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Ghost of Thornton Hall is the twenty-eighth game in the Nancy Drew adventure series. In it, Nancy investigates the disappearance of a bride and the legend of a family ghost.

Synopsis[]

Some families keep deadly secrets!

Jessalyn Thornton and her best friend, Addison Hammond, visited the uninhabited Thornton Hall on an island off the coast of Georgia for a pre-wedding celebration and sleepover, but the fun ended when Jessalyn disappeared. Now Jess's friends, family, and coworkers search the undergrowth and abandoned spaces throughout Blackrock Island, seeking any evidence that might lead to her whereabouts. That's why paranormal expert Savannah Woodham asked you, as Nancy Drew to investigate potential leads. This case requires a skeptic; someone who isn't afraid of a place where stories of the supernatural hang as thick as Spanish moss from cypress trees. Did the heiress to the Thornton business empire vanish among the monuments, or is someone holding something besides family secrets?

  • Expose the fate of Jessalyn Thornton and unveil the truth about a family ghost
  • Explore crypts and graveyards and uncover moving statues, sliding panels and secret passages
  • Uncover old secrets and divulge new motives among the Thornton friends and family

Characters[]

Jessalyn Thornton[]

Jessalyn visited Thornton Hall with her friend Addison for a pre-wedding celebration and sleepover, but then mysteriously disappeared.

Clara Thornton[]

Jessalyn's mother, Clara, stays in Thornton Hall during the search. She is currently the head of the Thornton family business and is usually quite direct and matter-of-fact. In her childhood, she lived at the hall with Charlotte, Harper, and the rest of the family, but never learned the identity of her father.

Wade Thornton[]

Although Wade usually stays away from the rest of the Thorntons, he has returned to Blackrock Island to aid in the search for Jessalyn. However, his shady past makes him an embarrassment to Clara, and he prefers to stay in the graveyard near the house, searching for signs of supernatural activity. This belief in the supernatural led him to encounter Savannah Woodham, back in the day.

Harper Thornton[]

Known as the black sheep of the family, Harper was always eccentric but became more so after her sister Charlotte's death in 1989. She even ran away from home for so long that her family had a gravestone made bearing her name. She maintains that the family has tried to hide her so as to keep their name untarnished, but Clara insists that Harper's tales of being institutionalized are an exaggeration.

Colton Birchfield[]

Colton is Jessalyn's fiancé and seems to be genuinely concerned about her well-being. Despite this, he seems to be grappling with some internal tensions, the causes of which are anyone's guess.

Charlotte Thornton[]

Charlotte Thornton died in a fire in 1989, on the night of her 21st birthday party. She was a beloved member of the family and the town, with a beautiful singing voice and an affection for all the Thorntons, even those in the crypt. After her death, people began to see her appearing on the island and within Thornton Hall, and the family soon left the hall altogether.

Phone Friends[]

Nancy uses a cell phone that can be accessed by an icon at the bottom of the screen. She can also receive hints from the task list if she's an "Amateur" Sleuth.

Bess Marvin and Ned Nickerson[]

Bess is one of Nancy's best friends, and Ned is Nancy's boyfriend. These characters, although only under a phone call option, offer lots of advice and help for Nancy.

Addison Hammond[]

Addison is Jessalyn's friend and was with her when she vanished from Thornton Hall. The events of that fateful night left her extremely frightened and disturbed, and she is slightly unwilling to help Nancy at first. However, she provides useful information about what happened to Jessalyn.

Savannah Woodham[]

Former ghost hunter Savannah initially gets Nancy on the case by a phone call, and Nancy can call her from then on to get help with the case.

Trivia[]

Continuity[]

Foreshadowing[]

  • Nancy tells Harper that her mother also died in an attempt to relate to Harper. This leads into the next game where Nancy learns more about her mother.

Main/recurring character revelations[]

Allusions[]

  • A variant of an old English nursery rhyme Ladybird Ladybird can be heard, replacing the lyrics "Ladybird, ladybird" with "Ladybug, ladybug", "and her name is Ann" with "sweet Charlotte Ann", and "she hid under the baking pan" with "she hid under the frying pan".

Goofs[]

Tablet Version[]

GTH AvatarIcon

The game's icon.

Ghost of Thornton Hall was the first and only Nancy Drew adventure game for tablets, available for iOS, Android and Kindle. It was released for iPad on March 4, 2014, Kindle tablets on April 12, 2014, and Android on May 7, 2014. The camera has been removed from Nancy's phone (as have the phone games). The Bonus Edition phone charms and audio files remain available. The UI and character models and animations have been redone. There is only one save file (it autosaves and a continue button is on the main menu) and there are no outtakes or trailers.

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