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The Lurking Horror

The Lurking Horror (1987)

by Infocom

Genres:Adventure

Themes:Horror

Game modes:Single player

Story:The Lurking Horror is an interactive fiction game released by Infocom in 1987. The game was written by Dave Lebling and inspired by the horror fiction writings of H. P. Lovecraft (including his Cthulhu Mythos). Like most of Infocom's games, it was released for several platforms simultaneously thanks to the Z-machine. The original release included versions for DOS, the Apple II, Atari ST, Atari 8-bit family and Commodore 64. Later, it was ported to the Amiga with the addition of sound effects, making it the first title with that feature. The effects would play at appropriate times in the game in an effort to intensify the horror atmosphere. This marked one of the few major additions to the Z-machine with the exception of graphics; traditionally, Infocom had eschewed such changes in favor of expanding the parser capacity and overall size of game files. It was Infocom's 26th game; Infocom rated it as "Standard" in terms of difficulty. Lurking Horror was the only horror game ever released by Infocom.Show more

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July 09, 2025

The Infocom Text based Games hold a special place in my heart. While the Zork series would be what Infocom is most known for The Lurking Horror is a hidden gem in their catalog. Set on college campus during a snowstorm where you are trapped. You start off in a computer lab and have to travel to the basement of the computer lab's building where you discover there is something more sinister going on. Lovecraftian, brooding and a great setting make the story of The Lurking Horror a must have for fans of the old text based adventure games that once were king of the early PC gaming world.

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