House of Hell: Exploring the House of Drumer

Normally when I finish a gamebook, I write a post that details it's connections to the wider world of Titan,  That's not an option here, with House of Hell being set on modern day Earth (well, 1984 anyway). So instead I'm going to write about the house itself, it's inhabitants, and the clues scattered about as to its origins.  Some of it's drawn directly from the text, and some of it is conjecture, but here are my findings below.

THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE
This is the history of the house, as described by the Earl of Drumer himself: "The Earl of Drumer is the last surviving member of his family. His estate stretches for miles around the house. At one time the estate was prosperous, with many tenant farmers cultivating the land and providing a healthy income for his family. But things started to change. His sister died at the age of 32 under mysterious circumstances. She was found dead in the woods with strange markings on her neck. News travelled fast, and the ignorant peasants started muttering about witchcraft and black magic. In their eyes, the house was cursed. Gradually the farmers moved to new pastures, avoiding the estate."  Whatever happened in the house, it's clear that the true evil began around the time of his sister's murder.
  (As an aside, the house is said to be a few miles away from a town called Mingleford.  Much to my disappointment, this town seems to be entirely fictional.)

SO WHAT HAPPENED TO THE EARL'S SISTER
From those strange markings on the neck, we can surmise that she was killed by a vampire.  There's a painting of a young lady in the entrance hall with the following name-plate: "Lady Margaret of Danvers: 1802-1834".  Note that she died at 32, just as the Earl's sister did.  Elsewhere in the house there's a ring with the following inscription: "To dearest Margaret from George: 1834".  Again, the same date.  The ring is probably a wedding ring or an engagement ring, which would connect the lady in the painting to the ghost wearing a wedding dress who tells you about the Kris knife.  They're both the same person, the sister of the Earl of Drumer.
  As for the ring, you might remember that wearing it can bring you under the control of a vampire who's in the house.  With Lady Margaret probably having been killed by a vampire, and the vampire currently in the house having some power over her wedding ring, there's obviously a connection.  Was this vampire her husband to be?  Or perhaps he killed both the husband and Lady Margaret?  Whatever his story, he's obviously important to the origins of the curse on the house, but we frustratingly learn nothing else about him.  Unless he's the "Count Pravemi" that writes a letter to the Earl?  Pravemi is an obvious anagram, so it seems likely.  The letter doesn't tell us anything else about him, unfortunately.  If the ring was from him, his full name is George Pravemi.
  The other takeaway from this is that Kelnor, the Earl of Drumer, is around 180 years old.

THE REST OF THE EARL'S FAMILY
Aside from Kelnor and his sister, there are two other family members shown in the paintings.  One is a lordly gentlemen with the following name-plate: "The Duke of Brewster: 1763-1828". The other is an old woman, and her name-plate reads: "The Duchess of Brewster: 1777-1845". An obvious marital pair, and their ages line up for them to be Kelnor's mother and father.  The Duke is vaguely sinister, using his gaze to direct the hero into touching an electrified doorknob. The Duchess is actually quite helpful, telling the hero to search for the man in grey.  Whatever happened to curse the house, she probably had no involvement.  The Duke, on the other hand, may have been a devil-worshipper himself.  The book doesn't give us enough information to tell.

THE EARL OF KELNOR AND HIS COVEN
The Earl, otherwise known as Lord Kelnor, is the son of the Duke and Duchess of Brewster and at the point of the book's publication would be about 180 years old.  He's described as a Black Priest of the Night, and leads a coven of devil worshippers who congregate at his house for ceremonies.  Presumably he bargained with a demon for some sort of prolonged lifespan, but how was he introduced to this lifestyle?  Through his father?  Through the vampire that killed (and was possibly engaged to) his sister?  Again, this is all conjecture, because the book isn't saying.
  As for his coven, they wear white robes when they congregate, as well as masks made from the severed heads of goats.  These masks are presumably worn to represent the goat-like Hell Demon who grants Kelnor his power.  The leader of the rituals (probably Kelnor?) wears a goat-head that's dyed purple.  The coven is secretive, and none of them drive to the meetings.  They all recognise each other's faces.  The Earl has made them all unspecified promises, but one can assume that power and maybe a lifespan like the Earl's would be among them.

WHAT'S HAPPENING TONIGHT?
We are told repeatedly that "the Master" is holding a ceremony in order to give Brother Isaacson his blessing.  This seemingly involves a number of ritual sacrifices.  The first of these is scheduled to be a young district nurse, who was recently assigned to the area and popped in to visit the house, only to be captured.  The second would be a man in a white gown, a former member of the coven whose conscience could no longer allow him to go along with things. It's hinted at one point that the hero of the book is intended as a sacrifice as well,  In addition to the sacrifices, there are a number of characters being held prisoner who are scheduled for "punishment", whatever that may entail.
  At one point the hero may overhear a coven member asking whether they may be "visited", which no doubt refers to a demonic visitation.  More specifically, it probably refers to the Hellfire Demon at the end of the book.  A number of ritual sacrifices, some punishments, a summoned demon, and Brother Isaacson receiving a blessing of some sort.  I wonder if he's being conferred some sort of power, or maybe a longer lifespan like Lord Kelnor?

WHY WAS THE PLAYER SUMMONED TO THE HOUSE?
The player is directed to the house by the ghost of an old man, whose corpse is later seen hanging by a noose from a tree outside.  The old man is portrayed as evil, but I wonder.  Was he another repentant coven member, who killed himself before seeking out someone who could destroy the Master? Or was his ghost sent out by the house or the Master to lure in another victim?  The headless ghost at one point says that the hero was drawn there by the house itself, so that their ghost might join him and his companions in the netherworld.  This, and the evil manner of the old man, would suggest the more sinister option, but I do kinda like the alternative.
  I'm also not quite sure what the Earl is planning to do with the hero.  He seems to be expecting your arrival, and makes a half-hearted attempt to drug you and leave you tied up in an empty room.  Presumably this would be a precursor to taking you below for the sacrifice, but why not just take you to the cells straight away?  Why only drug some of the food?  Why bother with drugged water when you're already asleep?  What was the plan if you avoid the drugged food and don't drink the water?  It doesn't quite make sense.

THE KRIS KNIFE AND THE RED ROOM
The Master can only be killed by the Kris knife in a red room (the red room symbolising the battle taking place in Hell).  There's one obvious question that comes to mind when you find this out: why would he keep the only weapon capable of killing him in his own house?  Why doesn't he just paint all of his interior walls a lovely sky blue?  The Earl is not a stupid man, and would have thought of these things himself, so there's undoubtedly a good reason.
  First, let's look at the Kris knife, and the inscription inside the box where it's found: "A blade fashioned for the glorification and pleasure of the demons of hellfire - our true Masters. To be used only by Initiates. Never to be wielded in the presence of the Masters."  That sounds like a sacrificial dagger to me, an evil item that can nevertheless be used to kill a Hell Demon.
  Now I'm going to go off into some conjecture.  If the dagger and the red room need to be in the house, they're probably a part of whatever keeps the Earl young.  Maybe he did a ritual with the Kris knife to summon a Hell Demon, who granted him immortality.  As a part of that, he needs to keep the knife close by at all times, as well as a red room symbolising hell.  It's a risk, but it's better than dying of old age, innit?

THE EARL OF DRUMER, FRANKLINS AND THE MASTER
So Lord Kelnor is the Master right?  No, actually, it's Franklins, the butler.  Who is really a Hell Demon in disguise, or manifesting a Hell Demon after the sacrifices have been performed. But Kelnor sure doesn't treat Franklins like anything other than a butler.  Even at the end of the book, he berates the man for acting cowardly. What's the relationship between the two?
  My first thought is that Kelnor is in charge of everything, and Franklins is actually his butler.  A Hell Demon is manifesting through his body by the end of the book, after the sacrifices, but Kelnor doesn't know it yet, for whatever reason.
  My second thought, and the one I rather like, is that the man we are introduced to as Lord Kelnor is just a decoy, another member of the coven.  Franklins is actually Lord Kelnor, the Earl of Drumer, and his body is inhabited by a demon as part of the evil pact he made.  Using a decoy makes sense: an Earl who's been alive for 180 years is going to draw some attention, but nobody pays much attention to a butler.

WHO IS MORDANA?
Buggered if I know.  She's an old woman who recently died, and she seems to know a lot about the house.  At first I thought she might be the Duchess of Brewster, but she's more sinister than the painting was.  Then I thought she might be another sister of Kelnor, or perhaps even his wife or daughter.  But why would she have grown old then?  Unless the Earl can't actually grant immortality to anyone else?  I thought she might be a servant, but her bedroom is probably too opulent for that.  Whoever she is, she's trusted enough that she knew the password to the Earl's secret room.  She's an unsolved mystery.

That's about all I was able to tease out of the book, but it certainly brought some of the book's little touches to light for me.  I'd never made the Pravemi/Vampire connection before.  As I expected, there are no concrete answers to be had, and I wouldn't want them in a book like this.  Mystery and horror go hand in hand, after all.  The House of Hell remains a mystery, and that's the way I like it.

Next: I take a deep dive into Warlock magazine issue #4.