Betty Lou, I think the father most definitely did, but whether he was a sane man with these thoughts, or having a mental breakdown is open to interpretation.

Let me throw this question out, since I haven't seen anyone mention it yet.

I believe it was in the chapel that he found the secret room that he read the notes from the father to the doctor (it could have been the locked drawer in the study, though). In the notes the father mentions that his wife suspects something, and that he knows he's asking the doctor to commit murder. Soooooo.

Which murder? Did the doctor murder the wife? Or, was the father asking the doctor to murder the monster kid? BTW, who did murder the wife, if not the doctor? It must have been the monster because it says her throat was ripped. If the monster was her son, yuck!

Any ideas?

Jean

If Catherine's body is not buried in the crypt, then is the body in her coffin her husband's? Also did Catherine have an affair with the Doctor?

I guess I don't understand some of what has been said on this thread. Here is a game that dozens of people (Including me) have played several times. Most of us like it and will play it yet again. We all have legitimate ideas about what happened; thought it was fun; loved the music; and believed it was, at some level, scary. What else do the naysayers want? It's a $20.00 game, not the ultimate entertainment experience. (That would be in Las Vegas!) I'll buy all of the games like this that become available. By the way- I still would like to know what the orange circular things are that show through the rain-streaked window in the credits.

I think the basement monster is the child ,because of the teddy bear down there.The scratching was him digging himself out ,which he did .
I think he killed his mother,i don't know why she was buried in the yard when they have a crypt.
I think the Doctor was ask to kill the kid but did not.
I think the curse gave James the funny looking kid.
After that i don't know where the Dr. or James ended up......Just one Boomers opinion

My impression of those orange things seen thru the window in the rain are that that is the greenhouse and those are flowers blooming on that African plant that has survived all these years without any care whatsoever....does that make any sense and fit in with the story?
Catherine was 'suspicious' of James and the doctor? Do you mean she suspected that her child did not die in childbirth? And that her husband and doctor had it/him stashed away somewhere? Not sure why she is buried outside in the dirt instead of in her coffin in the crypt = maybe so her son/monsterchild cannot find her to eat all of her? I'm going to have to replay this and pay more attention to everything I read to make it all 'come together' better....
Love, Betty Lou

Thanks: Thanks Betty Lou, I guess the idea that they're flowers works for me. As far as "Does that fit?"; I don't know. I thought I had this game figured out until I read all the posts here. Now all of these very perceptive gamers have confused me and I am not sure what went on. Ah well, I'll simply have to play it a third time. it's worth the trouble and Barrow Hill won't get here for a while.

Moogie, that was the impression I got, that the doctor and the wife had an affair (through the letter between the two that was locked up in the desk drawer).

The Haze - everyone has different tastes in games, and naturally everyone doesn't like the same games. Sometimes its difficult to understand why everyone doesn't enjoy something we do. Every year when people show their top ten games, it is unusual to find any matching with someone else! But I do think that if you ponder this game and go slowly and read all the notes, it makes it a better game than if you go through it quickly and take it on face value. I'll be interested to know what your impressions are after playing it again, if after the third time you think of the events even differently than the first and second go round!
My impression is that it is a tragedy, similar in feel to the Blackstone Chronicles.

Great discussion--this reminds me of the ones we had when Black Mirror first came out!

Eastnc, I edited your title for the thread to let people who haven't played the game yet know that there are now major spoilers lurking in everyone's posts...

Finished the game.
Did a Google search on Mrs. Leeds. Found a good site about this.
I think the creature was Robin.
Who was feeding it? Maybe the same father of Rosemary's baby.
MaG and Texaslady - sure would like a copy of those emails you sent out.
Retired

OH! OH! OH! I missed THAT the first time around!!!Did anyone else of you actually READ the label on those medicine/injection medication bottles??? It says TADADADUM!!!!!!*********THALIDOMIDE ~~~~~ That is a very BIG CLUE as to why the baby was born deformed! Whether there is/was also a curse laid on that family or not may also apply, but this clue gives the best explanation of the family 'secret'....... I might have 'caught on' the first time I played this game if I had paid attention to that along with the letters and journals scattered throughout the house... As you can tell I am replaying this and taking more particular attention to the clues that I saw and did not 'read rightly' before, so maybe it will make more sense to me now.....
Love, Betty Lou :kiss:

Betty Lou, you are a genius! I'm on my third time through and still didn't read the bottles. Thank You..... THALIDOMIDE I'll be d____d. Now, have we all figured out who has been tossing the meat and what the cat (Which wasn't eaten) has to do with anything?

What cat? I'd better reload this and play again.

Jean

I still don't get it.... . What is Thalidomide?

Thalidomide = "was first marketed in Europe in the late 1950's. It was used as a sleeping pill and to treat morning sickness due to pregnancy". It was later discovered that it caused birth defects and many law suits resulted - I think the discovery of its bad effects was within the first 2-5 years of its usage....
Thanks for the "genius" "pat on the back", it was so funny when I got to that dresser drawer, opened it and glanced at those bottles, started to close the drawer and did a double-take as I caught the first 4 or 5 letters of the name on the bottles, hard to read, but a closer look with some "focus Betty, focus" words in my ear I figured out what it said. At first (the first time I played this) I thought they were something like Insulin for diabetics.....it went right over my head! Hubby says that he could see the 'light bulb' over my head flashing when I jumped up and danced around the room..... What a feeling when this 'revelation' hit me THIS is what makes a game like this so much FUN! Feeling good about my 'discovery'....wonder how many others missed that CLUE?
Love, Betty Lou :kiss:

Cat? I don't remember a cat in this game or any mention of one, but will pay closer attention now and make sure I don't miss it or mention of it...
Love, Betty Lou

I could be wrong as frequently I am but I don't think the Doctor and Catherine had an affair....the doctor was in agony because he helped James spirit the deformed baby away to a 'cell' somewhere in the house (a secret room somewhere where they kept it alive and allowed him to 'grow up'), kept this a secret from Catherine, and when Catherine was killed they buried her in the yard and faked her burial in the crypt, James was arrested and convicted of her death (wonder why or how the authorities did that, then, without a body, or was her body then released for burial after James' trial?) and James went to prison, (where he died?). The doctor promised James he would destroy the child but couldn't bring himself to do it him being a doctor and all but suffered for years because of the whole mess he had become involved in for his friend James. Also James had resigned himself to being accused so as to 'protect' his son and the doctor had promised to go along with this too. A lot to think about in this game and several opinions occur as to what was really going on.
Love, Betty Lou

With Skyros' and Betty Lou's comment about Thalidomide, it's clear that we significantly different generations playing the game. How neat is that? As for the cat, I may have my games mixed up (That happens more often lately) but didn't we run across a dead, but in no way mangled or mauled, cat somewhere? I think it was in the crypt. I don't even know if it means anything because the game is full of wonderfully pointless red herrings. (e.g. the music box with the crystal rose)

Yes, there was a dead cat in one of the coffins in the crypt. I kept waiting for an explanation on that one too!

I didn't notice the Thalidomide bottles, well done Betty Lou!

BettyLou I loved reading your summary, now could I ask you a question......
do you think the baby was the Doctors baby and that is why the Doctor could not bring himself to destroy the baby? poor thing

No, Leeana, I believe the baby was James and Catherine's, she taking the Thalidomide during her pregnancy to ease morning sickness or to help her sleep....AND I believe the doctor could not bring himself to destroy the newborn infant, deformed or not, because he is a doctor and took the Hipocratic Oath, and really believed in it - "first, do no harm" was engraved on his soul, so to speak. Does that make sense? I did not get the feeling at all that the doctor and Catherine had had an affair or that the doctor was in love with her or she him - wonder why so many others got that impression.... and the doctor also agonized over the fact that he let James go to prison for a murder he did not commit, and James was his good friend and he promised to 'take care' of the disposition of the deformed, monstrous child but then could not make himself kill it and dispose of it for James. So he did the only thing and the best thing he could, he fed it and kept it alive and away from the outside world for as long as he was mentally able to do so.....then took up drinking to ease his mental and emotional pain. Does all that make sense to you?
Love, Betty Lou :kiss:

Betty Lou, I thoroughly enjoy your theories and am more intrigued by the game because of them. However, all that being said, who has been feeding the "thing in the basement"??? (The meat is reasonably fresh!) That seems to be be a key question if we're going to keep the entire explanation rational and assume that there are no supernatural elemnets here.

That is a good question, Haze. And I am not sure I can come up with an answer only some speculation. Let's see, the house has been 'empty' for several years since the good doctor left the area or died from his alcoholism....another family owned it for a while but did not live in it (?) and the construction that was begun was never finished by anyone. The house was put on the market so the 'baby' lived there down below all by himself. Maybe he found a way up through the house to what food was there, then started wandering around the 'estate' eating small animals? It is never said if he was spotted in the area or if other pets or people went missing during all that time, so I am not sure just how that works out. What do the rest of you think? Since we do not actually know what happened to the doctor, maybe he died there and was 'food' for that creature. Did you notice the perfectly clean bones in that awful refrigerator? They were cleaned off pretty good to my way of thinking. Interesting to see what you all come up with too.
Love, Betty Lou :kiss:

A couple more things I have 'discovered' or am paying more attention now to what I read and see - in Catherine's bedroom dresser there is a picture of Catherine, pregnant, the glass is cracked...and in another drawer there is a pocket watch you can look at and the time is 4 o'clock, don't know what that means. Also, realize I did not pay careful attention when I read the newspaper dated May 25 1963, Catherine and James were married 30 years or more when she was killed - I just assumed (first time I played) she was killed at a much younger age....so the 'baby' was 'full grown' when he killed his mother! Sure fills in the story for me now a bit.
Love, Betty Lou

Thanks Betty Lou I do now understand it took a while but I pieced it together