Murder House

VHS Cover

**Murder House** is a 2020 survival horror slasher game developed by Puppet Combo. The game is available on Steam and on Gog.com. On October 14, 2021, the game was released on Xbox One, Xbox series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4/5 consoles. On April 13th, 2022, the game received an official novelization.

The game is also available in Masters of indie horror bundle.

## Synopsis

**“***A news crew breaks into the old abandoned home of an executed serial killer Anthony Smith, also known as the Easter Ripper, planning to shoot a salacious haunted house story. But is the notorious Easter Ripper really dead or is he waiting inside, ready to wipe them out one by one? Who will survive, and what will be left of them?***”**
— **Official synopsis**

## Characters

* Emma (voiced by Sarah M. Nowak) - The intern of Channel 9 and the main protagonist of *Murder House*.
* Easter Ripper (voiced by Devante Johnson) - The serial killer in the Easter rabbit costume and the main antagonist of *Murder House*.
* Justin (voiced by Vincent Sullivan) - The protagonist of the prologue and one of the Easter Ripper's latest victims.
* Gary (voiced by Dan Weissenberger) - The television producer of Channel 9.
* Dana (voiced by Kelsey Puckett) - The television presenter of Channel 9.
* Tom (voiced by Devante Johnson) - The cameraman of Channel 9 and the Easter Ripper's real identity.
* Janitor Jack (voiced by Seán McLoughlin) - The mall janitor.
* Photographer (voiced by David Horwitz) - The cameraman of the mall.
* Jerry - The real estate agent.

## Story

### Prologue

The game starts with the player taking control of a boy named Justin at a photoshoot in Easter of 1986. Justin sits on the Easter Bunny's lap and takes a photo. Many hours later, the same boy wakes up in a photo booth. He wanders the mall looking for his parents and realizes that he fell asleep and the entire mall is closed. He wanders the mall looking for an exit and, after finding a key, uses it to unlock the exit door and enter a long hallway. At the end of the hallway, the Easter Ripper, armed with a large sickle, shows up, blocking the path, and forces Justin to retreat and hide in a bathroom stall. The Easter Ripper enters and checks a few stalls before leaving. Justin exits the bathroom and further explores the area. He reaches the staff resting room where he finds the janitor named Jack. Justin explains to the janitor what happened, and the janitor tells him to stay in the office while he goes to investigate. Justin stays in the office and patiently waits when the lights suddenly go off. Out of fear, Justin hides under the desk. Footsteps are heard outside the office, however, they aren't the footsteps of the janitor. The notorious Easter Ripper breaks into the office and captures Justin.

### Present day

Three years later in 1988, a local news crew arrives at the abandoned house of Anthony Smith with the intentions of shooting a story about him. The player takes control of Emma, who is told by her boss Gary to find a way into the house as the real estate agent isn't there. Emma explores the house and gets inside via a basement window. She unlocks the doors from inside and is told by Gary to bring in the equipment. She does so, but because there is no power, Gary tells her to find a way to bring the power back on. While searching the house, she catches glimpses of a small child running through the hallways. She also hallucinates the crew lying dead on the floor, but she brushes it off. She fixes the fuse box and returns to the living room where the crew shoots the first segment of the story. After shooting, the crew gets a break and moves to the basement where they shoot the second segment. To make it more interesting, Gary instructs Emma to put a blanket on and run past Dana. After shooting the segment, the crew gets another break and Gary instructs Emma to get to the van and order them a pizza. To her shock, she finds the van destroyed and a note left on the van that says they will be "playing an egg hunting game." Emma returns back inside and tells Gary what happened. Gary assumes it was the real estate agent. He insists they must continue shooting and tells her to find Tom. When she finds him in the basement, Tom tells her that he is aware of what's happening and gives her a key he found. Emma returns upstairs and sees Dana covered in blood begging for help. The Easter Ripper appears behind her and brutally murders Dana by decapitating her before attacking Emma, who runs to the attic, unlocks it and hides there.

### Egg hunt

Emma searches through the house while avoiding the killer and finds Dana's severed head on the table and an egg stuffed in her mouth. She takes the "Death egg" and continues with her search. The eggs that she finds are placed in the basket as it's part of the Easter Ripper's game. After unlocking certain doors Gary appears and tells Emma to help him "find a way out of here". Sadly for him, the Easter Ripper shows up behind him and disembowels him while Emma hides under the bed. The killer exits the room, leaving Gary's corpse on the floor. Emma goes to the attic where she replaces the bulb with a black bulb she found. The new bulb reveals old, dried blood coming from the wardrobe. Emma removes the wardrobe, revealing a dumbwaiter. She uses it which takes her to the part of the basement where the killer kept and abused his victims. She exits the room and finds Tom's smashed camera in the kitchen and takes the VHS tape. She starts having nightmarish hallucinations, such as the giant head of the Easter Ripper with spider legs chasing her through the halls. She inserts the tape into the VHS player, which reveals Tom being attacked by the Easter Ripper, and the killer hiding something inside the piano. Emma finds the piano and further examines it. Based on the note that was left by one of the children, she plays the piano in the correct order and unlocks it, revealing an egg inside. Emma further explores the rooms and, using the rope that she found in the basement, she overturns the wardrobe, revealing a large hole leading to the bathroom where she finds the corpse of a real estate agent in the bathtub. She also finds an egg in his mouth and collects it. Returning back to previous rooms, she finds Gary hanging by a chain with his stomach ripped open and the final egg inside which she takes and puts in the basket.

### Final fight and escape

With all the eggs in the basket, Emma yells for the Easter Ripper to let her go. In the basement, she finds that one of the doors that was previously locked is now open and goes inside. She enters a corridor which leads to the stairs. She climbs up and appears in the greenhouse. The Easter Ripper appears before her and takes off his mask, revealing himself to be Tom. He reveals to her that he is the actual killer who will avenge his brother Anthony Smith, who turned himself in to save him. After a long fight, Tom drops to the ground and passes out from wounds. As everything seems to be finally over, Tom unexpectedly stands up and yells that he can't die because he is the Easter Ripper. The ground suddenly starts shaking, and all of the victims he had killed rise from the ground and attack Tom and start tearing him apart as Emma flees. As she escapes, a large flash of light appears in the greenhouse. The game then ends and the credits start rolling.

### Reveal (Extended ending)

As Emma flees from the greenhouse, the director says cut, revealing all this to be a part of a movie. The actress who played Emma talks with the director about how stupid the ending is, then goes around the house, and talks to each actor and crew member about filming. She even helps the actress who played Dana with her next role. As she is about to leave the house, she realizes that she dropped her car keys. She finds the car keys in the basement, unlocks her car, and drives away from the property while the rest of the crew are partying at the house. As she is driving, the camera slowly moves towards the trunk of the car, revealing the real Easter Ripper hiding.

## Gameplay

> *"This game simulates a 5th gen survival horror game. It uses tank controls, third-person cinematic camera angles and is meant to be played with a controller. If you have a problem playing tank control games, you will not like this game. It has no autosaves, you must save with pencils which are in limited supply."- Steam description*
>
>

The game plays from the third-person perspective using tank controls. Players progress by solving puzzles, collecting items, and exploring areas. When the Easter Ripper is present, players can either defend themselves using weapons (such as guns or a fire poker) or run away from him. The Easter Ripper will, upon encountering the player, start following them and will attack when close. Players can also hide. If the Easter Ripper spots the player hiding inside of a wardrobe or under the table, he will pull the player out. If the player has been hit too many times, a random death cutscene will play. Players can also save their progress by writing in a diary that's found under the staircase, however, to do that, pencils are needed.

On October 31st, 2020, the game received a first-person mode update where players can switch from third-person to first-person view.

## Items

*Main article: Items*

* Fire poker
* Death Eggs
* Letter opener
* Pencils
* Magnet
* Gun
* Shotgun
* Keys
* Medical kit
* Rope
* Pistol ammo

## Trivia

* The soundtrack was composed by **MXXN** and **Clément Panchout**.
* This game has been in development since April 2020 and has been delayed many times.
	+ It was originally supposed to be released on Easter 2020, but because Puppet Combo was unable to finish it before Easter, the game has been delayed.
* Puppet Combo wanted to use the title "**Murder House**" for some of his previous games before finally using it for this game.
* This is the first Puppet Combo game that was released on Steam.
	+ This is also the first Puppet Combo game that was released on consoles.
* Following the game's release on consoles, it was banned in Japan, due to the game's brutal and gory murder cutscenes. The game was censored for the Asian region.
* After the game was released on consoles, some people complained about the game's icon being too disturbing and wanted it changed. Puppet Combo however, refused.
* Puppet Combo considers *Murder House* as a spiritual successor to *Babysitter Bloodbath*.
* The janitor found in the game's prologue is voiced and has the face of JackSepticEye.

## Gallery

### Promotional material

Steam bannerAlternate VHS cover, used on the menuEaster Ripper in Masters of Indie Horror Bundle
## Videos

Murder House - 80's Slasher Game. Wishlist on Steam!MURDER HOUSE -Out On Steam! PS1 Slasher HorrorMurder House - PSX Style Slasher - Full trailerMurder House - Out on Consoles!Huge Puppet Combo Easter Sale
## External Links

Murder House on *Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia*.

## References

1. ↑ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1064460/Murder\_House/
2. ↑ https://www.gog.com/en/game/murder\_house
3. ↑ https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/p/murder-house/9pcsh678rs9s?activetab=pivot:overviewtab
4. ↑ https://store.playstation.com/en-ie/product/EP6776-CUSA30462\_00-1044666981562226/
5. ↑ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09XF767P8/ref=dbs\_a\_def\_rwt\_hsch\_vapi\_tkin\_p1\_i2
6. ↑ https://twitter.com/PuppetCombo/status/1584893036030558209
7. ↑ https://store.steampowered.com/newshub/app/1064460/view/2957136681990031455
8. ↑ https://twitter.com/PuppetCombo/status/1254149051827748865
9. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/PuppetCombo/comments/y1s5vr/censorship/
10. ↑ https://twitter.com/PuppetCombo/status/1580058260648136704
11. ↑ https://twitter.com/PuppetCombo/status/1450677397385355264?ref\_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1450677397385355264%7Ctwgr%5E43686f54908a7b7027940a1032ce24fc21fc878a%7Ctwcon%5Es1\_&ref\_url=https%3A%2F%2Fkotaku.com%2Fembed%2Finset%2Fiframe%3Fid%3Dtwitter-1450677397385355264autosize%3D1
12. ↑ https://kotaku.com/please-don-t-ever-change-this-nightmare-inducing-switch-1847900687
13. ↑ https://www.relyonhorror.com/in-depth/interviews/interview-power-drill-massacre-dev-puppet-combo-talks-past-present-future-of-solo-horror-development/