Some of you may not be familiar with Scratches, and if that's the case, then I pity you because you missed out on one of my favorite graphical adventure games of all time, and one of the creepiest games of 2006. It casts you as Michael Arthate, a horror novelist who hit paydirt with his first book and is now looking for a suitable atmosphere in which to complete his sophomore effort. His idea? Buy the oldest house he can find, and live there to let the atmosphere surround and penetrate him to bring out the true depths of his horror writing skills. And to that end, he has purchased Blackwood Manor, one of the last mansion-style homes in the British countryside.

All, as they say, was not well at Blackwood. Mr. Blackwood himself vanished several years ago. The story in the local town is that he went insane and murdered his wife. The house has been in the care of Blackwood's physician for years, and only just recently came up on the market. Arthate's real estate agent was able to get it for a song, and Michael has moved in early to get a start on his writing. There's just a few snags to work out, like getting the electricity turned back on, and the mansion will be just right.

Well...just right except for those bizarre scratching noises that seem to come from the cellar during the night...

Michael is all alone in the house, but he knows that if he ever wants to sleep again, he'll have to figure out what's causing that noise. It means uncovering the horrific history of Blackwood Manor. It may mean he'll succumb to the insanity that gripped the original owner. It may mean that he'll be lucky if that's all that happens to him...

Scratches was the brainchild of Agustín Cordes, a game designer and programmer for the now-defunct Nucleosys studios. But though Nucleosys is gone, Cordes isn't done making games. Not by a long shot. And his new development house, Senscape Interactive, is dropping some very tantalizing tidbits about their new game, currently known only as "Unnamable Project" until more details come out in a few months.

Those who want to see more can visit Face The Horror, an interactive preview with some excellent graphics and spooky music to set the tone.

Agustin himself is on Twitter, and Senscape has a presence both on Facebook and their own website, so by all means, check them out if you're into PC adventure games with a darker side.