--Initial--

King/Lovecraft milieu.  I.e., normal situation that becomes more and
more horrific.  Much of it underground?

* Major obstacle: something Cthulhuoid that can (a) possess people
  (b) duplicate people/things perfectly.  (Like original version of
  "The Thing.")  Perhaps it's even an (at base) mechanical creature,
  or a hive intelligence?  Of course, it's totally supernatural in its
  abilities (this is deliberate, as it accentuates the feeling of
  violation of natural law that occasions horror).

  Perhaps this thing initially seems to be a vampire?  Then you can
  have the fun of thinking you know the solution (crosses/stakes, etc.)
  and being totally wrong.  It could even chortlingly suck you in and
  then turn on you.

  Thing should have an evil human assistant who is one of the obstacles
  (like Renfield in Dracula).  This could be a scientist who thinks it's
  a higher/better form of life.

* Nightmare sequence that appears real and turns out to be real (at
  least in part).

* What is horrible?  Not just gore.  Gore is boring, and besides,
  gore is visual.  Something sneaking up behind you is scarier,
  particularly since you are sitting at a terminal and can't turn
  around.

* Ultimate problem is getting into its "burrow", where it's building
  thousands/millions/zillions! of similar creatures to take over the
  world.  How do you stop it?  Good question!

--4/7/86--

Set the game in an MIT-like environment.  This allows a computer
sequence.  Perhaps the frob has wormed its way into an Athena-like
LAN.

Frob has lived under the ground forever.  Every so often, activity
on the surface disturbs it.  Indians, Puritans, etc.  Now, new
construction at the university has awakened it.  (Perhaps the evil
professor detected it?)  It's snarfing undergrads for various uses,
such as raw material for its offspring.  It's tapping into the
phone and network lines.

How much gore?  For example, if the frob is taking over people, they
could be pretty gored up.  Even worse if it's laying eggs in them,
and the froblets are hatching (yuck).  I'm reminded of the baby
dragons eating the princess in Dragonslayer.  There's also the whole
Stephen King tradition of rotting bodies to consider.

--4/14/86--

Write in first person.

--4/16/86--

Some events:

* Bargaining with a hacker for (a) access to a computer or account
  you can't otherwise get into. (b) master keys.

* Rats in a subbasement with a dirt floor.

* Mob of enslaved Cambridge urchins.

* Return from the dead of a helper (perhaps the hacker).  Tries to convince
  you it's all for the best.

Some interesting places:

* Tomb of the Unknown Tool.

* Plasma Fusion Center.

* Steam tunnels (including blocked-off ones).

* Top of Green Building.

* Computer Center.