Elvira - Horrorsoft Played by John Carter on Amiga 500 This solution takes the form of specific puzzle answers and some general help. In the final analysis, there is not a great deal to this game except for the rather scrumptious graphics and some very good music. That said, I still played it to the end and enjoyed it. Some of the pictures are really gruesome (whoever complained about CRL's "Jack the Ripper" some years ago would faint dead away at this game). The biggest moan was the amount of time spent changing the 5 disks on the Amiga. The game needs 1 meg to run and 2 or more disk drives are useful. The solutions to the puzzles are in no particular order. Mixing Spells and the Cook in the Kitchen: Elvira will mix spells for you in the Kitchen provided you give her the spell book from the Library and the correct ingredients. When Elvira refuses to go to the Kitchen until you remove the cook, you will need to throw the salt from the Torture Chamber over her. (The cook, that is, not Elvira) Weapons: Several are available but the following are best. You start with Elvira's dagger. Go and get the shield from the Gatehouse Museum. A better shield and a sword can be obtained from the Armoury. There is also a suit of armour which is very effective but uses a lot of strength. Take the crossbow as well; bolts are found in various bedrooms. (NB You cannot use the crossbow until you have fired 3 practice shots at the target in the Garden) To get the crusader's sword you will need the bible from the Bedroom (it contains a prayer scroll) and Elvira's ring from the centre of the Maze. Go to the Chapel, put the ring in the golden cross on the altar and go down into the now open Crypt. Get the crown from the stone pillar. Stand before the wall mural and use the prayer scroll. Put the crown on the dead king's head and take the sword. The Werewolf in the Stable: Can only be killed by a silver-tipped bolt. To make the bolt, get the silver crucifix from the Garden Shed, go to the Forge and look in the box on the right to find a crucible. Put the cross in the crucible, the crucible on the fire and the bolt in the crucible. Shoot the wolf just as he starts to move towards you. The Vampire in the Bedroom: Collect the sledgehammer from the Garden Shed and the stake from the fireplace in the Lounge. Use the stake on the vampire before she wakes. Take the vampire dust. The Hedge Maze: Use spells at a distance to stop your stats from being lowered in hand-to-hand (claw?) combat with the fire demons. If, when you get to the hole in the hedge at the centre of the Maze, you can see eyes in the darkness, lob in a spell to clear the last demons. Pass through to the pool and get your reward. The Falcon: Wait until the bird flies upward then pin him with a crossbow bolt just as he starts to dive. Torture Chamber: To get rid of that pesky "spirit of the torturer", lift the ring in the floor on the right, take the skeleton found below to the Catacombs and lay it to rest in the empty coffin. The Catacombs: One coffin will contain a rusty iron key. When you have this, open the coffin which floods the room and dive down to the tunnel below. Swim along (past the bottom of the well) to the grille and unlock it with the key. You will now be able to enter the Moat. Provided you have already killed the archer who fell over the Battlements, swim forward once, turn right and swim about four strokes to find his body. The 6th key is on the handle of his sword. Swim back through the tunnel to the well and climb up the rope. The Chest: This is hidden in the NW Tower. To find it, get the tongs from the Torture Chamber (this can only be done after the removal of the "spirit of the torturer"), use them to get a hot coal from the kitchen fire and use it to fire the cannon on the Tower above the Stables. This will destroy the top of the Tower and reveal the chest. Use the six keys in numerical order to open it and take the scroll and dagger. Location of the Six Keys: 1st Key: Behind the paper on the notice board in the Office of the Captain of the Guard. Sorry, you'll have to kill him to get it. 2nd Key: Behind the ring in the wall of the last stall in the Stables. 3rd Key: Tied to the leg of the falcon. 4th Key: In the Torture Chamber. 5th Key: In the dumb-waiter in the Kitchen. When Elvira raises the dumb-waiter, cast "Glowing Pride" on the passage which is revealed and she will go and fetch the key for you. 6th Key: On the sword of the archer who falls into the moat (See Catacombs) The Herb Garden: The key to the Herb Garden is under the seed packets in the tin on the table in the Garden Shed. Phew! Emelda: Hiding in a room below the Catacombs. You will need the stone key from the creature in the Catacombs which is placed in a hole in the floor where the three passages meet in order to open a way. To kill Emelda, stand the king's sword in the centre of the pentacle and use the scroll from the chest. Finish her off with the dagger, also from the chest. Location of Spell Ingredients: Bird's feather Kill the falcon Nightshade (deadly) In the hedge, left of Garden Shed Belladonna Right of Garden Shed Maggots (2 lots) On corpse in Garden Shed Mistletoe Left of archery target Absinthe On the bar, room next to the Armoury Horse hair Centre stall in Stables Hay Outside Stables Moss Down the Well Manticore hide Cover of the prayer book in the Chapel Laudanum In the hole in the wall of the Bathroom Vampire dust Kill the vampire Honey, white wine In the Pantry Spyder's webs, \ Beetles, earwigs, |In the Dungeons Centipedes / Firethorn, poppies, \ Maidenhair, flameflower, | Hawthorn, dogwood, |On the path to the Maze Mushroom / Monstera Lounge Ivy On the Battlements Nettles, fern, \In the maze (the bird's eggs are in Thistle, bird's eggs |the hole in the hedge where the bird /flies out from) Lily flower, blood lily, \ Algae, black lotus, |In the pool at the centre of the Maze water lily (leaf) / Rose petals, aconite, \ bleeding heart, | hellebore, parsley, | In the Herb Garden witch hazel, blood root | dandelion, plantain, | elderberry /