Phantasmal Site > Innsmouth MUD

Innsmouth MUD

Innsmouth is a decaying Massachusetts town that hides a terrible secret. Like a snowball becoming an avalanche, like a lie that hides itself in larger lies, so has the Shadow Over Innsmouth bred new terrors. The Shadow waits for you to explore this tiny, decrepit and terrified New England town.

Innsmouth MUD is inspired by the story "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" by H. P. Lovecraft, and other short stories. It was built as a test MUD for the Phantasmal MUD Library.

In its current condition, it isn't meant to be a full-on Lovecraft experience in MUD form. Rather, it's a set of interesting vignettes meant to showcase Phantasmal's abilities. I hope to produce something worthy of the gentleman from Providence eventually, but that's a long-term goal.

You can find some of Lovecraft's work on the web. My understanding is that his stuff is no longer under copyright due to failure to renew on the part of Arkham Press (and on his own behalf). The Gizmology.net Lovecraft Archive seems to be down, or I'd link to that one, and the note on copyrights to the stories. You could check the Wayback Machine for them, I guess.

Reference Material for Innsmouth MUD

• A Builder's Guide
• Notes on Lovecraft & Chaosium source material
• Original and summarized MUD Design material, with attributions

Inspirations and Credits

• Chaosium, a game company. Go buy stuff from them, they win. Their historical research in gamebooks is nothing short of astonishing. Shannon Appelcline has written for them as well. Coincidence? :-)
• CthulhuMUD, now at a new location. A heroic effort to do a Lovecraft MUD on a Diku base.
• Howard Phillips Lovecraft (20 Aug 1890 - 15 March 1937), the greatest horror writer of the 20th century. May my work cheapen his only a little.
• All the same things that Phantasmal is inspired by.