Gamebooks (Choose Your Own Adventure Style)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The House on Hollow Hill Alternate Endings Part 6


Running away from ELIZABETH in CHOICE #8 may be successful.  She shouts "Don't go!", but it's no use.  We rush into the den after hearing a "strange gargling sound" and a "greenish light glowing underneath" the cellar door.  Turn to page 71.


All we hear inside the Den is our breathing and heartbeat.  Jake says "I am not okay", and the narration says "Frankly, he looks like he's seen a ghost".  But we already have!  Twice according to this timeline.  Emma's response is "Maybe we should leave.  We could just get out of here, and tell Mr. Goosen what we saw. . .'  As if she didn't notice old Mr. Goosen vanished too quickly to have walked away from us at the beginning!  Jake is still focused on the ULTIMATE ENDING:  "No way.  Nobody will believe us.  Besides, I came here for treasure.  I don't want to leave empty handed."  Turn to page 80.


The den is less foreboding than other rooms in Mr. Goosen's house.  It has "two brown leather couches", plenty of light from the windows, and bookshelves.  Emma is interested in a copy of The Old Man and the Sea, and says "I bet Mr. Arrieta would love to see a copy this old!"  But I warn her that we can only take one item each out of the house, so she puts it back.  Besides books, the shelves have porcelain eggs, Russian nesting dolls, and a "huge sheep horn, ribbed and shaped like the letter U".  Jake tells us to look at something, and it's off to page 81.


Evidently there's more than one ghost girl in this house.  She says "Hey wait.  I just want to play a game!  Don't you want to play a game?"  When Emma ask what kind she has in mind, the ghost says "A book game!  I'll give you a clue, and you have to guess what book it is!  You guys read, don't you?"


I may read a lot, but I don't know every book in existence.  But then there's CHOICE #10:  play the book game or "if you don't know much about books".


Den ghost girl asks what book begins with "Call me Ishmael".  CHOICE #11 is Moby Dick or Pride and Prejudice.  We're lucky she didn't give us a question about the first line of Typee or something.


When I answer Moby Dick, ghost girl asks me what Mark Twain's real name is.  Jake responds with "That is his real name" because he's the designated idiot.  Emma knows Mark Twain is a pen name, but says "Ugh, I just learned this!  It's on the tip of my tongue. . ."


CHOICE #11 is Samuel Beckett or Samuel Clemens.


"You and Jake high-five.  For once things seem to be going your way in this crazy, creepy house".  Wrong CYOA, narration!


The last question will be about a topic of my choice.  CHOICE #13 is either Fantasy, Science Fiction, or "something random".  Fantasy asks me to "Wave your wand over page 37".  Science Fiction is "Teleport to page 46".  The random option is "Read page 29".


Science fiction is probably my favorite novel genre, so I picked that.  The CHOICE #14 question is "Who is the author of the novel, Dune?"  The responses are Frank Herbert, Isaac Asimov, and Robert Heinlein.  It's been years since I've read Dune, but it's one of my favorite novels in the genre, so of course I know it's Frank Herbert!


When you pick Science Fiction, it's technically Jake who decides on it.  "Ask me about Star Wars.  I know more than anyone else in school!"  "Star Wars is a movie', Emma says, rolling her eyes.  'There are books too!"  That's correct, Jake.  One of my professors used to own many Star Wars expanded universe books.  And even if Jake had the movies in mind, there are always novelizations. 


Ghost girl tells us our prize is behind "the fires of Seuss".  Emma notices the only Dr. Seuss book on the shelves is The Cat in the Hat.  She picks it up and the fireplace moves, revealing a secret passage.  Go to page 138.


Our reward is an incunabule.


"The passageway is actually a stone staircase leading underground, away from the house.  It's dark, but a torch on the wall abruptly flares to life with fire.  The three of you look at one another.  That's the least crazy thing that's happened to you tonight.  You lead the way down the stairs, holding the torch ahead of you.  Shadows slide back and forth as the flame flickers.  The air grows cold and damp.


The staircase ends, opening into a small room.  There's a stone pedestal in the center of the floor, standing about waist-high.  There's something large resting on top.  You approach cautiously.  The object is square, and shining in a strange way.  You hold the torch over it but can't see much.  Emma gasps.  'That's a Gutenberg Bible!'


You can see she's right.  'What's that?' Jake asks.  'It's one of the most priceless items in the world', Emma says.  'Less than 50 exist!'  Rather than take it out yourselves-you're afraid to touch it-you send Jake back to get his parents.  Then it's a rush of authorities:  first police, then museum curators and historians.  The discovery makes national news, and you're all on TV.  You even receive an enormous prize, which you split among you.  Even Jake was happy, then.


All in all, it was quite the adventure.  Sometimes you wonder what else you might have found in that house, but you can't think of anything more valuable than the Gutenberg Bible.  'Maybe we'll find another haunted house to explore', you tell Emma one day.  She laughs.  'One is plenty'.  You laugh, nodding.  After everything you've been through, you're happy to say this is. . .THE END".



Finding a Gutenberg Bible doesn't qualify as an ULTIMATE ENDING?  These authors must have high standards when it comes to treasure.


This path relies more on outside knowledge than other CYOAs I've read.  My time spent reading and reviewing for Goodreads hasn't gone to waste.      (Most players would probably cheat and use Google though.)


EDIT:  I probably mentioned this earlier in the thread, but there are a few quiz spinoff books of the You Say Which Way series called The Sorcerer's Maze.  This segment made me think of The Sorcerer's Maze as I was playing it.


Results So Far


3 Good Endings

2 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

1 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The House on Hollow Hill Alternate Endings Part 7


Time to play with ghost girl's book quiz some more.  If I pick Fantasy, the question is "What's Harry Potter's middle name?"  The responses are John, James, and Jacob.  With some embarrassment I can say I actually know it's James without having to cheat.  I've read the books and poked fun at too many terrible fanfics to do anything else.  I even happen to be wearing a Gryffindor shirt.  (I wanted Slytherin, but they didn't have any of those.  Oh well, I can always take away Gryffindor's points away undercover. . .)


The "random" option also leads to a science fiction book.  "What is Ray Bradbury's most famous novel, about a fireman whose job is to burn books?'  Jake laughs out loud.  'Burn books?  Firemen are supposed to put out fires, not start them!'  The ghost girl gives him a blank look.  'Hopefully the two of you know more than he does', she tells you and Emma".  I like Jake.  He has more personality than most CYOA sidekicks.


And yes, I know it's Fahrenheit 451.  All correct solutions to the final quiz questions go to the Gutenberg Bible ending.  Failures sometimes go to different pages, so let's explore them.


Thinking Robert Heinlein wrote Dune, John is Harry Potter's middle name, or Slaughterhouse Five has a book-burning fireman leads to 76, then 133 and 60.  "Books begin flying off the shelves, shooting toward you like cannonballs".  The ghost girl will likely still be trapped here, because she was freed in the Good Ending.  Emma says "I wish I had paid more attention in Mr. Arrieta's class!"


We rush to the office.  It's as well-lit as the den, but it will be night soon.  The mahogany desk is "the kind that's really expensive and probably weighs more than a piano".  Some cardboard boxes are in a stack, and have probably gotten wet.  We see black-and-white family photos inside, as well as one of a man and his friends at a pool table.  Jake, always on the lookout for treasure, spots a safe.  Go to page 77.  (Quite a roundabout way from 76-77, no?)


The safe's on the other side of a hole in the floor, and the office may be above the piano room.  I go across a narrow walkway because Jake's scared of heights.  "I won't even go into my brother's tree house!"  The safe is glowing, but shuts by itself.  The windows are now closed.  Go to page 62.


CHOICE #17 is where I should have found some information from earlier in the book.  The options are to either input ELIZABETH's birthday and turn to the correct page, enter some other number and turn to that page, or go to 38 and mess with the dial. 


(The example given is if you think the birthday is March 10, you would turn to 310.  But the book is nowhere near that long.)


Twirling the dial randomly succeeds, but the door hits my knees and makes me fall into the hole in the floor.  Go to page 24.  Although the first paragraph on that page says "The last thing you see is. . ." like stock CYOA Death text, it isn't the end.  Yet.  My whole body hurts, including my eyes.  Cushions on the surface of the piano broke my fall. . .and the piano.  Jake thinks he saw "a. . .thing.  White and transparent" after I crashed into the piano.  I'll go back upstairs to page 54.


I see "a glowing yellow light" underneath a closet door under a staircase.  CHOICE #18 is to either open the closet and probably croak, or join my friends.


The closet has only fur coats with ELIZABETH's ghost inside.  She introduces herself as "Elizabeth" with normal capitalization this time.  She asks me if her birthday is January 21 or May 14.  The other CHOICE #19 option is to avoid playing games with her.  But the answer is apparent through my metagaming powers.  ELIZABETH's birthday is a page number according to the safe combination, and there is no page 514.  So January 21 it is.  


But my attempt to be clever ends poorly.  ELIZABETH says it's her sister's birthday (the den ghost?), not hers.  She thinks I don't care about her and hate her.  Now it's off to page 115 for my punishment.


"The girl begins to weep, a soft, pitiful sound.  'Aww, there there', you say, trying to sound comforting.  'I'd like to get to know you.  What is your birthday?'  She ignores you and the wailing increases.  You still can't see, but you feel the coats whipping around you violently.  'Mary, please!'


The closet feels like the inside of a tornado, zippers and fur slapping at your face.  You crouch down on the ground and cover your head and ears.  Soon you begin to scream, joining your voice to Mary's.  Your friends find you like that some time later.  'Dude, calm down', Jake says.  You open your eyes to the dim light of the hallway.  You scramble out of the closet and look back, but everything appears normal now.


'There was. . .I saw. . .it. . .'  'You are messed up', Jake says.  'Was it the ghost?'  'There's no ghost', Emma says.  'Yes!  It was the ghost of a little girl!'  Jake's eyes widen.  'See?  I told you, Emma?'


She looks skeptical, but with Jake and you convinced you hot-tail it out of there, out the front door and down the street.  Nobody will believe you at school, but Jake does, and for now that's all that matters.  Well, that, and the fact that this is now. . .THE END".


My punishment is. . .a Neutral Ending?  Mary/Elizabeth scares MIKE THOMPSON for a while and then everyone leaves.  (Someone didn't catch the ghost having the wrong name in the proofreading process. . .)


This ending gives me a clue.  121 could be a viable safe combination in CHOICE #17.  Details like this make me think you're only supposed to get the ULTIMATE ENDING after multiple playthroughs, instead of doing exceptionally well the 1st time, like my standard for a CANONICAL ENDING.


And why is Emma so "skeptical" about ghosts after meeting the book quiz ghost?  It would be like an atheist seeing gods personally and then continuing to disbelieve in their existence.



Results So Far


3 Good Endings

2 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

2 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The House on Hollow Hill Alternate Endings Part 8


I thought I had outsmarted the book when I entered 121 as the safe combination in CHOICE #17.  It sent me crashing into a piano just like picking a random number.  


So let's say May 14 is the birthday of the ghost girl in the fur coat closet in CHOICE #19.  She smiles at me and tries to hug me, but passes through because she's incorporeal.  "Oh well.  Maybe I'll hug you some other time.  See you in another life, buddy!"


Turn to page 109 to find out what's in the glowing box.  It's an ending.


"You bend down to slide the shoe box away from the wall, to get a better look before you do anything.  It's beige colored and has no markings on the outside.  The kind of box you'd find in your mom's closet.  Fearlessly, you pull the lid off the top.  A rectangular shape sits inside, about as long as a paperback book, but thinner.  It's like a three-dimensional trapezoid, with diagonal sides instead of vertical.


And it's gold.  Solid, glowing, gold.  You pick it up.  It's heavy, far heavier than you would expect of an object that size.  'Dude what are you-' Jake says as he comes down the stairs with Emma, but he cuts you off as you turn around with the gold in your hand.  'DUDE.'  'Ahh, the Bodyguard Bar', comes a voice from behind you.  'Mr. Goosen!' Emma exclaims.


His eyes are focused on the gold bar.  He steps forward and reaches for it, but then draws back his hand.  'President Eisenhower let me take a bar of gold out of Fort Knox.'  'Why would he let you do that?' Jake asks.  'It was the least he could do after I saved his life!' Mr. Goosen says.  'That was during my four years as a member of the Secret Service.  I was much quicker back then!'


You want to ask Mr. Goosen more, but it's getting late and he ushers you all outside, though he never actually touches you.  He disappears back inside and the three of you run home before it starts to rain. 


Your parents don't believe where you got the bar, though the serial number on the side checks out.  It's worth thousands of dollars!  It's a pretty good haul, and better than you expected when you went inside the House on Hollow Hill.  Unfortunately, that means it's now. . .THE END".



Why is there an "unfortunately" in this Good Ending?  Working for Ike must have been a plum position if he handed out gold bars to his Secret Service agents.  Most presidents aren't that generous.  (Or Mr. Goosen stole it, and this is his cover story. . .)


Results So Far


4 Good Endings

2 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

2 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The House on Hollow Hill Alternate Endings Part 9


When I don't want to "play games" with the May 14 ghost in CHOICE #19, I distract her long enough to get out of the closet by saying "Hey, is that Casper?"  Does this mean Casper the Friendly Ghost exists in this world, if this line worked?  Will I find Richie Rich's treasure in one of the endings?


I almost fall down on the stairs.  Emma is startled and says "Mike!  What are you--" before I drag her by the arm.  We go to a "random door" that isn't locked.  It's the master bedroom.  How closing the door behind us is supposed to keep out a ghost, I'm not sure, but then again the real me isn't panicking in a haunted house.  Turn to page 139.


We hear a howling sound like the wind, but eventually it dies down.  I tell her the ghost's name is Elizabeth, although the narration contradicts this sometimes.  CHOICE #20 is to either explore the closet, or go to the master bedroom.  (But aren't we already in the master bedroom?)


The closet has men's suits, dresses, and "tan-colored heels with sparkly straps".  Jake says "Nobody cares about shoes", to which Emma protests "I don't care either!  I'm just saying this stuff is expensive".


CHOICE #21 is suits or dresses.  The suits may have money in their pockets, though the dresses may have jewelry.  Searching the dresses results in this ending that takes up 148-149.


"You examine the rack of dresses.  Most of them are wrapped in protective plastic, like they just came back from the dry cleaner.  You feel weird looking at people's clothes, but hey, Mr. Goosen said he'd already taken everything he wanted out of the house.  The first dress is a faded pink color, with long sleeves and a wide waist.  The hem is woven with intricate lace.  It looks like something someone would wear in the 1920s.  The next dress is much newer.  It's bright blue with thousands of sparkling sequins all over the front, with padding built into the shoulders.


The third one is covered up inside an opaque bag, and is much larger than the others.  You pull the zipper down the side of the bag and take a look inside.  The dress is a light gold color, almost silver.  Ribbons are tied in bows in two columns down the front, with curtain-like lace strewn between them.  More bows are woven up around the bodice and neckline, and the sleeves are loose and just long enough to cover the shoulders.  'Whoa', Emma says, gently pulling the dress out of the bag.  She finds a tag near the hanger.  'Look at this symbol!'


'What does V.R. mean?' Jake asks.  The door flies open, and you all jump back with fright until you see that it's Mr. Goosen.  He has a big smile on his face.  'V.R. means Victoria Regina.' Jake has a confused look on his face.  'Regina?'  'Regina is the Latin word for queen', Emma says.  Then her eyes widen.  'That means this dress belonged to. . .'


'That's right:  Queen Victoria of England!  That was a gift to my wife a very long time ago.  It was her favorite dress.  Ahh, the balls we used to go to.'  Mr. Goosen geets a sad look on his face, but thin it disappears.  'You've made a wise choice for your prize.'


'What?  I don't want a dress!' Jake complains.  'Dude, Queen Victoria died a century ago', you say.  'That dress is probably priceless!'  'Quite so!' Mr. Goosen says.  'In fact, that's one of the most valuable items in the house!'


Emma carefully puts the dress back inside the protective cover.  Mr. Goosen leads you downstairs and outside, explaining that the best thing to do would be to contact several prominent museums-the Smithsonian, the National Gallery in London, and several others you've never heard of-and hold an auction so they can bid on the dress.  'Something that old, and in such good condition, will fetch a pretty penny!' he explains.  Even Jake seems awed by the thought.


It might be a while before you can hold such an auction, since museum curators from around the world will need to be gathered, but you decide it's a fantastic ending.  You take one final look back at The House on Hollow Hill and smile that you've reached. . .THE END".


It may be a "fantastic ending", but it's not an ULTIMATE ENDING.  This book was published in 2016, but MIKE THOMPSON says "Queen Victoria died a century ago".  He probably isn't saying that with exact precision.  But if he is being literal, that would set the book in 2001.  It would make sense for the plot, because cell phones are never mentioned, and 2001 would be before almost every American would be expected to have one.


Or maybe I'm reading too much into a Choose Your Own Adventure book.  But isn't that the point of this thread?



Results So Far


5 Good Endings

2 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

2 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

[RefSteel]

Still following along and enjoying these, and I felt like I had to comment on this:

I could make fun of Emma for assuming that they're dragon eggs, but she just saw a ghost. Why not believe in dragons at this point now that the materialist world view is kaput in this setting?

And why is Emma so "skeptical" about ghosts after meeting the book quiz ghost?  It would be like an atheist seeing gods personally and then continuing to disbelieve in their existence.

By these arguments, every time anyone sees a stage magic show where they can't figure out the tricks, and every time anyone sees a mirage or the equivalent without being familiar with the causes of the phenomenon, and every time anyone's memory conflates something they dreamed or saw on TV with a real experience, it would be appropriate for them to give up on "the materialistic world view" and start believing in everything from divining rods to the tooth fairy. If an atheist - or a person of any religion; no one believes in every god, and few in the modern world believe in more than one - were for any reason under the impression that they had just personally seen gods in which they did not believe, it would be much more rational for them to conclude that it was a false impression than to suddenly start believing in those gods.

Of course, we're not talking about the real world; we're talking about a Haunted House CYOA. Arguably eveyone in every book should be genre conscious, because the rules of their book's genre are the rules that govern the world in which they grew up and live their lives, but I'm not about to demand that every author of every fantasy story devise a full set of Laws of Magical Physics for their world and work out all the consequences on their society (even though it can be really fun to read a book where an author tries to do so!)

It is a bit weird that Emma seems to believe in dragon eggs in one time line but not in ghosts in another, so I'll invent a headcanon where she's normally skeptical but she's heard wild theories about dragons and they're super cool, and she wants to believe in them so much that she puts her inner skeptic aside when she thinks (or daydreams) about them.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

By these arguments, every time anyone sees a stage magic show where they can't figure out the tricks, and every time anyone sees a mirage or the equivalent without being familiar with the causes of the phenomenon, and every time anyone's memory conflates something they dreamed or saw on TV with a real experience, it would be appropriate for them to give up on "the materialistic world view" and start believing in everything from divining rods to the tooth fairy.  If an atheist - or a person of any religion; no one believes in every god, and few in the modern world believe in more than one - were for any reason under the impression that they had just personally seen gods in which they did not believe, it would be much more rational for them to conclude that it was a false impression than to suddenly start believing in those gods.

Of course, we're not talking about the real world; we're talking about a Haunted House CYOA.  Arguably eveyone in every book should be genre conscious, because the rules of their book's genre are the rules that govern the world in which they grew up and live their lives, but I'm not about to demand that every author of every fantasy story devise a full set of Laws of Magical Physics for their world and work out all the consequences on their society (even though it can be really fun to read a book where an author tries to do so!)

It is a bit weird that Emma seems to believe in dragon eggs in one time line but not in ghosts in another, so I'll invent a headcanon where she's normally skeptical but she's heard wild theories about dragons and they're super cool, and she wants to believe in them so much that she puts her inner skeptic aside when she thinks (or daydreams) about them.

This is a good post, RefSteel!  Emma disbelieving in ghosts in this setting could be more plausible if the authors elaborated on it more.  Maybe she could say they're hallucinating, but this explanation would fall short because the "hallucinations" are accurate regarding the treasure or puzzle solutions. 


Or perhaps some special effects behind the scenes by Mr. Goosen for your "magic trick" idea.  The Mexican telenovela Alegrijes y Rebujos did something like that with Don Darvelio's "haunted house" in the early episodes.  (Then they threw that out and made magic real anyway. . .)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The House on Hollow Hill Alternate Endings Part 10


Now that I've ransacked the dresses, it's time to return to CHOICE #21 and check the men's suits.


Some of them only have tissues or quarters.  My character reminds himself to return to the one with "fancy cufflinks".  But we're distracted by something heavy, solid, and square inside another suit.  MIKE THOMPSON has reservations about it:  "Are you sure we should reach inside?  What if it's. . .I don't know.  What if it's dangerous?"  Why chicken out right before getting the treasure unless it's supposed to be a clue?  CHOICE #22 is to either get the strange item, or "leave the closet", which has the same effect as going to the master bedroom in CHOICE #20 because the page number is the same.


"You don't know why you're so cautious, but you shake it off.  You take a deep breath, pull apart the suit jacket, and reach inside the breast pocket.  You feel a cold texture, and grab the object between two fingers as if it's radioactive before pulling it out.  'A wallet!' Jake says.  It's a faded piece of leather folded in half, thick with what must be paper bills.  On the outside of the leather is printed a coat of arms:  [ILLUSTRATION]


'Check to see if there's any money!'  You turn it sideways and open it, then carefully pull apart the sides of the bill holder. . .It's paper alright, but not paper money.  They appear to be notes, grocery lists written in ink, receipts from various restaurants.  You pull them out and toss them on the floor until the wallet is empty.  'Aww, man!' Jake says.


The door flies open, and you all jump back with fright until you see that it's Mr. Goosen.  He has a big smile on his face.  'Even if that wallet was filled with hundred dollar bills, it would hardly increase its value!'  Emma cocks her head.  'What do you mean?'  'I wouldn't mind a few hundred dollar bills in there. . .' Jake says.


Mr. Goosen says, 'You see, that wallet once belonged to a very important person.  A man with the title Prince of Wales.'  'Where's Wales?' Jake says.  'Is that even a country?'


'Wales is part of the United Kingdom', Emma says.  'The Prince of Wales is Prince Charles, the son of Queen Elizabeth!  He's the next in line for the throne!'  You stare down at the leather in your hand.  Suddenly it seems far heavier than before.


'Very good!' Mr. Goosen says.  'I served in the Royal Navy with Charles four decades ago.  He had no need of a wallet, seeing as he has servants and assistants following him around everywhere.  You don't need to carry money or a photo ID when you're one of the most famous people in England!'


Jake's mouth hangs open as he examines the wallet.  'But don't you want the wallet?'  Mr. Goosen purses his lips.  'Where I'm going, I won't have need of a wallet either.  Don't worry.  It's much better off with you three.'


He leads you out of the house-where you see no more ghosts, thankfully-and outside.  The wind is blowing the trees all around, but there's no rain now.  It's strangely calm.  A wallet from Prince Charles!  You're not sure whether to keep it, auction it off, or donate it to a museum.  But regardless of the future, you're pleased with the prize, and smile to have reached. . .THE END".


Prince Chuck's wallet?  MIKE THOMPSON could get some blackmail money from the British crown by threatening to sell the compromising information within to The Church of Our Lady Diana of Windsor.


And not knowing the significance of "Prince of Wales" is stupid even for Jake.  Just for once, can't we have a timeline where he's right about something?  Maybe the final Ultimate Ending test could be about arcane Star Wars trivia?


Results So Far


6 Good Endings

2 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

2 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The House on Hollow Hill Alternate Endings Part 11


The next step is to explore the master bedroom in either CHOICE #20 or #22.  The dresser's empty except for a dead spider.  Emma only finds an "old electric hair dryer" in the bathroom.  Jake picks up the pillow on the bed and has this to say:  "The bed moved, like we were on a boat.  But then it stops".  Emma scoffs at him and hits him on the back.  "I think all this dust is getting to your head".  I tell them there's a balcony, but there's no door leading to it.  "We could open one of the windows', Emma smiles.  'Let some of this dust out".


Normally, I don't record the italicized words in these posts, but Emma's emphasis is odd enough that I have to mention it this time.  It's not like she needs to be coy about her plans like in a spy movie!  Go to page 150.


There's a thunderstorm outside, like in any Gothic story.  Emma points out that one potted plant is different from the others because the soil is new.  There might be something inside the pot.  Before I can reach inside, "a small green bulb appears, the size of a thumbtack".  It becomes a long vine and then tries to grab my ankle.  Shortly afterwards, dozens of vines appear and block the bedroom.  The only way out of here is a 10 foot jump.


I tell the others "I have an idea" and "You're not going to like it".  Emma "gives you a you've got to be kidding' stare".  We jump off, and Jake conveniently ignores his fear of heights in another timeline.  The vines are still growing toward us.  We run through the woods, but the third tree makes us stop.  Jake shouts "Plants don't do that!" and we hear a deep voice saying "Maybe not the plant's you've seen. . ."  Turn to page 12 and an ending.


"The shadow approaches.  You're about to bolt when you recognize his face.  'Mr. Goosen!' 'You scared us!' Emma says.  He spreads his hands apologetically.  'Didn't mean to!  I tried to say hello first, but I think the thunder muffled my words.'  You sigh with relief.  'What are you doing out here?'


'Oh, just taking one last look at my property.  The rain chased me in here.  As for what chased you in here. . .that was the rare Atraharsi Weeping Vine.  Most botanists believe it to be extinct, but I managed to recover some bulbs in my travels.'  'It grew like a monster!' Jake says.


'Yes, yes.  Well, it is quite rare, and quite dangerous, which is what makes it most exciting!' His smile disappears.  'Unfortunately, what is not exciting is that you three have left my house without retrieving a prize from inside.'  You realize he's right.  'We can wait until the rain stops and go back inside.' Jake and Emma share a skeptical look.  It appears they've had enough for one night.


'I'm afraid that's against the rules', Mr. Goosen says.  He pulls out his gold pocket watch and considers the time.  'You had one chance, and that chance is over.  Come on now.  Let's get you three back home.'


He leads you through the woods around the side of the house.  The rain has let up by then, so that it's barely a drizzle.  The sound of thunder booms in the distance as the storm rolls across the land.  'This is as far as I go', he says, standing just at the edge of the woods.  'You three can make it home yourselves, I trust?'


You don't know why, but it feels like you're abandoning Mr. Goosen.  'Are you sure we can't go back inside?'  'I'm sorry, Mike.  Perhaps another time.'


The three of you say goodbye and head home.  You walk in silence, still processing everything you've seen:  ghosts, killer vines, and so much more.  If you had a chance to do it over again you know you would end up with a great prize!  Unfortunately, though, you have reached. . .THE END".


Over halfway through the book, I find another disappointing Neutral Ending.  If Mr. Goosen wants people to take his stuff so badly, he shouldn't leave Audrey 2 randomly lying around.  Maybe he's really a villain.



Results So Far


6 Good Endings

2 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

3 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The House on Hollow Hill Alternate Endings Part 12


Returning to Emma and Jake instead of entering the fur coat closet with the ghost girl in CHOICE #18 gives me a clue.  The ghost girl appears anyway and says "The path to what you THINK is most precious, is underneath what is TRULY most precious.  Got it?"  She disappears, and I go to page 67.  I meet my friends in the office, and neither of them understand the clue.  Jake says "You're the one who always liked riddle books, Mike".


CHOICE #23 is to either look in the office, master bedroom, or nursery.  All of these are new pages.  Let's check the nursery first.  The piggy bank that had the Svalbard jewels from another path is here, and a crib that rocks on its own.  CHOICE #24 asks me to check the piggy bank or the crib, and neither are pages I've seen before.


Jake and Emma don't like the idea of checking the crib much, but I think it's the answer to this riddle.  Go to page 85.  I find a doll underneath "wrapped in a blue blanket like a burrito".  Jake and Emma refuse to touch it, probably because they've seen a horror movie before and know all dolls are demonic.  Go to page 112.


There's a note attached to the doll saying "CODE:  1-4-2".  It's the safe combination, as Emma realizes!  Where metagaming failed, exhaustive "mapping" of the book succeeded.  But I can't celebrate yet until I go to page 62 and try to open the safe.


What could be in the safe?  With this much buildup, could I find the ULTIMATE ENDING without going through every other path first?


*Drumroll*


"It's a small tiara of yellow gold, some parts spun so thin and intricately that it appears fragile.  Multi-colored gems cover the face, ending at a green emerald at the pinnacle.  Now this is some treasure!"


But wait, there's more!


"You turn back and see a small roll of parchment on the floor of the safe.  It's six inches long and bound with a wax seal.  'I guess it's a note, or scroll, or something".


CHOICE #25 is between the tiara and the scroll.  Knowing this book, chances are the latter is more valuable.


But the book trolls me once again.     The scroll has the line "RQH WKLUWB-VLA".  It's a code I can't break yet.  CHOICE #26 is to either turn to whatever page the code is referring to, or 34 if I can't solve it.



A ghost girl is unhappy with me.  "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO PLAY WITH ME!  YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO USE MY SPECIAL CODE!"  I have to flee to page 119.


Remember how the safe is across the hole in the floor?


"You can tell there's no chance to reason with her-even if she weren't a ghost.  You turn to run.  'NO!' the girl screams.  You press your back flat against the wall so you can shimmy past the hole, but the girl jumps in front of you with a swoosh.  She tries to grab your leg but passes right through.  'Come back!' she yells.  'You have to play my game.'


You inch along the narrow floor, eyeing the hole in front of you and the piano room below.  It's an awfully long drop.  You're not sure how you survived it before.  'PLAY WITH ME!'  The girl continues jumping through your legs, trying to stop you.  And although she passes through like a hologram, you feel a strange tingling sensation in your legs.  Jake and Emma have stopped at the door to the hallway, watching.  'Hurry up Mike!'


You're almost there, just a few more feet.  The girl darts back and forth between your legs, and the tingling sensation intensifies.  It's like when your foot falls asleep after you've sat on it for too long.  In fact, it feels exactly like that feeling. . .It happens before you realize it:  your foot is so numb that you can barely support your weight.  As you move to take the next step your dead foot rolls forward and you buckle.  'PLAY WITH MEEEEEE. . .' cries the girl.


You flail around but there's nothing to grab but the flat wall.  You fall forward into the hole, just like you did earlier.  Except seeing as there's no cushioning on the piano, and it's smashed entirely, this time the fall signals. . .THE END".


I think I can hear David Kristoph and Danny McAleese laughing at me right now.  House on Hollow Hill must be the Choose Your Own Adventure equivalent of Nethack or ADOM:  If you don't know all the spoilers, the game will pull the rug out from under you.


Results So Far


6 Good Endings

3 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

3 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The House on Hollow Hill Alternate Endings Part 13


Let's take the tiara consolation prize in CHOICE #25.  We hear a wind saying "Noooo. . .".


"The howling follows you out of the office and into the hall.  It grows in intensity as you take the stairs two at a time.  The wind swirls inside the house, tossing cobwebs and dust into spinning tornado-like pillars.  Each of you is hurried along by a shared, unspoken fright, the immediate need to get out of the house as soon as possible.  You reach the bottom of the stairs and cross the entranceway to the front door.  You turn the knob and pull. . .and nothing happens!  'It won't open!' you yell over the train-like wind.


'Dude!' Jake says.  He reaches up and pulls back the deadbolt.  Still being pulled by your hands, the door abruptly flies open.  You dash outside, too scared to feel embarrassed.  Something's waiting for you.  You skid to a halt and find Mr. Goosen standing on the porch!  'Woah now' he says, putting up his hands.  His palms seems strangely pale.  'What's the rush?'


'The house, there's a. . .' you begin, but you trail off.  The inside of the house behind you is calm and silent, no hint of the maelstrom you had just escaped.  'Such imaginations', Mr. Goosen says.  'Ahh, the tiara?' He reaches forward as to take it but holds back at the last moment.  'You're not going to change your mind', Jake asks suspiciously, 'are you?'


'No, of course not.  I was just. . .I had hoped you'd find the. . .ahh, nevermind'.  He looks at his gold pocket watch.  'Maybe in another life.  The princess's tiara is a fine choice'.  And just like that Mr. Goosen fades in front of you, like steam above a pot.


'What the. . .' 'Let's get home', you say, looking at the dark sky.  You're not sure what was up with Mr. Gosen, but you've got your treasure, so this is. . .THE END".


Mr. Goosen wasn't disappointed with other treasures I've found, like the Queen Victoria dress.  Maybe it's only because he knows the tiara was in the safe, and I've come so close.  But I'll probably have to go back further to find the scroll code.


Results So Far


7 Good Endings

3 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

3 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings