text: [Themes: female protagonist, Lovecraftian, horror]
  
  > Go downward
  Landing at the Bottom of Stairs (Mark Sample)
  This is a dark alcove with a narrow stairway rising into the gloom upstairs. Shadows lurch over a doorway to the south. Opposite those shadows lies another doorway, in even darker shadows. What little light there is seeps in from a small elliptical window high on the wall.
  
  The ramshackle bookshelf lies in a pile of splintered wood on the floor like a fallen scarecrow, arms akimbo.
  
  --and just as abruptly as it began, the knocking stops. Silence descends on Cragne Manor once more.
  
  > go south
  Foyer (Greg Frost)
  Standing in the narrow entry hall is like being at the mouth of a cave. The only light comes in through tall windows on either side of the door and a half-round window above. All of the furniture has been removed from the foyer, leaving tracks in the heavy dust.
  
  Afternoon light slants across the floor. Hallways lead west and east into other parts of the house. A doorway leads north; the front door is to the south.
  
  > look at front Door
  It's a solid wooden door, painted white with black hardware. It's currently hanging open. The outside is grimy and faded.
  
  > Go upwards
  Top of Stairs (Q. Pheevr)
  You are at the top of a staircase, which leads down to Landing at the Bottom of Stairs (Mark Sample). An archway leads east to Upstairs Hall, north end (Jason Love).
  
  On the north wall is a round white wall clock.
  
  For some reason, there is a dilapidated kitchen sink standing against the west wall.
  
  > examine the clock
  A round white wall clock with black Arabic numbers. It currently shows the time as 7:41.
  
  > look at the sink
  It's not obvious whether the sink is plumbed in or just sitting here. The faucet is rusty and the basin is stained. Below the sink is a pine cabinet, which is closed.
  
  > look at the cabinet
  The cabinet is made of pine. It is marred by several scratches near the bottom.
  
  > open it
  You open the cabinet under the sink, revealing a pink-bound book.
  
  > Examine book
  (the old paperback book (smelling faintly of mildew))
  The old paperback book is pretty thick, and the pages are yellowed and lacerated here and there. You're not a bookworm, but the condition of the book and the outdated font and style of drawing on the cover tell you it was printed decades ago, maybe at the beginning of the century.
  
  Judging by the cover the book seems to be a bit pulpy. It shows a large, old and eerie house on a clearing in the woods. The title is "ANCHORHEAD. A What-do-I-do-now Book Based on the Works of MICHAEL GENTRY." A scraggy sticker with the insignia of the Backwater Public Library, on it indicates that by no means you want to pay the fine for exceeding the return deadline.
  
  Frost lines the edges of the library insignia.
  
  > look athe pink-bound book
  A quarto-size volume bound in remarkably ugly pink leather, with a label on the spine. The book bears the title Venator in
  Tenebris, but no author's name is given. The front endpaper is embossed with the insignia of the Backwater Public Library. On the title page, there is a footnote in which the anonymous author appears to be pleading for forgiveness from a hooligan and some kind of metal cup-holder.
  
  > read it
  The pink-bound book gives off a sinister energy (and a highly unpleasant smell).
  Are you sure you want to read it?
  
  > Yes
  You begin to read. You find yourself immersed in the legend of a creature living in... 
  
  Limestone Caverns (inside the pink-bound book)
  These caves are your home. You know every stalagmite, stalactite, pit, and bat's nest.
  
  From this part of the cavern you can go southeast, southwest and down.
  
  > About you
  You are burly but nimble. Your matted fur is glorious. Your teeth and claws are formidable. Your suckers kiss and caress the surfaces of the cavern.
  
  > Inventory
  You have no use for tools, clothes, or weapons. You are utterly sufficient unto yourself.
  
  > go southeast
  Limestone Caverns (inside the pink-bound book)
  These caves are your home. You know every stalagmite, stalactite, pit, and bat's nest.
  
  From this part of the cavern you can go northwest, southwest and down.
  
  From the cave below, a long, thin shape comes flying through the air, following a strange arcing path through the convoluted passages of the cavern.
  
  It strikes your fur and somehow it keeps going, into your flesh. Nothing could be that sharp, could it? Not even your own claws. But it pierces your hide and goes deep into your body.
  
  You howl. You can feel something evil in the shape working its way into your blood. You try to pull the thing out of your flesh but you can no longer feel where it is. Everything hurts. Your vision goes dark.
  
  No! This cannot be how the story ends.
  
  You stop reading and fling the pink-bound book away... 
  
  Top of Stairs (Q. Pheevr)
  You are at the top of a staircase, which leads down to Landing at the Bottom of Stairs (Mark Sample). An archway leads east to Upstairs Hall, north end (Jason Love).
  
  On the north wall is a round white wall clock.
  
  Standing against the west wall is a dilapidated kitchen sink with a pine cabinet under it.
  
  You can also see a pink-bound book here.
  
  As you finish reading the passage, the spark moves through the book with an eerie hum, leaving frost behind on the library insignia.
  
  With another snap, the air seems to shift, and the faint outline of a well-dressed man coalesces around the spark.
  
  > examine man
  The outline of an African-American man in a suit and tie fades in and out of view around a hovering spark.
  
  A faint smell of mildew emanates from it.
  
  > get pink
  You pick up the pink-bound book and start reading again... 
  
  Limestone Caverns (inside the pink-bound book)
  These caves are your home. You know every stalagmite, stalactite, pit, and bat's nest.
  
  From this part of the cavern you can go southeast, southwest and down.
  
  > go southwest
  Limestone Caverns (inside the pink-bound book)
  These caves are your home. You know every stalagmite, stalactite, pit, and bat's nest.
  
  From this part of the cavern you can go northeast, southeast and down.