Item - The Curse of Batterslea Hall

Unlike most books of this sort, there's a fairly developed (if not entirely original) story told here. Following different paths through the book reveals more and more about what's going on in Batterslea Hall, and after several readings everything makes sense. This is far more entertaining than books full of random, unrelated events tend to be, but it has the potential to make the first few readings rather confusing.

More reviews by Demian

A rather suspicious title, but if I find it for $3.00 or less, maybe I'll get it....

More reviews by Good

How did Richard Brightfield fare at creating a British horror mystery gamebook? The Curse of Batterslea Hall yields mixed results at best. You are pen pals with Amanda Fielding, your cousin from Devon, England. Her family owns castle-like Batterslea Hall in the countryside, so you're excited when Amanda asks you to come stay this summer. At the train station in Withyford, you meet a Mr. Atwood headed to Batterslea Hall on business. Blope, a gnomelike man who works for the Fieldings, picks you both up in his car, but a rainstorm causes flooding, and a reported pair of escaped prison inmates has you nervous. Should Blope keep driving and risk getting stranded in the flood, or return to Withyford for the night?

Continue driving, and your car stalls out in the floodwaters. You, Mr. Atwood, and Blope can proceed on foot. Getting caught in a lightning storm is scary, but you might be lucky and find a police officer. Should you wave the white flag and head back to Withyford? Press on, and you'll find conditions at Batterslea Hall as frightening as any storm. Had you waited in the car until morning, at daybreak you are ambushed by two armed men: Freddie and Spike, the escaped prisoners. They march you to Batterslea Hall, but can you grab their guns when they're distracted? Bide your time, and upon arrival you are captured by a woman called Lady Darkness who seems delusional regarding your identity. Locked in a cell, you finally see Amanda, though you didn't know she's in a wheelchair. She releases you, but do you trust her? Amanda proposes multiple escape routes; sneak into the woods and you'll be attacked by a giant boar. You regain consciousness on the other side of a time slip centuries in the past, where Cavaliers and Puritans are at war. You'll be lucky to make it back alive.

Perhaps you never instructed Blope to drive toward Batterslea Hall through the flood. Back in Withyford you retire to your room at the inn, but in the night Mr. Atwood goes missing. Come morning, Blope takes you to Batterslea Hall. Walk down the steep entry hill and you'll be caught in a time slip, the subject of violent suspicion by both the Cavaliers and Puritans. Maybe you took the carriage to Batterslea Hall instead of walking down the hill; in that case you're met at the door by Amanda and her dog, Baskerville. Choose a small room next to Amanda's for the night and you end up in an armed siege of the castle. You pull Amanda from her wheelchair to help her toward an exit, but do you have the speed to get away? Cross paths with gypsies in the countryside and you must decide whether to trust them. If you chose a bigger room to stay in for the night back when Amanda gave you the option, you come to suspect Mr. Atwood is captive at Batterslea Hall. You can try to escape, but run into Lady Darkness and you're better off dead. You can help Amanda evacuate, but any deviation from her directions is fatal. If, back at the Withyford inn, you never noticed Mr. Atwood was missing, a vivid dream warns you against going to Batterslea Hall. Should you travel back to America right away, or attempt to save Amanda? You and Mr. Atwood can put together a rescue mission, but take it seriously or Batterslea Hall will claim two more victims.

The Curse of Batterslea Hall is a strong concept. The setting is ideal, and though I'm not usually a fan of Ted Enik's illustrations, he does superb detail work in these pages. I don't much like the book, though. The past/present story elements are confusing and never fully explained, and the main few narrative paths are redundant. As in his two previous Choose Your Own Adventures, Richard Brightfield struggles maintaining internal continuity. Regardless, I'd pull out The Curse of Batterslea Hall for a reread near Halloween.

More reviews by KenJenningsJeopardy74