Looking for information about mid-late 80's Chicagoland BBS- "Well of Souls" reddit / bbs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- bb_seeker · 2020-08-06 03:00 Hey everyone, So, this is a little bit of an odd request. I acquired a passing interest in BBSes when my dad briefly told me about the BBs he would hang out on as a teenager. It took me by surprise that the kinds of experiences my dad had on bulletin boards as a teen in the 1980's has mirrored many of the experiences I have had as a teen on the internet in the 2010's. I am fascinated by internet culture and would love to learn more about the culture of 1980's BBSes and the kinds of people and stories that developed around them. Specifically, the more obscure Chicagoland BBSes in the 708 and 312 area codes. One particular bulletin board that he mentioned to me was the "Well of Souls". I thought the name "Well of Souls" was the funniest thing ever, and now I'm a little obsessed. Unfortunately, there is little to no information online available about the Well beyond a few passing mentions of three separate phone numbers from two time periods. First, from textfiles.com- **312-893-6618** **The Well of Souls, Well of Souls AE** *(1987-1988)* Second, from habd.as- ABBS \*8- **(708)-893-6618 Well of Souls** *(Dated 1990)* Third, from a usenet post on alt.bbs.lists titled "July 1993 Chicagoland BBS List Part 2 of 2" **708-960-3141 Well of Souls** PC \*8&V Dec-92 I think the first BBS is my culprit, (although, honestly, I wouldn't mind learning more about any of the aforementioned Well of Souls BBSes.) but I don't know how to best continue my research. I would greatly appreciate suggestions- are there specific websites and backups that tend to store regional BBS information that are harder to find via typical Google-fu? Alternatively, if you happen to be from the area or recognize the Well of Souls, I'd love to talk to you about it! Thanks for listening to me rant about this silly project! Have a nice day, everybody! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- redbrickchimney · 2020-08-06 06:58 ask on Fidonet have u checked the telnet bbs guide/directory? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2020-08-06 12:37 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dangolhuh · 2020-08-06 13:09 I had an account on that BBS. The name comes from the Jack Chalker Well of Souls series. If you want a Midwest BBS list from that time period, I still have all the files from the board we ran back then and I know there are a bunch of lists in there. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- bb_seeker · 2020-08-06 14:15 Oh, wow, that's awesome! I would love to see the list, if possible! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- bb_seeker · 2020-08-06 14:16 I didn't think to check out FidoNet, good idea! Thank you! This is my first time hearing about the telnet directory so I'll stop by there too. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2020-08-06 16:01 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2020-08-06 16:02 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- cwstephenson71 · 2020-08-06 16:48 Yeah, telnet BBS Guide is THEE best source for BBSes. I run a reboot of mine in Northeast Ohio (The New Frontier][ BBS telnet:frontierbbs.net:23 and The Amiga Frontier BBS telnet:frontierbbs.net:8888 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2020-08-06 21:59 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2020-08-06 22:01 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dangolhuh · 2020-08-07 00:00 Man, I want to believe but it doesn’t seem to be working for me. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2020-08-07 00:09 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2020-08-07 00:09 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2020-08-07 00:10 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2020-08-07 00:10 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- bb_seeker · 2020-08-07 01:19 Thank you for reformatting this! (and to dangolhuh for pulling it out, it's crazy that you were registered. :) ) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- bb_seeker · 2020-08-07 01:20 Oh, interesting! Yes, it was definitely an Apple- a IIc, I think. Thank you so much! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- bb_seeker · 2020-08-07 01:21 I'll check it out! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2020-08-21 07:28 [deleted]