Doorways to Horror

Lore & Background

Doorways to Horror was designed by Bruce Whitehill and released in 1986 by Pressman Toy Corporation. The game uses a videotape that players scan through using a spinner or die and the 'Colorscan' method to randomly select doorways. Each doorway plays a clip from the videotape, which features original footage and public domain clips, flashing images of up to three creatures. Players place Power cards on creatures they own, and can use Capture cards to steal others' creatures. After the clip, the Main and Minor creatures are revealed, and players earn Gold Certificates based on the value of Power cards played. Bidding for control of the Main creature follows, with Power Shift cards like Loss of Strength or Protection affecting outcomes. The game ends when a player runs out of Power chips or the tape ends.

Reader's Guide

Doorways to Horror is notable as an early attempt to integrate videotape into board game mechanics, using Pressman's Colorscan randomizing technique. Reviews from Matthew Costello in Asimov's Science Fiction and Games magazine praised the game's design and entertainment value but noted that the videotape was 'superfluous' due to the slow scanning speed of many VCRs, which hindered gameplay. Timothy Onosko in Video magazine similarly highlighted the color-blind accessible dice but criticized the scanning issue. Despite these technical limitations, the game has been remembered by enthusiasts like Josh Schafer in Lunchmeat as 'hilarious to play' and among the best entries in the interactive VHS experiment. Its legacy lies in its creative but flawed fusion of analog video and tabletop gaming.

Did You Know?

• The game includes clips from public domain media such as Cyrano De Bergerac, Africa Screams, Algiers, and The Terror.
• Players use Pressman's 'Colorscan' method, rolling a colored die and scanning forward on the VCR to a randomly selected door.
• The game features Power Shift cards named Loss of Strength and Protection that modify bidding outcomes.
• Reviews noted that without a scan or visual search feature on a VCR, the game could not be comfortably played.

Core Mechanics & Player Strategy

Doorways to Horror, designed by Sid Sackson and released in 1986 by Pressman Toy Corporation, blends traditional board game strategy with a unique video component. At its heart, the game revolves around five standing creature cards—vampire, werewolf, monster, witch, and zombie—that are distributed among players during setup. Each participant also receives between ten and twenty Power chips along with a hand of seven cards drawn from a mixed deck containing Spell cards (valued between three and ten), Capture cards, and Power Shift cards. The number of creatures and chips dealt shifts depending on how many people are at the table. Victory is determined by accumulating the most Gold Certificates before the game concludes, which happens either when a player exhausts their Power chips or the videotape runs out. The bidding phase, where players secretly wager two Spell cards to claim the Main creature, adds a layer of psychological tension, while Power Shift cards like Loss of Strength and Protection let players manipulate the penalties faced by the lowest bidder.

The VCR as a Functional Game Engine

The defining quirk of Doorways to Horror is its reliance on a VCR and a specially formatted videotape as a core mechanical element. Rather than using dice or cards to determine what happens each round, players roll a colored die and then scan forward on the tape to a matching colored doorway—a technique Pressman branded as "Colorscan." Once the correct door is found, a clip from a public domain horror film or television program plays out, flashing images of up to three creatures on the screen. The tape draws from a mix of public domain media, including footage from Cyrano De Bergerac, Africa Screams, Algiers, and The Terror. After the clip finishes, the tape designates which creature was the Main one and which were Minor, with the Main creature carrying double the point value for Gold Certificates. The tape also contains penalty stops that impose restrictions on cards or creatures, forcing players who violate those rules to pay a Gold Certificate fee. This made the videotape not merely decorative but a functional rule engine for the entire game.

Critical Reception & the Scanning Problem

Reviews of Doorways to Horror painted a picture of a well-crafted game hampered by the technological limitations of its era. Matthew Costello, writing for Asimov's Science Fiction, appreciated how the standing creature cards encouraged players to watch the tape more attentively and found the public domain clips genuinely enjoyable. Yet he ultimately called the videotape "superfluous," a sentiment he reinforced in Games magazine by acknowledging the game didn't fully solve the challenge of integrating video into gameplay, though he still deemed it a "worthwhile and interesting diversion." Timothy Onosko in Video magazine highlighted the Colorscan randomizing method and praised the color-blind-friendly design of the dice, which featured indented initials alongside colors. However, Onosko echoed the scanning-speed complaint, warning that without a fast-scan or visual-search feature on one's VCR, playing either Doorways game became genuinely uncomfortable. Josh Schafer, lead editor at Lunchmeat, offered the most enthusiastic take, calling the Doorways titles "hilarious to play" and ranking them among the finest entries in the interactive VHS experiment.

Legacy & the Interactive VHS Experiment

Released in 1986 by Pressman Toy Corporation, Doorways to Horror arrived alongside its sibling title, Doorways to Adventure, as part of what reviewers would later term the "interactive VHS experiment"—a brief but fascinating period when publishers attempted to merge the tactile, strategic depth of board gaming with the novelty of home video playback. The game's designer, Sid Sackson, brought a pedigree to the project, lending credibility to an otherwise experimental concept. The core idea was audacious: make a VCR not a passive viewing device but an active game component whose tape functioned as a rule engine, a randomizer, and a narrative backdrop all at once. While the technology of the mid-1980s, particularly the slow, clunky scanning of standard VCRs, ultimately limited the experience for many players, the ambition of the design left a mark. It represented one of the earliest and most committed attempts to treat video media as a playable object rather than a spectator medium, a philosophy that would not see its truest expression for decades. The game's presence on platforms like BoardGameGeek and its preservation through archives such as The Museum of Classic Chicago Television attest to its enduring curiosity value among collectors and gaming historians.