So a few people were asking me for some more details for my Everbrook Ghost Story. New member so sadly can't post screenshots.
The TV show American Horror Story and the classic tale of Bluebeard were both inspirations for my entry. If you are not familiar with them:
AHS is a series of self-contained seasons that explore a particular style of horror. A recurring theme is that certain locations can trap souls, meaning that people from all different eras can all end up stuck together haunting that one place.
Bluebeard is the story of a rich, cruel nobleman who has had many wives die in mysterious circumstances. He marries a younger woman and gives her a ring of keys that unlock every door in his estate. He tells her she can go anywhere except for one room. She inevitably succumbs to curiosity and opens the forbidden door, and discovers the bodies of his previous wives.
Joseph Everbrook was a powerful spellcaster sage in the late 1800s who made a fortune performing as a magician to mundane audiences. His arranged marriage to Arabella Heartwood was a respectable match, but not a romantic one. He yearned for True Love, and upon his untimely death (by Spellcaster Overload), he found he could not move on.
Despite his death, he was still in full possession of his magical abilities, but now confined to his manor in Glimmerbrook. He attempted to woo Arabella, but soon became painfully aware that while she had affection for him, she did not love him the way he craved. In a fit of anger, he poisoned her wine, thus trapping her ghost in the house as well.
The house fell into disrepair, despite the best efforts of ghostly butler, Arthur (who became a ghost after pushing himself to single-handedly keep the house in order). Eventually, in the 1920s, a socialite flapper Spellcaster named Ruby Perkins chose the Everbrook Manor for a lavish party. As soon as she stepped foot on the property, Joseph did everything in his power to make her his, and they were soon married in a lavish ceremony. But reserved and proper Joseph grew tired of Ruby's excited irresponsibility very quickly, and their glamorous, passionate affair turned to screaming matches, and ultimately ended with a potent Inferniate spell.
Another couple of decades passed, but in the 1940s, the house was once again visited as the site of a party. Mary Johnstone was an excellent hostess: elegant, cheerful, and a wonder in the kitchen (with the help of her Dragon familiar, her creme brules were legendary!), and her neighbours could not understand why she was not yet married. She fell for Joseph's charms, and they lived happily for many years. But Mary had always longed for children, the one thing Joseph could not give her, and in her sadness, Joseph felt her withdrawing from him. He became paranoid that she would leave him, or that she would have an affair, and their wedded bliss turned to bitterness. Convinced she was cheating, he humiliated her in front of her friends and the community, causing her to collapse from embarrassment.
His next bride, Britney Wallace, was not a spellcaster, but an 80s Valley Girl a very long way from home. Dating a dead guy might be weird, but he was rich and more than willing to pamper her, so what did she care? As a mortal, she knew nothing of the history of the manor or its occupants, and any who tried to dissuade her from her new boyfriend were just jealous of her good luck! Marriage was important to him, and she was more than happy to tie down a rich bachelor. Their marriage didn't last long, with them both being equally self-centered, and he eventually snapped that if she shrieked about a bug in her grating voice one more time, he'd send a swarm to shut her up. She didn't take him seriously, but he kept his word, and she was consumed by the flies. She doesn't mind being dead as much as some of the others (she gets to stay young and hot in a luxurious manor forever after all), but the lingering bugs that follow her are so grody!
Ai Sasaki was a 90s witch, and she rocked it. She didn't need anyone else - no mentors, no covens, just her books. Her fingers crackled with power, and she was sure she could be the next Sage when the old fart finally croaked it. But she wanted more. She'd heard rumours about a manor house, left alone for 100 or so years, that held the secrets of a Sage. She broke in and raided the library, eager for anything that would ensure her ascension over her rivals.
She never left. Her heart was the hardest for Joseph to conquer, but he appealed to her hunger for power. They both had powerful tempers, so their love was tempestuous at best. It all fell apart when they magically duelled: despite his century of experience, she telekinetically picked him up and threw him like a ragdoll. She was not humble in her victory either, lightning dancing between her fingers as she fist pumped the air. Enraged and humiliated, he called upon the heavens to strike her down for daring to be better than him. If you find her ghost in the library, it is best to back away slowly and quietly, lest she unleash her storm on you.
In the present day, Mara, an adventurous young spellcaster whose magic came from her fae heritage, dreamed of seeing the world and everything it had to offer. Always up for any excitement, she was never one to turn down a challenge, so when a friend dared her to enter the spooky abandoned manor house, she didn't think twice. But now she's trapped inside, and will need to use all her wits to escape from Joseph, who wants her to become his sixth bride. Whether she escapes or not is up to you...
