text: > Go down
  As they walked around the coal mine there were all these flowers that sprang up.
  
  The mine was about to explode, but they didn't know that.
  
  court.
  
  There was one coalflower right at Leana's feet.
  
  > examine the coalflower
  (the coalflower)
  They had to be careful to touch only the stem, because if you touch
  the petals, it can kill at a coalflower's touch.
  
  > Go upwards
  The Goblin King sat on a huge throne and there were a hundred other goblins hanging around him. He said, "Little girl, and little boy, I can still bring you back to life, but you still have to answer my riddle."
  
  To the east of the goblin court was the lake of the dead, and underneath the court was the goblins' coal mine.
  
  > look at King
  He was the biggest, fattest goblin, and all the other goblins swore loyalty to him.
  
  > talk to King
  The goblin king told them his riddle: "What is the longest word you
  can write with the top row of a typewriter?"
  
  And Garrin said, "That's easy! It's TYPEWRITER!"
  
  And the Goblin King got really mad, and swore they cheated, but he had to honor his end of the deal, so he brought Leana and Garrin back to life. When they woke up, they were back at the school library with Chloe.
  
  Their headquarters was the library in the top floor of the school. Chloe was lying in a bed they made out of cushions. She had to get the potion to under the banshee's curse, or she would die.
  
  To the east of the school was the town graveyard. To the west of the school was the museum.
  
  There was a magic chalice that they could make a potion to cure the curse if they had all the ingredients.
  
  > examine it
  The chalice was a fancy type of cup. It had an engraving on it of a selkie, which is an Irish mythological creature.
  
  They had to put all the potion ingredients in there to create the potion.
  
  > Go west
  At the town's museum there was an exhibit about Ancient Egypt. They
  had a mummy in a sarcophagus, and it came to life. If it touched you, you would die. But Garrin and the dragonfly had a plan to distract the mummy.
  
  To the east of the museum was their school.
  
  Some of its dust was left inside its sarcophagus.
  
  > take the dust
  The dragonfly buzzed over to the mummy and started flying around its head to confuse it. While the mummy was distracted, Leana and Garrin took the dust out of its sarcophagus.
  
  > put the dust in the chalice
  They put the mummy's dust into the chalice.
  
  > put the coalflower in the chalice
  They put the coalflower into the chalice.
  
  > put Fern in the chalice
  They put the Forever Fern into the chalice.
  
  > examine the map
  curse of the banshee were:
  
  A Forever Fern, in the Garden of Doom
  A coalflower, in the goblin coal mine
  A pinch of mummy dust, from a mummy's sarcophagus
  ...and one more ingredient that was smudged. But they could see the path leading up to the smudge, and it had a special crow's stone on
  one side. A stone in the shape of a crow.
  
  > go east
  Their headquarters was the library in the top floor of the school. Chloe was lying in a bed they made out of cushions. She had to get the potion to under the banshee's curse, or she would die.
  
  To the east of the school was the town graveyard. To the west of the school was the museum.
  
  > Go east
  The graveyard was full of these scraggly trees that looked like hands. And there were stars shining up above.
  
  There was a ghost dog there, who kept digging up human bones.
  
  To the east of the graveyard was the haunted house. To the west of the graveyard was the school.
  
  > Go east
  In the house there was a bedroom with chains and blood. In the front
  of the house there was a carriage with a skeleton horse. In the back yard of the house there was a garden.
  
  > examine the carriage
  A long time ago there was a girl whose birthday was on Halloween. Her friends never came to her birthday party, even though she invited all of them, because they were out trick or treating. She went out to look for them, and she was never seen again.
  
  She is seen on Halloween, in a carriage with a skeleton horse. If you go inside the carriage, you will be cursed to be at her party forever.
  
  > examine stone
  The stone was shaped like a crow. The crow's stone! That meant that
  the last ingredient was behind the house, to the east!
  
  > go to the east
  They followed the path to a hill covered in cherry trees.
  
  To the west of the cherry orchard was the haunted house.
  
  There was one magic cherry hanging from a branch.
  
  > look at the cherry
  (the magic cherry)
  Leana and Garrin looked at each other and said "This must be the last ingredient!"
  
  > put it in the chalice
  They put the magic cherry into the chalice.
  
  Now they had all four ingredients! They mixed the potion and brought
  it to Chloe. Chloe drank it, and her eyes lit up, and she said she
  felt fine.
  
  But the banshee knew that her curse was cured, and she swore that she would have revenge.
  
  "
  
  "Yes," someone says. "My question is for the teacher: Why are you
  here? Why did you bring a bunch of little kids to a meeting of adult horror authors? In the middle of the night?"
  
  Miss Shiroiwa glances across the room and catches my eye, and I can
  see the exact moment when she decides to throw me under the bus: "It was Ryan's idea, actually," she says.
  
  Someone mutters something.
  
  But the moderator has my back, for once: "I'm sure it is indeed very much past these young authors' bedtimes," he says. "So I think we will bid them bon soir, after we've given them one more round of
  applause."
  
  Everyone can get behind this, and Miss Shiroiwa leads a beaming procession of students out into the hall while avoiding eye contact with me.
  with me.Now it is time for the next author to step forward and share the next of the evening's hideous entertainments.
  
  ...Hold on. Somebody is looking at us. Giving us the hairy eyeball.
  Who the heck is this guy and what the heck is his problem?
  
  "Hello," I say, sounding very tough and cool. "Who are you, exactly?"
  
  "I'm Thomas Ligotti. Who is that with you?" the guy asks. He's talking about you.
  
  "This is my guest! The same guest I brought in 2018 and 2019!"
  
  "I don't think we're allowed to bring guests," someone else adds unhelpfully.
  
  "Well, it's never been a problem before, so let's just move on." I
  wave at the moderator to let the next author start reading.
  
  But the moderator shakes his head: "The convocation at Castle Balderstone is a place for the world's foremost authors of horror to share their work with each other. The charter does not allow
  for visiting observers. Now, if your guest were prepared to present a horror story, that would be a different matter."
  
  The other authors start murmuring in agreement. Looks like we're up against the wall on this one. Dang.
  
  Okay, I've got an idea. "As a matter of fact, my guest is
  prepared to present a horror story, actually! We just need to get psyched up first. So we'll just step out into the hallway for a
  moment, if you don't mind."
  
  Press any key to step out into the hallway with me.
  Press any key to step out into the hallway with me.## Musty Hallway
  A damp passageway lit only by the firelight from within the library
  and occasional flashes of lightning.
  
  Okay, don't panic. We just have to come up with some ideas. I mean,
  you have to come up with some ideas. I've got a pretty good outline we can use, but you'll need to supply the specifics.
  
  There's no rush on any of this. Take as long as you want. But I don't know if "UNDO" is going to work during this part, so, try and get everything right the first time.
  
  First, give me a girl's name, like "Wendy."
  
  > Floyda
  Sure. Now, I need an inanimate natural object, like "fallen log."
  
  > Tree trunk
  Next, something that has wheels���but, not a car.
  
  > Turbogenerator
  Okay, an adjective next. Something that you'd apply to something creepy.
  
  > Discman
  Okay. How about: an adjective for something old.
  
  > Boomerish
  That works fine. Next, give me a job title that's respectable, but not impressive.
  
  > Health inspector
  Really? Okay.
  
  Now, this one is important: A creepy location. A place where you feel uncomfortable.
  
  > Outside
  Great. Okay. Now I need a small object that can pick a lock.
  
  > Paperclip
  How about an adjective that means "nice," as in, "a nice person."
  
  > Occupied mousetrap
  Cool. Next I need an adjective that you associate with boring people.
  
  > Normal
  Next, a dangerous household object.
  
  > Axe
  And a large-ish container, like a suitcase or a treasure chest.
  
  > Hamper
  A cute dessert?
  
  > Eclair
  Okay, here's a fun one: A substance or material that is typically dry.
  
  > Powdered tungsten
  How about, what is the most boring US state? Or just name a boring location, I guess.
  
  > Creaky
  An adjective that you find desirable in a person, like "artistic" or "rich."
  
  > Eccentric
  A tiny cute animal, something that fits in your hand.
  
  > Hamster
  A type of metal.
  
  > Sodium
  A body part.
  
  > Hand
  An upsetting color.
  
  > Puce
  An adjective that you'd use to describe a fluid.
  
  > Vomitous
  A smallish container, something that would fit in a drawer.
  
  > Iphone box
  Okay, just a couple more details. What name should we credit you with, as the author of this story?
  
  > Club floyd
  And finally, give me any four words from a nursery rhyme or a poem or something like that. (Don't overthink this. Trust me.)
  
  > Goblins will get you
  Perfect. Awesome. We can work with this. Absolutely.
  
  Press any key to head back into the library.
  Library
  The authors have started chatting with each other in our absence, but they get really quiet when they see us come in. They're all looking at you expectantly.
  
  Don't worry, you're going to do great.
  
  The moderator clears his throat. "Well, this wasn't on the schedule, but it appears that now we have a story from Club Floyd." Oh my gosh, he cannot deal with the fact that I called his bluff!
  
  I mean, we called his bluff, obviously. Together. Now get up
  there and knock 'em dead!
  
  Floyda finds herself in an outside. There's an oddly creaky energy in the air. Somehow she has the feeling that she has been here before.
  
  There is a hamper here, which isn't that strange.
  
  The presence of a tree trunk is somewhat more unusual.
  
  > About you
  Floyda is a normal person, a health inspector from New Brunswick.
  She's swell, but she's not eccentric.
  
  > Inventory
  She is carrying nothing.
  
  A creaking noise reaches her ears from far away.
  
  > examine the hamper
  It's a perfectly normal hamper. Or, it looks perfectly normal.
  
  The creaking noise is getting closer.
  
  > open it
  She opens the hamper, revealing a discman.
  
  A turbogenerator rolls into view, its wheels creaking noisily.
  
  "Hey there, eclair," the turbogenerator says. "You're looking good."
  
  Floyda backs away slowly.
  
  > look at the turbogenerator
  It seems like a normal turbogenerator, until she notices there's a
  hand sticking out of the side.
  
  "What's wrong?" the turbogenerator asks in a creaking voice. It keeps coming closer. Floyda keeps backing away. "Why don't you like me anymore? What did I do?"
  
  > examine the discman
  "What would a discman be doing here?" she wonders. Something doesn't seem right.
  
  "Don't be mean to me," the turbogenerator pleads. "I don't want you to be mean."
  
  Floyda reaches behind herself. Her hand finds an axe.
  
  > take the axe
  She already has that.
  
  "What are you doing with that axe?" asks the turbogenerator, still coming closer. Closer.
  
  > hit the turbogenerator with the axe
  Floyda swings the axe down on the turbogenerator. The thing splits
  down the middle and bursts open: A flood of wet powdered tungsten
  flows out of the crumpled husk.
  
  She holds her breath, waiting for the turbogenerator and its horrible hand to start moving again. But it's gone. Now there's only powdered tungsten oozing everywhere.
  
  > examine the tungsten
  She kneels down to inspect the slimy powdered tungsten. Something in there is moving.
  
  It pops out: A tiny hamster, covered in vomitous fluids.
  
  The little hamster coughs miserably.
  
  > take the hamster
  Floyda picks up the poor wet hamster and strokes its back. The
  creature is in distress. There's something caught in its throat.
  
  The hamster coughs up a sodium key. Now it's feeling better.
  
  > examine the key
  A simple key made of sodium.
  
  > take the discman
  She picks up the discman, revealing an occupied mousetrap!
  
  > examine the mousetrap
  The occupied mousetrap twitches, and Floyda jerks back in revulsion.