Lovecraft’s “Commonplace Book” was a notebook in which he jotted down his various ideas, many of them disjointed and cryptic; most of these musings never became real stories. The Commonplace Book Project is a collection of text adventures (interactive fiction games) which are based on these notes. Great idea!
I’ve only tried out one so far: Ecdysis. It’s based on the note “insects or other entities from space attack and penetrate a man’s head.” Good one, right? Well, without spoiling anything, this game is a great mindfuck and does a more-than-competent job of capturing what’s great about Lovecraft’s stories: the feeling of overwhelming dread. It comes as a playable executable and is good for newcomers to IF.
I always thought it was funny that Bethesda made (correction: produced) an FPS out of H.P. Lovecraft. What’s next? Vin Diesel as Cthulhu, riding a motorcycle out of R’lyeh as it explodes behind him? Directed by Michael Bay? Okay, that actually does sound appealing in its own way.
(Source: The Random Gnome’s Lair)