The Castle of Death is an on-line haunted house attraction. It differs from a real-life
Halloween fund-raiser type 'haunted house' in that it is free to enter, accessable at
all times of the day and year, and contains no screaming teenage girls (unless you
happen to be one.) Like most commercial haunted houses, the Castle of Death is a
one-way tour. Each room has only one exit door. You can click on 'back' at anytime to return
to the room from whence you came, but if you searched it thoroughly the first time you
were there, you're not going to find anything new.
Make sure you have the sound turned on/up on your computer speakers or headphones. All
of the rooms in the Castle have specially chosen background music which adds a
lot to the atmosphere. For extra spookiness, turn out the lights and play in the dark.
If you don't have an especially fast connection, you may have to wait for the graphics,
music and/or javascript special effects to load before you can appreciate what's going on in
a room of the Castle. (Patience is said to be a virtue.)
Choose Internet Explorer as your browser if possible.
If you insist on using Netscape some of the special effects won't work and some of the
graphics will be in the wrong place. If you're viewing the Castle via Netscape and it's
crap, complain to Netscape, not to me! (I haven't tested the Castle on any of the less
popular, computer-geek browsers --use them at your own risk.)
Keep an eye on the scrolling message at the bottom of each page. It will give you general
information when you first enter a room. It repeats, so don't worry if you get too
caught up in the graphics and forget to look at first. If you perform any significant
actions, check out the scroll bar for the consequences (unless they are blatently
obvious).
It's usually a good idea to scroll your mouse over every object in each room as soon
as you enter it. An 'alt' or 'tool-tip' message will give you information about the object. This
information may not be available later (e.g. after you've clicked on something in the
room). If your mouse arrow turns into a hand whilst scrolling over an object, something will happen if you click on that
object.
Some rooms contain multiple activities. Don't exit the room until you've explored all the
possibilities. Even if you know the way out, you may wish to linger for some spooky
fun. You can bask in the atmosphere. There's no rush.
If you pay attention as you explore the Castle of Death, and the javascript doesn't
cause your computer to crash, you will most likely exit alive. If you
don't manage the first time, just start over.
Those who survive the Castle of Death can pick up a virtual T-shirt or other
cyber-goodies on their way out. (I'll add new graphics when inspiration strikes.)
Good Luck!
Evilea