Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion RPG

"For as long as you can remember, legends have been told about the derelict mansion upon the hill that casts a blanket of darkness over the town. The history of the house itself is virtually unknown, and even the town's oldest residents cannot remember the mansion's origin. Being an avid history enthusiast, you embark up the mountain to visit the manor. Hoping to shed some light on the backstory of this crumbling fortress of darkness."

THE MANSION is a towering, multiple-story building, an example of 19th century architecture. From the outside, it looks imposing, though perfectly explorable within the timespan of a single afternoon. However, once you step inside, the true nature of this manor becomes apparent – in most rooms, the only way is forward; returning to a previous room or leaving is impossible, as doors magically seal themselves shut the moment you pass through them; the architecture often loops in on itself and becomes downright non-Euclidean the further you go on. However, there are no dead end rooms – every room has a clearly defined and visible entrance & exit. Most rooms are utilitarian in their construction, being simple halls or corridors, with the occasional bizarre painting to spruce things up. Only some have basic furnishing that befits their intended function (if there is any). Even then, the architecture is uncanny — some rooms are too large for the sparse amount of furniture they have, and others simply have chairs & tables placed into them meaninglessly. Most "stairs" are simple diagonal inclines in the floor, and only some have actual steps. In certain rooms, the architectural style changes completely, as if you've stepped into a completely different building – these areas are known as Specimen Locales, and it is where you'll be meeting one of your ghastly pursuers for the first time. The texture pattern on the walls, floor and ceiling changes every time you reach an Elevator and go down to the next floor. Though Spooky wants you to only go through 1000 rooms, the Mansion extends well beyond that. It may as well be infinite.

SPOOKY is the owner of the Mansion, de-facto leader od GL Labs, and the ghost of a 12-year old girl. She has pale-cyan skin and blue hair, clad in a light-blue, somewhat ragged dress. Her appearance is oddly simplistic, as if she's stepped out of a cartoon – her hands are simple nubs with thumb shapes, her legs are not visible, her eyes and mouth are simple black shapes that can change to suit her current expression. With her, she often carries an oversized Bowie knife, with a black handle. Spooky presents an affable & quirky, somewhat awkward facade, being friendly towards would-be visitors; though, she tends to throw out some backhanded compliments and barely concealed jabs at your character the longer you manage to survive. Her budding sociopathy & unchecked narcissism reach downright comedic levels. In secret, she is building an army of ghosts & ghouls that she can use to conquer the world – so that no one may ever call her "cute" & "adorable" again; she really, really hates that. Spooky originally died sometime in the 1950's, when one Halloween night, she dressed up as the Red Death (from the Edgar Allan Poe story, "Masque of Red Death") and pranked her father by jumping out while setting off firecrackers. However, her father was in the midst of an alcohol-induced PTSD episode from his experiences in the Vietnam War, and ended up fatally shooting her with a rifle on accident. Heartbroken, he concealed his involvement by framing a homeless veteran for the murder. Together, Spooky's parents founded GL Labs, a company that researches the paranormal, in hopes of finding a way to bring Spooky back from the dead. Eventually, Spooky's mother passed away, and the father was left on his own. His company's mad experiments created the Dolls in the Dollhouse, and eventually, he had stumbled onto an ancient artefact "from the old kingdom era". At the cost of his own life, Spooky's father brought her spirit back from the afterlife, but her mind was somehow warped. She promptly took over GL Labs, and directed its employees to capture various monsters & entities around the world, leading into the Mansion situation today.

GL LABS is the paranormal research company founded by Spooky's father. GL stands for Generic Lab. The organisation has several laboratories and research facilities around the Mansion, which now serve as impromptu Specimen Locales. Its employees are treated by Spooky as little more than disposable slaves - casualties rack up quite often. GL Labs are the creators of the CAT-DOS database system, whose terminals may also be randomly found across the Mansion, in specialized rooms.

ROOMS are typically sparse, with only basic furniture to speak of in terms of decoration – though, sometimes you may also find carpets, as well as various creepy and otherwordly paintings. Most rooms are lit by perpetually-burning torches in metal sconces on the walls, but even the "dark" ones are typically bright enough to navigate without issue. Most rooms are hallways with no apparent function - some are short and thin, some are wide and long, and some twist and turn, even in on themselves. Sometimes you may encounter bedrooms, living rooms or stairwells – but no matter how much you go up or down, your apparent elevation within the larger Mansion does not change until you enter an Elevator.

ELEVATORS are large lifts that appear every 50 rooms – or every 100, after you get past the 300th room. Within each elevator, there is a purple cross that can be used as a "save point" and heals your wounds, as well as a red button labeled "DOWN". There is no "UP" button, the only way is down to the next "floor" of the Mansion. Each elevator can only go down one floor. These rooms are considered safe zones, no Specimen can enter them (except for Specimen 9). Typically, an elevator also has one or two posters depicting surreal scenes or PSAs.

NOTES can be found scattered around the Mansion and its various areas. These pieces of text detail the thoughts & experiences of previous visitors to the Mansion, as well as people who've encountered certain Specimens before GL Labs got a hold of them. Pertinent information may be hidden in these notes, so be on the lookout for them! As an aside, they can sometimes appear attached to instances of Specimen 1.

SPECIAL ROOMS can appear randomly during your trek through the Mansion. Some are safe zones, some aren't. ACID POOL ROOMS are characterised by their dark-green tint, as well as the titular square pools of green acid within. Why is it there? Who knows! But it's probably best to not touch it. Certain acid pool rooms have large fishtanks lining the walls – some are occupied by groups of small blue fish, some are full of blood and human bones... PURPLE ROOMS are characterised by their dark-purple tint. They are otherwise barren and perfectly ordinary. ABYSS ROOMS are large, wide-open chambers with maze-like paths built over a bottomless black pit. There are no guardrails, so don't fall! You may also sometimes have to guess which path leads forward and which is a dead end. BRIDGE ROOMS are wooden bridges of varying length, spanning over underground chasms that the Mansion is built inbetween. You may sometimes spot other bridges in the distance. THE BRAINFRAME is a special room that hosts a large brain floating inside a giant glass tank, connected to various complex machinery. Occasionally, getting close to the Brain will cause it to telepathically "communicate" a four-digit password to you, but for what...? Also, if you had a weapon of some kind, you could break the tank open... But that probably wouldn't be the best idea. Otherwise, this is a safe zone.

THE ARCADE ROOM has four arcade machines. Three are playable, while the fourth is out of service and requires a password to access (hint: consult the Brainframe!). The first arcade machine is MALL OF THE SPOOK, a 2D endless side-scroller where you play as Spooky and knife various random people to stop a red bloodlust meter from running out. The second arcade machine is MRS. SPOOK, a Pac-Man clone where you control Spooky, who replaces one of the four ghosts in the original. Your goal is to catch Pac-Man before he eats all the pellets. When you do so, he gets impaled with a huge nail and fucking dies. The third arcade machine is SPOOKY KART, a 3D racing game where you control Spooky, drving a pink Marauder military truck. Your goal is to make all the other racers, who are driving orange Reliant Robins, crash so that you can move on to the next level. The fourth arcade machine, when the correct password is entered, shows a short video detailing how Spooky originally died. The arcade room is a safe zone. Also, whatever name you input on the high scores screen for each arcade machine will automatically be turned into SPOOKY.

THE ENDLESS HALLWAY is a rarely-appearing room, with three paths – the door to the next room is to the left, an empty side area is to the right, and directly forward is the titular endless hallway. It is a trap; the further you go down the hallway, the narrower it gets, until you are unable to move. Once you're stuck, Specimen 9 will appear to kill you. Best to just take the door to your left when you see this room...

THE FOGGY MAZE is an illuminated puzzle room with a trial & error basis. Upon entry, there are three ways you may go - left, forward, right. You must pick the "correct" way, indicated by a "dinging" piano note; if you pick the wrong way, you will hear a "donking" acoustic guitar note. Your objective is to get four "correct" guesses - such as "front-right-left-front" or "left-left-right-right" - to reach the exit door. Otherwise, the room will keep on looping until you get it right. The foggy maze is a safe zone.

HOWARD'S ROOM is composed of a locked door, some small tables, and a turning hallway ahead. Going down the hallway will make the room loop. After two loops, a note will appear on one of the small tables, reading: This was such a surprise. That there would be another entry. Another actual entry. One I could admire. But then as suddenly as it came, it left. And now you disband. Your influence and inspiration will never leave me. To leave, you must loop 3 times, and then pick up the note; this will unlock the door and allow you to proceed. Whilst looping, you may encounter Howard – a shadowy spectre with a dark, bronze-colored body. He is harmless, but may jumpscare you.

THE MAP ROOM is a small T-shaped room, with a large purple map on the wall. The entirely unhelpful map consists of numerous cluttered rooms, some of which are floating back and forth, with yellow text reading "YOU ARE HERE". There are two doors, one on either side, that serve as exits.

THE PHONE ROOM has a small desk, chair, fan and telephone. Picking the phone up will treat you to an one-sided conversation with a female that just keeps saying "Hello" in different tones, and may occasionally tell you to not look directly into the fan. She will keep going on like this forever, so just proceed to the next room when you get bored.

THE LP ROOM is covered in white fog, with windows showing a view of a snowy outside with some bushes – but don't be fooled! You're still inside the Mansion! There is a red couch, as well as four pictures on the wall, displaying famous YouTubers and Let's Players. The pictures change each time this room appears.

THE CHANDELIER ROOM is very rare, but has nothing special going on. It has a black-&-white tiled floor, along with a large golden chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and two exit doors.

CAT-DOS is a database/operating system created by GL Labs. CAT-DOS terminals can be found in rare special rooms. The CAT-DOS interface has a predominantly red color scheme, with yellow text, and faint static covering the screen. The CAT-DOS logo is a cartoonish "cat face" rendered in Unicode emoticons. When using CAT-DOS, you have three options:

1. ACCESS_SPECIMEN_DATABASE, which shows you an entry list of every Specimen in the Mansion (some entries are initially inaccessible). Each entry lists a Specimen's status, their kill count, method of killing, and a short description;
2. MODIFY_HOUSE_LAYOUT, which just brings up an error message and does nothing else;
3. EXIT_PROGRAM, which shuts CAT-DOS off. There is a secret list of Spcimen entries that can be accessed if you select the MODIFY_HOUSE_LAYOUT option six times in a row, then open Specimen 9's entry in the database. The CAT-DOS rooms are considered safe zones.

SPECIMENS are the hostile entities of varying danger you will be dealing with throughout your time in the Mansion. Specimen 1 and 9 can be encountered at any point, while the rest will first appear in their designated Specimen Locales, before being able to rechase you later on. Sometimes, Specimens may occasionally team up to chase you as a duo or even as a group.

SPECIMEN 1 takes the form of cardboard cutouts, depicting various cartoon monsters, animals or objects, that pop up from the walls in random rooms. These cutouts are harmless and simply serve as jumpscares. They are accompanied by varying noises, from 8-bit beeps and boops to piano notes to ear-piercing wooden creaking to loud bangs to monstrous roars to cutesy vocalizations. These are the only Specimen you'll encounter for the first 50 rooms. While harmless on their own, they can appear during chases and prove to be troublesome obstacles by temporarily blocking your path. They can be torn down if you have a weapon of some kind. Spcimen 1 is made from 100% recycled cardboard.

SPECIMEN 2 takes the form of a floating legless semi-solid specter, whose body is made out of a dark-green gelatinous substance. It has an emaciated appearance, with clawed hands, and its face has no features save for a perpetually open mouth full of sharp white teeth. Specimen 2 is hostile, and can float over gaps as it pursues you. Its only vocalizations are loud choking noises. Whenever it is chasing you, slime puddles will appear on the floor in most rooms; stepping onto these puddles will temporarily slow you down, as they are quite sticky. It can't be killed, as striking it with a weapon will cause it to simply collapse into a liquid puddle, at which point Specimen 2 will reform over the course of several seconds. However, it can't move until it has fully reconstituted itself. Specimen 2 first appears in Room 60 - a small square room with a slime puddle in the middle, and a note off to the side. The note reads: Spouting, Splashing, Soaking. Innards, Ingest, Invoking. Nailing, Never, Stops the Choking Picking the note up will cause Specimen 2 to emerge from the puddle and begin the chase.

SPECIMEN 3 takes the form of a giant insectoid creature with a dark-brown exoskeleton - a spider-centipede hybrid. It has sharp venomous pincers and eight green eyes. Its movements are characterised by the audible clicking of its numerous legs; it occasionally emits warbling growls. When chasing, Specimen 3 often drops down from holes it has dug in the ceiling, right after you pass under one. If a room has no ceiling, it will simply bust down the door you came from. Specimen 3 is fast when moving in straight lines, but has trouble taking turns and must slow down considerably each time. Its exoskeleton is nigh-impenetrable, and striking it with a weapon will simply cause Specimen 3 to retreat to a safe distance for a few moments, before resuming the chase. Specimen 3 first appears in Room 120 - a small GL Labs facility, where it was kept in development as "Subject 5". However, due to Spooky neglecting to supply funds for sedatives, Specimen 3 escaped containment and killed all of the staff members. To proceed in this area, you must find a keycard to open the exit door. Upon reaching the exit room, Specimen 3 will emerge from a ceiling hole and begin chasing.

SPECIMEN 4 takes the form of a hostile spirit, resembling a Japanese woman in a light-gray kimono, with black eyes and hair, pale skin and bloody clawed hands. She can float over gaps and pass through walls, so be cautious. Her method of attack is to bite chunks out of her victims' flesh. She may communicate by speaking in short English sentences, or giggling. Due to being an incorporeal ghost, Specimen 4 cannot be harmed by any conventional means. Just focus on running. Specimen 4 first appears in Room 165 - a recreation of a Japanese school's interior. These rooms are dark, necessitating the use of a personal light source. Once you reach the exit intersection in Room 167, Specimen 4 will appear behind you and give chase.

SPECIMEN 5 takes the form of a faceless, mannequin-like creature with a vaguely feminine body, that has a large rusted sword attached to its right arm. Specimen 5 is corporeal and slowly walks as it gives chase; however, its main ability lies in inducing intense hallucinations, making rooms appear as rivers of blood or scintillating macabre textures. It is important to keep track of the rooms' layouts before the hallucinations begin. Specimen 5 sometimes emits metallic clanging noises or bizarre groaning sounds. Specimen 5 cannot be hurt by conventional means. Don't even try. It first appears in Room 210 - a rusted, metallic asylum-like environment that was the homebase of some Cult, who had attempted to sacrifice a girl to appease "Mother" and stave off the "darkness" that was slowly consuming them, only for it to backfire as the sacrifice turned out to be "impure". Once you reach the exit hallway, a metallic grate wall on the side will slide open, and Specimen 5 will smerge to give chase.

ROOM 250 marks the 1/4 milestone of your journey. Spooky will appear here to provide a "gift" for your progress; however, tearing the giftbox open will simply reveal a message reading "Look behind you!". Turning around reveals several Specimen 1 instances popping out of the walls, and nothing else.

SPECIMEN 6 takes the form of a human-sized, wooden puppet. He is bald, with pure-white eyes and a toothy smile; wearing a simple brown tunic and grey pants, with a large sharp needle held in his right hand. Specimen 6 cannot move while he's being looked at, but will swiftly appear right behind you should you look away. His movements are characterised by ethereal laughter and wooden clicking noises. He attacks by using his needle to stab you. Specimen 6 was originally a puppet merchant who came to a small town and quickly became beloved by its children. However, the other merchants became jealous of his store's success and one day, banded together to throw his merchandise into the river. The merchant himself came running to the scene and jumped into the roaring waters to try and rescue "his children", only to drown. Two years later, children began to go missing, only for puppet recreations of them to appear in the nearby woods... Specimen 6 can be knocked down if struck with a weapon, which essentially renders him immobile and useless for the duration of the current room. How fun! Specimen 6 is first encountered in Room 310 - a temple-like area with notes detailing his backstory, masks lining the walls and phase-through doors with eye designs. He appears in the exit room, standing in the middle of the room.

SPECIMEN 7 is... weird. From your perspective, it takes the form of a shifting red "wall" of distorted bones and grinning corpses, that is constantly advancing to consume you. Though slow, Specimen 7 will instantly kill you on contact, so watch out! It chases you through multiple maze-like rooms, covered in blood-red mist, with constantly shifting symbols and evil faces lining the walls. It cannot be hurt, so don't bother. Specimen 7 first appears in Room 410 - a strange and surreal environment marked by the Threshold of Consciousness. Your guide in this place is the White Cat, a friendly feline with a female voice that gives you several cryptic messages relating to Jungian psychology as you make your way through several bizarre environments. Once you reach a pitch-black room with the only light source highlighting the exit door, the White Cat will give you one final warning about "knowing your shadow". Passing through the door will send you to the blood-red tunnels where Specimen 7 will begin chasing you.

ROOM 500 marks the halfway point of your journey. Spooky will once again sarcastically "congratulate" you before departing. The next door will lead you to... room 52!? Though it may seem like you've been sent back to the near beginning, upon reaching Room 60 again, you will find a note with an error message: ERROR 002313FB_GEL CANNOT RELEASE TWICE. EXIT THROUGH EXPRESS The Express Tunnel door will be opened, leading you back to the "correct" room 512, from which point you may continue your journey.

SPECIMEN 8 takes the form of a deer-like entity, with black eyes and white pupils, without a lower jaw. Its body is concealed by a sleeveless black cloak, which can open to reveal the entity's ribcage and the darkness beneath, along with a host of silently screaming faces representing the souls it has absorbed. Specimen 8 is incorporeal, though it usually conforms to the rooms' geometry. However, if there is a solid wall between you and Specimen 8, it will open a rift to quickly phase through the wall and end up next to you. Furthermore, it impairs your vision by inflicting a static overlay onto your eyes. When chasing, Specimen 8 may sometimes communicate in a distorted, demonic voice. When dying to Specimen 8, you are transported to the Death Forest – a bloody path in barren, dead woods with a bright-red sky; where Specimen 8 waits for you to come to it, so that it may kill you for good. It cannot be hurt by conventional means. Just run. Specimen 8 is first encountered in Room 550 - a series of forested areas interspersed with small wooden cabins. (Though it may look like you're outside, don't be fooled – you are still inside the Mansion). Some forest rooms have white-spotted deer – they may seem like they're peacefully grazing, but they turn unusually hostile when approached and attempt to maul you. In room 554, you will find an Axe embedded into a tree! It will become your weapon against the Specimens... Just don't overuse it. In room 556, the area will transition into an odd runic temple. Specimen 8 will appear in room 558, emerging from a dead-end hallway as you approach the exit.

SPECIMEN 9 takes the form of a giant skeletal head, with a leering toothy mouth, made out of red clay. Its eyes are hollow. Specimen 9 is incredibly fast and lethal, killing on contact and able to pass through walls. Anyone it kills is added to its bodymass. It is the only Specimen that was deemed too hard to contain by GL Labs, forcing them to try and exterminate it. They think they've succeeded... but they haven't. Specimen 9 cannot be hurt... At least, not in this specific form. Specimen 9 usually appears in its special room - the Endless Hallway - that can pop up any time, and is an easily avoidable trap. Otherwise, it can spawn in any room if you stand idle in one spot for too long; thus ensuring that you must keep moving at all times.

OLD SPECIMEN 10 takes the form of a giant pale eel, with black eyes and a large fanged mouth. It was genetically modified to be a terrestrial killing machine, but turned out to be unusually docile and passive. It is harmless, and simply follows you around, though its growling can be intimidating. It was kept as a pet at the old GL Labs facility, until a containment breach caused it to be abandoned. Old Specimen 10 cannot be harmed by the Axe... And why would you want it to, anyway!? NEW SPECIMEN 10 takes the form of a parasitic extraterrestrial life form that overtook a human host – their upper body completely covered in membraneous orange growth with a fleshy texture. Whenever it's close, its torso opens up into a large mouth full of sharp teeth, with a circular maw in the center. New Specimen 10 walks slowly, and you may be tempted to just book it... but if it's too far away, it shapeshifts into a speedy worm-like form that is nigh impossible to outrun; though it is notoriously bad at taking turns. Once New Specimen 10 catches up and lands a hit, it will transition back into its humanoid form and resume chasing. Hitting it with the Axe only causes it to switch into its worm form on the spot. Not advised. Both Old and New Specimens 10 are first encountered in Room 610 - the old GL Labs facility that Room 120 was meant to replace. Most doors slide upwards, and are opened with hologram touchpads – which only work if the power is on. At several points, you may need to crawl through vents and reboot generators to progress. Once you reach the exit area, New Specimen 10 will appear from the vent you came in through to give chase. Old Specimen 10 can be randomly encountered within the facility itself.

SPECIMEN 11 takes the form of a red-skinned demonic figure, with hooved feet, clawed hands and large yellow horns. Its face has a pair of empty bleeding eyesockets, and there is a small crown of flame between its horns. Specimen 11 is incorporeal, floating over gaps and through walls as it pursues you. Its main ability is to make exit doors invisible, necessitating the memorization of room layouts; it may also induce hallucinations, affecting your vision with brief flashes of cattle in a slaughterhouse. Dying to Specimen 11 teleports you to a space known as the Meat Hallway – a series of non-Euclidean passageways made entirely of red meat. The entity itself will wait for you at the end with open arms, so that it may kill you for good. Striking Specimen 11 with the Axe causes it to teleport away, reappearing in a random point within the current room. Useful as a last resort. Specimen 11 is first encountered at Room 710 - a fast food restaurant advertising "100% beef!" whose owners seemingly made a pact with demonic forces in return for good business. To progress, you must find several keys scattered in places such as the females' WC, the manager's office, the kids' playroom tunnels, and lastly, the freezer where the exit door key is. Picking up this final key summons Specimen 11 to give chase.

ROOM 750 marks the 3/4 milestone of your journey. Spooky once again appears to half-heartedly congratulate you, and grants you another "gift" – in the form of "unlimited stamina". In truth, it simply means you can't run – though the effect ends after roughly 10 or so rooms. Now keep going, you're almost there!

SPECIMEN 12 is, in itself, Room 810 - it takes the form of a large Victorian-era manor within the greater Mansion. This Specimen does not kill by itself, but instead possesses hosts to do its bidding... THE OLD MAN is Specimen 12's current host – a balding, middle-aged man dressed in a brown trenchcoat, armed with a large sickle, with a permanent sickly smile on his face. Whilst you explore Room 810, you will be forced to hide from him at several points; until you find the exit key down in the basement, at which point the Old Man will begin chasing you in earnest. Note that the basement can only be accessed through a secret hatch in the library, behind a sliding bookcase which can be triggered by inserting a fake book, which you can find in the parlor. The Old Man walks slowly, but will occasionally break into a brief sprint to close the distance. He parries any and all attacks – seems his possession has made him quite skilled...

SPECIMEN 13 takes the form of a seemingly youthful and beautiful mermaid, weqring nothing but a white towel around her waist, with flowing silver hair and a nice figure. However, she is hostile, and her true face is that of an eyeless green-skinned hag. Specimen 13 swims unseen below the surface of the murky water, and you must stay on top of floating wooden crates scattered around her rooms if you don't want to get hurt. She cannot be hurt by conventional means. Specimen 13 is first encountered in Room 910 – a dark, abandoned underwater facility for the research of marine fauna, namely whales. There is an oil lantern in one of the offices that you'll need to navigate your way around; your goal is to get into the water pump room, so that you may lower the water level enough to unlock the exit door – it, however, leads into the half-flooded aqueduct chambers where Specimen 13 will give chase.

ROOM 995 is... an elevator? It leads down to the final 5 rooms of your marathon... but there's a chance it might break and send you way further down than intended, into the yet unplumbed depths of the Mansion.

ROOM 1000 is where you end up should the Room 995 elevator work normally. After breaking open the metal "EXIT" door, you finally appear outside... only for the blue morning sky to glitch out, turning out to be a Windows screensaver. Spooky appears, dejected at first and sadly congratulating you... until you both hear a roar in the distance, and she perks up, directing you to your "final test". The next door leads to a series of strange white wooden rooms, with a radio that broadcasts the following message: I'm taking all those 'logs' they keep throwing out... And I'm nailing them together. Once you enter the final room, you are faced with Specimen 9, who assumes his true form and transports you to a large metal chamber, where the final battle commences.

SPECIMEN 9'S BOSS FORM is a floating red skinless humanoid, with hellish glowing pupils and a distended lower jaw. A being of immense might, Specimen 9 cycles through three different attacks: summoning pillars of screaming faces that absorb yu on contact; shadowy hands that erupt from the floor to claw at you; and fireballs that he tosses out like candy. Additionally, he may summon grotesque zombie-like minions to harass you throughout the fight. This is an unconventional battle, and thus your strategy must also be unconventional – deflect Specimen 9's fireballs back at him with a swing of your Axe, which makes him temporarily vulnerable to attack. Repeat until victory... Just watch out for falling roof tiles, or your own bloodlust – in the end, you may either become a ghost in Spooky's army, or a Specimen in your own right. Originally, Specimen 9 was a victim of cruel experiments at the hands of Imperial Japan's infamous Unit 731, during World War 2, transformed into a monstrous, clay-like thing that absorbs dead people into its own bodymass. It was found by GL Labs hiding out in a warehouse in the Siberian wilderness sometime after WW2 ended.

After dealing the final blow to SPECIMEN 9, you will be treated to one of two ENDINGS, depending on how much you used the Axe:

1. "GOOD" ENDING - achieved if you used the Axe sparingly, only when it was absolutely necessary. After defeating Specimen 9, the "boss arena" shudders and a large s3ction of the roof collapses on top of you... A tragic death, tragic enough for you to become a ghost. When you come to, Spooky promptly conscripts you into her ghost army and declares that they "finally have enough troops to invade". Her aim – to conquer the world, so that no one may call her cute or adorable ever again.
2. "BAD" ENDING – achieved if you used the Axe liberally, as often as you could. You end up butchering Specimen 9 in a haze of bloodlust. When you come to, Spooky promptly declares that you'll "make a fine Specimen". Thus, you become just one more of the entities lurking within the Mansion, no better than the horrors you used to run from. There is also a secret third ending, achieved if you find a way to disable Specimen encounters and jumpscares (hint: mess around on the CAT-DOS system!).
3. JOKE ENDING - when you make it to room 1000, you are treated to a room full of party balloons, streamers and a "Congratulations" banner. A downcast Spooky awkwardly "praises" you, before letting you out of the Mansion. When you go to tell everybody what you saw, not a single soul believes you.

KARAMARI HOSPITAL was a modern Japanese medical facility, whose recreation is now deep within the bowels of the Mansion. Should the Room 995 elevator malfunction and its lift cable snap, you will be sent to this area, with its own many puzzles & monsters to deal with. LOBBY - the first area you enter. Well-lit and friendly-looking, even despite the hospital being deserted, this is the main "hub" of Karamari Hospital. To the left are the hallways with the patient rooms; behind the reception desk is a door to the hallway with the doctors' offices; to the right are the bathrooms. There is also a drinking fountain. PATIENTS' ROOMS – in these hallways, there is an electronically-sealed door that divides this wing into two. To access the other side, you must first find the basement, and turn off the generator – but be careful what you unleash...

MONSTER 1 appears in the hallways once the power is turned off, guarding one of the base,ent stairways. It takes the form of a mutated, eyeless security guard whose hands have swollen into massive club-like shapes. Though slow and easy to outmaneuver, it should not be underestimated. The Axe is useless against it, you might need a different weapon...

BASEMENT - accessed through two separate stairways, which lead into two separate parts of the area. The break room has a key for one of the doctors' offices; the generator room can also be found here, as well as the Morgue, and the currently-locked Isolation Room. Access between the two parts of the basement is blocked by The Virus – a fleshy, pulsating growth that has blocked off a passageway. It must be dissolved using acid, or killed with the Sword. Your Axe is no help here. MONSTER 2 is first encountered in the Morgue, when you pick up an Emblem for a puzzle lock in one of the doctors' offices. It takes the form of an eyeless gray-skinned body inside a black bodybag; the corpse does not move by itself, and the entire bodybag floats after you. This entity has minor hallucinatory powers, as well as the ability to affect & change the architecture as it chases you. Be wary. The Axe is useless against it. Find a different weapon.

DOCTORS' OFFICES - accessed through the door behind the reception desk in the lobby. In one office, you may encounter an odd painting, depicting the SWORD – which is an actual solid object that can be plucked out of the painting. It is a rusted blade, imbued with spiritual energy, that can be used to fight and temporarily "kill" the Monsters within Karamari Hospital. In another office, there is a wall plaque with an empty slot – requiring an Emblem that can be found in the Morgue. Inserting the Emblem will cause the wall to slide open, revealing an impossibly long stairway leading deep down...

SECRET LABORATORY – a series of towering, foggy hallways with a mysterious purpose. The key to the Isolation Room can be found here, as well as a strange game console... MONSTER 3 – a giant floating baby head, inside a rusted metal cage. This strange entity slowly floats through the halls and attacks anyone that gets too close. It can only be hurt by the Sword, and teleports away whenever struck. MONSTER 4 – a clawed, monstrous humanoid in a ragged hospital robe, their entire head wrapped in bandages. They are initially found hanging in the room where the Isolation Room key is kept, and attack the moment you pick it up. Monster 4 cannot move while being looked at, only when your back is turned. Whenever hit with the Sword, they disappear for the duration of the current room. MONSTER 6 – a black-haired, permanently grinning, sprectral woman, with empy eyeholes and a bloody black dress. She appears in a wide-open endless hallway somewhere within the Secret Laboratory, and will attack if you go far enough. Outside the Hospital, she "chases" you by occasionally emerging from the room's exit door, and must be lured far enough until she disappears – at which point you may safely proceed. She can't be hurt in any way. She is known as Bekka, and doesn't want you to "wake up until Saturday". SUNSHINE ACADEMY is a visual novel played on a pink 'Honey Boy' handheld console, which can be found in a side room within the Secret Laboratory. The premise of Sunshine Academy is simple – the player takes the role of a transfer student to a new school, where they meet a girl named Ume Ito, who has pink eyes and short reddish-orange hair. Over the course of several days, the player speaks with Ume about various subjects; the writing being full of spelling errors, mistakes in grammar and generally intentionally lacking in quality. However, as the game progresses, the text choices become more creepy, until on the fourth day, the player character is implied to murder Ume – this is the "bad ending". To get the "good ending", the game must be replayed several times, the player picking the most creepy dialogue choices, until eventually Ume reports their behavior to the administration and they are transferred - this is the "good ending", also known as "LOVE FAILED!"

ISOLATION ROOM - can be accessed through the basement, but the key for it is in the Secret Laboratory. The Isolation Room is split into three parts – the first room, with several warda for patients; the second room, which is Monster 5's maze; and the final room, which contains the exit key. MONSTER 5 – a ghostly pale cow monster, with a floating upside-down body, broken lips and an eye-inside-toothy-mouth floating above its abdomen, connected by a fleshy strip. This entity is encountered in the Isolation Room maze – a series of labyrinthine metal walkways, with metal bar walls, hovering in a black abyss. Monater 5 is capable of teleportation, and sensory-abusive hallucinations. It is likely the reasvon everything went wrong at Karamari Hospital, and the force behind the other Monsters. Monster 5 can be hit by the Sword, and must teleport a few meters back when struck. It migh take a few hits to knock out... THE FINAL ROOM is were you'll find the exit key, as well as the Demon Child – a hooded girl in a ragged white robe, with red horns, standing behind a viewing window in an adjacent dark chamber, Her attitude towards you depends on your actions within the Hospital – if you've gone out of your way to hurt and "kill" the Monsters, she will be afraid of you. Otherwise, she is polite and helpful, offering some last-minute support before letting you be on your way.

DEFORMITY WING – an optional area of the Hospital, it is initially inaccessible due to the door leading to it being a painted fake on the wall. The door only becomes "real" after the power is turned off. The Deformity Wing is rusted and rotten, everything caked in a reddish-brown substance. Proceeding through the wing will cause it to loop in on itself, and you must go through every loop to make your way back out – if you've gone through five loops, then you have to go through all five backwards to leave.

UNKNOWN SPECIMENS are the few entities within the Mansion that do not have any classifications from GL Labs or CAT-DOS entries; they are essentially uncontrollable, and just as dangerous as the regular Specimens or Monsters. Their respective Specimen Locales can appear anywhere within the Mansion, without any set room number; therefore, an Unknown Specimen can strike at any time.

UNKNOWN SPECIMEN 1 aka Whiteface takes the form of a floating, pure-white pixelated face, with empty eye sockets and a grinning mouth full of uneven teeth. Its presence is marked by every surface in the area turning into pixelated, 8-bit textures. Whiteface is incorporeal and floats through walls, its movement accompanied by a constant bit-crushed breathing noise. It is capable of teleportation, signified by your vision briefly flashing red. Sometimes, Whiteface will emerge from the current room's exit door, forcing you to juke it around before proceeding. When it "kills" you, Whiteface transports you to a pitch-black room, with only a chair and a bagged body hanging from a noose; wherein it approaches you with these words: Look at you... How sad. Your body is all closed up. At this point, you'll be prompted to give a short, one-word answer. Saying "OPEN" will transport you back to the Mansion, into a "second chance" chase with Whiteface. It will float after you slowly, its influence turning everything into a texture of red flesh and bloody vines. If you manage to survive for 15 rooms, you will be "spat out" into the regular Mansion, to continue your journey unabated. Whiteface cannot be hurt in any way. It doesn't have a Specimen Locale per se, instead simply manifesting inside a Mansion hallway as its starting room.

UNKNOWN SPECIMEN 2 aka Otto the Otter takes the form of a tall humanoid otter animatronic, with a brown body and light-blue eyes that give off white light. His movements are slow waddling, and the damage he deals is negligible. Otto's presence is known by his constant deep belly laughs. He cannot be hurd by the Sword or Axe. Otto's Specimen Locale appears a small pizzeria-style restaurant, with him standing motionless on a stage. Next to him, there is a slice of pizza on the floor; the only way to unlock the exit door is to... "CONSUME" the pizza. Doing so, however, causes Otto to activate with a circus jingle, beginning the chase.

UNKNOWN SPECIMEN 3 aka Spooper takes the form of a child-like figure, wearing sneakers, their body covered by a featureless "bedsheet ghost" costume with two black eyeholes. They initially appear to motionlessly block the exit door, preventing you from proceeding; the only way forward is to strike them with the Axe or Sword, causing them to disappear. This process repeats five more times, with Spooper gradually becoming more and more bloody – until you get past their more injured state. From there, the rooms turn grimy, and the air becomes caustic, slowly poisoning you. This is a test of speed – you must make your way out of these poisoned rooms as fast as possible before the toxic spores in the air kill you; they may occasionally induce bloody vomiting, and you may sometimes even puke up some sort of fetus creature that was growing within you... On occasion, you may also see a hallucinatory vision – a flesh-ball monster with two spindly arms and a single eye, floating after you. It's a harmless vision, don't get distracted. Spooper's Specimen Locale is a regular Mansion room that they suddenly appear in.

UNKNOWN SPECIMEN 4 aka Tirsiak takes the form of a young woman with short white hair, amber eyes, deer antlers, fluffy wolf ears & tail, dressed in tribal fur clothing. She floats in pursuit, her presence marked by a cyan fog permeating the rooms, and is capable of summoning shadowy silhouette animals, such as bears, wolves and moose, to block your path; despite their ethereal appearance, they are corporeal and must be struck down using the Sword or Axe. Tirsiak is intelligent and verbal, treating the chase as a cold, dispassionate hunt. Should she incapacitate you, Tirsiak transports you to a snowy white forest outside the Mansion, where you will be viciously mauled to death by a pack of white wolves. She herself cannot be hurt in any way. Tirsiak's Specimen Locale is a path in a snowy forest, with rocky fence walls on either side, running next to a wooden cabin. The further you walk, her cyan fog begins to manifest, and she appears to give chase halfway through.

UNKNOWN SPECIMEN 5 aka Lisa takes the form of a pale, middle-aged woman in a dirty beige dress, with a ragged, decayed appearance. Her neck is broken, and her head, face stuck in a permanent rictus grin, is constantly contorting and shaking violently. Lisa's presence is first signified by the lighting gradually turning a deep red, with unique faded variants of Specimen 1 popping out of the walls, bearing ominous notes directly addressed towards you. After 15 rooms, Lisa herself appears to give chase – she is fast and vicious, but cannot move while she's being looked at. Her main ability is to loop the current room for the duration of her chase – no progress within the larger Mansion will be made until you escape her, at which point you will be able to proceed normally. Lisa cannot be hurt in any way. Her Specimen Locale appears as a twisting hallway inside a suburban home. It loops several times, deteriorating with each loop as the lights gradually turn red; once you exit the final loop, Lisa's chase begins in earnest.

SPECIMEN 4'S ENDLESS FORM looks quite similar to her normal self, but with a more ragged, sinister appearance. On occasion, her mouth unhinges wide, and four extra arms sprout from her back, as she contorts violently. In this form, Specimen 4 has a special ability of summoning intense, blinding static fog that comes and goes in "waves"; each time, a camera shutter sound is heard, signifying that she's switched between her "regular" and "violent" states. Just like her normal form, Specimen 4 is incorporeal and cannot be hurt. Bizarrely, this form is individual from her normal self, and both versions of Specimen 4 can chase you at once. This form's Specimen Locale appears as a decrepit hallway from the same school as "regular" Specimen 4's rooms were, with a wall of static fog at the end. Stepping through it causes it to disappear, and Specimen 4's endless form appears behind you to give chase.

THE DOLLHOUSE is yet another "manor within a manor", an expansive area secluded within the deepest reaches of the Mansion. This place holds the keys to the last few secrets of Spooky's past... as well as a way to perhaps destroy and escape the Mansion for good. The air here is stale and choked with an aura of decay, preventing you from healing naturally. Instead, you must find and use something else, such as the DOLL.. DOLL – a pale-skinned toy, with blue eyes and long brown hair, wearing a purple dress with a crying eye symbol. She is your only source of healing within the Dollhouse, capable of restoring your health as she is rocked back and forth. However, the Doll has limited "charge", signified by her first tearing up, then covering her eyes once her power is fully depleted. She can only be recharged in the Tea Room; beware of keeping her at 0% charge for too long... FRENZY – a shadowy black spirit of a wretched, Falcata Knife-wielding hag with glowing white eyes; she will randomly appear within the Dollhouse and rush you down, getting a single hit in before disappearing. Frenzy only appears if the Doll is low on charge or not currently in your hold. She can be dispelled with a single hit of the Axe.

THE FIRST FLOOR of the Dollhouse is the starting area of this location. It can be divided into three sections - the Northside Studies, the West Wing, and the Garden. The Doll, as well as a map of the Dollhouse that indicates which room you're currently in, can both be picked up in the immediate first room. NORTHSIDE STUDIES - there's two rooms of note in this area:

1. Clock Room - a room with a grandfather clock that has the Bolt Cutters inside it. The clock requires a key to unlock, while the cutters are necessary to unlock the door leading to the Garden.
2. Piano Room - this room has a large piano in it. Solve a small music puzzle in exchange for the West Wing key, but be wary! HUSKS will begin appearing once you acquire it. HUSKS – animated large baby dolls, with partially caved-in bodies revealing blood and flesh beneath. Slow-moving but able to take some damage, they often appear in groups of 3 to 5. Husks often appear dormant, as unrecognizable lumps of flesh, only to burst out the moment you get close. On average, a Husk takes three hits from the Axe before collapsing into a bloody mess. Husks were created by GL Labs' initial experiments of bringing back souls from the afterlife; dolls were chosen as suitable vessels for the spirits to inhabit, but proved to be too physically restrictive, more prisons than bodies, driving the souls mad over time.

WEST WING - unlocked by getting a key from the Piano Room in the Northside Studies. There's two rooms of note here:

1. Tea Room - a room with a tea set table, that can be used to recharge the Doll. Simply sit her down on a pedestal chair across from you, and take some time to relax and reflect while she regains her "charge".
2. Storage - this area is accessed by placng the Doll on a pedestal to unlock it. The Winding Clock Key needed to get the Bolt Cutters from the Clock Room is inside... but don't think that you'll be able to get the key easily. WOORMY CHARLES – a spirit that has seemingly broken out of his doll body, revealing an abnormally long and flexible black body, with orange tendrils for limbs. He is initially dormant, but becomes active once you pick up the Winding Clock Key. Woormy Charles is incredibly fast, but bad at taking turns. His attacks are easily dodged wit good timing; however, he is only vulnerable to counter strikes when his baby doll head is down. He takes 10 hits from the Axe to go down. In the Storage room, you can find a note presumably written by Woormy Charles: I don't fit in this... I can't stretch or else I break. They did this to me.

THE GARDEN - a small hub area, unlocked once you use the Bolt Cutters to dislodge the barbed wire covering the door to here. There is a grave here, belonging to Spooky's mother. The gravestone reads:* Monica 1929 – 1968 Beloved by all. This area connects to the Great Hall and the GL Labs (the latter requires a key to access).

GREAT HALL - this section of the Dollhouse can be divided into two parts: northern and southern. There is an ELECTRIC BARRIER around the entrance that can be activated by placing the Doll on a pedestal. In the northern part, there is a room with two doll hands melded together, stuck on a table and tightly clutching a key. You'll have to melt them in the Furnace Room to get it. In the southern part, there are two rooms of note:

1. CLOWN Room - a "party" room, where THE CLOWN is locked inside an iron bar cage. He will escape once you get the GL Labs Key. THE CLOWN - a tall, uncanny-looking clown doll with pitch-black eyes and a creepy, crooked smile. He only moves when out of sight, but is harmless, just striking various funny poses. His movements are characterised by raspy chuckles and giggles. He was originally summoned by GL Labs to entertain the other doll airits, but they all turned out to be afraid of him; who knows what the workers really brought through..?
2. FURNACE ROOM - a room with a metal furnace in it, that can be used to melt down the doll hands and get the GL Labs Key. Just don't touch it while it's burning!

GL LABS - the final area of the Dollhouse, and the GL Labs' headquarters within the Mansion. Initially, only the first portion is accessible. DOUG - a playable minigame on a handheld console found in one of the rooms. It plays similarly to the NES game "Dig Dug", with the player guiding the titular Doug deeper and deeper underground, as he fights off ghosts and skeletons. You get three lives – if you waste them all, it's game over. As you step through the western hallway, the floor will give out underneath your feet, sending you plummeting into... THE ROOT CELLAR – a spacious, maze-like underground section of the Dollhouse, that does not appear on the Map. It is almost pitch-black down here, save for the light provided by a few wall lamps. On your first visit, your goal is to fnd three Metal Pinwheel Pieces scattered around the Root Cellar, to unlock a door with a pinwheel puzzle lock, which has a keycard behind it. This keycard can be used to open the exit from the Cellar, leading to the West Wing, as well as the last few areas within the GL Labs headquarters. On your secnd potential visit, in search of the three Black Candles, you will have to contend with... HOOKED DOLL – a faceless black-haired doll in a red dress, floating suspended on red hooks. She is inactive during your first visit to the Root Cellar, but becomes aggressive once you return to find the three Candles. She will randomly appear somewhere around the current room, and remain motionless unless directly stared at – in which case, she will charge at you for as long as you're looking at her. Even staying near her is dangerous, as she has a malign aura that saps your health and energy...

UNDERGROUND TRAM ‐ a train vehicle designed for express evacuation, with tracks leading diagonally upward, all the way to the surface. If you try to escape before the Spirit Seal is broken, the tram will stop halfway through, whereupon you will be ambushed by Specimen 9. You'll have to finish what you started... SEAL CHAMBER - a large room in the furthest reaches of the GL Labs HQ, that contains the Spirit Seal – a mystical golden cube with ornate designs. Next to it, there is the lifeless, yet perfectly preserved body of Spooky's father. The Spirit Seal must be broken, by sacrificing the Doll to it, in order to enter the nightmare that Spooky's father sacrificed to keep Spooky's soul tethered to the material plane. NIGHTMARE – a re-enactment of the night Spooky died; you're forced into the role of Spooky's father, wielding an M1 Garand rifle and battling against monstrous hallucinations brought on by alcohol and PTSD-induced psychosis. Eventually, you are forced to shoot Spooky herself – then are given a view of her father framing a homeless veteran for the murder by planting the rifle onto his person. Once the nightmare ends, the Spirit Seal is broken... and the Self-Destruct sequence begins. You'll have 35 seconds to make it back to the Tram and escape before the whole Mansion goes "kaboom". What happens after that will depend on whether you sealed... THE HELLGATE – a ritual room, with a gateway powered by a spirit-summoning console known as the Kira Genesis. There is a chalk-drawn ritual circle, with circles for eight Black Candles. Five are in place, three are missing, and must be found in the Root Cellar, where the Hooked Doll is... Once the ritual circle is complete, you may summon one of the following - Specimen 4, Specimen 8, Specimen 6 or Specimen 11. Immediately upon summoning the entity you've chosen, you must run into the gate, and lead the chosen pursuer on one last chase; luring them towards the unstable Hellgate Source. Once they're sucked inside, the Hellgate will collapse, and you're spat back out into the ritual room. From there, you're free to break the Spirit Seal and escape the facility.

ENDINGS depend on whether you've collapsed the Hellgate or not:

1. BAD ENDING - though you leave the destroyed Mansion, the monsters and spirits pouring forth from the Hellgate are free to follow. You escape into a doomed world.
2. GOOD ENDING - if the Hellgate is destroyed, the spirits remaining in the Mansion at the moment of its destruction will be allowed to rest; Spooky being reunited with her parents in the afterlife.