NOTE: Unfortunately, the WordPress theme I am using does not expand, even on wide screens. I will replace the BBS text output with images soon.
Since I had so much fun describing how I shared photos using an internet FTP server in the mid-1990s, I thought it might be fun to share something from even earlier…
Before the World Wide Web came to be a thing in the 1990s, we had bulletin board systems (BBS) in the 1980s. I spent endless hours on my old Radio Shack Color Computer dialing in to other people’s computers where I would read messages from others and post my own. There were hundreds of these systems operating in Houston, Texas in the early 1980s.
Eventually, I ran my own BBS. It went through many incarnations over the years, with the final one running in 1995 in Des Moines, Iowa. That system was called DeltaBoard. The “delta” was for change, because the system had many different themes and you’d get a random one each time you called in.
One of the themes was Haunted Mansion. I recently found my old BBS software and thought I’d show you what it looked like.
Connection Established
When you dialed in, the first thing you would see was the system ID message:
When hinges creek in doorless chambers, and strange and frightening sounds
echo through the halls... Whenever candlelights flicker where the air is
deathly still - that is the time when ghosts are present - practicing their
terror with ghoulish delight...
. . . \\ . /--------------------------\
Welcome, foolish mortals, to the... //. / . . _ . . . . ___ _ __ \
_ . . __________ . . /_ | |__| /_\ | | |\| | |_ | \ |
(_) __/ ___ ___ \__ . __/ \ . | | | | | |_| | | | |_ |_/ |
. . /__\ |_| |_| /__\ __/ /_ | . . _ . . __ . _ . . |
. |[]| .. __ .. |[]| / . / / . | |\/| /_\ |\| (_ | / \ |\| |
. + |--| # | | # |--| + /_ | | | | | | | __) | \_/ | | |
_|_|__|___|__|___|__|_|_ . / . \ /
__--- / \ ---__ \--------------------------/
I am your host. Your ... Ghost Host. Kindly step all the way in please and
make room for everyone. There's no turning back now . . .
Please tell me your name, or type 'NEW' if this is your first visit.
Bad password
If you couldn’t remember your password, you’d see this:
Ah, there you are. And just in time. There's a little matter I forgot to
mention... Beware of entering the wrong password.
Hurry back, hurry back. Be sure to bring your real password if you decide to
join us. Make final arrangements now. We've been dying to have you...
The mansion door slams shut behind you...
Rest In Peace.
Welcome, foolish mortal!
Once you logged in successfully, you would be presented the message of the day:
Our tour begins here in this gallery where you see paintings of some of our
guests as they appeared in their corruptable, mortal state...
Your cadaverous pallor betrays an aura of foreboding, almost as though you
sense a disquieting meamorphosis. Is this haunted room actually stretching?
Or is it your imagination?
And consider this dismaying observation: this chamber has no windows, and no
doors. Which offers you this chilling challenge... To find a way out!
Of course, there's always _my_ way . . . ___-------___
/ RIP _/ \
| |
| Your |
|\_ Name |
| Here |
__|__:__.__.__:_|__
Orders, please.
After this, you would be presented with the main menu. It had all the various options you could do… It looked like this:
.. /--------------------\ ..
_||_ @}| Haunted Mansion Menu |{@ _||_
|| \--------------------/ ||
________/||\_______ _||____________||_ _______/||\_________
/ \/ \/ \
| {A} Solicitors -}- Graveyard -{- {L}ist Spirits Here |
| {B}oo-letins... {N} All Tombstones {O}ther Mansions |
| {C}all Ghost Host {P} Carve Tombstone {Q}uestionaires |
| {D}own/Uploads {R} Read Tombstones {T}erminal Setup |
| {E} Playground {!} List Crypts {U} Spirit Listing |
| {F}eedback to Ghost Private Mail {V}ideo Mode |
| {G}oodboo - Log Off {M}orbid Mail {W}orkspace |
| {H}elp {S}end Morbid Mail {X}pert Menu Toggle |
| {I}nfo on Mansion {K} Config Alias {Y}our Vital Signs |
| {J}oin a Seance {Z} Send File {.} Today's Spirits |
| |
| {@} Change Password {/} List Processes {=} FAST Log Off! |
|_______________________________________________________________|
Ah, so punny. The message base was the “graveyard.” In case you were wondering what the other options where, here was the generic DeltaBoard menu:
________________________
| |__
| DeltaBoard Main Menu | |
|______________________| |
|______________________|
_________________________________________________________________
| |__
| [A)dvertisements Public Messages [L)ist Who's Online | |
| [B)ulletins & News [N)ews Reader/Net [O)ther BBS List | |
| [C)hat with Allen [P)ost Local Msg [Q)uestionaires | |
| [D)own/Uploads [R)ead Local Msgs [T)erminal Setup | |
| [E)ntertainment [!) List Msg Area [U)ser Listing | |
| [F)eedback to Allen Private Mail [V)ideo Mode | |
| [G)oodbye - Log Off [M)ail Read [W)orkspace | |
| [H)elp with System [S)end Mail [X)pert Menu Toggle | |
| [I)nformation [K) Config Alias [Y)our Statistics | |
| [J)oin a Conference [Z) Send File [.) Today's Callers | |
| | |
| [@) Change Password [/) List Processes [=) FAST Log Off! | |
|_______________________________________________________________| |
|_______________________________________________________________|
Farewell…
And lastly, when the user was done and logged off, they would see this final message:
Ah, there you are. And just in time. There's a little matter I forgot to
mention: Beware of hitchhiking ghosts. They have selected you to fill our
quota, and they'll haunt you until you return.
If you would like to join our jamboree,
There's a simple rule that's compulsory:
Mortals pay a token fee...
Rest in peace; the haunting's free!
So hurry back, we would like your company...
The ghost will follow you home...
Hurry back, hurry back. Be sure to bring your death certificate if you decide
to join us. Make final arrangements now. We've been dying to have you...
The mansion door slams shut behind you...
Rest In Peace.
And more!
Other themes included Star Trek (parody), a hotel, a medieval castle, a groovy “den of iniquity”. It was such a great time back then, before point-and-click and pictures took over correspondence.
But who knows … now that I have found my old software, maybe I will resurrect this Haunted Mansion BBS sometime and make it available over the Internet.
Until next time…