Shivers - Sierra RRP œ39.99
           What Darkness Conceals, Terror Reveals

                  A Review by Keith W Adam

             Played on an Escom PC 486 DX 2/66

1. An Essay on Consumerism

In these days of rampant consumerism, a facet of society to which
the field of computers is no stranger, I often seek to hold myself
apart from those who seek instant gratification through purchasing
the latest and greatest; from those who are drawn in by exorbitant
claims of graphic quality, size, complexity or enhanced success
with the opposite sex; from those to whom the decision to purchase
is based upon a whim; from those who are, basically, the marketing
man's dream.

Indeed, following several days of bacchanalian revelry (also known
as Hogmanay - New Year for those south of Carlisle), an austerity
drive seemed to be of the utmost essence; at least until such time
as the colour of the bank account changed from red to black.

Whilst my new persona of second cousin to Scrooge was, apparently,
all-consuming, in the darkest recesses of my mind, a spark of
rebellion was gathering, awaiting an opportune moment to arise and
quell my incipient tendencies towards emulating Shylock.

And then, one bleak day in the growing gloom of a late February
afternoon, having been drawn into the warm and welcoming glow of
an emporium of electronic entertainment, I was drawn inexorably
towards the shelves of magnetic media wherein one can manipulate
the manner in which a multitude of matters are mastered (the
computer games section for the more prosaic amongst us).

And therein lay my downfall; I succumbed to temptation; I became -
yes - an impulse buyer. Having been garnered in by the somewhat
moody and compelling box cover, I was no sooner captivated than I
found myself reaching gleefully for the box and eagerly moving
towards the authorized mugging point (till).  In some vain attempt
to maintain a semblance of dignity in the light of my avowed
campaign of non-spending, I had at least chosen a product upon
which the prevailing price had plummeted - it was on and in the
SALE. This then is the strange story of .......

2. The Evil That Men Do .....

Within the depths of the human psyche, in all of us, there lies -
somewhere - oft dormant, a fascination with that which lies
outwith the realm of the norm, that which cannot be understood or
explained neither by the normal rules of nature nor by science.
And it is upon such yearnings that Professor Hubert Windlenot
decided to capitalise when he set out to create the Museum of the
Strange & Unusual.

Following his ignominious resignation from the Royal Society, he
traversed the Atlantic to the USA and the small town of Mount
Pleasant, where he sought to create that which would forever
silence his critics. A museum dedicated to those ancient artefacts
which seemed to fall outwith the normal ken of Man.

This temple to the arcane and enigmatic was scheduled to open its
doors in 1961 but, twenty years later, remains sealed to the
general public. This foreboding property looms eerily over the
town and, with its Escheresque design, there is a sense of gothic
horror with a miasma of decay and neglect hanging like a cloud
above.

To further exacerbate the air of mystery which surrounds the
property, it has been contended that two teenage school pupils
from the town who vanished last summer were last seen entering the
grounds of this now foreboding property.

It was during the construction of this monumentous folly that the
writer was invited to tour the premises in the hope that this
august journal would see its way to being laudatory in its
appraisal and indeed seek to prevail upon its readers to attend
thereon. Thus it was that I found myself ......


3. Facing the Dark Abyss.

That which strikes you first upon passing the heavy gates of this
Institution is the silence that prevails therein.  The air is
still and the world recedes to the edge of consciousness. The
tranquility of the grounds and the lake is challenged only by the
looming presence of the building itself.

Having entered, the museum within is lavishly decorated and each
room is rendered in great and splendid detail with much to attract
the attention and capture the eye. The quality of the image,
indeed, in my humble opinion, is equal to that evidenced in other
great mythic ventures such as that which was created on the Island
of Myst by Altrus.

To supplement the opulent surrounds, the air of each exhibition
area is imbued with an 'eloquent' composition.  Such compositions
are sadly, at best, comparable to the lesser known works of even
lesser known composers whilst the worst is equivalent to that
written by a child of four who, unlike Mozart, failed to qualify
as an infant prodigy.  The singular outstanding example within
this vast display of mediocrity was that associated with the more
bloodthirsty of the exhibits and which can be best termed the
Panic Melody in C Minor.

In creating each exhibit within the museum, Sir Hubert has sought
to broaden the visitor's mind by elucidating upon the most common
of the myths of our world whilst at the same time requiring the
transient mind to focus by challenging our own preconceptions.
Many of the exhibits contain puzzles and cryptograms which
challenge by requiring us to think not in the rational and linear
manner to which we are accustomed but, rather, in a more lateral
manner. Then again, others are simple logic puzzles, only
breath-taking in their complexity.

The museum encompasses a vast and eclectic range of exhibition
pieces. From the burial customs and practices of many ancient
cultures to legends of vampirism and lycanthropy, from blood
thirsty sacrificial rituals to the depths of fabled Atlantis,
every facet and aspect of myth and legend is examined. Alongside
the displays of artefacts are well-written and elucidatory guides
to the exhibits.  This vast miscellany of matter is designed,
mayhaps, to pique the curiosity and whet the appetite of those
with a penchant for such occult and abstruse perplexing
paraphanelia.

That which forms the centrepiece of the museum is the display of
ancient pottery from the land of Zapana.  Myth would hold that
these vessels were used to capture ancient elementals which had
been unleashed from the underworld against the newly crowned King
for his transgressions against the Gods. If these creatures were
ever released from their imprisoned state, they would take to
themselves the form of the elements such as fire & water but be
unable to truly escape their bonds until a human were taken in
their place.

The animations ascribed within the museum to these demon creatures
are certainly unlikely to inspire a state of fear in any visitor
and indeed are more comparable to the creations of a certain Mr
Disney than Giger.  That said, being an individual who leads a
lifestyle free of the limitations of the human imposed exigencies
of time, whilst researching for this article in the pre-dawn hours
of the night, a scream of terror, actually recorded from one of
the exhibits, unexpectedly roared from the direction of the PC
beast with what can only be described as, at best, a highly
unnerving result but one which I shall refrain from describing
more fully in deference to the more sensitive of our readers.

The design of the museum allows the visitor to wander casually
from room to room on a whim; there is no single path which one
must follow and the exhibitions can be tackled as the desire takes
you. Whilst certain exhibits can be entered only upon completion
of a puzzle, for other areas which one may desire to visit, it is
merely the layout which impedes free movement. A simple
illustration being the Egyptian room wherein the Sphinx lies
awkwardly in ones path to the Tomb thus requiring one to employ a
subtle navigation technique to allow onward progression.  Such
lack of foresight in planning, whilst negligent, can, however,
only detract from the total experience if one submits to
frustration.

Whilst there may be many matters worthy of attention and
discussion when considering the merits of a visit to this
institution, to do so would not only detract from the final
experience by revealing more of what awaits than should be, but in
addition, would result in a report whose length would rival that
of the Encyclopaedia Frobozicca.

In conclusion then, let me merely say that, upon completion, Sir
Hubert's museum will be a sight which should rank alongside the
Alien Flight Museum at Roswell and the Ancients Display of
Horology at Stonehenge as a necessity for connoisseurs of the
strange and unusual.

4. Truly a sight to behold ....
     Or; A Beginners Guide to the Museum;

  *  Of  course you cannot get in the front door; nothing is
     that simple. Open the box in the gazebo, solve the cog puzzle

     and then cross to the island. Then match the colours and
     shapes within the circle.

  *  Within  the museum, listen for noises which clash  with
     the ambient music; that should indicate that an Ixupi is
     nearby.

  *  Given  that you can carry only one item, remember where
     you have left any others so that you can collect them later!

  *  In  moving  around rooms, try all angles;  if  you  see
     somewhere you want to go then you probably can!







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