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This book series is of the "Choose your own adventure" genre. As far as I remember, it was of the fantasy horror genre. The ones I've read had plenty of either bad ending or "you die" paths. One part I remember is the main character being in a library and having the choice to insert one of a few different-colored orbs into the eye socket of a gargoyle statue. Another part that I remember involves a character simply called the Dark One. In one of the bad ending paths, the Dark One assumes the form of a squid-like creature that beats the characters to...something important by swimming towards it.

I don't remember anything about the time period it was set in, but probably not Victorian era. Maybe 20th century at the earliest? I remember the cover had the words "Pick your path" written somewhere, which is how it captured my attention in the first place

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    I can't find an exact match, but Castle of Lost Souls may have some elements in common. It was originally serialised in White Dwarf magazine. In the fourth and final segment (WD issue 55), you meet "Vimbol Greengosh" in a "vast, vaulted library with books and pamphlets lining every inch of the walls". He tells you that you must throw a teardrop into the Big Bad's eye to kill him. The teardrop is in a glass phial, though, not an orb. And the final encounter happens after you've left the library.
    – Astrid_Redfern
    Feb 20, 2022 at 14:31
  • (I don't know if/how any of this differs in the book version.)
    – Astrid_Redfern
    Feb 20, 2022 at 14:32
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    Another partial match is Eye of the Dragon, a solo adventure in Ian Livingstone's Dicing with Dragons. In this, you journey into a labyrinth, seeking a golden statue of a dragon. You need to have two emeralds in your possession at this point, and you must insert them both into the statue's eye sockets to win the game and escape the dungeon.
    – Astrid_Redfern
    Feb 20, 2022 at 14:37
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    An even more partial match... at the very end of Deathtrap Dungeon, you need to have found three differently coloured gemstones (sapphire, emerald and diamond), and to place them into sockets on a door in the correct order. There's also an idol with two emeralds for eyes, and I think you need to remove the first of these - it's the emerald mentioned above.
    – Astrid_Redfern
    Feb 20, 2022 at 14:47
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    @Astrid_Redfern I don't remember anything about the time period it was set in, but probably not Victorian era. Maybe 20th century at the earliest? I remember the cover had the words "Pick your path" written somewhere, which is how it captured my attention in the first place.
    – user73910
    Feb 25, 2022 at 1:35

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Could this be Revenge of the Gargoyle by Tracey West?

The unusual black marble that Tania Robbins buys for her grandfather in Sebastian Cream's Junk Shop is no ordinary marble-it is the missing eye of one very angry gargoyle! Now he's demanding it back and Tania doesn't know what to do. It's up to you to decide!

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This gamebook was part of the Pick Your Path series of books and featured those words prominently on the cover. There's mention of a tentacled monster and uses the term 'The Dark One' to describe the book's baddie.

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