my father's long, long legs

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Your father started digging in the basement, and he never stopped.

Platforms: Browser
Price: Free
Rated: 4.8 of 5 from 193 ratings on itch.io
Length: one short sitting
Players: 1
Controls: Mouse only: click the highlighted words to move through the story; it does not work on touchscreens.
Made by: Michael Lutz (ztul)
Released: 2013

What frightens A grown child remembers the year their father began digging a hole in the dirt floor of the basement and never stopped. As you click through the memories the family falls apart, the screen goes dark, and you end up going down the basement stairs with a flashlight, following the sound of the shovel.
Content: disturbing themes, family loss.

my father's long, long legs is a short interactive horror story by Michael Lutz, first released in 2013 and revised for modern browsers. A narrator remembers how their father began digging beneath the family's old house, and what the digging did to everyone. You read and click your way down, with sound and a flashlight effect.

About my father's long, long legs

my father's long, long legs is a Twine story by Michael Lutz, published on itch.io as ztul. It first came out in 2013 and this version has been revised to work in current browsers. Its credits name Emily Carroll, Junji Ito, Thomas Ligotti and Bruno Schulz as inspirations.

The narrator grew up in an old house on the southern edge of a Midwestern industrial city, a house old enough that its basement still had a dirt floor. One day their father, a tall and angular man, went down there and began to dig. The story is told as a memory: you click on words to learn about the mother, the younger brother and the narrator, and to follow the years of digging that came after.

It is not a game of puzzles or danger, but the presentation does a lot of work. The page goes black, the text changes its spacing and colour, the sound of a shovel and a lullaby play underneath, and at times you can only see what is under a flashlight that follows your mouse. The fear is quiet dread and the sense of a family being swallowed by something nobody will name.

The author recommends headphones and notes there are no loud noises or screams. It needs a mouse and does not work on touchscreens; if it will not start, the page explains that strict cookie settings can block it. It suits readers who like slow, literary horror.

How to play my father's long, long legs

Put on headphones and click to begin the story.
Read each passage and click the highlighted words to continue or to learn more.
When the screen goes dark, move the mouse to shine the flashlight over the text.
Follow the story to its end, and replay to try the other branches.

Tips

Play on a computer with a mouse; touchscreens do not work.
If the story will not continue, check that your browser allows cookies for the page.
Read slowly; the way the text is laid out is part of the story.
Turn the sound up, quietly; there are no loud noises or screams.