Learning Company's Mindscape Division Expands Blackstone Chronicles Storyline

Posted on November 16, 1998

The Learning Company, Inc.'s Mindscape division has shipped an adventure game that expands the storyline of the Blackstone Chronicles book series. John Saul's Blackstone Chronicles: An Adventure in Terror represents an emerging form of storytelling that uses complementary yet independent media platforms for more fulfilling entertainment.

While this computer game is based upon the Blackstone book series, it expands the original story and stands alone to appeal to users who have not read the books. The Blackstone universe now encompasses a series of books, a computer game, three websites and a television miniseries to be aired next year on ABC.

John Saul commented on the project: "I think the most exciting thing about the Blackstone game is that it represents a genuine breakthrough in storytelling, offering the creator of fiction an entirely new framework within which to construct a story. While the CD-ROM form offers a new set of opportunities for structuring a tale, it presents a new set of limitations as well -- I found the form to be not only very exciting, but incredibly challenging, and I am very much looking forward to working in it again."

"The Blackstone Chronicles" book series was released in six separate installments in 1997. Since then the books have sold more than 10 million copies in 13 languages worldwide. Legend Entertainment Company developed the computer game for Mindscape.

Like the book series, the setting for John Saul's Blackstone Chronicles: An Adventure in Terror is the fictional New England town of Blackstone, which has been haunted for generations by a mysterious evil spirit. The game takes place inside a 25-room asylum that has recently been renovated after being abandoned for more than 40 years. John Saul has published 27 New York Times paperback bestsellers, including his most recent novel, The Presence, which was released in 1997.