The Collection Chamber: THE INTERACTIVE HISTORY OF FRANKENSTEIN

Be Warned!
The Frankenstein legend continues...

The legend of Frankenstein was born in 1816, created by a young girl named Mary Shelley. Challenged to create the scariest ghost story one summer evening, Mary created one of the most terrifying creatures of all time. The Interactive History of Frankenstein is an entertaining, highly themed interactive reference adventure on this classic creature.

Features:
3D Frankenstein lab interface
Rare color home movies of Boris Karloff, in full Frankenstein make-up on the set of Son of Frankenstein (1939).
The complete original 1818 and the revised 1831 Frankenstein novels.
Make-up artist Rick Baker explains how the greatest Frankenstein make-up was created.
Twenty movie trailers of the best and worst Frankenstein films of all time. Starting with the ultra rare 1910 Thomas Edison version to 1994's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
A Frankenstein Filmography including cast, credits, behind the scenes information, original pressbook excerpts, commentary and reviews.
See and hear excerpts from classic radio and television productions.
And much, much, more.

~ from the back of the box

Frankenstein is one of those subjects that makes my little horror-loving heart skip a beat. Mary Shelley's tale of scientific hubris and questionable parenting has been shambling around popular culture for well over a century, inspiring everything from serious literary discussions to silly Halloween masks. It also began my movie-snob persona as a boy by staking too much of my personality on outwardly not liking (but secretly loving) Kenneth Branagh's 1994 movie adaptation after studying the book in English class. Don't tell anyone. By 1995, it was time for it to get its own multimedia retrospective, and Canadian developers Three Blind Mice obliged with The Interactive History of Frankenstein for Windows 3.1 and Macintosh computers. This wasn't a game in the traditional sense, nor was it simply an electronic copy of the novel. Instead, it was an interactive museum dedicated to the literary classic and its many, many offspring. With a subject this deliciously gothic, the question isn't whether there's enough material to fill a CD-ROM, but whether this digital laboratory can bring its monstrous history to life.

The presentation is suitably theatrical, placing you in a series of pre-rendered stills depicting Victor Frankenstein's laboratory. You begin outside the good doctor's secret workspace before stepping inside to find the expected assortment of scientific paraphernalia, ominous machinery and a rather suspicious-looking body on the operating table. From here, the laboratory acts as a central hub, with various objects serving as gateways to different areas of the collection. There's minimal animation, and the interface is more of a point-and-click museum tour than anything resembling an adventure game, but the atmosphere does a surprisingly good job of establishing the mood. Cheesy in-character voice-overs provide commentary on the exhibits, lending proceedings the air of a spooky fun fair attraction. You can investigate the original novel, tune into radio adaptations, browse television appearances and movie trailers, or rummage through an encyclopaedia packed with historical information. It all seems comprehensive, but there are a few notable omissions that true fans will notice.

Explore the lab to access each section of the museum. This wireless provides clips of a radio play (left).

The filing cabinet accesses more than just text. This clip is of Rick Baker discussing the make-up effects (right).

The book section is accessed by clicking on the volume sitting on the laboratory bookshelf, and it's arguably the most important part of the entire package. Two complete versions of Mary Shelley's novel are included: the original 1818 edition and the substantially revised 1831 edition. The later text is the one most will know. It revises Victor's character motivation to be framed as a consequence of fate and inevitability. It also alters family relationships to suit the changing norms of that century, turning love interest Elizabeth into less of a blood relative and more of an adoptive orphan. Having both versions available makes this a genuinely useful resource for anyone interested in the evolution of Shelley's work, rather than merely the monster's cinematic output. Unfortunately, reading a lengthy nineteenth-century novel on a low-resolution computer monitor isn't exactly the most comfortable way to spend an evening. Thankfully, both texts are also supplied as printable .txt files, allowing you to send them to a printer and enjoy the old-fashioned pleasure of reading actual pages.

Radio and television clips are accessed through the corresponding objects in the laboratory, but I found myself drawn to the film trailers in the dedicated movie screening room. There's a good chunk of them here, spanning the classic Universal productions and Hammer Horror's interpretations, alongside the more comedic excursions such as Young Frankenstein and the then-recent Kenneth Branagh adaptation (as bad as it is... ahem). There's something wonderfully entertaining about watching the marketing departments of different eras trying to sell essentially the same story, whether as gothic nightmare or affectionate parody. The radio material is perhaps the most stilted, with the provided clips missing something when not part of the whole. The television section is fun, though meagre, giving us but a single promotional clip of the classic 1960's sitcom The Munsters. By comparison, the selection of trailers is extremely generous, although the video encoding is decidedly rough by modern standards. Expect small, fuzzy images, compression artefacts, blown out highlights and all the visual compromises associated with squeezing video onto a single CD. As such, what's here should be seen as historical curiosities rather than pristine archival presentations. Still, there's genuine pleasure in having such a varied collection gathered in one place, particularly for fans who enjoy tracing the evolution of horror cinema.

You can read the full text of each version of the book wither in-game or by printing a .txt file (left).
Reading on a screen isn't exactly ideal, but you can save as many bookmarks as you like (right).

For the more serious monster enthusiast, the filing cabinet opens up an encyclopaedia of information covering the Frankenstein phenomenon from a variety of angles. Here you'll find material on memorabilia, creature make-up, the people involved in bringing the monster to life and the wider history of the character across different media. The real attraction is the supplementary material, which includes photographs and videos of Boris Karloff during his celebrated association with the role, alongside interviews with industry professionals such as legendary creature-effects make-up artist Rick Baker. This is where the CD-ROM really earns its existence. Seeing the practical craft behind a famous monster helps explain why these productions have endured, and hearing from the people responsible for continuing the legacy adds a personal dimension that a conventional reference book can't quite replicate. For horror fans, the behind-the-scenes material can be every bit as interesting as the films themselves. The encyclopaedia isn't necessarily exhaustive, and the interface isn't exactly the best, but there's enough here to reward anyone willing to poke around.

The Interactive History of Frankenstein is an admirable little release, even if it falls short of being the definitive account its title might suggest. Its subject is fascinating, the laboratory setting is suitably atmospheric, and the array of different media in the multimedia CD gives it a broader scope than many similar releases of the period. Nevertheless, the limitations are obvious. The video quality is poor, reading the novel on-screen is hardly ideal, and there's thirty years of new media that have come out since that date it even further. Even at the time, there were a few notable productions are missing, including those from foreign markets. One that comes to my mind is the Japanese animated TV show called The Monster of Frankenstein from 1981. Another would be Toho's attempt to adopt the creature into the kaiju universe with Frankenstein vs. Baragon. It may not be the best way to read Shelley's novel or watch a classic trailer, but it offers a charming way to explore the creature's legacy. Fans of gothic horror, classic monster movies and all things macabre should find plenty to enjoy here. It might not bring the dead back to life, but it does give a little more life to one of horror's greatest creations.

To download the game, follow the link below. This custom installer exclusive to The Collection Chamber uses the DOSBox-X build of DOSBox running Microsoft Windows 3.1 to get the game working on modern systems. Read the ChamberNotes.txt for more detailed information. Tested on Windows 11.

File Size: 469 Mb. Install Size: 628 Mb. Need help? Consult the Collection Chamber FAQ

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