"the vampire's lair" -- TVL -- was a BBS located in Stockton, CA, running a registered copy of WWIV (World War IV) software, with a heavily modified source code. It went online on April 3, 1992 (running at 2400 baud on a 386-25 with an 80MB HD and 8 megs RAM) and went offline in July of 1995 (running at 28.8 baud on a Pentium 90 with a 500MB HD and 64 megs RAM).

business card advertising TVL --
glossy white card stock with blood-red rose and blue lettering

TVL was home to such memorable local subs as "Fudge Brownies & Guacamole"; the best stupid game ever, "Wheel of Dr. Pepper"; a decent Text Files section full of poetry and other writings from its members; and Gypsy Rose, the cat who liked to walk on the keyboard and "chat" with unsuspecting callers. Because the SysOp, darkstar, was one of few female SysOps in the area, TVL attracted a number of female callers... many of whom were new to BBSing.

TVL was part of several networks over the years... including WWIVlink, WWIVnet, IceNET, TARDISnet, ExpressNet, and WWIVweb (which darkstar was Ombudsman of for a time). Some of the networked subs hosted on TVL were Matchmakers, Inc., Massively Californian (chat between MA and CA BBSers), and Nightcrawler's Party Pit. Subs TVL belonged to included several women-only groups; music, poetry, and reading groups; age-specific groups (teen-only, adult-only); gaming & RPG groups; humor; ANSI graphics; food & cooking; pagan & period... and many other special interests.

Get-togethers in Stockton were often held at Tony's Pizza on Lower Sac. (french fries with blue cheese dressing!), tho other get-togethers had been held at Lyon's Restaurant on Ben Holt @ I-5, Round Table Pizza @ Hammer and West Lane, Round Table Pizza on Ben Holt @ I-5, and Naughty Nick's Pizza on Ben Holt @ Pacific. And who can forget mini-golfing at Golfland on the corner of Hammer & West Lane?

We also met at Micke's Grove Park in Lodi in the summertime, where we sat under Happy Fun Blue Tarp, bbq'ed chicken, hot dogs & burgers with the Klingon Battle Spatula, and yelled at the zoo animals to "wake up and do something; I paid a whole $3 to look at you!". There, we also invented "Swedish Box Day" (June 5, 1993) by covering a "Do Not Enter" sign with a large cardboard box, so we could get into the closest parking lot easier. There happened to be some large Swedish gathering at the park that same day, hence the term "Swedish Box Day".

Most get-togethers wound up with a small group of users heading to darkstar's house, where we'd watch movies, and hang out in front of the BBS computer, waiting for some poor caller to log in so "Death Incarnate" could pop in and chat with (read: harrass) them.

The last "sort-of" get-together was at the wedding of darkstar and Rembrandt (the wombat) in June of 2000.

L to R, girls in front: darkstar, catwoman
L to R, guys in back: Agent Green, Thunder!, Rembrandt, Johnny Fusion 11811
not pictured, but was there: Mircalla

Art thou TVL alumni? Send us a message and say hello. Besides the users in the photo, we've heard from Dreamwalker, Hippiechick, and Victoria Fox.

Nostalgic yet? With time and luck, many things are possible. Perhaps a remedy will be available soon. We sit breathlessly, awaiting that time ourselves... In the meantime, check this site out!