Anchorhead: An interactive tale of Lovecrafian Horror by Michael Gentry
=======================================================================

The Way To Do It ;), By Mike Wallis (mike@jeamland.org)
----------------

This is the solution to "Anchorhead" - not exactly a walkthrough, more of a 
story about how to finish the game off. The game is split into four "days",
with a set of puzzles to complete each day. Once certain puzzles have been
completed, the day moves to "Evening", where you are expected to go home & 
sleep, unless, of course, you are unable to do so due to unforseen 
circumstances. There are some puzzles that can be done at any time after a 
certain point, and by no means are all the puzzles expected to be completed
in order. Certain puzzles are optional; the game can be completed without a 
full score if you forget to do certain things, or couldn`t be bothered, or 
something.

So, without further ado;

Day One: Takin' It Easy...
--------
You have arrived in Anchorhead, carrying nothing but an umbrella, a trenchcoat,
the clothes you stand up in & your wedding ring. If you read the blurb at the 
start, you find out that Michael, your husband, has run off to the University
to check out some paperwork, leaving you to pick up the keys to his family 
house. If you wander around a bit, find the University, and Michael, he'll
get a little exasperated at you if you don`t have the keys, so you'd better 
find them. You start out outside the Agent's office, which is inexplicably 
locked, so you try & find another way in; the alley to the SE looks promising, 
so have a look down there. You`ll see a fence, which you should examine, and 
some garbage cans (or "bins", as I insist in calling them). There is also a 
window. If you have read the "About", you'll notice a dead giveaway in that one
of the hardest things Mr. Gentry found to code was shoving the can under the
window - so give that a go. If you stand on it, open the window, and close your
brolly, you can enter the window, leading into the file room of the office. 
You can look things up in the files, but what? Well, head to the main office,
where you'll find an answering machine with "PLAY" and "DELETE" written on it.
If you press play, you'll hear "Verlac", the name of Michael's uncle (or 
cousin, or whatever), so go & look up verlac in the files, where you'll find
the keys to the house. Ignore the styrofoam cup; it tastes pretty foul; it 
kind of suggests that the office has been deserted for a day or so, though.
Head to the University Library, where Michael is working, but on the way, head
up the side road just past the pub, where you'll find a blank wall, with no 
obvious way around. Head back SW (not SE), and go find Michael. Before you 
disturb him, go & have a look at what you need to get a book out of the 
library; the sign next to the Circulation Desk tells you what you need. While
you are there, have a look at what Michael is reading. Quite a weighty tome,
so maybe you should try & have a look at it yourself later. For now, go & say
hello to your husband, show him the keys, and try & find the house. If you go
too far wrong, Michael will tell you it isn`t in that direction, but if
you ask him for directions ("michael, where is the house?") he is a bit iffy
as to exactly where it is. So, head to the obelisk, and find your way out of
town to the south - Michael will stop you going too far wrong (from the 
obelisk, go e, s, sw, nw). Read the notice, and unlock the front door. Head 
into the house, but don`t explore too far - you don`t have a torch. It's safer
if you just close & lock the front door, head into the bedroom, & get into bed.
When you get into bed, "sleep", and remember what you dream (pretty harrowing 
stuff, and not pleasant to remember, but make a mental note anyway). 

Day Two: Something Rich & Strange.
--------
You wake up to the sound of Michael showering. If you want to, listen to him 
for a while - he comes out with some highly amusing comments, in the light of
subsequent events, but the important thing here is to get the means of reading
what he was reading yesterday, so examine his pants. Search them (it is a good
idea to "search" stuff as well as "examine" them), and you`ll find his wallet. 
Search his wallet as well, and get the faculty card. He'll come out, tell you
that he loves you, & them promptly sod off to his study to work. Men, eh? 
Anyway, put on your clothes, and your trenchcoat - which can hold an amazing
amount of stuff - and go into the bathroom, picking up the towel, and putting
it in your coat. Head back through the bedroom, picking up your umbrella and 
keyring on the way - put the umbrella in your coat as well - and have a wander
around the house. There are a lot of things you can do, now, and there isn`t
a particular order you must do them in, so lets take them one-by-one.

1. The Key In The Cellar.
From the foyer, head N to the back hall, and W into the kitchen. Grab the 
flashlight from the kitchen, and head for the pantry, turning the torch on 
first. In there is a broom, which comes in very useful for various bit of the 
game, so get it. Unlock the cellar door (you did pick up your keyring, didn`t 
you?), and head down. Look in the wine cellar - nothing important there for 
the moment, so go into the Storage room. Have a good poke about, and while 
you are at it, have a closer look at the spiders web. Before you get the key,
though, clean the web with the broom - that way, the spider won`t get you.
Put the iron key on the keyring - a useful tool, that - and head upstairs.

2. The Pages In The Children's Bedroom.
From the Landing, go E and then S. The contents of the jewellery box are
worth a look, so get the locket, and have a look at the contents. You can 
wear that, so go ahead. Have a look at the bed, as well. And under it. The
scratches look as if the bed has been moved a few times, so give that a try.
Have a look in the hole, & read the pages, providing you with a fair bit
of useful names, and dates. While you are at it, head into the Library north
of the room, & pick up & read the book you find there. If you go E & disturb 
Michael, don`t stress about it, he'll just tell you to go away. On your way
out, pull the cord, revealing the attic.

3. The Book Michael Was Reading.
Head back to the University, picking up the newspaper in the town square on 
your way (read it, giving you a bit more information about what is going on),
and go to the Circulation Desk. Remember the title of the book from the 
register? Ring the bell, and show Michael's ID card to the Librarian, and 
ask the Librarian for the book ("ask librarian for history" works as well 
as anything). Read the book - a bit more information, there - and a slip of
paper drops out. Keep hold of the paper for now, & read the book again. The 
History will give you some names & dates you should look up later, so make a
note of them. Chilling stuff. You can`t leave the library with the book, so 
ring the bell & give it back to the librarian.

4. The Magical Shoppe
From the Narrow Street, head NW up the twisting lane. The blank wall that
you saw yesterday has suddenly picked up a bit of graffiti - remember your 
dream? The graffiti, when read, will point you west, so head that way now. 
Head into the Cauldron, where the proprietor will be glad to help you, 
especially if you ask him about things he has in his cabinet. Specifically,
you want the amulet, but he'll give it to you if you ask him about it. Wear it,
for now.

Now you have picked up some names & dates, go look them up in the Courthouse 
births & deaths records. It is possible to work out the names of the male 
Verlacs pretty much back to Croseus, but don`t stress about doing that just 
yet. Once you have had a look, head back home.

Hmm. A bit quiet? Head up to the study, and see if Michael is home. Well, he
isn`t, but it means you can have a good nose around his study - and his laptop.
If you examine the screen, you'll notice he has put his password protector on.
It is a 4 digit code, a date he is likely to remember, so how about his
wedding annivarsay? Remove your ring, and have a look on the inside - the
date is June 28th, so how about that? Type 0628 on the laptop, and have a read
of what he was typing. Those numbers look familiar? Read the slip of paper that
you found in the library, and you'll see the two match. Head back to the
Library, and examine the bookshelves. A somewhat out of place copy of Poe will
stand out, so get it, and reveal a safe hidden away behind the cases. The safe
is a dial-type, so try turning the dial to the numbers on the slip of paper 
and the laptop, and Lo! the safe opens. Search the safe to find a puzzle box
and a flute. Both of these come in useful, but how to get the darn box open?
Well, someone knows how to do it. For now, though, put the box in your pocket, 
and head back into the study. Have a good look around the fireplace, which 
should jar some memories of dreams - "I don`t know what it opens yet, but I 
have a good idea" - so try turning the spheres. If you go SW you walk into a
maze which is worth wandering around so you get a good idea how to move about
it later, so have a wander in it, while you are not constrained by time limits.
Before you do that, however, pick up the letter opener - it will be useful - 
and open the desk drawer, finding another book that tells you a bit of info.
(SW from first room leads you to the portrait in the front room, NW from there 
leads you to a hole which you can`t see through yet, SW and SE from there 
leads you to the observatory, the way out). Have a look at the telescope, and 
then head SE, leading you into the crawlspace in the attic. Head for the attic,
and examine that locked door. Annoying, isn`t it? You can't see through the 
keyhole, so what could be blocking it? How about the key? Put the newspaper 
under the door, and put the opener in the keyhole. Something drops onto the 
paper, so get the paper, and the key falls off it. Get the key, and put it on 
your keyring - and then unlock the door. Search the room, but pay particular 
attention to the straw, where another locket is found, this time gold. Wear 
this, and head to the kitchen again, this time going out the back door. Head 
for the crypt, and unlock & open it. There are quite a lot of coffins here, so
routing through them could take some time, but you know the names of two people
at least who have been buried here - Edward & William. Have a look for their
coffins - notice a difference? Open william's coffin, & get what you find
there. Head back towards town, go to the Cauldron again, and show the puzzle
box to the proprietor, who will open it, revealing a disk. Head to the pub, 
and have a look under the table, where a flask of alcohol will be found. 
Resist the temptation to drink it yourself. While you are there, you might as 
well pick up the lantern, but blow it out first. Have a quick wander around the
town if you havn`t already, orientating yourself with the important places,
have a chat with the orderly at the Asylum if you want - talk to him about his
magazine, if you like - and then go find the bum who isn`t a bum at all. Listen
to him for a bit, and he'll tell you he's thirsty. He'd rather have the flask,
than the coffee, which will open him up a bit. You have to ask him some pretty
direct questions, and you need to be persistant, but you'll be able to find out
that he was the Verlac family Doctor, and that he delivered William & Edward, 
and apparently buried William. You know that that is bogus, as in William's 
grave you just found the animal's skeleton. Show the skull to the doc, and 
persist in your questioning about william ("show skull to bum", "bum, tell me
about william", "ask bum about william", and repeat in various ways) until he
breaks down, and tells you. He gets a bit funny about wanting protection, 
at this point, so give him the amulet from The Cauldron. He'll give you the
copper key, and evening will fall. Head SE, get the tin of oil, and head back 
home. Michael isn`t back yet, so stress a little bit, but forget about it for
now & have a bath, after remembering to lock the back door. Turn the torch off
as well, if you like (I get paranoid ;), & clamber into bed & go to sleep.
You'll have another of those remarkable dreams again... so remember them.

Day Three: A Certain Kind Of Something.
----------
The day is split up into a few distinct segments that must be completed. It is
a good idea to complete them in order, but, of course, you don`t _have_ to.
Well, apart from part 2 & 3 - no choice about that - and you don`t really
have to do a lot of part 1 - just get the name and work out how to open the
cellar, really, will do it. Anyway...

Part 1. The Burial Mound.

After Michael has woken up & wandered off so that you don`t know where 
he is, head for the secret passageways in the study, and SW, look through 
hole, & NW, look through hole. Head for the observatory, put the disk in the 
slot, & look through the telescope - write down the name you hear, as it 
comes in useful. Go down to the wine cellar, and have a look at the wine 
bottles that Mike was playing with - examine all of them, and make a note of
the dates on the labels, and the Letters on the bottles. Head off to the 
records office, if you feel like, and check out the dates on the labels;
you'll find corresponding names to the letters on the bottles. Head back to
the cellar, and turn the bottles in date order, earliest first, based on
what you know about the family - Croseus' birthdate is unknown, but he was
the first, so start with his ("turn <letter>" where letter is the letter on 
the bottle is a bit faster than typing "turn pinot", esp if you forget which
order the bottles go in). This will open the Secret Door in the cellar, 
leading into the windy passages. You`ll get to a pit, eventually, with W & 
E ledges - examine both edges, and you`ll see footprints on one of them; head
that way, and you`ll cross the pit safely - this direction _does_ change. On 
the other side, you`ll see another odd-angled corridor, which leads off to 
the Crawlspace in the attic - don`t worry about it for now. Head down the 
stairs, until you come to a door; examine it, and the symbol, and this should 
make you think of a passage in "Wardes & Seales", about speaking the name of 
a deity to open a door; this is that door. The only deity that resembles the 
symbol is the name of the thing you saw through the telescope, so say that 
name (you can`t open the door, even if you know the name, unless you have 
picked up the points for learning the name), and the door will open. Have
a good look at the obelisk - checking out the pictograms is always good - and
have a good look at those columns as well. Try blowing the flute, and then
try blowing it with holes covered by your fingers (when trying this out, 
remember to remove your finger from one hole before covering the next, until
you know which holes to cover). When you have worked out which holes to cover,
(the inspiration for this should come from the "Cryptical"), blow it.

Don`t stand on the altar when blowing the flute.

Part 2: The Slaughterhouse.

Before leaving the house, check the pile of luggage in the foyer. See a bag? 
In that bag is a hairpin, which will come in useful later, so pick that up.
Ok, you've checked out practically everywhere in the house, so go for another
wander around the town itself. The Cauldron has disappeared again, but never 
mind. Head south to the deserted lane, and remember your dream - you headed 
west, didn`t you? Try heading west, and a magical route will open up. 
Head along until you get to the slaughterhouse, get everything you see, and
have a look at the picture. Odd, isn`t it? Oh well, head south, and move the 
plywood. Have a look down the well, and search the bones, getting the teddy
while you are there. Head back out of the slaughterhouse, but wait! Whats that
noise? Head back to the well, and enter it, _and_ hide under the bones. Wills
doesn`t take kindly to strangers, and even if you could show the locket of his
mother to him, he won`t give you time to do anything. Anyway, after hiding for
a while, he'll get bored & wander off, leaving you the chance to do a runner.
Go back towards town, but you`ll find your route cut off, somewhat, by a group
of people who are a little disappointed in you. Head for the church, but go 
around the back - you`ll never get through the door in a month of sundays. Have
a look at the trapdoor, and then a look at the padlock - something heavy? Have
a look at the meat hook, which shows itself as being something heavy, so try
hitting the padlock with the hook. This opens up the church, so go down there.

Part 3: The Church.
What's down here? The suggestive shape is, sadly, your estate agent. Some
people may make jokes about estate agents and this being the best thing for
them, here, but not I. Search the body a couple of times, until you find the 
key, and open the furnace, just for morbidity's sake. Head to the Stairwell, 
but don`t jump just yet. Stow as much as you can in your pockets - the torch,
more than anything - and jump. You`ll reach the riser, but everything in your 
hands will drop down the shaft. Don`t worry about it for now, just go & 
explore the church. Get the robe, and have a read of the black tome on the
altar - but don`t carry on reading it. Examine the cross - that may give you
an idea about what went on in this church, and then head for the belfry. Get 
the rope, and then go back to the stairwell. Drop the robe down the shaft, and
tie the rope to the railing. Trust your instincts here, and go down the rope. 
It can`t be far to the bottom, so let go of the rope, and lo! you have escaped 
the Church.

Part 4. Errata. Much of this can be done in any order.

You are now in the sewer system. Turn the torch on, and get everything that you
may have dropped down the shaft. If you head nw, and u, you can open the door
with the copper key, bringing you out at the riverside. If you exit there, you 
can visit everywhere south of the bridge; if you stay in the sewer system, you
can go under the river, and eventually come out behind the fence in the alley
next to the estate agents. Go in there in the usual manner, and unlock the 
drawer with the steel key you found on her body. Read the letter, and put the 
key you find on your keyring. Head out - the files don`t have anything about 
the mill or the lighthouse - and go & find Mrs. Greer. She lives - read the 
newspaper - at #12, Mill Town Rd, which is, presumably, by the paper mill. If 
you go there and knock on the door, and show her the teddy, she will invite you
in and answer any questions you may have. Search Max's overalls, get the key, 
make your excuses & leave. Head for the lighthouse, and unlock it, and have a
wander around there as well - make sure you remember the directions you go in,
as well. You may not have time to go "Oh, is it SW or SE?" and pick the wrong
one. When you have finished with that, head for the mill. Have a look around,
but there is no obvious way of opening the gate, so head for the foundations. 
Search _everything_, but especially the thickets. You should be able to unlock
the hatch with the long key you stole from Mrs. Greer, so open it & in you go.
It might be an idea to leave the robe you picked up here, so that you can get
it later without it being taken off you.

Part 5: The Mill.
The passageway you are in is fraught with danger; Time it wrong and you could
end up steamed. The safest way through is to turn the steam off, rather than 
trying to judge the mechanics, so take your towel, and put it on the wheel. The
wheel is now cool enough to touch, and so turn it so the needle drops back 
down - the corridor is now safe enough to saunter through. At the end is a bit
of a stuck hatch, so just persist in going through it - eventually it will 
open. In the Mill itself is a maze and an optional way of avoiding it. If you
have kept hold of your broom, you can avoid the maze; if you havn`t, you must
get through the maze pretty quickly, otherwise you could end up as flambe. The
maze is only 6 rooms, so you should be able to map it pretty easily - just 
save & undo a lot. However, if you have kept your broom, you can just go over 
the top. Have a look at that control panel, and try pulling the lever. A big 
block of something you can stand on appears from the roof. Now push the 
button - and it goes back up. So, if you stood on the block, and had something
long enough to push the button with... so stand on it, and push it with the
broom. When you get to the catwalk, just "out" will get you off the block, and
you can check out the device blueprints that the Agent alluded to in her 
letter. If you read the blues, you'll notice that the main focusing mirror has
two numbers, one crossed out, and another; in the rack is a collection of 
mirrors - but the rest of the device isn`t here. Presumably, these mirrors are 
spares, so no-one will notice you taking one... get the calipers, and measure 
the mirrors, & take the one with the corresponding size to the not-crossed-out 
number. You can take any of the others as well, but remember which is which. 
Put the mirror in your pocket, and head back the way you came to go back to 
the Mill Road.

6. The Lighthouse.

Who is that? Michael? Well, lets follow him, then. Have a look in the 
lighthouse - which is presumably where he went to - and then head back out
of the lighthouse. Michael turns up, and he isn`t too happy, but at least he 
is still enough of your husband not to kill you on the spot, so he just knocks 
you out.

The Last Night: All The Best Freaks Are Here.
--------------

You wake up inside a padded cell. Presumably, you are inside the Asylum, the 
one you spent hours trying to get in earlier in the game. How to get out?
Well, if you examine the door, you`ll notice it is a bit loose on its hinges - 
so Violence is the answer to this one. Hit the door a couple of times, and you
are out of the cell. However, you are still stuck in your straightjacket, and
you are without your belongings, so the first thing is to get out of the 
jacket. Have a close look at the window. See those cracks? One of them is big 
enough to hold the shard of glass on the floor. If you "rub glass", you can get
a hint about how to get out of the jacket, so put the glass in the crack, and
then rub it - freedom! Have a look in the closet as well - all your belongings
were placed there, the nice chaps they were. Get everything, and try to find
your way out. But Wait! What's that on the window, further down the corridor? 
Bloodtains? How did Edward die? Well, if you asked the orderly, he would have 
told you that Edward bashed his brains out, so this _could_ be his cell...
Have a look in there ("unlock west" "open west cell") and search the tear in 
the padding for Edwards Last Testament. Read it - giving you another clue - and
then head for the stairs.

That gibbering you have been hearing was not simple background.

To escape the madman, you need to get to the exit, where you find the orderly,
sadly demised, but at least he won`t tweak any more pimples. His magazine is
on the floor just outside the door, but his key is a little more out of reach. 
If you try & go for the key, the madman will catch up with you & start eating
your brains, however, if you get the magazine, and show it to the madman he'll
suddenly be distracted by it & stop chasing you quite so much. This gives you 
a few useful seconds to try & get the key. It is out of reach, but you have 
something that could snag it - your umbrella (ABOUT tells you to keep hold of
the umbrella :-) so "snag cell key with umbrella". Remember to keep all your
keys on your keyring, so do that, and unlock the gate. When you go through it, 
the madman starts to chase after you again, but he gets distracted by the
corpse, so head N, and thus escape the asylum.

Head towards the town square, but before you can get too far, you notice the
mob returning. To stop yourself being caught, go & hide down the side alley,
and just wait until the poor old doc has quacked his last. Head back to the 
square, and regain your amulet - didn`t do _him_ much good, but never mind. 
While you are here, you could do something to disrupt the ceremony that you
think is going to happen with the mirror devices, so get the tin of fish oil, 
hold it, and open it. Put a blob of it on the mirror, and then head north to
get to where the ceremony is likely to be. Unfortunately, Wills is on the
bridge, and he's not a happy bunny; the description gives you a clue, though,
so try showing him the gold locket, the one containing the picture of his
mother. He will start ignoring you, so the best thing for you to do would
be to kill him before he thinks about killing you, so go & hit him with the
meat hook.

With Wills out of the way, head towards the lighthouse again, picking up the 
robe you left outside the Mill & wearing it - this stops you being spotted by
random groups of people heading towards the ceremony. Once you get in the
lighthouse, remove the robe & wear your coat again. Get up to the top, and
examine the device, where it tells you that the mirror could be removed. 
This would be a good way of disrupting the ceremony, so take it out - but
just then, Michael comes in. He hasn`t noticed that you have taken the mirror
just yet, but he will do, so just stay calm. When he asks you for it, give him
the mirror you smeared fish oil on - it is the same size as the real mirror, so
Mike won`t smell a rat when he checks the size of it. 

Then you will be taken to an island, where you can do nothing apart from 
examine things - a good idea, really - until the lighthouse does something
highly amusing, and explodes. Everyone runs off, including your guards, so you
can try to pick your handcuffs with the hairpin. Of course, due to a small bug,
you can just drop the handcuffs without anyone noticing - at any point at
which you are on the island. You have to release the boy, and escape the 
island before it sinks, and Michael will start being _really_ nasty to his new
wife. Follow Michael back to town, where he sinks into the ground at the 
obelisk. 

Go home, and into the kitchen, where you should be able to find some
matches in the cupboards. Head towards the cellar, and open the secret door in
the same way you did earlier in the day. Enter the Windy passage, and *bang*
your torch finally gives up the ghost. Good job you picked up those matches, 
then. You can light the lantern from the pub with them, and this won`t blow out
when a hot wind starts coming up the pit. When you get to the pit, cross on the
same side as the footprints (the same side you crossed previously) and then
head _down_ the stairs to the Burial Mound (You can do this in darkness). When
you get to the mound, Michael will start to kill you, so distract him. Your
Wedding ring always makes you feel sentimental, so maybe the same would happen
to Mike - so show it to him. Ah! He lets go; but, go for the kill, here. The
amulet is a ward against evil, so maybe you could give it to Mike and get rid 
of the evil in him, so whikle he is distracted, put the amulet on him, and
Croseus Verlac is exorcised from Mike. Earlier today, you should have tried out
the flute in here, so you know which holes to cover, so don`t bother listening 
to all of Croseus' rubbish, just cover the holes & blow the flute. If you leave
it too long, Mike dies, and you finish the game with 65/80. If you do it in 
time, Croseus gets sucked into the Womb of Nefilim, and so dies. You win.

For now.


Some Other Things You Can Do (courtesy Michael {not me ;) } )
----------------------------

* The Puzzle Box an be opened by putting it on the train tracks, if you forget 
to give it to the Man In The Shop.

* If you don`t have the broom, you can tie the chain around your waist and pull
the Lever - the weight of the block will pull you up.

* As well as the two holes mentioned in the maze from the Study, there is 
another hole that shows the children's bedroom; when Michael is wandering 
around the house, have a look in there first, to see another scene.

* If you didn`t pick up the lantern from the pub, you can just hold lit matches
for a couple of turns before they blow out - but the hot wind will blow it out
if it appears. Hot winds appear at random intervals, so really the lantern is a
safer bet.

* Attack Michael in the Mound.

* Read the book in the church totally.

* Let Michael die before banishing Croseus.

* Examine William (ugh!)

* Stand on the tracks until the train comes.

15th May, 1998. 
"Anchorhead" was written by Michael Gentry (michael.gentry@ey.com),
and is available from ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archve/games/inform/anchorhead.z8

This solution was written by Mike Wallis (mike@jeamland.org),
and is available from http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~phsmw/anchor.sol
(soon to be on gmd).