C64 Adventure Games

Castle of Terror - The Most Infamous Adventure Game!

In this blog post you will discover all there is to know about this old graphic adventure game from Melbourne House in 1984. I've laid it out as if I'm playing the game from start to finish with all the locations featured. The 'infamous part' I helped to uncover many years ago is discussed further down, but I suggest your read the whole post to understand the background of this splendid game ; )

My first introduction to this game was when I was just 17 years old (in 1985) after a friend of mine from school had purchased it and invited me over to play it. I remember being very impressed by the title screen and the music score which really set the mood of a gothic horror story, also the graphics looked much better than most other adventure games that existed at the time. Of course you may laugh at their simplicity today, but remember there was only 64 kilobytes of memory to work with on this computer.

Loading screen

I had played a lot of 'text only' adventure games before this, especially the Scott Adams adventures which I really enjoyed. In fact one of those games 'The Count' was my favourite as I had always been fascinated by the vampire genre, especially Bram Stoker's Dracula novel which I had read several times. I had an old copy of the book that my father had given me.

My dusty old copy of Bram Stoker's Dracula (1927)

Some have argued that text only adventures are the best as your mind conjures up the images of the locations you are visiting, but I must admit to preferring graphics in an adventure game, even those that used the Commodore's keyboard character set. For instance, one of my favourite keyboard character adventures was 'Ninja' by Darryl Reynolds, one of his Softgold 'talkies' adventure games which had speech that answered you back. You can see below how these blocky graphics can still reveal a sense of mystery and place even though they are not hi-res. So I was quite happy playing these character based adventures ; )

Ninja 'talkies' adventure game

But of course, the graphics in Castle of Terror were far superior and some screens had animated characters which was unique at the time. Additionally, there was a constant music track playing throughout, which few if any previous adventure games had, so from the outset I really wanted to play this game and solve it, preferably at home on my own C64. 

The game came out on tape (no disc version was ever produced) which required both sides. Side 1 of the tape was the village section and side 2 the Castle section. Once you had finished the first part the game prompts you to turn the tape over and load in part 2. The game had a scoring system (which was unusual for text adventures) in which you gained or lost points depending on what you did, the goal was to reach a perfect score of 290/290. You could also type 'VOCAB' to list all the verbs the game used which was a nice feature.

On the back of the box the blurb reads "Castle of Terror is a superb graphic adventure game set in the 1800s when and where 'Dracula' stories abound. You are in a village near the large Castle where the secretive Count lives. As you wander about in the village, you will no doubt be told of screams that can be heard through the night. What you do in this adventure is up to you!"

Front and back of box (cover art by Steinar Lund)

Inside box with tape

Cover sleeve fully unfolded

Full page magazine ad (Computer & Video Games & Your64 - November 1984)

Double page ad from Commodore User (April 1985) - The Best Adventure!

At the time I didn't have enough money to buy the game so I tried to copy it. It just so happened that my friend from school also had a double tape deck that allowed you to play a tape in one slot while recording it on a blank tape in the other. But try as I might it never seemed to work... I tried different brands of blank tape and played around with the recording settings but in the end I could never make a copy that loaded in the C64, so for the time being I was happy to go to my friends house and play it there. 

Village path

The game starts with this brilliant music score - listen to it here: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8lrgxc7uW8

A path leads North to a small cottage and East to a windmill, but one can't help noticing the menacing castle on the distant horizon. "The large, grey castle stands silently on the horizon, bats circling the tower." We see two (animated) villagers working their fields, 'Examine Villagers' "There are two villagers working in the field. Perhaps you should help them." If you do so, you are rewarded with a coin. If you examine the coin it says "The shiny coin looks like a sovereign". You gain 10 points for helping the villagers, then 1 point if you help them again.

Note: A sovereign was a lot of money back then - worth one English pound! It was a gold coin that has the equivalent cost today of about £395 English pounds, or $534 US dollars based on an 1885 date (I chose a date 100 years before this game came out ; ) So these poor peasant workers digging their fields must have been very rich for them to reward you with such a prize! 

Outside cottage

Inside cottage

You first head North and enter a small cottage with no one present. You can enter this place without permission of any sort. I guess the owner was away and left the door unlocked?  Here we see a table and a pot over a fire. There is beef soup in the pot which you can drink "You help yourself to a mug of hot beef soup, which you drink hungrily." Note: you gain 5 points for drinking the soup, and you can do this over and over to gain more points. But the main objective in the cottage is to obtain the sharp knife. So 'Examine Table' then 'Take Knife'.

Outside Mill

Next head East to the first mill (windmill).
The music changes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETY9YE_U_vc

Here you will see a barrel, 'Examine Barrel' it contains a Flint > take it. Head up into the mill, there is a sack of grain here and a lantern. There is no reason to get the lantern as it has no use in the game... it's only use is for adding points in the game, but as we will see later - the points system is broken and it's not possible to gain a perfect score of 290. So I never even bother with the lantern. But, for completeness I will explain what you are supposed to do here.

Inside Mill

If you try to 'Get Lantern' it says "As you reach for the lantern you trip over the sack of grain. The fragile lamp falls and smashes on the stone floor. A spark ignites the spilled fuel which sets the pile of hay alight and soon the entire mill is ablaze. Meanwhile you are burnt to a crisp."

So you must first 'Move Sack' so you can get the lantern. The sack of grain is a sprite which shifts left once you enter the command. But I always thought this was a useless puzzle as the lantern has no purpose afterwards.

Inside Duck Inn

Head South and you are outside the Duck Inn "The smell of ale fills your nostrils as you stand beside a wooden dray outside the Duck Inn" > 'Go In' to enter. Here is where you learn what your purpose is (quest/mission). You notice an old man drinking alone. When you 'Talk To Man' he asks you to buy him a drink. Since we have a sovereign, we could buy enough ale to keep the tab going all night! But in this game it only pays for the cost of one tankard of ale? So, we 'Buy Ale' then 'Give Ale To Man'... then he starts talking 'The old man nods in silent appreciation as he slowly begins a long tale of misery. His daughter disappeared and he sits in here every day drinking to forget. You feel sorry for the old man and say you'll help him find her, at which his face brightens. He reaches into his pocket and gives you a small key. "This might help you get inside the castle, but after that I cannot help you as no-one has ever escaped before." With that he returns to his drink and does not speak to you again.'

If you try to speak to the old man again you get "The old man ignores your greeting. He finishes his drink and bangs his empty tankard on the table".

When you 'Examine Key' it says "The small key is engraved with a large  ." So this appears to be a bug in the program as in part 2 when you examine the key it says "The small key is engraved with a D". Note: You can use the key to get into the castle but there is another simpler way, so it's not really needed (explained further down).

But don't leave the Inn just yet... there is another object you can aquire that can be useful later on in the game. If you 'Wait' six times, the villagers will shout you another tankard of ale. "The other villagers notice your embarrassing lack of a drink, and chip in to buy you a tankard of ale." Note: If you give this 'second' tankard of ale to the old man, you get the same response as before and recieve another small key in your inventory! So you will now have two useless identical small keys in your inventory ; ) 

You can also give the tankard of ale to the villagers "The villagers accept your kind offer and quickly drink the refreshing brew"... but you have lost your tankard of ale which we will need later, so don't do this!

Old church grounds

Head West and you arrive at the old church grounds. Music changes again: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quBlmxuE0Oo

'Examine Church' and you will find a dusty cross in the ruins, you will need this later. If you examine the cross it says "The cross reflects the dying rays of the sun and sparkles in your hands. It appears that the cross is in fact made of gold." So here we see that the sun is setting, and by the time we enter the castle it will be well into the night, when Dracula is at full strength. Head East to the 2nd mill, ignore the barrel as it's empty then go 'up' to enter the mill. Note: There are two identical mills in the game, in one you find the lantern and the flint, in the other a rope and a rung from the ladder. 

Map of part 1 - the village

A good tip is to type 'Show' when you enter a new location. This will 'show' you all the items in the room, whereas typing 'Look' only gives you a description of the room and the exists. This is what caused a lot of players to overlook some key items needed, especially the rope found in the 2nd mill. Although you can see some rope hanging down in the image. 

Inside 2nd mill - identical to first

If you 'Examine Ladder' it tells you that one of the rungs is loose..."One of the bottom rungs of the ladder is rather loose, making it hazardous to attempt to climb up into the loft." So take it! When you 'Examine Rung' it says cryptically "The rung of the ladder is actually the same size as a locking pin from the axle of the wooden dray."

Outside the Duck Inn

Parked outside the Duck Inn you see the wooden dray filled with a load of hay "The wooden cart contains the day's workload of cut hay." So the rung is the same size as the locking pin, that is the metal pin that stops the wheel of the dray from falling off. But how does this help us? It's only when you reach the entrance to the castle does the solution present itself (see further down). 

Graveyard

If you head South from the old church grounds you find yourself in the village graveyard. You will notice there is a freshly dug grave here, and it's exactly your size! Very ominous! There isn't much to do here except to 'Examine Grave' where you find a piece of bone, "As you claw through the wet dirt, you see a piece of bone." when you 'Examine Bone' it says "The mouldy bone looks like it's part of a human skull." But the bone has no use in the game, so there's no point in taking it. Now head West.

Castle path

As you walk along the castle path, the music takes on a more sinister tone: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc0kCkLQ6Zs

You are approaching the castle entrance where none who have entered have ever returned! You can see the sun is high in the sky, this contradicts what we learned at the graveyard... but we can put this down to artistic license ; ) You can examine the tree here "Nothing growing on the ghost-like tree." I only mention this as a lot of adventures don't add this level of detail.

Jetty with boat

You can head North from the castle path to reach the banks of a swiftly flowing river. Here you can see a small boat moored to a jetty on the other side but reaching it is not possible as if you attempt to cross the river you will surely drown "The river blocks your path. The strong current lies hidden below the eddies which swirl about your feet." 

If you do take the risk you are given a warning "You begin to wade into the shallow water near the river bank, but you feel the current pulling at your legs and decide not to attempt the crossing." If you are brave (or foolish) enough to try again this happens "You attempt once more to swim the mighty river, but just as you leave the safety of the shallows near the bank, a whirlpool appears which drags you under the foaming waters. Your final thought as the air is squeezed from your lungs by the incredible pressure is that of sitting by the fire at home drinking a mug of hot soup." We may surmise that the programmer Grahame Willis was a fan of soup ; ) So head back South then West to the Castle entrance.

Closed drawbridge

Here is where the mysterious rung from the ladder comes into play. The wooden rung from the ladder just so happens to be the perfect size as the pin that can lock the drawbridge! There is a wheel you can turn that lowers the drawbridge "The wheel operates the drawbridge. It has a locking mechanism consisting of a slot into which a pin fits." Seems pretty obvious now, but unless you had examined the rung from the ladder you would have not worked out that it's a pin that can be used to lock the wheel. So 'Turn Wheel' then 'Lock Wheel'. This is the only item in the game that changes its item name from a 'rung' to a 'pin'!

Castle entrance - open drawbridge

Note: If you cross the drawbridge without locking the wheel this happens! "As you cross over the drawbridge, a huge iron gate crashes down on you, slicing your head from your body and sending the pieces hurtling down the cliff into the river below."  Yikes! So providing you the lock the wheel it is safe to cross over "You cross over the drawbridge on your way to the castle, and as you do so, you notice a huge iron gate poised delicately above you."  I remember actually feeling anxious as I passed under the huge iron gate for the first time! I could just imagine it squeaking and creaking above as I passed under it! So now head North.

Castle entrance

So after much trial and error my friend and I finally made it to the door that leads into the castle! "The castle towers above you, as you stand before a large wooden door." As mentioned earlier you can use the small key the old man gave you by 'Examine Door' "The door to the castle is made of solid oak with a large iron bolt holding it shut." 'Examine Bolt' "The bolt is held in place by a small lock." 'Unlock Bolt' "You unlock the oak door." 'Open Door' "You open the huge oak door which leads into the Castle of Terror." Note: You don't gain any points using this method. 

However, instead of these four steps all you need do is 'Knock Door' and it opens "You knock on the oak door. Slowly, and with much squeaking and creaking, the huge door swings open, revealing the entrance hall of the Castle of Terror."  You gain 5 points for doing this and proves there is no use for the small key. So I wonder why the programmer made the small key an item at all? I mean the old man gave it to us for a purpose, right? Yet, we don't get any points in the game for using it, yet if we simply knock on the door we get points? Very strange... in any case, let us continue.

Here we must turn the tape over (side B) to load part 2 - the castle. It's clear there was only enough memory for one part at a time, due to the graphics, animations and music used. So once part 2 loads you are presented with the entrance hall of the castle.

Entrance hall

We have made it to part 2 - the castle entrance hall. Exits lead East and West and you can see the eyes moving in the picture frame on the wall... "The eyes of the portrait follow you around the room." Is someone watching us? Could it be the Count keeping an eye on our movements? But before we begin to explore the castle here is the map for part 2.

Part 2 (castle) map

You can reference this map as we dig deeper into this adventure, but for now, we have two options, to go East or West. I always go West first to enter the library.

The library

Since we are now inside the castle, you would think the music would be even more ominous than before! But the entrance hall music is quite upbeat! Listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLasiFdbK2o

We are in the library, here two things can happen. One option will open the curtain on the left of the screen (next to the knight's suit of armour) "An armoured knight prevents you going through a velvet drape to the west". The other is a trap! It's all based on the skull you see with the candle. "A candle drips hot wax over a skull on the table in the library." 

Even though the description tells you there is nothing in this room, the great thing about this game was that you can examine things you can see in the graphic image. For example there is a rug on the floor, if you 'Examine Rug" it tells you "The rug is tacked to the wooden floor, but the boards sound hollow underneath." This gives us a clue about the trap. If you 'Examine Knight" you get "The knight springs to life as you approach. It prevents you getting any closer." So this isn't just an empty suit of armour, some knights in the castle appear to be alive!

'Examine Candle' "The candle is lit" So what do we do? Let's try to extinguish the candle first. You can 'Unlight Candle' or 'Extinguish Candle', "You snuff out the candle and the skull's eyes begin to glow a dull red colour." You see this animated on the screen.

Now 'Examine Skull' "The skull presents a depressing sight". This is a hint of course to press the skull! So we 'Press Skull' "You hear a faint click and the dust on the bookcase stirs." Sounds like a switch or button was activated maybe? In movies there is always a hidden switch or lever when it comes to bookcases and secret passages! OK, so now we 'Examine Bookcase' "The bookcase stands on the other side of the room and contains many dusty volumes." It's not too wild a leap of the imagination to surmise 'Get Book' "As you reach into the bookcase the knight suddenly freezes, and the drape parts to reveal a secret westward passage." This is the way to enter the secret treasure room! Head West. 

Note: You now have a book in your inventory. When you examine the book it says "The book is dusty"... not unlike my old copy of Bram Stroker's Dracula ; )

Treasure room

The music changes again to this mysterious tune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaV6BnrW69E

I always liked this piece of music as it sounds like an old Grandfather clock ticking away... very fitting as it's what you might find in a spooky old castle from the 1800's! Also, it gives you the sense that your time may be running out!

So, there is a 'secret room' in this game where you can obtain a treasure! Just type 'Show' and you will see the treasure > 'Get Treasure'. 'Examine Treasure' "The treasure consists of gold, jewells and money. You have done well, but can you escape with your life?" Now, how to leave this room? There are no visible exits, so we will have work out a way to escape. 

So let's 'Examine Skull' again - this worked in the library "Don't expect that trick to work again." Hmmm... what about if we 'Examine Candle' again "The candle is unlit" Ahh, so now we must do the opposite of what we did in the library. So 'Light Candle' (using the flint we found in part 1 at the first mill), "The candle throws a soft glow over the room which illuminates the bookcase. You notice a book is missing from one shelf."

Since we have the book we took from the library we can simply 'Put Book on Shelf' "You replace the book on the shelf and a secret passage opens to the east." So head East back to the library. Now I mentioned above that two things can happen from the library and one is a trap, but before we explore that option, let's examine the other rooms of the castle.

Banquet hall

Head East back to the entrance hall, then head East again to the banquet hall. Here you see a banquet table covered in cobwebs and old food "The table is covered with cobwebs and the stale food looks as though it has been here for generations."  You will loose 10 points for eating the food "You force some of the stale food down your throat, but feel rather sick afterwards."  You'll also notice another painting with the 'animated' eyes following you!

There is a staircase leading up here, but when you try to go up you get the response "You start to climb the narrow stairs that lead to the castle tower, but the sound of approaching footsteps forces you back, and you return to the banquet hall." At other times 'A barrage of bats beat you back'  So for now we are forbidden to climb the stairs... I will discuss the solution to this problem later in the post. For now head East again to a long gallery.

Long gallery

Here you see an old bookcase by the fire and stairs leading down. If you examine this bookcase it says "The is no secret passage here." So the trick from the library won't work here! We see some stairs leading up but the game doesn't recognise them, so they appear to be just for show. So there is nothing of interest here, let's go down to the armoury.

The armoury

The music changes again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63ikXJd48pY

Here you will find a suit of armour, a shield, an axe, a spear and a sword. You can only carry one item of armour (armour or shield) and one weapon at a time, so you are limited to two items from this room. The two items you will need are the armour and the axe. Head up, then West back to the banquet hall then Down to the tunnels under the castle.

Tunnels under the castle

"The tunnels under the castle lead North to a wooden gate and a smaller passage heads East." There's nothing in this location so let's head North to the wooden gate.

Wooden gate

There are two knights guarding this door and there are several ways to fight them depending on which weapons and armour you are carrying. There is a way to pass the knights without using any weapons or armour by 'Throw Rope' "You throw the rope at the two knights and their spears get tangled up, enabling you to slip past, if you're quick." This works but if you do this you will lose the rope item and it is needed later, so we must find another way to pass them.

 

You can try to fight the guards using the shield, the spear or the sword but you will usually get the same response "You attack the knights but they are too strong for you and beat you back." So it's best to have the armour as this will protect you from their attacks. When you attack the guards with the armour but are carrying no weapon it says "Their blows glance off your armour but leave you bruised and sore." So all we need is a weapon to get past. Using the sword or the spear leaves you bruised and sore again, but using the axe does the trick! "With a mighty blow from the axe, you stun both the armoured knights. Your passage north is now clear."

Now we can head North into the tunnels. The music changes again, this time to its most dramatic and alarming yet! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT_G1GCgQoU

Narrow tunnel

You have entered a narrow tunnel with a spider's web blocking your path forward "A spider web hangs from the low roof of this narrow tunnel."  If you try to move forward past the web it says "As you pass underneath the spider's web, the spider jumps at you and its fangs scratch your arm."  This doesn't kill you but you lose 10 points from the score.

There is a club lying on the floor (as in the image) which when taken will remove the web. 'Swing Club' or 'Remove Web', you will see the sprite of the web vanish from the screen. If you don't use the club to remove the web then this happens "You clear the spider's web out of the way with your bare hands, only to have it bitten by the menacing spider. Your screams can be heard from the village as you die painfully." This is the only use for the club so you can drop it as soon as you have removed the web. Not much of a puzzle and a bit of a time waster I always thought.

Crumbling tunnel

Now we come to a very interesting part of the game! "Desolation confronts you in the crumbling tunnel - the decomposing body of a past adventurer lies across your path." Poor soul! He must have been one of the previous adventurers that tried to rescue the old man's daughter. So we 'Examine Body' "The decomposing body of the adventurer clutches a small piece of paper, a final note to would-be rescuers and his dagger lies near his out-stretched hand." We can't take this piece of paper "The body clutches the note very firmly, you cannot remove it from his grasp" but we can read it "The note says: 'Beware the living dead - they never sleep." 

Note: On the back of the game box there is much more detail shown in this location. You can see bricks lining the walls and also some steps leading up beyond the gated archway. Was this just an artist's impression to fool players into purchasing the game? That is, showing graphic images that look much more detailed than they actually were in game?

Back of box shows more detailed screen captures

It might be hard to tell from the above image, but even the Count's tower image has more detail to it (see further down). So I traced the scanned image from the box to give you a sense of what this location 'should' have looked like.

Crumbling tunnel from the back of the game box

As you can see, there is a lot more detail in this image to what we see in the game (see Crumbling tunnel image above), which is very crude in comparison. The colours are predominantly blue compared to the simple grey tones of game version, and there are cobbled bricks on the wall which are important. In any case... let us continue.

There is a dagger lying on the floor so take it. When you 'Examine Dagger' it says "The dagger has pieces of twine hanging from the blade". This is a clue that will be explained later on in the game.

Before leaving this location 'Examine Tunnel' "The tunnel walls are old and crumbling. The brick-work is in need of repair." 'Examine Brick' "One of the bricks in particular is rather loose and it could fall out quite easily." 'Press Brick' "Pressing the brick produces a faint click followed by a louder clang." So here something has opened perhaps? Remember in the library when we pushed the skull we heard a faint click and the dust on the bookcase stirs... So by pressing this brick something has been unlocked, but what?

If you try to 'Get Brick' it says "By pulling at the brick you broke a piece off and it falls on your toe, giving you a nasty bruise." You lose points for this. If you try to get the brick again it says "Leave the brick alone."  ; )

Dungeon

Head North and you arrive at the dungeon. "The smell of death hits you in the damp dungeon beneath the castle tower. Many ill-fated adventurers have met their untimely end here." Here we have two options, we can go back South through the tunnel to continue the adventure or we can escape the castle right here and abandon the adventure leaving the poor maiden to her grizzly fate! 

If you want to escape 'Examine Cauldron' or 'Examine Pot' "The cauldron contains boiling oil and is very hot". But we can cool it down a little by pouring our tankard of ale over the fire. 'Extinguish Fire' or 'Pour Ale on Fire', "You pour the tankard of ale on the fire, putting it out." When you examine the cauldron again it says "The cauldron of oil has cooled down." So now we can 'Move Pot' "Amid the smell of burning flesh, you manage to slide the cauldron of oil to the side of the fireplace, which reveals a small hole leading down." Go Down, "You are in a dark passage below the dungeon. There is a light to the south." 

I was really disappointed when I first reached this location as there is no image, it's just a black screen. If you have the lantern it makes no difference as you can't even light it... I had hoped having the lantern would illuminate this dark passage but it doesn't. So you still have the option of going back Up to the dungeon, otherwise go South. "You crawl along the dark passageway until it comes out in the village graveyard. You have escaped from the castle and have earned the respect of the village." So it appears that the freshly dug grave we saw in the graveyard is our exit, but the game is now over. "This adventure is over. Type QUIT GAME to finish." Not sure why you deserve the respect of the village as you have left that poor innocent girl in the clutches of the Count. I'm sure the old man would be very disappointed in you!

Back at the library

Now I will explain the other option I mentioned above about the library - the trap! You will lose points for this but it leads straight to the dungeon we were just in. This time don't push the skull as that is the trigger that locks the trapdoor under the rug. Instead just 'Get Book' "As you reach into the bookcase the knight laughs and suddenly a trapdoor opens underneath you, and you fall helplessly down a dark hole." We are back in the dungeon. Head South to reach the crumbling tunnel, South again to reach the narrow tunnel, then South once more to reach the wooden gate guarded by the knights. 

Note: If you visit the dungeon a second time (from the tunnels, i.e heading back North again) you get locked in. "You continue along the tunnel, when suddenly a gate slams shut behind you, blocking the southern exit." You also get a different description "You choke at the sickening sight before you - the bodies of other fools lie rotting on the floor." So now our only way out is via the passage under the cauldron. If you examine the gate that slammed shut it says "The gate has a small lock holding it shut." 'Examine Lock' "The lock is rusted over, it may be possible to break it." Since we have the 'small key' in our inventory I thought it might unlock this lock... but there is no 'unlock' command in the castle section and trying to break the lock doesn't work. So it appears we are stuck here now (unless you use the escape tunnel). 

Back at the wooden gate

So now I'll explain how to get up those stairs in the banquet hall that lead to the castle tower and how there is a bug in the game. When we were in the crumbling tunnel earlier we pushed a brick that produced 'a faint click followed by a louder clang', this I believe was supposed to allow us access up the stairs to the castle tower. However, this doesn't work. For some weird reason it's when you fight the two knights guarding the wooden door that unlocks this feature in the game? So after fighting the guards you can go Up to the banquet hall then Up again to the castle tower. If the game had worked as it was supposed to, pushing the brick should have unlocked the 'gate' or 'door' that had denied us access up to the tower, not by fighting these two knights.

So this stumped my friend and I for ages as we could never get up to the castle tower. I eventually saved up enough money to buy my own brand new copy of the game which I could play at home in the privacy of my bedroom, and I vividly remember the night I finally managed to make it up into the Count's tower! But here is where this game became infamous in the annals of C64 adventure games. 

Castle tower

"A ghastly scene awaits you in the tower. A trail of blood leads from a stone slab to a coffin." Here we find the old man's daughter bound to a stone slab and Dracula in his coffin. When you examine the maiden it says "The young maiden is very attractive and she asks you to get her out of the castle quickly." (Note: the maiden is animated). 'Examine Dracula' "He lies in his coffin asleep, but for one eye which watches you closely. He sees the golden cross and is paralyzed by its dazzling light." 

You have failed to survive!

If you are 'not' carrying the cross this happens when you examine Dracula "He smiles, his fangs sparkling, then grabs you suddenly and pulls you into the coffin." Note: there is a line of text in the program code that doesn't appear in the game and I believe it was supposed to happen here when Dracula pulls you into his coffin "AAARRGGH! You scream as Dracula's fangs sink deep into your neck. Your terrifying cries are to no avail and your body writhes in pain as you die."  I know this as I asked a user (Luc777) on the C64 Lemon forums to extract all the text from the game for me. 

Here we learn that only the dagger will cut the cords holding the maiden captive, the sharp kitchen knife doesn't work... this is why the dagger still had some pieces of twine hanging from the blade as that other adventurer we found lying dead in the crumbling tunnel below must have tried to cut the maiden's bonds free in the past but died in the process! So now we can 'Untie Maiden' "You cut the ropes which bind the maiden, freeing her from the Count's tower. She says she thinks there is a boat by the river in which you might escape, if only you could get there quickly."  So we have rescued the maiden, all we need to do now is kill Dracula.

When you 'Kill Dracula' the game responds with the text "You strike the sleeping Count in the heart, but the blow does not kill him. Too late you remember that only a wooden stake can kill the un-dead, you have but a steel blade. Suddenly the body in the coffin transforms into a bat and flies out the open window into the night." So how does one kill Dracula I asked myself? Or is it even possible? The only weapons available in your inventory are the sharp knife and the dagger but only the knife can be used to stab Dracula, and of course these two weapons are made of steel and we need a wooden stake! 

After the maiden is free and the Count has escaped

So now all we need to do is escape from the castle with the maiden. Head Down twice to the tunnels under the castle then head East to the pit "As you walk along the dark corridor you find a deep pit. You stop just in time to avoid falling in."

The pit

When you examine the pit it says "At the bottom of the pit lies the body of a previous rescuer." Another poor fool who died in this accursed castle! Now, how to get across? If you try to go East it says "You stop at the pit, peering over the edge at the body lying below." So you just have to type 'Jump' "You take a running jump and leap through the air . . .

If you are wearing the armour or carrying the axe "but the weight of your load is too much and you fail to clear the pit. The sharp steel spikes slide easily through your body, tearing the flesh from your bones."  So drop anything not needed.  

When we try again without the extra load it says "You can't carry the girl across the pit without support." 

Hmmm, so what can I do now? If you have the spear and the rope it works "Using the spear and rope as a crude support bridge, you manage to cross over the spiked pit."  Does this mean I use the spear as a bridge to cross the pit? And the rope as some kind of guiding line? How would this even work? Imagine trying to walk across a spiked pit on a spear that might only be a few centermeters wide!

However, all you need to type is 'Throw Rope'... however how this works makes no sense? I mean the rope would have to be tied off at the other side somehow?

Castle side of the Jetty

We are again on the shore of the river which is too dangerous to swim across. We have emerged at the Jetty we saw across the river in part 1 but now we are on the other side. Finally we have come to the end of the adventure! All we need to do is 'Throw Rope' again to cross the river... again makes no sense how this would work, but in any case "You throw the rope across the river and manage to drag yourself through the raging waters to the other side. You have escaped from the Castle of Terror!!"

You can also type 'Help' twice and this happens "You call across the river for help, and the old man from the inn appears in the boat to rescue you. So you survived after all!" I'm sure he would have been very happy to see his beloved daughter again!

The music that played in the first location when the game started now plays here at the end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8lrgxc7uW8

Quite fitting as it now sounds like a triumphant testament to all the trials you have had to endure. Strangely, you can still examine your items or the maiden even though the game has ended "The young maiden is very attractive and she asks you to get her out of the castle quickly." 

You can now type 'Score' to see how well you did out of a possible 290, however playing the game exactly right - that is only doing those actions that will give you points and making sure not to do anything that will lose you points, you only end up with 243. So unless you help the villagers or drink the soup etc. multiple times to try and make up the 47 extra points needed it's not worth bothering about. 

So now we come to the 'infamous' part I mentioned at the beginning!

Gaming magazines of the time usually had a help section where one could find hints to help them solve the numerous adventure games that were available for the C64, so I kept my eyes peeled for any Castle of Terror hints and it turned out there did indeed seem to be a way to kill the Count with a wooden stake! I just hadn't found it yet... the solution required breaking the spear found in the armoury in order to make the stake, but try as I might, I could never make this work?

Here are some of the magazine hints from the time:

In Castle of Terror, Steve King can't find a stake to kill Dracula. Although he can turn him into a bat, Drac just flies off out the window. Issue #46 CVG - August 1985

Having trouble with killing the Count? Breaking a spear is no mistake. 

Issue #06 ZZAP!64 - October 1985

Get a spear and have a break, to find the Drac's heart-piercing stake. 

Issue #52 CVG - February 1986

As you can see, the answer lay in breaking the spear, but how to do it? My friend even said that he had done it once but couldn't remember how, he said he saw 'a broken spear' in his inventory! So I was totally convinced that I was missing something simple in the game, I just needed to keep experimenting with different commands until I could break it. 

I think it's obvious where the whole 'wooden stake' stake idea started. The text "Too late you remember that only a wooden stake can kill the un-dead, you have but a steel blade." I think fooled players into believing that a wooden stake 'must' be present in the game and the spear seemed the most likely candidate as to how to make one although there is no mention that the spear is made of wood. 

Later gaming magazines added some more fuel to the rumour:

Another perennial puzzler comes from Castle of Terror. Everyone knows that you must break the spear to make a stake, (don't they? mustn't you?). Well, for goodness sake, someone tell us how you break it? Countless adventurers are desperate to know. Words of one syllable please. 

Issue #57 CVG - July 1986

Calling all Castle of Terror addicts who can't kill Drac! You should be in for a treat next month. A special plea has gone out to Steve King, of Poole, who has completed the game... 

Issue #58 CVG - August 1986

Note: It only says Steve King had 'completed the game', not killed Dracula.

How to make the stake in Caste of Terror, was the question I put to Steve King a short while ago. He was away in the Middle East at the time, but his wife Julie replied: "I thought you broke the spear to make the stake." That, indeed, is what everyone is just trying to do! However, Julie pointed out that the game is very annoying in that things have to be done in a set order to be successful. So it seems that if the spear is not ready to be broken, you will not be able to do it!

Issue #61 CVG - November 1986

It seems Julie was not the person to ask this question as we have no idea if she even played the game with her husband Steve King. However as mentioned above, Steve only finished the game, there is no mention of him actually killing the Count. But I must admit Julie's statement that 'things had to be done in a set order to be successful' drove me to keep trying ; )

How do you make a stake in Castle of Terror? It is a popular question, and the popular answer is: Break the spear to make the stake. 'But it doesn't work!' you all cry. Well, here is Mike Thomas of Caerphilly, with a definite tone in his voice: 'Attack the Count with the spear and he will become a vampire bat. THEN break the spear into the stake.' Thanks Mike! Now, is THAT any better?

Issue #65 CVG - March 1987

This makes no sense whatsoever!!! For one thing it doesn't even work - if you attack the count with the spear you just get the response "I don't know how to do that." Also, once the Count has turned into a bat and flies away, what then would be the use of breaking the spear? 

Even if you could break the spear (which you can't) Dracula has already left and doesn't return to his coffin. So whoever this 'Mike Thomas of Caerphilly' was he clearly hadn't tested this or was just lying? I'd love to hear his response to this! I'm really surprised that this message was even printed in Computer & Video Games! Didn't they even test these things before publishing them? 

To REALLY kill Dracula, attack him with the spear. This will ensure that the stake, when made, will kim him. 

Issue #69 CVG - July 1987

Again total fantasy!

I tried everything I could think to do with that damn spear! The most promising idea was to fight one of the guards with it in the hopes that it might break during the skirmish. When you examine the spear it says "This long spear is just like the ones the knights have", so again no mention that it is made of wood, but we could surmise that it is. In any case I tried fighting the two knights guarding the wooden gate with no results and if you try to use it against the knight in the library you get the response"There is not enough room in here to use the spear"... arrgggh!

Finally, sometime in the late '90s I decided to try and answer this question once and for all. Since I lived in Sydney and the publisher of the game 'Melbourne House' was based in Victoria I endevoured to call the programmer 'Grahame Willis' and ask him myself. In part 2 when you type 'Version' you get the response "Castle of Terror is brought to you by Grahame Willis and Melbourne House. Copyright 1984 Beam Software." So I started calling all the G. Willis' in the phone book (like the Terminator searching for Sarah Connor!) and asking these strangers 'Did you used to work for Melbourne House?'... after a few failed attempts I got lucky and finally reached the right person! Thank you white pages ; )

So I asked Grahame about the stake rumour, whether there were any other rooms in the castle and about the broken scoring system. Strangely, he had never even heard about the 'broken spear' controversy or that gaming magazines posted hints about making a stake! 

But he couldn't remember off hand if there was any 'real' way to kill the Count, but he still had a print out of the program which he said he would check and get back to me via email. After a few days I received his email which read:

Michael,

You have completed the adventure! 

There are no other exits and you cannot kill the Count with a wooden stake as there is no such object - the message about the bat and the wooden stake was deliberately suggestive so as to invite addiction (I was a sadistic bastard in those days - some say I've not changed!)

For those who said you could break the spear and use that - they're dreaming!

As for the point score, points are obtained from certain actions and deducted for other actions, so even though you've finished, the score may not be as high as you would like.

Some of the positive scoring actions are:

• Getting the soup

• Moving the sack

• Unlocking the wheel

• Lowering the drawbridge

• Knocking on the door

• Opening the door with the key (My Note: no points are awarded for this)

• Helping the villagers (digging in the field)

• Helping them again and again (My Note: you would have to help them 47 times)

• Waiting in the Inn (My Note: Gives you the extra tankard of ale)

• Getting the book (and putting it back)

• Lighting and extinguishing the candle

• Pressing the skull

• Killing the knight (My Note: not possible... or is it?)

• Rescuing the maiden (obviously!)

• Killing the Count (likewise) (My Note: He means stabbing the Count - not killing him)

• Clearing the spider's web

• Using the rope to cross the pit

Some of the negative scoring actions are:

• Climbing the ladder

• Trying to pass the knights

• Being bitten by the spider

• Falling into the dungeon

• Breaking your toe

• Eating the food

• Fighting the knight (when not well armed/protected)

• Being killed by the knight (though the points are pointless once you're dead)

I have a nasty suspicion that you've done all of this and found that 290 might just be impossible anyway - I can't remember!

Sorry to disappoint :)

Regards,

Grahame

So there's an end to it! We also have proof based on the text Luc777 extracted from the game which has no reference to a stake or a broken spear. It appears my school mate was lying afterall, he had a tendancy to do that.

Castle of Terror was published by Melbourne House in 1984. Programmed by Grahame Willis, additional programming by Peter Falconer, graphics by Greg Holland and music by Neil Brennan. 

As I really liked the cover art I searched online for any hint of who it was that had designed it and came across a website about an artist named Steinar Lund. See here:

https://web.archive.org/web/20220227204640/http://www.boxequalsart.com/steinarlundartistpage.html

You may remember this iconic cover art for 'The Last Ninja'? One of Steinar's most famous works! I mean who doesn't remember this?

The Last Ninja cover art

Last Ninja level 1 music (one of the most amazing soundtracks I had ever heard for the C64!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ok1ChTtWQI

I asked Steinar if he still had the original cover art or any concept drawings or sketches for Castle of Terror (not expecting anything) but to my surprise and delight he did! The original cover art was sent to Melbourne House but he still had a hi-res image of the cover and had also kept his old concept designs.

Original air-brush painting cover by Steinar Lund! 

Steinar Lund concept art for the cover and game

Drawing 1: Shows the castle high above cloud filled valleys on a moonlit night. This design may also work with a much more violent evening sky as a thunderstorm.

Drawing 2: Shows a scene in one of the dungeons of the castle where the skeleton of a prisoner is still chained to the wall.

Drawing 3: Shows a close-up of the villain of the game - Dracula. I believe this is a strong image and one which is already extensively known and consequently the basic theme of the game is known too. Again in the actual game there is a screen picture of the face of Dracula. I have given him blood red eyes as this has been done in many of the Dracula films and it helps to portray him as something unnatural.

Drawing 4: Here I have tried to relate with the title of the game by depicting part of the castle and source of the terror - Dracula. In the dark and turbulent sky I have included a thunderflash which is so synonymous with horror stories. I have given Dracula a yellow aura to separate him from the background and to emphasize his supernatural state.

In all these designs I would envisage red typography in order to relate to Dracula's blood lust.

So here we are the first to see this amazing old concept art that would have never have seen the light of day had it not been for Steinar's generosity ; ) I was really impressed when I first saw this concept art, and in fact he told me that this wasn't the norm. Usually he made pencil sketches only of his concept art, but for Castle of Terror he made these paintings.

Next I looked up any info on the sound designer 'Neil Brennan' and found this interview with him by Neil Carr:

https://www.remix64.com/interviews/an-interview-with-neil-brennan.html

You can read the whole interview but there is one small mention about his work on Castle of Terror - Question: "Castle of Terror is interesting due to the music in the game changing throughout, setting the mood of various scenes and raising the tension as you progress. The music is still chilling to this day by the way. It's possibly one of the first games to feature an evolving soundtrack so it's quite historical in those regards. It's something that these days we are use to but back then it was a rarity. What can you tell us about how you went about composing the music for this game and its atmosphere?"

Answer from Neil Brennan: "I’ve just gone onto YouTube to listen to the Castle of Terror pieces. I honestly can’t remember writing them, but know them well. It’s a strange feeling."

"I think the progression that you’re talking about is mostly because they are themes that develop over time, that we plotted the game sections to progress through. The original pieces used lots of moody cello sounds, pizzicato strings and suspended horror movie chords, some of which makes it through to the game. I do recall trying to use space as much as possible, just because it’s creepy and was a bit unusual in games at the time."

Lastly the only reference I could find about the graphics creator 'Greg Holland' was this:

https://web.archive.org/web/20200128021851/http://www.ourdigitalheritage.org/archive/playitagain/creators/greg-holland/

There is a defunct video link on this website that I managed to track down via the Internet Archive - which is rare, as usually video links never work on the Internet Archive... at least in my experience. So I've uploaded it to my youtube channel so this video can be made available again. Sadly, Greg makes no mention of 'Castle of Terror' but does explain how he had to make bit mapped graphics working with such a small amount of memory on the C64.

See his presentation video here: https://youtu.be/OR9R_y2op2s

His most famous game was 'The Way of the Exploding Fist', which was a huge success for the company and made them millions! See video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_3rmoA1JKY

Note: I have never found any info on the other programmer 'Peter Falconer' of Melbourne House, so if you're out there somewhere and read this blog be sure to post a comment in the messages section below... Same goes for Grahame Willis, Neil Brennan and Greg Holland ; ) Love your work!

So in the end, we must give into the fact that there was never a legitimate way to kill Dracula, but this didn't stop me from making my own way to do it! I made a short video showing 'what it would have looked liked' if we could have killed the Count! This was a very short video made back in December, 2008 - only 9 seconds long! See here:

https://youtu.be/rErPz_fGqeM

Later in 2022 I made a better quality version - here: https://youtu.be/CJNqBTugnVM

One last thing... I also made this image (for fun) of a 'secret location' that you would find if after pressing the brick in the crumbling tunnel, the bricks would open revealing a secret location! Here you would find the 'wooden stake' that you would need to kill the Count! Ah, if only this was the case ; )

Killing the Count!

Update: This game is now available on Steam! Published by Pixel Games UK on June 15th, 2023. I was really surprised to see this on Steam as I had never imagined that an old Commodore 64 game would be available on a platform like this? The price was only $4.50 (AUD)!

Castle of Terror on Steam

Extra features in the Steam version

I was shocked by the memory requirements: A 64-bit processor with 100MB RAM and 50MB of storage space for a game that only used 64 kilobytes of RAM on the original Commodore 64? But I guess it's the built-in emulator that uses all that memory.

New menu features

Display options

So, you don't need a C64 emulator anymore to play this game, just buy it on Steam and play it!

Once you have downloaded the game you will see this cool little game icon ; )