<!--
	Title: (SOFTWARE GALLERY) The Lurking Horror
	Author: John Ryan
	Source: Run, v5(9)
	Date: September 1988
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

<div style="color: #004488; font-weight: bold; padding: 0.25em; float: right; font-size: 2em;">A</div>

<blockquote style="margin: 1em inherit; font-size: 1.25em; font-style: italic;">Do Not Attempt To<br>
Adjust Your Monitor</blockquote>

The Great Dome of G.U.E. Tech loomed above me, nothing more than
an eerie shadow against the midnight sky. It was difficult to make out the
details of the structure, especially with the blizzard threatening to toss me off
the ladder leading up to the dome. As I tenaciously moved from rung to
rung, I knew I could freeze to death rationalizing why I shouldn't explore
the edifice. But as I entered the warmth of the dome, I realized that I
had made a terrible mistake. No sooner had I stumbled into the center
of the dome when a growl pierced the night. There was something crawling
up the ladder! Pulling out my knife, I whirled to face the hideous thing that
came flapping out of the night. I did not like my chances...

No, this is not an excerpt from a horror novel—just one of my own experiences
while playing The Lurking Horror. The atmosphere generated by
this superb adventure forces the player to reflect upon his or her innermost
fears—those dark and intangible images from childhood: the shadow in
the half-closed closet, or the skeleton we thought was clicking silently beneath
the bed. The chances are that most of us have varying thresholds of
terror. Whatever it is that alarms, unnerves, dismays, startles, or turns
blood into ice water can be experienced in this boundless romp into the
unknown.

Welcome to G.U.E. Tech. As a young freshman at this ivy League haven for
future mechanical and aerospace engineers, chemists and computer scientists,
you have braved a raging blizzard to get to the campus computer
center. Finishing an overdue term paper was foremost on your mind, but
this night will find yon drawn into a web of murder, mayhem and monsters.

Several students have recently vanished. Moreover, eerie tales of dank corridors
beneath the ancient halls of G.U.E. only enhance your inexplicable
urge to exploit them. And what to make of this strange, rune-encrusted stone
suddenly in your possession? How can the computer nerd, Hacker, help you?
What about that very strange professor? And is that beast in the basement a university
mascot or a demon?

While these are only a smattering of the hundreds of questions that will
undoubtedly pop up, be prepared to spend several long nights attempting to
find the answers. Lurking Horror appears easy at first, as several clues seem
to fall into your lap, but don't let this fool you.

Lurking Horror is interactive fiction, so you affect how the story will end, and
must choose your own path to get there. It's like living a book, where you enact
the drama instead of reading it.

The story's parser is limited to a vocabulary of about 600 words, which is
rather small as modern adventures go. But I found this of little consequence,
and only rarely ran across entries that the program couldn't understand.

Having booted up dozens of adventure games over the years, it's refreshing
to find one that compels me to return to the keyboard. Lurking Horror is certainly
not the most sophisticated or intricate adventure you'll run across, but
it's well worth the time and money. Lurking Horror is good, scary fun for
the whole family. *(Infocom, Inc., 125 Cambridgepark Drive, Cambridge, MA 02140.
C-64/$34.95.)*

<p class="bold right" style="font-variant: small-caps;">—John Ryan<br>Biloxi, MS</p>
