "Sorcery!" illustrations to be creepy in general, which is one reason I didn't like these books much as a kid. Go on then, Pip. What were the scariest ones for you?
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Post by CharlesX on Sept 24, 2021 20:23:11 GMT
One of the most affecting instant deaths for me is the terse one-line-or-so instant death in Masks Of Mayhem, possible right from the first decision or something like that. It sets the tone for the ridiculous difficulty and tough atmosphere of the gamebook.
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