The Lurking Horror

The Lurking Horror is an interactive fiction game inspired by the horror writings of H.P. Lovecraft . You play as a student at G.U.E. Tech (a thinly veiled parody of MIT) trying to finish a term paper during a violent blizzard . After your computer file is mangled beyond repair—overwritten by files from the mysterious Department of Alchemy—you venture into the steam tunnels beneath the campus . As reality and nightmare blend, you encounter demons, zombies, a possessed floor waxer, and gelatinous tendrils. The game features Infocom's traditional text parser interface and is rated "Standard" in difficulty . The physical package includes a student ID card, a campus guide with maps, and a rubber centipede-like creature.

Amstrad CPC

Released in 1987 by Infocom . The CPC version was available only on disc—cassette owners miss the game entirely . The game supports 90% of critics on MobyGames, though this is based on limited reviews . The Amstrad Action reviewer noted the "old Infocom magic" keeps you glued to your computer as you solve devious puzzles, with chilling descriptions that maintain atmosphere very well . However, the reviewer also criticized the continual disc access on nearly every command and some parser inconsistencies—certain commands like "READ SIGNS" produce strange responses ("How do you do that with a signs?"), and synonyms are occasionally absent . The login code required to start the game is found on the plastic Student Identification Card supplied with the package, and the password is at the back of the Guide for Freshmen . A well-written but technically flawed port of this Lovecraftian classic.