The Ian Miller cover of this book was the sole reason that this was my favourite gamebook as a child. I’d not even read it or anything, I just loved the artwork so much. And that hasn’t changed, it’s easily one of the best FF gamebook covers.

I had so many of the original editions when I was a kid.  I wish I would have kept them.  So hard to find them now.  These books were the greatest.

I remember setting eyes on House of Hell for the first time in Games Workshop in Broadmarsh Centre, Nottingham. It would have been within days of publication cos my dad took me most weekends in the hope a new FF gamebook had come out. Loved the cover and the story, although it was also very difficult. A couple of years later I “borrowed” the opening of House of Hell for my ZX Spectrum  adventure game, “Enter at your own Risk”.

In the re-printed book of the original, check which other gamebooks are listed in the series. This will give you an idea of the earliest year it would have been re-printed.

It’s annoying, but books don’t usually tell you the re-printing date, they just tell you the original publishing date which is why it still states 1984. It’s usually when it changes publisher you get the original publishing date and then the new publishing date.

Sometimes books do tell you re-print dates though. Some of my gamebooks state things like “reprint 5 times in 1985” or similar.

Great video fella, interesting point about the removed art, just checked my copy!

It's not blood dripping from the tree, it's the sun going down behind some gravestones.

I think we’re all agreed the Scolastic artwork is rubbish. You can get an Ai program to do a better job. Very pleased that these books are slowly returning to their original pen ink line artwork, so it looks like someone made the effort.
Look forward to your next video.

The Wizard cover was by Les Edwards, but Nicholas Halliday did some digital manipulation for it, and Les wanted his name taken off it.

I only got a brief read as you opened 264, but did they change the text  in some of these editions from "you see a young woman" to "you see a human figure" ?? I have watched it again! I am right! Isn't that weird! They changed the text of 264 in these editions to remove the "young woman" in that paragraph!

I would like to send my gamebok but I don't know how Mr.

Would love to know why that with each edition they chose worse art both inside and out.