We kick off with the most insane character of them all, the madman himself: mister Henry Stauf.
His mother remains unknown, but everything indicates that she was an 'unmarried working girl'.
Our little crazyman was brought up in Vincent's Orphanage in Hell's kitchen (No really).
Henry was impossible to handle, his violence, stealing and lying became intollerable.
When Henry became an adult, he stayed at an reformatory untill one day he had enough and
started wondering. He robbed stores and lived the life of a poor crook. One day a woman came home
from quire practice (but she never got there). Stauf killed Grace Willet with a simple blow on the head with
a hammer he had stolen once. Now he was in serious trouble. That night he was hiding in the forest,
as soon as he fell asleep he had a vision, voices in his head sometimes told him to do things
and now they told him to make a toy, a doll just as he saw it in his vision. Stauf obeyed, he went
to a bar, Benny's cafe, in Harley, he traded the doll for food and shelter. The doll was a success and that night
he had another vision, another toy he was to build. This became an even bigger hit and Stauf could
give up his drifter existence. One day he opened a shop, Wonderworld and puzzles. The famous toys
sold out easily and Henry became a respected member of the community.
Then a strange virus came and killed a lot of children, all of a sudden Stauf closed his shop and began to build a strange house, a mansion on a hill. After completion of the odd house Stauf broke all contact with the village, until one day. Six invitations arrived in Harley-on-the-Hudson.
The guests, driven by their curiocity and personal problems, quickly accepted. One night, they all walked up the hill and entered the house. They were never seen again. Later that night, a boy named Tad Stone entered the house. He played a game with his friends, truth or dare, and he dared to go into the house.
Then the tale of Henry turns into a mystery, nor the six guests, nor the boy, nor Henry Stauf himself were seen again. Stauf's agent said that Stauf took a world cruise and never came back, but I know better. Henry's still here, waiting, plotting, crazy, sick and mean!
And now the guests.
We start with my dear mister Brian Dutton. This man has been fighting his feelings all his life, when he was a little boy he saw his brother
falling through the ice, his brother drowned and Brian was the last thing he saw when he looked
up. This image has been haunting Dutton's private little haunted house for years. The troubles he once had with his brother were gone, as easy as that. Brian saw that there was an alternative way
of solving problems, just get rid of the people who made the problem.
Dutton owned a shop in Harley-on-the-Hudson and he had sold some goods to the mysterious Henry Stauf. Now this invitation lay on his doormat. Brain admired the way Stauf had grown wealthy and the way he had solved his own problems. The same success as Henry Stauf, that was Brian's wish.
Henry Stauf would see that she was special, the invitation proved it. If only she could be young again, then she could take on the world. If only she could be young again, that was Julia's wish.
That strange man who had succes with strange dolls and puzzles, would understand his problems. After all they were both in the entertainment business. All his life Hamilton wondered if there was real magic, he knew that his magic was only trickery. But Staufs magic looked real. The invitation was the path to the solution of Hamiltons question. Is there real magic and how do I get it? That was Hamiltons wish.
The only thing classy about Harley now was that new man, that Henry Stauf. His invitation was quickly accepted. Martine wanted that feeling again when she was treated like a royalty. Martine wanted power.
Then that strange letter came, that mister Stauf asked if they would come to his mansion. They haven't even met the man, but Edward insisted that they would go. Elinor had doubts, but she also had a wish. To start all over again...with Edward.
These are the guests, the main course so to speak. I'm not going to tell you what happened, who won and who didn't. If you really want to find out, you have to enter the mansion yourself.