Atlantic Island Park

The Atlantic Island Park also nicknamed "The Park", is a derelict amusement park appearing in the Funcom MMORPG The Secret World and its 2015 tie-in game The Park. Built on a small island just off the coast of Maine, construction began in the 1970s as part of a project orchestrated by eccentric property mogul Nathaniel Winter, supposedly in order to bring money and jobs to the area. However, its construction was frequently delayed by accidents and inexplicable deaths, and numerous workers claimed to have witnessed supernatural phenomena around the half-built rides; even after it was opened, the accidents only continued, this time accompanied by a number of brutal murders. Ultimately, the park was forced to close its doors barely two years after it had opened, and only Nathaniel Winter's fortune kept it from being torn down.

Despite being essentially abandoned, the derelict park did not remain inactive in the years that followed: over the last thirty years, several people have broken in for one reason or another - most prominently Lorraine Maillard - and all have brought back stories of inexplicable phenomena and hideous monsters. As of 2012, it's confirmed that Atlantic Island Park is currently the lair of a Bogeyman, a discovery that prompts players to delve into the history of the abandoned amusement park and determine how to end the threat of the monster once and for all.

Location And Layout
Situated on the southern coast of Solomon Island, Maine, Atlantic Island Park sits directly between the town of Kingsmouth in the northeast and Innsmouth Academy in the southwest, and is easily accessed from Solomon Road as it passes by Illumination Way. Surrounded on all sides by a decaying but still-sturdy perimeter fence, it is also shielded from intruders by a large rock formation extending over its southwestern flank. As the park was built on land formerly owned by the infamous Archibald Henderson, some of the old farm buildings can still be found close to the western fence, along with the murderous "Scarecrows" Henderson once used to guard his property - some of which also appear inside the park.

The road that leads past Atlantic Island Park is dotted with garish signs and billboards that still remain standing despite the fact that the property has remained closed for the last thirty years, and the parking lot just north of the entrance is marked by a ten-foot-tall mascot statue welcoming guests to the park - its bright colors and smiling disposition serving as a contrast to the gloomily autumnal surroundings. Also, though the park has been disconnected from all external power since 1980 and no generators have been found inside the perimeter, jolly carnival music can be heard playing around the entrance.

Past the near-deserted parking lot stands the bright yellow arch of the welcome gate. Until 2012, these gates were locked and chained shut, requiring trespassers to crawl through holes in the fence; following the arrival of the Fog and the zombie uprising across the island, the gates have since been torn wide open, allowing visitors to enter and exit at will.

During the introduction of The Park, Lorraine sees the entrance to Atlantic Island Park in a different way, envisioning a glamorous welcoming center complete with ticket booths, a substantially larger parking lot, and a colossal escalator leading upwards into the park itself. Given that in The Secret World, the main entrance and the path leading into the park is on a level surface, it is possible that the complex either never existed, or was torn down in the years following the park's closure. Given that the property had been closed for at least three years by this point, it is also doubtful that Lorraine actually entered via this likely-fictitious complex: in all probability, this part of Lorraine's story is either a desperate attempt to convince herself that her life is happier than it really is, or an illusion conjured up by the Bogeyman - and given the prominence of both clinical depression and magic within the story, either one is possible.

Past the gates, the entire park is tinged an unearthly grey, and all sounds are muted to the point of near-silence; the only consistently audible sound is the carnival music that occasionally plays around the various attractions, and the legendary "whispering" that can be heard echoing from the rides themselves. The shading effect is also compounded by an eerie shimmering effect that often distorts the player's view, further reinforcing the notion that there is something distinctly supernatural going on within the park's grounds.

In total, Atlantic Island Park sports six attractions: the Octotron, the Bumper Cars, the Ferris Wheel, Sideshow Alley, the Roller Coaster, and Lover's Lake; however, it's implied that these weren't the only rides that were exhibited at the park during its time in the spotlight, with the Tunnel of Tales and the House of Horrors being mentioned in various accounts from the 1970s and 80s, though no trace of them remain on the site. It is possible that these have been either hidden by the Bogeyman's illusions or completely incorporated into his private realm hidden within the park, as the only people known to have found these attractions were those who fell under the Bogeyman's power.

At present, most of the area is dilapidated and run-down: trees have grown between the long-neglected attractions, and many of the rides appear to be in a state of advanced decomposition: the Bumper Car arena is collapsing, the cars left to rust at one end of the field; carriages occasionally fall from the Ferris Wheel; the swan boats of the Tunnel of Tales are filthy and barely remain floating. Though none of them should work after thirty years left unattended, the Octotron, the Ferris Wheel and the Roller Coaster still function perfectly, and are still powered by Nathaniel Winter's eldritch machinery.

Unknown to most of Solomon Island, there exists another layer to Atlantic Island Park that only a few very unfortunate patrons ever encounter: a pocket reality created by the Bogeyman to serve as his secret dominion, the most common visitors to this realm are the monster's future prey - as is believed to be the case with Lorraine and Callum. Overall, the shadow realm mimics the park in most important respects, but the scale and layout of the property have been exaggerated to grandiose extremes. Here, it is always night, and instead of being tinged grey like the real park, the environment and the rides are often tinted grotesque neon colors. The distances between the rides are greater, paths are often surrounded on all sides by dense forest, a huge lake has formed around the Octotron, and even the rides themselves seem larger and more imposing. The Tunnel of Tales and the House of Horrors still exist in this realm, having been possibly subsumed by the Bogeyman's power. Most tellingly of all, the park appears to be bordered on all sides by uncharted forests: no lights, no buildings and no signs of civilization are visible, even from the top of the Ferris Wheel or the Roller Coaster, further drawing attention to the fact that this version of Atlantic Island Park exists in its own private reality.

It is in this hidden world that the Bogeyman feasts on the emotions he has drained from his victims, and much of it still remains around the ghostly rides, stored away for him to eat at his leisure. For good measure, unsuspecting visitors may be drawn in at any point during their visit, but those intending to kill the Bogeymen will have to use the portal hidden within the Ferris Wheel.

The greatest of the park's secrets lies hidden around the complex, buried under the soil: here, the harvesting machines used to siphon off the emotions of guests and the anima capacitor used to contain the energy extracted over the course of Winter's experiments are carefully concealed.

History
Тhe Henderson Legacy

The land on which Atlantic Park was eventually built originally belonged to one of Solomon Island's most infamous residents, Archibald Henderson. A Scottish mage of impressive power, he had been recruited by the Illuminati at the age of thirteen and brought to Solomon Island's Innsmouth Academy in 1864 to be taught how to control his innate gifts, but though he quickly gained mastery over his powers, Henderson himself proved almost uncontrollable. As soon as he left the academy, he quickly gained a reputation as a maverick among the Illuminati and a proven menace to everyone else: his exploits are still the stuff of legend, even to his masters in America, his days reportedly spent killing, thieving, scheming and carelessly flaunting his magic at will in pursuit of wealth and power.

By 1890, however, Henderson had grown tired of his wild lifestyle: at the age of forty, he left the Illuminati, got married and returned to Solomon Island, where he bought a small patch of farmland just north of the academy; there, he settled down to start a family, presumably determined to spend the rest of his days as a simple farmer. Unfortunately, Solomon Island was notorious for being plagued by supernatural disasters, its history plagued with deadly magical phenomena and attacks by rare monsters: in 1904, Innsmouth Academy was leveled by a ritually-conjured earthquake, and Henderson's son ended up as collateral damage of the attack; soon after, his heartbroken wife committed suicide, supposedly after seeking knowledge of what lay after death from the local Wabanaki.

Consumed by an irrational desire for vengeance, Henderson abandoned his pursuit of a normal life and returned to working magic: summoning up a swarm of revenants, he ordered them to spread death and disease among Solomon Island's Wabanaki tribe, having blamed them for the death of his wife. This did little to soothe his anger, for soon after, his eldest daughter was devoured alive by a Wendigo - one that might have once been a member of the very tribe that Henderson had tried so hard to devastate. Unable to cope with the repeated tragedies, the grief-stricken mage descended into misanthropy, taking out his frustrations not only on the Wabanaki, but just about every living thing on the island.

By 1906, Archibald Henderson was insane: he had only one surviving child, his youngest daughter Samantha, and the 50-year-old sorcerer was prepared to go to demented extremes in order to protect her - no matter how badly the fiery young woman chafed under this treatment. Even his own servants weren't safe from his unreasoning hatred: the only farmhand still employed at the decaying homestead was caught having sex with Samantha in the pumpkin patch, and as punishment, the sorcerer transformed the hapless young man into Jack O'Lantern doomed to watch over the pumpkins he'd neglected for all eternity.

It was at or around this time that Henderson set out on one of his most ambitious projects yet: he had discovered that Solomon Island was possessed of a vast wellspring of magical power hidden deep underground, a nexus of dark energies that had drawn the Illuminati to the island in the first place. Over the centuries, numerous factions had attempted to seize control of this secret reservoir, and all of them had either been defeated by the Wabanaki or undone by the very power they'd tried to harness. By contrast, Henderson had discovered a unique means of unlocking the power without exposing himself to the same terrible risks, presumably with the intent of protecting Samantha: by harvesting negative emotions, he would eventually be able to tap into the nexus of energies without ever having to delve underground. To date, it's not known how successful he was, but in his efforts inspire the fear and hatred he required, he committed numerous atrocities that immortalized Archibald Henderson - or "Old Man Henderson" as he soon became known - within the legends of Solomon Island.

Despite his best efforts, he sorcerer's attempts to keep his daughter safe were all in vain: fearing outside threats against his daughter's life, Henderson had sought to secure the farm by creating animated scarecrows to stand guard over his property, and was even prepared to murder passersby and steal their hearts in order to put the finishing touches on these magical sentinels; unfortunately, he had not counted on the fact that the scarecrows might possess the capacity for hatred, and his automatons took revenge on him by murdering Samantha Henderson in cold blood and putting her corpse on display for her father to find. That night, Old Man Henderson committed suicide, ending his reign of terror for good in 1908.

Even with the dreaded sorcerer in his grave, Henderson's legacy refused to wane: the revenants, Jack O'Lantern and the scarecrows lingered on, many of them gaining their own legends throughout Kingsmouth; and despite the prime land that the abandoned farm represented, nobody wanted anything to do with it for fear of the curses the old sorcerer might have laid upon the land before he'd left. As a result, the Henderson farm remained undisturbed for almost sixty years... until another new arrival took interest.

Winter's Masterpiece

During the 1960s, wealthy industrialist Nathaniel Winter had discovered the existence of the Secret World; having been driven to seek out money and influence as a means of combating his hidden neuroses, Winter was immediately intrigued by the possibility of seizing even greater power through the mastery of magic, and applied for membership with the Illuminati to that end. However, the "Boys In Blue" turned him down: Winter just didn't have the innate magical gifts that could have made him useful to them. For good measure, his only other means of learning magic would have been to study for years on end in order to master the complicated art of thaumaturgy - and given that Winter was already an old man by this stage, the Illuminati decided not to bother with the seemingly talentless millionaire.

Infuriated, Winter began looking for shortcuts: he didn't just want to be a mage - he wanted to be the greatest magus in the world, and in his search for a method of achieving his ambitions, he eventually found the writings of Archibald Henderson. After learning of the sorcerer's plan to harness the power under Solomon Island through negative emotion, the aging property mogul theorized that while Henderson's idea had been sound enough, he'd been using the wrong kind of fuel for the process: instead, positive emotion could be used to imbue Winter with the energies of Solomon, making him not only the greatest mage who ever lived, but also effectively immortal.

His plan took several years and great expense to merely begin, but eventually he was able to gather the necessary components: first, he tracked down a legendary architect rumored to sail the Calypso Deep, and bought his revolutionary designs for an Anima Capacitor and other impossible machines - though it did require him to outbid the members of the Phoenician Brotherhood who'd had the same idea; secondly, he purchased the long-abandoned Henderson farm, ignoring all warnings from the terrified populace; finally, he spread the word that an amusement park was to be built on the site. This would be the perfect economic stimulus to bring jobs and much-needed money to the area, he claimed, and draw in a fresh influx of tourists to celebrate the wonders of Solomon Island through the newly-dubbed Atlantic Island Park.

Unknown to most of the Island, concerns like money and entertainment were secondary to Atlantic Island Park's true purpose: the designs he'd acquired from the architect were to be built around the park, hidden among the rides in order to take advantage of the joy and happiness they generated. Through the positive emotion the machines siphoned from guests, Winter would be able to tap into the hidden power of Solomon Island, infuse himself with it and acquire the power and the immortality he'd wanted.

In 1975, construction began on Atlantic Island Park, with countless local workers flocking to the site in order to take advantage of the employment opportunities the project offered. Unfortunately, construction proved much more difficult than Winter could possibly have foreseen: dozens of workers died in mysterious accidents; equipment often broke down the moment it was switched on; a rash of inexplicable suicides dogged the site, the deceased leaving no notes, no reasons, and often no sign that they had been contemplating suicide until the very end; numerous workers claimed that the rides appeared to "whisper" at night - and many became so disturbed around the half-finished park that they often refused to see their loved ones until they had found time to recover. Many locals insisted that Old Man Henderson had laid a curse on the sight, but Winter dismissed these claims as superstitious nonsense, unwilling to give up on his dream when it was almost within reach. Unknown to him, most of the deaths were really due to the machines he was having installed at the sight: the emotion-siphoning machines were draining away the happiness of the workers, driving them not only to suicide, but vicious acts of murder and sabotage.

After a grueling three-year span of construction, Nathaniel Winter was finally able to open Atlantic Island Park in 1978; almost everyone on the island showed up for the cutting of the ribbon, and locals and tourists alike flocked to the site in order to take advantage of the thrills and the rides - many of which had actually been named by Nathaniel's son, Nicholas. Unfortunately, the incidents at the park only grew worse: the roller-coaster derailed, killing a family of three; over a dozen children went missing in the House of Horrors; another child was found stabbed to death and dismembered behind the cotton candy stand.

Easily the most infamous incident involved Steve Gardener's descent into madness: charged with entertaining the crowds as park mascot Chad the Chipmunk, Steve's personality was badly affected by the siphoning machines, the loss of what little happiness he possessed gradually transforming him from the town drunk to a dangerously obsessive psychopath. Among other things, he began taking the suit home with him, refused to take it off no matter how terribly it smelt, and developed a curious talent for ice-carving; it was during once such public ice-carving show that a group of teenagers happened to mock him - prompting the mascot to attack them head on, stabbing at least one of them to death with his icepick. Steve (or "Chad" as he was soon known thereafter) was quickly arrested and committed to a mental hospital, but by then, the damage was already done.

Following the numerous accidents, various inspectors began sniffing around the park to judge the area's overall safety. For a time, Winter was able to ward them off by bribing officials and senators, ensuring the park remained open while he continued his macabre harvest. In the end, though, his fortune was not limitless, nor was his influence totally inescapable, and even Nathaniel Winter was forced to eventually admit defeat.

In 1980, Atlantic Island Park was shut down for good; in much the same way that the entire island's population had showed up to watch the ribbon being cut, much of the populace turned out to jeer as the gates were chained shut. Determined to find out what went wrong, Winter remained behind in the abandoned park, eventually making a home for himself in the House of Horrors among his machines. In the meantime, the park remained his property, a revised will eventually declaring it a priceless heirloom to be bequeathed to Nicholas upon Nathaniel's death.

Some years later, a group of students from Innsmouth Academy broke into the park in search of deep thrills; by now almost half-insane after so long spent alone, Winter kidnapped one of them in a last-ditch attempt to force his machines to work, and slowly tickled the unfortunate student until the harvest was finished. With this final dose of emotion, the demented millionaire was finally able to tap into the power of Solomon Island. Unfortunately, though the infusions gave him the immortality and magic he'd desired, it also transformed him into a Bogeyman; now dependent on the fear of living beings to survive, he continued his predatory lifestyle, luring children into the park through holes in the fence and feasting on their fear - often fatally.

The Park

At some point during the 1980s, troubled young mother Lorraine Maillard was forced to follow her son Callum into the park under curiously ambiguous circumstances. Initially, she believed that the the park is still open and flourishing, and that Callum simply ran back inside to retrieve his lost teddy bear - though this was most likely due to the Bogeyman's illusions: in reality, the Bogeyman had kidnapped Callum and brought him back to his lair beneath the House of Horrors, luring Lorraine in after him by mimicking his voice.

While Lorraine explored the nightmarish shadow park, the Bogeyman slowly turned his supernatural powers against her: initially, he only tormented her with illusions, occasionally revealing himself through split-second glimpses; however, he soon began turning the park's emotion-siphoning machines against her, gradually exaggerating her depression and twisting her already-complicated relationship with Callum into an unhealthy blend of unreasoning hatred and smothering obsession.

Confronting Lorraine on the roller coaster, the Bogeyman needled her over her failure to heed Callum's warnings about the park, and informed her that "the Witch" had captured Callum. From this, he led her to assume that he was being held in the House of Horrors, though in reality, he was gaslighting her into casting herself as the villain in her own story of the day's events: having already realized that Lorraine had almost no positive emotions to speak of, he instead fed upon her fear and anguish, enjoying her terror as her journey continued.

During the climax of The Park, Nathaniel Winter lured Lorraine the basement of the House of Horrors, where Callum had been prepared to be sacrificed to the Bogeyman's appetites. There, the Bogeyman forced an icepick into Lorraine's hands and moved her into position, relying upon the effects of the mind-rape to ensure that she alone made the final move by stabbing Callum to death.

In the aftermath, a grief-stricken Lorraine left the park, intent on handing herself over to the police - while the Bogeyman settled down to wait for his next victim.

The Secret World Thirty years of uninterrupted feeding went by; during this time, a facsimile of Nathaniel Winter's body was eventually discovered, and his will was finally enacted by his lawyers. Under the terms of his last testament, Atlantic Island Park was bequeathed to Winter's son, Nicholas. Of course, the heir had little interest in keeping the notoriously unprofitable park, and made plans to sell it off as soon as soon as he received an offer - which eventually came from the Phoenicians, who had finally worked out what Nathaniel Winter had used the anima capacitor designs for and were anxious to profit off the rare machinery. However, the sale required him to actually attend the site in person in order to transfer the deeds to the new owner, and in 2012, Nicholas Winter reluctantly traveled to Solomon Island in the hopes of finding closure at long last.

Unfortunately, around this time, the discovery of Solomon Island by a local fishing vessel ended up bringing the Draug to Solomon Island, accompanied by necromantic activity that resurrected the dead as zombies all over the island, and a mysterious Fog that prevented anyone from leaving by conventional means. Trapped along with the rest of the island's populace, Nicholas managed to survive the initial outbreak - ironically by seeking shelter inside the park he despised so much, and likely never knowing how close he came to meeting his father. This proved to be a mixed blessing, for though the heir was able to find a place outside the park where the zombies refused to venture, he was left with little else to do but wait as the emotion-distorting atmosphere of the park began to twist his thoughts out of shape.

Soon after, the players arrive in the area and begin investigating Atlantic Island Park with Nicholas as their guide - though his attitude only grows more unpleasant as the siphoning takes a toll on him. In the mission "Theme Park Tycoon,", players investigate the park itself, and quickly get the attention of the Bogeyman himself. Though he only resorts to taunting the players during a ride on the roller coaster, this sighting prompts the players to seek him out in person during the mission "A Carnival Of Souls," where they track down a portal leading into the shadow realm hidden in the Ferris Wheel, where they finally confront the Bogeyman in person. Unfortunately for him, the players are not only effectively immortal but also immune to the worst of his powers.

In the end, the Bogeyman is slain in battle, and the anima capacitor is explosively deactivated, killing the Phoenicians trying to acquire it and ending Atlantic Island Park's menace once and for all.

Trivia

 * Atlantic Island Park is the location part of the Secret World universe, with easy access from Kingsmouth Town.