Escape from HorrorLand (video game)


 * Not be confused with the Goosebumps HorrorLand book, Escape from HorrorLand.

Escape from HorrorLand is a Goosebumps video game that was released in 1996. It is essentially a point-and-click adventure game with full-motion video sequences and (in some areas) physical model sets for backgrounds. It acts as a sequel to the book, One Day at HorrorLand.

Similar to the Give Yourself Goosebumps books, this game has two possible twist endings.

Plot
Lizzy Morris, one of the protagonists from the book, calls the player character to her that night. She says that her brother Luke and friend Clay have suddenly disappeared after a strange bout of supernatural activity in her household. The only clues she has are the HorrorLand tickets they got from their last encounter with the theme park.

Heading back to her house, the tickets suddenly glow and suck the player character and her back to HorrorLand. Stuck there and having no choice, the both of you go in search Luke and Clay in hopes of finding an exit to the haunted theme park. Along the way learning the origins of the park as well as the creator, Madison Storm who built the park based on his own twisted childhood.

After making your way through the park finding Luke and Clay, gathering items to continue, and warding off the monsters that wish to harm you - you make it near the end to discover Madison also kidnapped Mr. and Mrs. Morris (Lizzy and Luke's parents) and wished to destroy the family, both as a spectacle for the monsters of the park as well as revenge for escaping the park the first time and making him look like a fool in front of the monster inhabitants. Clay manages to reach the monster generator, the thing that attracted monsters to the park, and overload it causing the inhabitants to flee. But in the midst of the chaos, Madison grabs the Morris siblings and Clay and ties them up, intending to be blown up along with the park.

Possible endings

 * The player manages to save Luke and Lizzy's parents and defeat Storm all at once. Clay, however, finds the remote to the park and presses one of the buttons, triggering the self-destruction of the park. The children manage to get out in time before it blows. The final scene in the game sees the children make it home and the parents make it back safe and sound with the help of their new neighbor, Madison Storm.


 * If the player fails to stop Madison Storm, the children arrive home to find that their parents have been transformed into HorrorLand Horrors.

Cast

 * Tatum Fjerstad as Lizzy Morris
 * Adam Wylie as Luke Morris
 * Eric Lloyd as Clay
 * Jeff Goldblum as Dracula
 * Charles Martin Smith as Renfield
 * Isabella Rossellini as Lady Cadaver
 * Robert Joy as Madison Storm and Stump
 * Judy Tenuta as Hanna Black
 * David Wells as Mr. Morris
 * Glynis Barber as Mrs. Morris
 * J.P. Manoux as Squat
 * Steve Valentine as Stretch and Scarecrow
 * Nadine Grycan as Suzy-Q
 * Neil Ross as Riddle Wall and Horus' Voice
 * Walter Phelan, Jr. as Mummy and Zombie #1
 * Eric Gauriluk as Zombie #2
 * Tracey McAlister as Zombie #3
 * Scott Walters as Zombie #4
 * Mark Caso as Werewolf Stuntman
 * Magi Poppie as a Stand-in for Lizzy
 * Blaise Gauba as Additional Voices
 * Jeff Bennett as Pumpkin Voices
 * Denon Rawles and Sue Thoma as Vampire Dancers

Trivia

 * Jeff Goldblum makes a special appearance as Dracula, and Isabella Rossellini appears as Lady Cadaver. Steven Spielberg also played a massive role in the project, and his aim was to bring the Goosebumps universe to life after his daughters fell in love with the series.
 * This game inspired Spielberg to develop a Jurassic Park video game series.
 * Spielberg and Goldblum have also worked together on the first Jurassic Park film three years prior to this project.
 * Craig Clark, who had previously worked with Spielberg on the CG in The Lost World: Jurassic Park, was part of the art department for designing this game.
 * This was DreamWorks Interactive's first ever video game.
 * Bill Gates had played a part in investing about $50 million into DreamWorks Interactive in order to give them a bit of a head start and release this game.
 * By August 1997, DreamWorks Interactive sold 130,000 units domestically, making Escape from HorrorLand its highest-selling game at the time. It also won "Best Kids’ Game" in Time Magazine.
 * In the United States, PC Data named Escape from Horrorland the 11th-best-selling computer game of December 1996.
 * Escape from HorrorLand was a finalist for the Computer Game Developers Conference's 1996 "Best Adaptation of Linear Media" Spotlight Award, but lost the prize to I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream.
 * To film the werewolf in this game (which was actually a man dressed up in a robotic werewolf suit), the team had to use a process called “non-motion control CGI-background matching,” which was a relatively new process that wasn't heard of much at that time.
 * Real wolves were brought to the set for some scenes.
 * Because this game follows a specific storyline, doing things in the wrong order can get you stuck in an area without the option to escape besides loading your last checkpoint. This could also occur if you missed collecting a certain inventory item along the way.
 * The werewolf in this game has a mummy hand pendant around his neck. This is similar to the Summoner from The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb.
 * Escape from Horrorland was quickly retconned three years after initial release due to the Goosebumps Series 2000 book Return to Horrorland that alluded that the Morris family and Clay hadn't returned to Horrorland within the 6 months between the One Day at Horrorland and Return to Horrorland, meaning the events of the game couldn't have occurred.
 * The concept of a seemingly helpful Horror actually being a villain was later used in the Goosebumps HorrorLand series.

References to other Goosebumps media

 * All the hint cards in this game consist of either the cover art or trading card art of a particular book in the original Goosebumps series.
 * To enter the Bat Barn, the player must first solve a puzzle in which they must click the Jack-o'-lanterns in order so that they say "The scarecrow walks at midnight," which is an obvious reference to the book of the same name.
 * In a matching mini-game, the following Goosebumps covers are used cards:
 * Ghost Beach
 * The Cuckoo Clock of Doom
 * The Werewolf of Fever Swamp
 * Phantom of the Auditorium
 * A Night in Terror Tower
 * Piano Lessons Can Be Murder
 * When clicked, a water fountain in Werewolf Village spurts a green slime resembling Monster Blood.