The Blackstone Chronicles is a serialized novel by American horror and suspense author John Saul. The series consists of six installments and takes place in a fictional New Hampshire town called Blackstone. The plot is that the old asylum is about to be demolished. In each chapter a different character receives a "gift" from an unknown source, and strange, terrible things begin to happen to the recipient (or those around them) shortly thereafter. The final novel reveals the connection between the various objects and the identity of the mysterious gift-giver.
The series was later reprinted in an omnibus edition as The Blackstone Chronicles : The Serial Thriller Complete in One Volume (ISBN 0-449-00192-X, 544 pages).
In 1998 Mindscape published a multimedia-rich computer game developed by Legend Entertainment. The game, titled John Saul's Blackstone Chronicles: An Adventure in Terror, is a sequel to the novels and takes place several years after the sixth book. The game starts with Oliver Metcalf (the main protagonist of the novels) arriving at the Blackstone Asylum, which is being remodeled and turned into a psychiatric history museum. The spirit of the asylum's last superintendent, Malcolm Metcalf (Oliver's father, who died some forty years earlier), has taken Oliver's son, Joshua, and hidden him somewhere in the asylum, apparently to coerce Oliver into going there. The object of play is to rescue Joshua and uncover the elder Metcalf's agenda.
While the game was not a huge success, it is highly sought-after by fans of the book series. The game is impressive for its expansion of the novels' plot, its dark and unsettling atmosphere, and the chilling voice acting by Henry Strozier (as Malcolm Metcalf).