Haunted Hotel: The Thirteenth

**Haunted Hotel: The Thirteenth** is - as the name suggests - the thirteenth installment in the *Haunted Hotel* series by Elephant Games.

## Plot

Dave Barlow and his young son Matt are driving when they spot someone whose car has broken down, and they stop to help. No good deed goes unpunished; the other driver and his accomplice murder Dave and kidnap Matt. When Dave regains his senses, he realizes that he is, in fact, a *ghost*, and he has to find his killers and save his son before he shares the same fate.

Tracking the kidnappers to the Baker's Hotel, Dave encounters other ghosts. But the hotel also has a few living guests, and he soon meets an old man who is able to see and interact with him, something none of the other living characters seem capable of doing. He offers help to Dave, who is reluctant to accept it but reasons that he has no choice. As the investigation continues, he starts piecing together the truth - the same people who killed him and kidnapped his son are responsible for the deaths of his parents and other relatives when he was a child.

Dave's elderly friend soon reveals a truth of his own - he's actually Christopher Barlow, Dave's own grandfather, and the only other member of the Barlow family who was not murdered by the same group of assailants. They are the last surviving descendants of an organization known as the Sons of Dawn, and they and another group, the Sons of Dusk, fell out over their disagreement on how to use the extraordinary wealth of knowledge contained within a book called the Necronix. The Sons of Dusk fought with the Sons of Dawn, who destroyed them, but allowed a single individual to survive because he was only a baby at the time. This baby boy, Derek, is now all grown up and has been the one leading the revenge against the descendants of his family's killers.

Matt has been spared up to this point because, traditionally, the Sons of Dawn entrusted the location of the Necronix to their youngest member. Derek believes Matt knows where to find the book, and once he gives up that knowledge, he will also be killed. But neither Dave nor Matt ever knew anything about the book or the Sons of Dawn until all this happened; the Necronix is actually in Christopher's possession. The new Sons of Dusk discover Christopher helping Dave and murder him too, but he continues to guide Dave as a fellow spirit. After a final showdown with Derek, the Barlows are able to use the knowledge contained within the Necronix to restore Dave to life, while Christopher bids his grandson and great-grandson farewell before departing into the hereafter.

### Bonus Chapter

It's been twenty years since Matt Barlow, who is now the player character, was taken hostage by the Sons of Dusk. He has grown up and largely moved past it; however, his beloved dad Dave is still having nightmares about it. Something remains unfinished. Father and son decide to return to the Baker's Hotel one more time to see if they can put an end to the bad dreams.

## Characters

* Dave Barlow: The player character of the main game, a man who is murdered and whose ghost must find a way to save his young son from sharing the same fate.
* Matt Barlow: Dave's son, who is about six or seven years old in the main game. He becomes the player character in the bonus chapter, when he is a young man trying to alleviate his dad's nighmares.
* Christopher Barlow: Dave's paternal grandfather, whom he has never known. He is the last remaining member of the Sons of Dawn and the keeper of the Necronix.
* Derek: The only surviving member of the Sons of Dusk, who is out for revenge against the descendants of the Sons of Dawn.

## Trivia

* This is one of just three *Haunted Hotel* games to have absolutely no connection to any other game in the series. It neither references any of the other installments, nor is it referenced by any of them. In fact, it has no characters or locations in common with *any* other Elephant Games property; it is a completely stand-alone work.
* The game's subtitle, *The Thirteenth*, has a double meaning. It is, of course, the thirteenth game in the *Haunted Hotel* series. However, it also refers to Matt Barlow, whom Derek intends will be his thirteenth and final murder victim.

## External Links

* *Haunted Hotel: The Thirteenth* at the Elephant Games website
* *Haunted Hotel* at TV Tropes
* Elephant Games on Facebook