40 years of House of Hell

For almost thirty years following its initial release back in 1984, House of Hell remained unique; it was the only FF adventure to have a wholly ‘contemporary’ setting. It was not a futuristic, superhero sci-fi yarn, or a post-apocalyptic adventure, but was Fighting Fantasy’s one and only specifically horror-themed adventure, until Blood of the Zombies was published in 2012.

The setting for House of Hell is the sort of nightmare you could imagine yourself ending up in if your car broke down on a lonely country road in a thunderstorm only for you to discover that you were in a mobile phone dead spot.

Other than the fact that there’s no mention of mobile phones, the plot of the book hasn’t dated in the intervening decades. As a result of the aforementioned breakdown and thunderstorm, the hero takes refuge in an old house, but it’s a decision that turns out to be the worst mistake of his life, since the house is home to a cult of devil-worshippers and their demonic Master.

House of Hell first appeared in a shortened form in Warlock magazine. A significant number of references were modified for the paperback version, with rooms being moved around and secret passageways added.

Although his artwork later appeared on the cover for The Citadel of Chaos, Houseof Hell was Ian Miller’s first work for the Fighting Fantasy series. Steve Jackson was so impressed by Miller’s work on House of Hell that he purchased the original painting.

The book was illustrated internally by Tim Sell. However, one of his illustrations - depicting a naked woman on an altar dripping with blood, with her modesty protected by a convenient cultist’s sleeve - was removed from subsequent printings after a number of complaints were received by Puffin Books.

“That did give us a problem,” recalls editor Philippa Dickinson. “We had a lot of complaints. The media suddenly got hold of, ‘was this suitable for children?’ We had various, no doubt very well-meaning, people claiming that we were encouraging children to believe in Satan and Satanism... But we had a lot of very bonkers letters. Some were genuinely concerned about whether this was suitable, and you could be respectful of their views, and we had a few who quoted Revelations at us.

“It was of that time, and it was because the books were so successful, and boys were getting so obsessed, so what were we doing? They were being obsessed by something, so this can’t be healthy, because they’re obsessed. But they’re reading! What are you complaining about?

“At that time our office in New York was at 666 Fifth Avenue… Every so often, they’d get people saying that the company was clearly run by an agent of evil because we operated out of the offices at 666 Fifth Avenue.”

However, attitudes can and do change, and recently an article in The Guardian newspaper recommended House of Hell as a good title for getting disillusioned children enthused about reading again.

The dedication written by Steve Jackson for the Wizard Books edition of House of Hell reads:

Games Night —
to Clive, Ian, Mark, Peter and Skye.
May their Dinner Winnerships be few.
But always more than mine...

The list of names are the members of an exclusive gaming group that’s been running since the mid-1990s, and which includes Peter Molyneux of Populous and Lionhead fame (and more recently with 22 Cans and Godus) among its membership. Games Night is still a regular event, and at the end of each season a cup is awarded.

If you are struggling to complete House of Hell, you can buy a solution map from Qatlas, and there is also one on the way from Scott Mackay.

House of Hell is now available as an app from Tin Man Games, either as a standalone adventure, or as part of the Fighting Fantasy Classics library.

To read more about the history of the Fighting Fantasy series, pick up a copy of YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks today.