[Onkel Neal]

My old favorite

The Weird & Wonderful History of ‘Phantasmagoria’

The year is 1995: Alanis Morissette and Montell Jordan dominate the radio; you and your mom are spending quality time together by watching Xena: Warrior Princess; Batman Forever has just been released to mixed reviews; and Sierra On-Line, Inc., following the success of their graphic adventure video game series King’s Quest, has just released a point-and-click adventure horror on CD-ROM called Phantasmagoria. It’s a good year for pop culture.

While Xena has been cemented forever in modern meme culture, Phantasmagoria has been somewhat forgotten, revived every now and then by an anniversary piece or random interview by creator Roberta Williams. But the world of modern horror gaming owes a lot to the game: it was one of the first video games to be excessively and unapologetically bloody. It was violent, extravagant, and utterly creative in its kills.

But before we take a trip to the haunted mansion off the coast of New England, we need to talk about the couple who became forever known as pioneers of the graphic adventure game genre.