Neil Gaiman's video game will be released this fall
Multi-talented author Neil Gaiman is trying his hand at another medium: video games.
The “Ocean at the End of the Lane” author is working with video game publisher Moonshark and the studio the Odd Gentleman to release a game titled “Wayward Manor.” It’s due to be released this fall, though the delivery date is listed as this December. (The website FAQ says that “most items should ship well before that, but our lawyers want us to ‘cover our backs.’”)
The game is set in an old house in the 1920s and follows “a ghost whose hope of a peaceful after-life is interrupted by a remarkable cast of intruders,” according to the game’s website. The spirit tries to frighten his visitors away and soon realizes both he and the interlopers are in danger.
Gaiman told the website Mashable he was inspired by merely living in New England and films such as “Arsenic and Old Lace” and “The Man Who Came to Dinner.”
“It's lighthearted, it’s goofy,” he said of the game.
He said he enjoyed turning normal ghost story conventions on their heads.
“Normally in a game, if you're in a haunted house, you are going to be walking through it intrepidly with your flashlight, your bell-book and candle, and your copy of the Necronomicon and you keep going until you find the ghost,” the author said. “In this one, all you want to do is be left in peace with your lovely house and be left alone.”
On the game’s website, fans can pre-order the game as well as purchase items such as shirts, posters signed by Gaiman, and more expensive items such as the honor of having your name in the game ($1,000) and dinner with Gaiman ($10,000 and only available for 10 people).
