Gamebooks (Choose Your Own Adventure Style)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

You Say Which Way:  Creepy House Alternate Endings Part 1


Let's "Run Home!" in CHOICE #6 instead of going towards the mirror like a horror movie character.


"Let's go, Ghost', you yell.  You streak past the mirror.


As you pass, the reflection scowls and tries to grab you.  You swerve and rush out the door.  Shining your flashlight down the stairs, you take them two at a time.  Ghost bounds along ahead of you.  Downstairs, the front door is closing.  You reach it and slip through just before it shuts with a bang.  Without looking back, you launch yourself off the porch and race to the gate.


As you pass through the garden every shadow seems monstrous and threatening, but in seconds you are wrenching the gate open and you're safely on the sidewalk.  Your heart pounds.  Ghost wraps herself around your legs and you bend down to pick her up.


You go back to your house and up to your room.  You walk over to the window to shut it securely.  Looking out, you can see the other bedroom.  You catch sight of your reflection as you bend down and click the safety lock on your window.


The reflection is doing everything you did, so for a second you think you imagined it.  Then, as you stare, the reflection waves.  It isn't a friendly wave.  You draw the curtains and get onto your bed.  Would anyone believe you if you told them?  You doubt it.


THE END (or one of them)".


Our first Good Ending has me barely escaping from the house with Ghost before the mirror demon traps us permanently.


Results So Far


1 Good Endings

0 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Ending

0 Neutral Endings

0 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

You Say Which Way:  Creepy House Alternate Endings Part 2


For this ending, I'll go back home in CHOICE #5 after Harkness Keptic leaves.


When I try to go back home, it seems that the Creepy House and my house are now reversed.  "The neat grass you left a few minutes ago is wild and overgrown.  There is a pile of newspapers on the front porch.  The house looks like it's been empty for years.  It looks like the creepy house. . ."


"When you glance at the creepy house next door, you do a double take.  It looks perfect!  Its fence is straight and painted, the garden is manicured and flowers bloom in neat beds down the side of the path."  Ghost happens to be on the porch of this house.


CHOICE #7 is to either go to the new Creepy House (i.e. my own), or visit the nice house that occupies the location of the old Creepy House.


Attempting to go to the location of my house was not the answer, it seems.  The front door is locked, and the back door is boarded up.  The realtor who sold the house to my parents says "Hey, kid.  What are you doing here?  This is private property".  Later on, he says "Nobody has lived here for years.  Get out of here".  He then threatens to call the police or child protective services.


Trying to leave the general area of the house resets the illusion.  I go back to the house where Ghost is, and that illusion is dispelled temporarily. 


CHOICE #8 is to go back into the Creepy House, or "chicken out".  Chickening out sends me back to CHOICE #7, so let's go inside.


My character's new plan is to get to the tree so I can hopefully crawl back through my window at home to avoid any more illusions and traps.  CHOICE #9 is to either take the door to the left because I suspect the stairs are a trick, or go for the stairs.


The stairs creak as they do in every haunted house, and some of the rotten wood breaks.  I look with my flashlight below and see a flooded basement.  (This must be where the alligators hang out).  I see an old mirror with the evil reflection, but decide to ignore it and press on.


Ghost and I reach the tree and start crawling.  "Swinging an ax, at the bottom of the tree, is the realtor".  Yes, the realtor really is evil!  But his plans don't last for long:


"With the sound of cracking branches and twigs, a massive branch lowers itself to the ground and grabs the man in  a giant wooden hand.  There is a scream as his ax falls to the ground.


Meanwhile, you are lifted to your bedroom window and gratefully scrabble inside.  From the safety of your room you watch the tree deposit the realtor in the room you've just left.  He shakes his fist defiantly at you then turns to leave.  But the tree pushes the man towards the mirror instead.


You brace yourself, ready to hear shattering glass as the man nears the mirror, but it doesn't happen.  The realtor is absorbed into the mirror, and his reflection can be seen banging against the inside of the glass.  After a moment, his image begins to fade, and soon all you can see is yourself leaning out of your bedroom window.


'Phew, that was a close call, Ghost'.


Ghost rubs herself round your legs purring and meowing.  You pick her up and turn back toward the tree.  'Thank you', you say.  The only reply is a thud of the window shutting in the old house.  It's going to be interesting living here.  THE END".


No (or one of them) caveat after this Good Ending?  And it's 100% of the way into the book?  This must be the best route, at least according to D.M. Potter and Blair Polly.  A friendly tree saves me and shoves a realtor into a cursed mirror.



Results So Far


2 Good Endings

0 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Ending

0 Neutral Endings

0 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

You Say Which Way:  Creepy House Alternate Endings Part 3


My next path may be one of the weirdest in this thread's history, except for possibly the retroactive decisions in the dodo story.


Opening the door in CHOICE #9 takes me to the Creepy House library.  The shelves start moving, and block the door.  I see a note saying:  "WATCH OUT FOR MOVING BOOK SHELVES.  IF TRAPPED, READ YOURSELF FREE."


CHOICE #10 is simply a list of books:


-Trapped in a Library

-Trapdoor to Alligator Holding Tank

-Get Tall and Slim Instantly

-Dinosaur Canyon

-Deadline Delivery

-Dragons Realm

-Creepy House


Yes, the last 4 are You Say Which Way books, 3 of which I've covered in this topic!  Clicking those links can teleport you to the world of Dinosaur Canyon, Deadline Delivery, or Dragons Realm.  Selecting Creepy House boots you back to the beginning.  



My character wants to get fit, so let's pick Get Tall and Slim Instantly!


"You've always wanted to be taller.  You pull the book from the shelf.  Perhaps this will be a bit like Alice in Wonderland.  It isn't.


As the book comes free, the ceiling starts to go upwards.  The walls start to close in.  Closer, closer, closer.  You get it now.  You'll be taller and much, much slimmer.  Also a bit dead.  You should have picked another book".


No "THE END" for this scenario.  Just "Your only hope is that this is a You Say Which Way and you can choose again".


Results So Far


2 Good Endings

1 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Ending

0 Neutral Endings

0 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

You Say Which Way:  Creepy House Alternate Endings Part 4


In our next game of Library Russian Roulette, I'll pick "Trapped in a Library".


"The shelves begin to move as you pull the book out.  When you see the door appear, you grab the handle and leap back into the hallway.  Ghost jumps silently after you and you slam the door.  Then you remember the note.  Now it's too late.  You left it back on the desk.  You should have written a warning for the next person.


Well, you know how to get out now.  Smugly, you open the door and head towards the desk.  Just like before, the shelves slide over the door.  When you pick up the note, you realize your mistake. 

NEVER GO BACK INTO A HAUNTED ROOM.  DON'T YOU KNOW THE SAME STRATEGY WON'T WORK TWICE?  HOPE YOU FIND THE DOOR BEFORE YOU FIND THE ALLIGATOR PIT!


You walk over to the shelf where you found the book that let you out before.  But these aren't the same books!  In fact the books aren't even written in English!  You're going to have to pick randomly.  Your hand hovers over the place where you got the right book last time.  You hold your breath as you pull it from the shelf. . .THE END".


The epilogue text implies that I died, but this is an Inconclusive Ending if ever I saw one.  I like to think my character picked up La Isla de los Dodos.  The 2nd set of books weren't in English, after all!


"There wasn't a logical reason to explore this room and you weren't getting out alive".  But you can by taking one of the YSWW books!


Results So Far


2 Good Endings

1 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Ending

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

You Say Which Way:  Creepy House Alternate Endings Part 5


The promised alligator library ending is rather short. 


"As you pull the book from the shelf, the floor beneath you gives way and you slide down into waist-deep water.  There seem to be a lot of logs in the water. 


Oh, wait a minute.  They aren't logs, they're aligaaaaaaaators!  Silly you."


I'm not sure I got the exact number of "a"s right in the final "alligators", but the authors forgot to put in the second "l".    


Results So Far


2 Good Endings

2 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Ending

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

You Say Which Way:  Creepy House Alternate Endings Part 6


Let's check for the few paths I haven't tried yet.  Going back to the "spooky old 'new' house" leads to CHOICE #9.  Selecting the stairs option in CHOICE #4 has the same effect as doing so in CHOICE #5.  Choosing to turn back in CHOICE #3 leads to CHOICE #7, and doing that in CHOICE #2 has identical results.  If you're playing CYOAs at home, be sure to keep a document in your word processor to keep track of this stuff.


This is a short CYOA, without all that many branching paths.  Unless you count the library section that can take you to other You Say Which Way books.


Only place left is in CHOICE #1, if I opt to stay and wait for Ghost to come home. 


I still hear a tapping noise on the window, and Ghost hasn't returned.  A light from outside makes odd shadows, and CHOICE #11 is to either stay in bed like a chicken, or try to switch on the light.


Staying in bed is a correct choice, if it has unusual results.  I feel fur in my bed, but it comes from a much larger animal than a housecat.  The animal growls, and Ghost successfully makes it calm down.  Both creatures purr.


"Too scared to contemplate moving out of the bed, you fall into an exhausted sleep.  In the early morning you wake just in time to see the back of an enormous cat bounding out of your window.  When you go downstairs for breakfast, the TV is on in the kitchen.


'Shh!'  your family says when you start telling them about your night.  'Look at this'.  The reporter on the morning news show is telling everyone to watch out because a tiger has escaped from a local wildlife park.  'Keep your kids safe inside their rooms', the reporter is saying.


There's a knock at the door, and Mr. Closeur, the realtor who sold the house, comes in.  'Oh great, you've heard the news', he says.  Then Ghost walks in and lets out a friendly meow.


'Better keep the cat in again today, she'd never survive a meeting with a tiger', Mr. Closeur says.  You stroke Ghost.  She might look like she wouldn't survive a meeting with a tiger, but you know different".


A Good Ending without THE END.  Ghost is much more than she seems if she can convince a tiger to leave without eating me.  And is the pun realtor Mr. Closeur different in this timeline?  Is he trapped in the mirror in the one with the helpful haunted tree?


Results So Far


3 Good Endings

2 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Ending

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

You Say Which Way:  Creepy House Finale


Turning on the light in CHOICE #11 gives us our last ending from an unsympathetic newspaper:


"Local Family Eaten By Wild Animal


A local family were eaten alive in their home on Saturday night.  The police said that the murderous rampage started when one of them stupidly decided to turn on their bedroom light to find out what was under their bed.


'Everyone knows you don't do that', investigating Detective, Kahn Ivor, said.  'You stay in bed and hope the boogie man moves on'.


Wildlife expert Terri Trimmings was stalking the tiger after it escaped from a local secret laboratory.  'Some kid left their window open and the tiger has just slunk in there to hide.  It would have been frightened and tired and disorientated.  Oh, and drug-crazed too.  It would have wanted a safe place to sleep off the injection we gave it and then head for the hills.  Instead we got carnage and now people will want to put the animal down.  The tiger is the real victim in all this'.


Local realtor Mr. Ford Closeur said he didn't think the accident would affect property prices on the street.  'If anything, it's put our neighborhood on the map'.  He is handling the sale of the house and says the blood stains will easily come out of the carpet.  Mr. Closeur is new to the area himself after them mysterious disappearance of four realtors in the past two years.  'They probably found themselves a bargain or two and retired.  Being a realtor is an exciting job'.


A memorial service for the family is likely to be canceled as they were new to the neighborhood and nobody knew them that well.  'They didn't even come over and introduce themselves before they got killed', said local resident Ima Prodnoser.  'Not great manners".


This newspaper is obsessed with house prizes and has a disdain for outsiders moving in.  Is it the Daily Mail in disguise?  Whatever faults this book may have, I'll have to say I love this ending.


Final Results


3 Good Endings

3 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Ending

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Herman Gigglethorpe's Gamebook Scoreboard


Time Machine 6:  The Rings of Saturn


-NO SCORE.  The only ending is victory, so failure is a minor setback at worst.



You Say Which Way:  Deadline Delivery


-GOOD ENDING.  I saved the under-city from the slave trading Piranha gang by crashing the Rusty Rhino into a concrete column before they could destroy Big Pig's Wall.  I'm still a Deadline Delivery courier, but I have enough money to buy almost-new shoes and dinner, and I don't have to pay Big Pig's toll.



La Prisión:  Elige Tu Propia Aventura


-GOOD ENDING (possibly the best).  I got ingredients for Félix so he can send a message rocket to his friends outside of prison.  ARTUS's conspiracy is unraveled, and both of us are set free.  It's implied that we retire to a tropical island by finding Félix's gold stash.



Isla de los Dodos


-BAD ENDING.  Vijay tricked me into going to a house full of Mauritius mobsters who bound and gagged me.  My final fate is unclear, but the line about being a "pawn in a game of mafia chess" isn't promising.



You Say Which Way:  Dragons Realm


-GOOD ENDING.  I become a dragon rider.  Not that such a feat is hard to accomplish in this book, where most of the endings are in your favor.  Anyone playing this book should get points for finding a Death instead.


You Say Which Way:  Creepy House


-BAD ENDING.  I touch the cursed mirror and am trapped inside, while the demon steals my identity.  Only Ghost the cat can tell the difference.  (Then again, I wasn't trying for a Good Ending this time.)


My next CYOA will be another bizarre Spanish offering.  This one is called 22 Minutos:  Tibicenas, and it has several gimmicks that set it apart.  The "22 Minutes" in the title indicate the length of time that passes in routes where I don't die, and each CHOICE represents 1 minute.  "And later, continue to the page ACHIEVEMENTS to see the achievements you could unlock."

[RFS-81]

NEVER GO BACK INTO A HAUNTED ROOM.  DON'T YOU KNOW THE SAME STRATEGY WON'T WORK TWICE?  HOPE YOU FIND THE DOOR BEFORE YOU FIND THE ALLIGATOR PIT!

The books are becoming self-aware, God help us!

The epilogue text implies that I died, but this is an Inconclusive Ending if ever I saw one.  I like to think my character picked up La Isla de los Dodos.  The 2nd set of books weren't in English, after all!

Probably some sanity-destroying eldritch tome, so La Isla de los Dodos fits the bill!

My next CYOA will be another bizarre Spanish offering. This one is called 22 Minutos: Tibicenas, and it has several gimmicks that set it apart. The "22 Minutes" in the title indicate the length of time that passes in routes where I don't die, and each CHOICE represents 1 minute. "And later, continue to the page ACHIEVEMENTS to see the achievements you could unlock."

Interesting. Was this written after achievements became a thing in video games?

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Interesting. Was this written after achievements became a thing in video games?

According to Goodreads, 22 Minutos:  Tibicenas came out in 2018.  So yes, it definitely took cues from modern video games.  The rise of ebooks was so influential to Spanish language writers that they adopted the label "Generación Kindle".


Most of the gamebooks I've reviewed here have been published within the last decade.  The only one so far from the original boom in the 1980s-1990s has been Time Machine 6:  The Rings of Saturn.


I do like the remark about La Isla de los Dodos being a "sanity-destroying eldritch tome".  Chances are the Creepy House protagonist takes the path where you meet Bandula, only to be directed to a non-existent "Option 40".