Upon the Spooky House — 8 of 8

Chapter 5 - The Attic

Attic is a room. The description of the Attic is "The musty old attic where your husband lives. Well, ex-husband, if you have anything to say about it." Instead of smelling Attic, say "Smells really, really, [italic type]really[roman type] musty. Your evil ex doesn't like cleaning much." Instead of listening to Attic, say "Just the grating mouth noises of your awful husband can be heard."

[Is "mouth noise" a real term? Can I be considered to have invented that?]

Dracula is a man in the Attic. "There's the lout now, looking positively bored. He yawns, showing his awful fangs." The description of Dracula is "A worn-out, truly vile leftover-of-a-man, but that won't matter for long." Understand "ex" or "husband" or "your husband" or "your ex" or "fangs" or "lout" or "Vlad" or "Vlad Dracula" as Dracula.

Instead of doing something other than examining to Dracula:

say "'Hello, Vlad,' you say with a grimace. 'You're as good looking as ever.[paragraph break]'Vell, vell, vell, if it isn't my vife, Lucille,' sneers Dracula. 'I vas vondering vhen you'd come back.'[paragraph break]'Cut the chit-chat, Dracula,' you snap back. 'We both know you hypnotized me into having amnesia so I'd never formally divorce you. Preying on your wife to get out of alimony payments! What a low blow.'[paragraph break]Dracula leers at you. 'So? Vhat are you going to do about it? I could easily just hypnotize you again, my dear.'[paragraph break]'Ah, but you're forgetting just one thing' you reply with a smile, holding up the stake. 'This time, I'm not just after divorce.'";

end the story finally saying "Vampire jerky, anyone?".

[Those of you who are familiar with the original version of this game may remember that I had issues getting this sequence to work. Originally I had wanted the ending to trigger once the player reaches the Attic, but I forgot whatever Inform trickery lets you do that. For the improved re-release, I retooled it to be a little more interactive. The ending still isn't perfect; you get the same result with SMELL DRACULA or KISS DRACULA as other, more sensible actions like ATTACK DRACULA or ASK DRACULA ABOUT ALIMONY PAYMENTS. Speaking of, there's something I need to add elsewhere in the game.]

Rule for amusing a victorious player:

say "Have you tried...[line break]--asking Winston about the bat poop?[line break]--touching various things around the house?[line break]--listening to various things around the house?[line break]--smelling various things around the house?[line break]--listening to some very spooky music while playing the game? (note: spooky music not provided)[paragraph break]If you really want to stretch your Upon the Spooky House amusement, try checking out the source code! See the work of a genius text adventure crafter! Read his thoughts! Marinate in his knowledge! Find out secrets without having to play the game over again! Bundled with the game wherever the game is made available."

[And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed this very spooky house story!]