Line #78 Videogame/Anchorhead


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/anchorhead_1998.PNG]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Not even the "R" key can cure the fear of the unknown...]]
3
4	''Anchorhead'' is a 1998 award-winning work of InteractiveFiction written and programmed independently by Michael S. Gentry, and is heavily inspired by the Franchise/CthulhuMythos. The game is set within the titular town of Anchorhead, which rests firmly within LovecraftCountry. You play the role of a nameless woman who has moved into town with her husband Michael, and quickly becomes enmeshed in the dark, disturbing goings-on -- to say more would be to spoil a truly excellent plot.
5
6	The game is notable, in addition to its great writing and overall polished feel, for breaking the typical structure and conventions of an InteractiveFiction game; the narrative is broken up into "days", during which you must complete required courses of action in order to proceed to the next day.
7
8	Incidentally, you can find it [[http://www.wurb.com/if/game/17.html here]] or [[http://pr-if.org/play/anchorhead/ here]]. The list of awards should really speak for itself.
9
10	An updated and illustrated version can also be found for sale on Steam.
11
12	'''Caution: spoilers may be found here.'''
13	----
14	!!''Anchorhead'' provides examples of the following tropes:
15
16	* AfterlifeExpress: [[ConversationalTroping Discoursed upon]] in a book of folklore and superstitions. (However, if you stand on the tracks and wait, you'll find the train is plenty real enough to [[spoiler:run you over]].)
17	* AlienGeometries:
18	** Secret passages in the mansion lead in directions that have nothing to do with the rooms or walls they are following. The peepholes you find in the walls clearly change floors without rhyme or reason, and one gives you a dizzying view that's only possible ''looking downward from the ceiling''. Exiting dumps you to a crawlspace in the attic, which is described as so wrongly angled you get a headache just looking.
19	** The backstreets and alleys north of the river loop and backtrack so confusingly you never find any usable path. You'd be forgiven for thinking, like the heroine, it's only mundane confusion, [[spoiler: until the path to TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday vanishes and becomes just another loop that makes no sense.]]
20	* AncientConspiracy: It goes all the way back to the town's founding four centuries earlier.
21	* AndIMustScream: One ending involves [[spoiler:getting trapped in a dimension filled with nothing but "the necrotic folds of the womb of Nehilim" that apparently violently torture you with unspeakable biological processes until the end of all time.]].
22	* TheAntichrist: [[spoiler:Croesus Verlac; or at least, he and his followers seem to believe that he is.]]
23	* AntiFrustrationFeatures: Later versions of the game removed puzzles that didn't fit well, or made their hints easier to find. There's also several puzzles that have more than one way through them.
24	** You can't open the puzzle box, but [[TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday the proprietor of The Cauldron]] can easily. Since he's not always available, you can also set it on the train tracks and [[CuttingTheKnot let a locomotive break it open]].
25	** The potentially lethal maze in the paper mill can be bypassed entirely by an attentive player.
26	* ArcWords: "He always returns to his blood", "the buzzing of a fly" (or variants thereof), and "red-rimmed eyes" are three ''very'' prevalent phrases in this game.
27	* AuthorAvatar: Michael, who shares his name and personality with the writer of the game.
28	* BadassNormal: The protagonist, who has to go up against supernatural forces armed with nothing but cleverness and determination.
29	* BabiesEverAfter: A very, very dark subversion. [[spoiler:In the "best" ending, the protagonist learns that she is pregnant, to her shock and horror, with the fear that Croesus may still somehow return. The story comes to a close with Michael ominously (though innocently) saying that he hopes the baby will be a girl.]]
30	* {{Backstory}}: There's quite a bit of it. You'll need to put some of it together (reading newspaper articles, etc.) to advance the plot.
31	* BigBad: [[spoiler:Croesus Verlac.]]
32	* BigFancyHouse: The Verlac mansion. (Lucky you, it's also a HauntedHouse. Who would have thought it?)
33	* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Verlacs. And how.
34	* BodyHorror: [[spoiler:William Verlac. You find a photo locket of his face early on, and wonder why it's so closely cropped. His face is on his ''chest'', and the rest of him... gets worse.]]
35	* BodySnatcher: [[spoiler:What Croesus Verlac has been doing to his male descendants for four centuries, including your husband.]]
36	* BookEnds: Both at the beginning in the deserted office, and at the ending scene which [[spoiler:takes place in your bathroom]], you note that:
37	--> There's a fly buzzing around here somewhere.
38	* BrownNote:
39	** Using the telescope properly will give you a sight so disturbing [[spoiler: it brands the true name of the approaching EldritchAbomination into your brain.]]
40	** If you continue reading the book in the church.
41	** Looking too closely at [[spoiler:William]] will drive you insane.
42	* BurnTheWitch: After Croesus's death, many of the townspeople of Anchorhead, led by the local Calvinist minister, turned on his daughters, branded them witches, and burned them all at the stake (except for the youngest, who somehow managed to escape).
43	* ChekhovsGun: (caution: '''massive''' spoiler here) Your [[spoiler:wedding ring]].
44	* ChildByRape: [[spoiler:All of the male Verlacs, who were each conceived by the previous male Verlac's rape of his own daughter.]]
45	* ClosedCircle: Your car broke down and has been towed away to the city of [[ShoutOut Arkham]], and your purse and phone are in it. The only phone you can find doesn't work; the road out of town leads into wilderness. In addition, as [[spoiler:[[DemonicPossession Croesus's power over him]] grows]], Michael outright refuses to leave, and you're determined not to go without him.
46	* CobwebOfDisuse: Between you and an intriguing-looking iron key in the corner of the Verlac mansion basement.
47	* CosmicHorrorStory: Arguably -- [[spoiler:you ''can'' win in the short-term and wreck Croesus's centuries long plan, but it's not exactly LovecraftLite, either; the "good" ending strongly implies that [[TheEndOrIsIt everything is about to start all over again]].]]
48	* {{Cult}}: Guess what -- [[spoiler:the majority of the town]] is in it.
49	* DemonicPossession: [[spoiler:Croesus Verlac]] has possessed several generations of [[spoiler:his offspring]], and does the same to [[spoiler:Michael.]]
50	--> ''[[ArcWords he is our blood]]''
51	--> ''[[ArcWords he always returns to his blood]]''
52	* DissonantSerenity: You, in the NonStandardGameOver where you [[spoiler: go mad from reading the book and [[EyeScream claw your own eyes out]]]], smile the entire time as the narration describes you doing the deed. It's, after all, "the most natural thing in the world".
53	* DownerEnding: It depends on your interpretation, or, rather, on what you want to believe happens after the end.
54	* DraggedOffToHell: Or to the Womb of Nehilim, to be precise. Can happen three times: you can get trapped there if you mess around in a certain area, it can happen to the whole world in one of the bad endings, and in the good ending, [[spoiler: this is how you'll defeat Croesus.]]
55	* DreamingOfTimesGoneBy: This can also occur in your nightmares.
56	* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Your nightmares.
57	** In one dream, you're a little girl, waiting for your father to come and tuck you in to bed... but when your "father" comes in to your room, you realize it is actually your husband Michael, as he starts to remove his belt. [[spoiler:In the best ending, you find out that you are pregnant - this dream was a vision of what could have been [[FridgeHorror your unborn daughter's future]], had you not stopped Croesus.]]
58	** Your dreams also foreshadow the plot, and drop direct hints about the places you'll need to visit to get through the day.
59	* DrivenToSuicide: Anna Verlac died young, at only 25, and it is heavily implied that she committed suicide. Her son Edward does the same thing after killing his wife and daughters. [[spoiler: All the deaths were desperate attempts to end Croesus's reign of terror over the family.]]
60	* EasterEgg: Try actually screaming or crying at various points in the game.
61	** Also, try listening to your husband singing in the shower.
62	* EldritchAbomination: '''[[spoiler:Ialdabaoloth.]]'''
63	* EyeScream: Two, both ''by you'' (in self-defense, although one involves [[spoiler:you losing your mind and [[DissonantSerenity calmly clawing your own eyes out]] in a bad ending]]).
64	** In one [[spoiler:mob]] death, your eyes get taken out by a pitchfork before you are torn to pieces.
65	* FeaturelessProtagonist: Details about the protagonists' appearance, identity, and personality are very vague at best.
66	* FromBadToWorse: [[spoiler: By the middle of the third day, you are well and truly screwed. Michael wandered off and vanished for much of the previous day, and having gotten him back, it's clear he's not entirely himself anymore. Following your leads puts you in immediate mortal peril by introducing you to William. The cult decides not to tolerate your poking around anymore and starts hunting you down shortly after. You will spend the rest of the game on the run, hiding, or looking over your shoulder.]]
67	* GeniusLoci: [[spoiler:The EldritchAbomination the cult worships is a living comet.]]
68	* GoMadFromTheRevelation: Several of the TheManyDeathsOfYou. Some of the ways to do this include [[spoiler:reading the black prayerbook all the way through, looking too closely at William, and killing Michael in the lighthouse]].
69	* GuideDangIt: The game has a large number of very difficult puzzles; at best, the hints you get are vague, and many ''cannot'' be solved if you've missed a necessary item or piece of information somewhere.
70	* InventoryManagementPuzzle: A partial aversion -- you can carry almost all the items you'll ever need in the pockets of your trenchcoat, but you can only hold so much in your hands at any one time.
71	* ItBeganWithATwistOfFate: An ordinary woman, with a perfectly ordinary life, learns that her husband of only five months has inherited a vast estate across the country, so they decide to pack up and move... and then it just gets more and more bizarre from there.
72	* KillItWithFire: You'll start to see this late in the game, if you make it that far.
73	* KleptomaniacHero: Since you're playing an every(wo)man-style character, this incongruous behavior is initially lampshaded.
74	* TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday: The Cauldron, a tiny occult shop with a friendly old violin-playing keeper, with just the right blend of touristy knick knacks and mysterious omens. One of the only bright spots in the town, [[spoiler: and although you can still hear the violin, you'll never be able to find it the next day. It seems it wasn't there yesterday for Edward as well, possibly to make sure the amulet he was about to throw away would be preserved for you.]]
75	* MadwomanInTheAttic: William, [[spoiler:at least for the first few years of his life.]]
76	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: Edward Verlac's final journal is full of this. His mother Anna had made sure he was protected from Croesus, but Edward spent 30 years never taking off the amulet and never believing what would happen if he did. When he finally sells it, Croesus is still waiting for him. Edward spends ''months'' fighting for his sanity and desperately trying to recover the amulet. He finally breaks by murdering his wife and children, and then himself, seeing it as better than [[FateWorseThanDeath what Croesus would do to them]].]]
77	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Verlac, i.e. "warlock" (it's German). Edward's letter calls Croesus one.
78	* NoNameGiven: The player's character is never addressed by name, even by Michael.
79	* NonActionGuy: The protagonist is an ordinary woman who is utterly helpless in a direct physical confrontation.
80	* NonStandardGameOver: The game has a large number of grisly ways to die, including [[GoMadFromTheRevelation insanity]] and suffering a FateWorseThanDeath.
81	** Actual deaths include getting [[spoiler:fatally poisoned by spider bite, killed by monstrous tentacled things, hit by a train, cooked alive by high-pressure steam, mobbed and lynched by the cultists, strangled by your own possessed husband, choked to death by the ghost of Croesus Verlac...]] Yeah, it's a pleasant game.
82	* OldDarkHouse: The Verlac mansion, which has [[SecretPath hidden passageways]], [[SpookyPainting unsettling]] {{p\|ortraitPaintingPeephole}}aintings, windows painted shut, a family crypt out back, a dank cellar, and an [[spoiler:EldritchAbomination [[MadwomanInTheAttic in the Attic]]]].
83	* OrderliesAreCreeps: Chuck, the orderly of Danvers Asylum, enjoys reading pornographic magazines and making crass remarks.
84	* ParentalIncest: [[spoiler:A route to immortality. Ew.]]
85	* PortraitPaintingPeephole: You can [[spoiler:spy on Michael through the eyes of [[SpookyPainting Croesus Verlac's portrait]]]] in the sitting room.
86	** Extra FridgeHorror and ParanoiaFuel when the player remembers that, when you're in the sitting room, it sometimes appears to move subtly, "like the eyes are looking directly at you".
87	* ThePowerOfLove: Plays a crucial role in the ending... with the help of [[spoiler:a couple bits of jewelry]].
88	* RedEyesTakeWarning: Red-rimmed eyes are seen in all depictions of the Verlacs over the years, [[spoiler: and when Michael develops his own, it becomes clear it's a sign of Croesus taking over.]]
89	* ShoutOut: There are references aplenty to Lovecraft and the Literature/CthulhuMythos. Among them are the city of Arkham, Whateley Bridge, the Miskaton University library.
90	** The magic shop's violin (and the violin music you can hear in the lane nearby) are an extended reference to "The Music of Erich Zann".
91	** The paintings in the mansion's gallery are horrifying, fantastical, and detailed to the point of photorealism. Paintings by Richard Pickman in "Literature/PickmansModel" were said to have the same qualities. [[spoiler: And, in both cases, they actually depict reality]].
92	** Several aspects of the town are pretty clear nods to ''Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth'', particularly the librarian with "fish-eyes" and the local drunk [[spoiler:who gives the protagonist key information for the price of a bottle of whiskey]].
93	** The abduction [[spoiler: and sacrifice]] of children hints at ''The Dreams in the Witch-House''.
94	** [[spoiler: William]] is inspired by ''Literature/TheDunwichHorror''. [[spoiler:And he finally shows up on Whateley Bridge, named after the monstrous brothers in that story.]]
95	** Croesus Verlac's M.O. is taken straight out of ''Literature/TheThingOnTheDoorstep''.
96	** A real-world example: the Danvers Asylum is named after the real-world [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danvers_State_Hospital Danvers State Hospital]] located in Danvers, Massachusetts.
97	* SpookyPainting:
98	** Croesus Verlac's painting in the sitting room, described as pure madness captured in a portrait.
99	** An entire gallery of them toward the back of the house, that like to rearrange themselves or randomly vanish without leaving any trace they were ever there.
100	* TakeYourTime: In dire situations, the game averts this, sometimes to [[GuideDangIt frustrating]] effect. Most of the time, however, you do get to take your time, since the first three days don't advance to evening until you've solved all the major puzzles for that day.
101	* TeenPregnancy: Eustacia gave birth to her son when she was only 16. Anna gave birth to her first child when she was 17. [[spoiler:Though this was because they were both victims of rape by their own fathers, so they certainly had no choice in the matter.]]
102	* TheEndOrIsIt: ''Heavily'' implied in the true ending - [[spoiler:the protagonist learns that she is pregnant, and evidently fears that the spirit of Croesus may still somehow return through her unborn child.]]
103	* ThreeActStructure: Splitting the game up into days reinforces the feel of acts. The first and second days serve as prologue and exposition as the player explores the town's mysteries. [[spoiler: Day three is entirely rising action with many more active threats on the players life, and day four is a full-force climax as the town goes straight to hell.]]
104	* TomeOfEldritchLore: The book in the church. [[spoiler: Reading it all the way through [[GoMadFromTheRevelation causes a]] NonStandardGameOver.]]
105	* TownWithADarkSecret: The town of Anchorhead, naturally.
106	* UnexpectedInheritance: How you got to Anchorhead in the first place. (Actually, Michael only inherited the house because the previous heir ''killed his entire family.'' Unfortunately for you, [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive the Call can find a way.]])
107	* [[VideogameCrueltyPotential Textgame Cruelty Potential]]: You are gonna have to do some nasty stuff to escape the horrors of Anchorhead. You have the potential to do much worse than necessary, including [[spoiler: murdering your own husband]].
108	* VideoGameRemake: The original version of Anchorhead can still be downloaded for free. ''Anchorhead - The Illustrated Edition'' is sold via Steam, and was nearly completely rewritten with changes to the town, the clues you find, and the puzzles to get through.
109	* VillainousIncest: [[spoiler:How Croesus' spirit has carried on his bloodline.]]
110	* VillainousLineage: '''He always [[DemonicPossession returns to]] his blood.'''
111	* YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm: Plenty, and frequently includes GoMadFromTheRevelation. You'll get a few glimpses of [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow Things Man Was Not Meant to Know]] throughout, but be careful about digging too deeply.
112	* YouCantGetYeFlask: Averted. The game generally gives you hints about what you should do to progress in doing what you want (such as, should a player want to look in a high window in the game's first area, suggesting they push a garbage can closer to get close enough,) as well as recognizes a variety of valid commands to do it.

Context Videogame / Anchorhead