House of Hell
Encyclopedia
House of Hell is a single-player adventure gamebook written by Steve Jackson
, illustrated by Tim Sell and originally published in 1984 by Puffin Books
. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2002. It forms part of Steve Jackson
and Ian Livingstone
's Fighting Fantasy
series. It is the 10th in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-031831-3) and 7th in the modern Wizard series (ISBN 1-84046-417-8).
. It was made up of 185 references. The adventure was modified and expanded for the final book, but a few of the original references were removed.
The United States
version of the book, published by Dell Laurel-Leaf, was titled House of Hades as the word 'Hell' can be considered a profanity there.
The player's quest to escape the mansion is hampered by the presence of Satan-worshippers
and various demons, though not all are entirely hostile. Much of the gameplay involves searching a series of rooms, most of which bears an obscure religious or satanic titles, including the Shaitan room and the Mammon
room. If the reader is to be successful, he must recover a hellfire-forged kris
dagger and survive an encounter with the house's Master.
As the book is set on modern day Earth, the reader is unarmed at the start of the book and suffers a Skill penalty until he finds a weapon.
Along with the motion picture there will be an interactive version for Blu-ray and the internet, the official website for the movie is houseofhellmovie.com
Steve Jackson (UK)
Steve Jackson is a game designer, writer and game reviewer.-History:In early 1975, Steve Jackson co-founded the company Games Workshop with John Peake and Ian Livingstone....
, illustrated by Tim Sell and originally published in 1984 by Puffin Books
Puffin Books
Puffin Books is the children's imprint of British publishers Penguin Books. Since the 1960s it has been the largest publisher of children's books in the UK and much of the English-speaking world.-Early history:...
. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2002. It forms part of Steve Jackson
Steve Jackson (UK)
Steve Jackson is a game designer, writer and game reviewer.-History:In early 1975, Steve Jackson co-founded the company Games Workshop with John Peake and Ian Livingstone....
and Ian Livingstone
Ian Livingstone
Ian Livingstone OBE is an English fantasy author and entrepreneur. He is a co-writer of the first Fighting Fantasy gamebook, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, and co-founder of Games Workshop....
's Fighting Fantasy
Fighting Fantasy
Fighting Fantasy is a series of single-player fantasy roleplay gamebooks created by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. The first volumes in the series were published by Puffin in 1982, with the rights to the franchise eventually being purchased by Wizard Books in 2002...
series. It is the 10th in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-031831-3) and 7th in the modern Wizard series (ISBN 1-84046-417-8).
Creation
A short version of the adventure was first published in Warlock: The Fighting Fantasy MagazineWarlock (magazine)
Warlock was a British magazine published by Penguin Books and game manufacturer Games Workshop between 1983 and 1986. The primary focus of the magazine was fantasy, with emphasis on the Fighting Fantasy adventure gamebook series.-Publication history:...
. It was made up of 185 references. The adventure was modified and expanded for the final book, but a few of the original references were removed.
The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
version of the book, published by Dell Laurel-Leaf, was titled House of Hades as the word 'Hell' can be considered a profanity there.
Story
House of Hell is a horror themed book, and the only Fighting Fantasy book set on modern day Earth. The player's car breaks down during a rain storm, forcing the player to seek shelter in a nearby mansion. Though this is the only Fighting Fantasy book to employ this type of setting, books such as Beneath Nightmare Castle use the horror theme in the more common fantasy setting of Titan.The player's quest to escape the mansion is hampered by the presence of Satan-worshippers
Satanism
Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...
and various demons, though not all are entirely hostile. Much of the gameplay involves searching a series of rooms, most of which bears an obscure religious or satanic titles, including the Shaitan room and the Mammon
Mammon
Mammon is a term, derived from the Christian Bible, used to describe material wealth or greed, most often personified as a deity, and sometimes included in the seven princes of Hell.-Etymology:...
room. If the reader is to be successful, he must recover a hellfire-forged kris
Kris
The kris or keris is an asymmetrical dagger or sword nowadays most strongly associated with the culture of Indonesia, but also indigenous to Malaysia, Southern Thailand and Brunei. It is known as kalis in the southern Philippines. The kris is famous for its distinctive wavy blade , but many have...
dagger and survive an encounter with the house's Master.
Trivia
- One of the rooms in the upstairs hall of the house has a nameplate with the word ‘Balthus’ written upon it. This name is a direct reference to the main antagonist in the earlier Fighting Fantasy game book The Citadel of ChaosThe Citadel of ChaosThe Citadel of Chaos is a single-player adventure gamebook written by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, and illustrated by Russ Nicholson. Originally published by Puffin Books in 1983, the title is the second gamebook in the Fighting Fantasy series. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2002...
, also written by the same author; Steve Jackson. - When you sleep in the Erasmus Room and wake up after the hunchback entered to place a drink, there is a reference that takes you back to the time before the hunchback arrived. (book ref: #23 and #158)
- When you pass through the magical mirror portal in the Reception Room, on the ground floor, you can return via the portal to the same room. However, the text then incorrectly describes it as the Drawing Room instead. (book ref: #113, #160 and #349)
- When you're searching the cellar for secret doorways, there's a reference that describes you as spending 15 minutes searching the walls. The last word of the first sentence contains the spelling error 'hall' instead of 'wall', which doesn't make sense within the context of what you're doing (book ref: #276 and #253)
- The picture for game book ref #264, illustrating devil-worshippers performing a ceremonial sacrifice at an altar, appears and disappears in different print runs of the title. The illustration isn't included in the earliest 2002 or the latest June 2010 versions, but was added by the publisher and appears in at least one print run in-between.
- By and large, House of Hell follows the standard Fighting Fantasy system, with a twist. This comes in the form of the Maximum Fear attribute, which you determine in character generation by rolling one six-sided die and adding 6 to the result. As the game progresses, you accumulate Fear points when you encounter frightening things; if you hit your maximum, you literally die of fright. This mechanic is clearly inspired by the sanity mechanic in the Call of CthulhuCall of CthulhuCall of Cthulhu may refer to:* "The Call of Cthulhu", the original short story by H. P. Lovecraft* Call of Cthulhu , published by Chaosium* Call of Cthulhu Collectible Card Game, published by Fantasy Flight Games...
RPG, which is unsurprising because Games WorkshopGames WorkshopGames Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
printed and distributed a version of Call of Cthulhu to the UK market.
Rules
House of Hell uses a Fear score in addition to the usual scores. Every time the player encounters some particularly disturbing event, he must add between 1 and 3 Fear points to his total Fear score. Once the character reaches their maximum score, determined at the beginning of the game, he will quite literally die of fright.As the book is set on modern day Earth, the reader is unarmed at the start of the book and suffers a Skill penalty until he finds a weapon.
In other media
In 2010 Superteam Productions announced they are in Pre Production of a motion picture based on the book, the motion picture is co-written by Steve Jackson.Along with the motion picture there will be an interactive version for Blu-ray and the internet, the official website for the movie is houseofhellmovie.com
External links
- House of Hell on the official Fighting Fantasy website
- House of Hell on the Wizard Books website
- House of Hell the feature film and interactive movie website