Post by a moderator on Jun 2, 2023 16:01:55 GMT
I'm slightly surprised to find that this two-book series hasn't yet got its own thread.
Written by Ian & Clive Bailey, this mini-series was about as Lovecraftian in tone as gamebooks get, with plenty of opportunities to go insane, as well as a variety of gruesome deaths at the appendages of hideous entities. While not Crypt of the Sorcerer-level in difficulty, they were pretty tough when played by the rules. I still remember the time I rolled up a character with maximum stats, who proceeded to die in the very first encounter owing to a couple of unfortunate rolls.
The first book, Where the Shadows Stalk, is set in a remote Welsh village, where a long-buried menace has been awakened. Set pieces include a dream sequence in which you confront the folkloric Wild Hunt (and, of course, dying or losing your mind in the dream has game-ending consequences in the waking world), exploration of a mine inhabited by various nasties, a nocturnal attack by zombies on the house where you're staying, and a struggle to rescue kidnapped villagers from the aliens responsible for all that is happening.
Towards the end of Stalk, you acquire a curious item which is then stolen, leading into the second book, Terrors Out of Time. This is a more wide-ranging adventure, taking in a museum in London, a mansion that has been taken over by various of the villain's minions, a flight in a plane with something lethal lurking on board, a brief sojourn on an airship, a hazardous interlude in the villain's castle, and a climax beneath an Egyptian pyramid. It includes one of the more bizarre deaths I've ever come across in gamebooks (hypnotised and drained of life by a table), and one of the more spectacular bad endings (hydrogen-filled airship plus out-of-control dragon equals epic fireball).
Across the two books there's only one instance of a left/right decision where choosing the wrong path guarantees failure. Apart from that, some courses of action are more likely to cause harm to you than others, but failure is more likely to be a consequence of the fall of the dice than a 'gotcha' decision.
Anyone else remember these?
Written by Ian & Clive Bailey, this mini-series was about as Lovecraftian in tone as gamebooks get, with plenty of opportunities to go insane, as well as a variety of gruesome deaths at the appendages of hideous entities. While not Crypt of the Sorcerer-level in difficulty, they were pretty tough when played by the rules. I still remember the time I rolled up a character with maximum stats, who proceeded to die in the very first encounter owing to a couple of unfortunate rolls.
The first book, Where the Shadows Stalk, is set in a remote Welsh village, where a long-buried menace has been awakened. Set pieces include a dream sequence in which you confront the folkloric Wild Hunt (and, of course, dying or losing your mind in the dream has game-ending consequences in the waking world), exploration of a mine inhabited by various nasties, a nocturnal attack by zombies on the house where you're staying, and a struggle to rescue kidnapped villagers from the aliens responsible for all that is happening.
Towards the end of Stalk, you acquire a curious item which is then stolen, leading into the second book, Terrors Out of Time. This is a more wide-ranging adventure, taking in a museum in London, a mansion that has been taken over by various of the villain's minions, a flight in a plane with something lethal lurking on board, a brief sojourn on an airship, a hazardous interlude in the villain's castle, and a climax beneath an Egyptian pyramid. It includes one of the more bizarre deaths I've ever come across in gamebooks (hypnotised and drained of life by a table), and one of the more spectacular bad endings (hydrogen-filled airship plus out-of-control dragon equals epic fireball).
Across the two books there's only one instance of a left/right decision where choosing the wrong path guarantees failure. Apart from that, some courses of action are more likely to cause harm to you than others, but failure is more likely to be a consequence of the fall of the dice than a 'gotcha' decision.
Anyone else remember these?