Remember when you were a kid, and "Choose Your Own Adventure" books were all the rage?

Of course.

I blatantly cheated to get the best possible outcome.


And, now, as an adult, it's all about zombies?

Well, what ISN'T about zombies these days?

British Parliament on C-SPAN usually brings in zombies every now and then to keep the format fresh.


Well, now the two have come together with a plush pink bunny in the middle

Wielding a chainsaw and voiced by Bruce Campbell, no less.

/would still blatantly cheat at Choose Your Own Adventure books

Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: Remember when you were a kid, and "Choose Your Own Adventure" books were all the rage?

Of course.

I blatantly cheated to get the best possible outcome.


And, now, as an adult, it's all about zombies?

Well, what ISN'T about zombies these days?

British Parliament on C-SPAN usually brings in zombies every now and then to keep the format fresh.


Well, now the two have come together with a plush pink bunny in the middle

Wielding a chainsaw and voiced by Bruce Campbell, no less.

/would still blatantly cheat at Choose Your Own Adventure books

Somehow, I'm not surprised to see you in here. This is why I enjoy submitting pop culture threads.

I will have to get this book. And I too will cheat.

The English Major: Somehow, I'm not surprised to see you in here.

Hah! Likewise with you, man.


This is why I enjoy submitting pop culture threads.

Keep 'em rollin' along.

I enjoy posting in them.


I will have to get this book. And I too will cheat.

You know, there WAS one Choose Your Own Adventure book where blatant cheating gave you the best possible ending.

From Wikipedia:


One book, Inside UFO 54-40, revolved around the search for a paradise that no one can actively reach; one of the pages in the book describes the player finding the paradise and living happily ever after, although none of the choices in the book led to that page. The ending could only be found by disregarding the rules and going through the book at random. Upon finding the ending, the reader is congratulated for realizing how to find paradise.


Valuable lesson about disregarding the rules, that.

Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: The English Major: Somehow, I'm not surprised to see you in here.

Hah! Likewise with you, man.


This is why I enjoy submitting pop culture threads.

Keep 'em rollin' along.

I enjoy posting in them.


I will have to get this book. And I too will cheat.

You know, there WAS one Choose Your Own Adventure book where blatant cheating gave you the best possible ending.

From Wikipedia:


One book, Inside UFO 54-40, revolved around the search for a paradise that no one can actively reach; one of the pages in the book describes the player finding the paradise and living happily ever after, although none of the choices in the book led to that page. The ending could only be found by disregarding the rules and going through the book at random. Upon finding the ending, the reader is congratulated for realizing how to find paradise.


Valuable lesson about disregarding the rules, that.

oh man i actually remember that one. got it from scholastic book club. as good as those books were, though, i preferred the "you be the jury" series.

thomps: Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: The English Major: Somehow, I'm not surprised to see you in here.

Hah! Likewise with you, man.


This is why I enjoy submitting pop culture threads.

Keep 'em rollin' along.

I enjoy posting in them.


I will have to get this book. And I too will cheat.

You know, there WAS one Choose Your Own Adventure book where blatant cheating gave you the best possible ending.

From Wikipedia:


One book, Inside UFO 54-40, revolved around the search for a paradise that no one can actively reach; one of the pages in the book describes the player finding the paradise and living happily ever after, although none of the choices in the book led to that page. The ending could only be found by disregarding the rules and going through the book at random. Upon finding the ending, the reader is congratulated for realizing how to find paradise.


Valuable lesson about disregarding the rules, that.

oh man i actually remember that one. got it from scholastic book club. as good as those books were, though, i preferred the "you be the jury" series.

Holy cow, I think I had/have that. I have this problem with books; I haven't gotten rid of any. I still have some Golden Books in storage. And some Seuss.

thomps: oh man i actually remember that one. got it from scholastic book club.

The Scholastic Book Club was the shiz just for the Wayside School books alone.

Now THERE'S a crossover that they missed: Choose Your Own Adventure at Wayside School.

No one wants to end up in the Phantom Zone that is Floor 19.


as good as those books were, though, i preferred the "you be the jury" series.

Oy... I can't say that I honestly remember those...

The English Major: Holy cow, I think I had/have that.

I've heard about it by way of Wikipedia, but I don't think I've ever seen THAT particular one in my travels... although I have seen many of those books along the way.


I have this problem with books; I haven't gotten rid of any. I still have some Golden Books in storage. And some Seuss.

Double-edged sword, not throwing stuff out.

I find the double edges to be less of an issue where books are concerned. There's no problem in keeping any books that I've tracked down here and there.

Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: thomps: oh man i actually remember that one. got it from scholastic book club.

The Scholastic Book Club was the shiz just for the Wayside School books alone.

Now THERE'S a crossover that they missed: Choose Your Own Adventure at Wayside School.

No one wants to end up in the Phantom Zone that is Floor 19.


as good as those books were, though, i preferred the "you be the jury" series.

Oy... I can't say that I honestly remember those...

i spent a fortune of my parents money on both of those series (which i'd like to think i repaid in book it personal pan pizzas). you be the jury was awesome - like 10 pages of testimony and then 3 pictures/charts entered as exhibits. you had to guess the verdict, which was usually proven by some discrepancy between the testimony and one of the exhibits. didn't have the replay value of choose your own adventures, but tons of fun.

The English Major: Holy cow, I think I had/have that. I have this problem with books; I haven't gotten rid of any. I still have some Golden Books in storage. And some Seuss.

my parents have mountains of my old books sitting in their attic. one of the few reasons i might agree to having a kid would be to open those boxes up at some point.

I now have an urge to unearth my Scary Stories books and the always enjoyable Bunnicula series.

It's weird; I read those books starting when I was like eight or nine. Then I made the leap to Stephen King/Dean Koontz at about twelve because my dad would read them. I missed the whole R.L. Stine/Christopher Pike/etc. movement.

thomps: (which i'd like to think i repaid in book it personal pan pizzas).

OH, HELL YEAH, IT DID.

I was downright mercenary when it came to the Book It program.


you be the jury was awesome - like 10 pages of testimony and then 3 pictures/charts entered as exhibits. you had to guess the verdict, which was usually proven by some discrepancy between the testimony and one of the exhibits. didn't have the replay value of choose your own adventures, but tons of fun.

That does sound rather interesting, aye.


The English Major: I missed the whole R.L. Stine/Christopher Pike/etc. movement.

I remember everyone being absolutely nuts for the Fear Street books, now that you mention it.

Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: I remember everyone being absolutely nuts for the Fear Street books, now that you mention it.

i vaguely remember those - was that before or after goosebumps took over the playground?

Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: thomps: oh man i actually remember that one. got it from scholastic book club.

The Scholastic Book Club was the shiz just for the Wayside School books alone.

Now THERE'S a crossover that they missed: Choose Your Own Adventure at Wayside School.

No one wants to end up in the Phantom Zone that is Floor 19.


as good as those books were, though, i preferred the "you be the jury" series.

Oy... I can't say that I honestly remember those...

I would totally buy an entire series of Choose Your Own Adventure at Wayside School. I loved all of the Wayside School books... I was a bookworm as a kid (still am) and have three huge boxes of all my old books in my garage. Might have to get them out and re-read them.

thomps: Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: I remember everyone being absolutely nuts for the Fear Street books, now that you mention it.

i vaguely remember those - was that before or after goosebumps took over the playground?

Fear Street started in 1989.
Goose Bumps started in 1992.

I had to google it, and then I had to place an order on Amazon, because I know that these books are probably gone, but J.B. Stamper's Tales for the Midnight Hour.

/you can feel its power

Oh my god.
I was ten when Fear Street started.

katemonster: Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: thomps: oh man i actually remember that one. got it from scholastic book club.

The Scholastic Book Club was the shiz just for the Wayside School books alone.

Now THERE'S a crossover that they missed: Choose Your Own Adventure at Wayside School.

No one wants to end up in the Phantom Zone that is Floor 19.


as good as those books were, though, i preferred the "you be the jury" series.

Oy... I can't say that I honestly remember those...

I would totally buy an entire series of Choose Your Own Adventure at Wayside School. I loved all of the Wayside School books... I was a bookworm as a kid (still am) and have three huge boxes of all my old books in my garage. Might have to get them out and re-read them.

I loved the Wayside School books too. And the whole My Teacher is an Alien thing.
John Bellairs was another great author from my childhood.

The English Major: I loved the Wayside School books too. And the whole My Teacher is an Alien thing.

ha i completely forgot those books! this thread is starting to read like a literary dane cook show.

thomps: i vaguely remember those - was that before or after goosebumps took over the playground?

The English Major has this covered, but yeah - Fear Street was for the older set, what with the focus on violence and gore and everything.


The English Major: And the whole My Teacher is an Alien thing.

YES.

Good gravy, this thread is a whole metric boatload of awesome.


katemonster: I would totally buy an entire series of Choose Your Own Adventure at Wayside School. I loved all of the Wayside School books...

You and me both!


I was a bookworm as a kid (still am) and have three huge boxes of all my old books in my garage. Might have to get them out and re-read them.

I have some Wayside School books floating around here... wouldn't mind diggin' them up for nostalgia's sake.

I loved me some "Mystery of the Maya".

"The Cave of Time" was awesome as well.

Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: I was downright mercenary when it came to the Book It program.

Oh man, so much free pizza. :D :D :D

They used to have space vampires.

Oh, man, my now adult son is going to farking love this.

Remember your childhood when you would GET OFF MY LAWN!

When I was a kid, I would read every off-shoot story of those Choose Your Own Adventure Books. One time, I found an entire sub-story that was not linked to any other part of the book. It was really weird.

LOVED John Bellairs as a kid.

Shame he died before he could write more stories...

Isn't Fark an internet Choose-Your-Own-Adventure?

drzimp: Isn't Fark an internet Choose-Your-Own-Adventure?

You've made it this far in the thread.

- If you think that arguing on the internet isn't an act of futility, go to the Politics Tab.

- If you think that arguing on the internet is an act of futility, go to the Foobies page.

I did a GIS looking to see if any of those books contained zombies and found this instead:



I thought I'd read all of those books as a kid, but this one apparently skipped my radar.

Well, since we've already got the awesome that is Lone Wolf out of the way (didja know that Mongoose Games re-released the LW series a few years back?), I guess I'll have to post some others:








I've still got most of these - Endless Quest #'s 1-32 - they'll be great for my kids if I've ever so stupid as to have any.

/Rose Estes wrote some friggin' hard-to-beat books.

Awww... I am SO bad at this.

/I... kill the blacksmith with my sword
//[turn to pg 27] the blacksmith turns into a dragon AND EATS YOU!

Back in elementary I used to make impromptu choose-your-own-adventure games with my friends. It was so fun especially when you mix in real life people like classmates in the story doing bizarre stuff, and the players have to choose what to do, and the only choices are just as sick lol!

I always remember the "as long as you don't take your finger off the page you can change your mind" rule. You generally knew that if the page were 118 or something you'd die.

I also remember the Lone Wolf series. I used to play it using dice and keeping track of hit points until I realized it was much faster to simply cheat and say you won every battle without a scratch.

Inside UFO 54-40... by far the best of the group (it sits on the shelf next to my desk... fun nostalgia)

The English Major: thomps: Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: The English Major: Somehow, I'm not surprised to see you in here.

Hah! Likewise with you, man.


This is why I enjoy submitting pop culture threads.

Keep 'em rollin' along.

I enjoy posting in them.


I will have to get this book. And I too will cheat.

You know, there WAS one Choose Your Own Adventure book where blatant cheating gave you the best possible ending.

From Wikipedia:


One book, Inside UFO 54-40, revolved around the search for a paradise that no one can actively reach; one of the pages in the book describes the player finding the paradise and living happily ever after, although none of the choices in the book led to that page. The ending could only be found by disregarding the rules and going through the book at random. Upon finding the ending, the reader is congratulated for realizing how to find paradise.


Valuable lesson about disregarding the rules, that.

oh man i actually remember that one. got it from scholastic book club. as good as those books were, though, i preferred the "you be the jury" series.

Holy cow, I think I had/have that. I have this problem with books; I haven't gotten rid of any. I still have some Golden Books in storage. And some Seuss.

NEVER discard a Seuss. As you get older, you really see many of the best of them are wasted on the young. Same with Sendak, Silverstein and the Sid Fleischman Josh McBroom stories.

I never get rid of books either. Except for Catch-22 and The Steppenwolf. I burried those upside down in a deep grave with stakes through them. Just to be sure.

Does anyone remember choose your own adventure books that also included BASIC computer commands that you could program into your handy Commodore 64 or other retro computer? I believe I had such a book. It may have been called "The Cats of Magic Mountain" or something to that effect. It's a fuzzy memory. We found it at the Salvation Army store and I worked on programming it with my Dad. i must have been 7 or 8.

I used to love Fighting Fantasy books when I was young. Collected them all the way up to 40-something. Never rolled a die, was always 'lucky'... I kind of want to go back and play through one of them properly. My dad took them all down the hospital shop years ago, along with all our Roald Dahl hard backs. That's the last time I go off to university and leave him with my childhood book collection.



/hot like nostalgia

Also, FTA:
"Zombocalypse Now doesn't just feature a pink stuffed rabbit; you are the pink stuffed rabbit, living in a world where stuffed animals walk, talk, and intermarry with the human population."

www.gamebooks.org (new window)

mamoru: - If you think that arguing on the internet isn't an act of futility, go to the Politics Tab.

Oh no, you've walked right into a trap! Canisnoir is currently posting! Incensed by his posts, you begin arguing with him about a Flat Tax. Days go by until your body is found. Guess you'll think twice before making that mistake again!

THE END

Foxie299: Also, FTA:
"Zombocalypse Now doesn't just feature a pink stuffed rabbit; you are the pink stuffed rabbit, living in a world where stuffed animals walk, talk, and intermarry with the human population."

You know, I don't care how funny or edgy it is: this book sounds like the
product of an overactive marketing department.

/Zombies are the perfect metaphor for the lack of creativity in mass-market horror
/This is my favorite 'Choose Your Own Adventure' book. (new window)

WFern: I did a GIS looking to see if any of those books contained zombies and found this instead:



I thought I'd read all of those books as a kid, but this one apparently skipped my radar.

read that one. I remember it being pretty good. At one point you give someone else a hint on what to do by humming the theme song from "The Pink Panther" which confuses the heck out of the vampires.

Yes, but are they hot zombies?

(new window)

Too many socks and the turtles will doze
Until the fragrance leaves their nose.

I hated Inside UFO 54-40. I always ended up in the zoo.

Adult themed choose-your-own-adventure books have been done before.
Some even have radioactive zombie drag queens!



\faaaaaaabuloussssss, Marrrrrrrry!

Coincidentally, I'm working on a collection of all of the original Endless Quest and Super Endless Quest books (complete with character bookmarks). Have about 37 of them so far.

/my wife is sooooo proud

Guy I used to work with writes this stuff.
/Not surprised.

caperbear: Adult themed choose-your-own-adventure books have been done before.
Some even have radioactive zombie drag queens!



\faaaaaaabuloussssss, Marrrrrrrry!

You know what's really scary? My colleague just brought over a copy of that book to show me. I said, 'hey, a choose your own adventure' book! That's really weird, look at this thread I found on Fark this morning.' And then, up you pop. It terrifies me that there's at least two of you out there.

/apparently, she just got killed by the zombie Pamula Anderson.

My first thought when reading the headline?

The Japanese must've come up with this...