(No spoilers)
Coming in at a good duration of 93 minutes, The Babadook is intelligent, dark and frightening. Claustrophobia and gut-wrenching stress are intruded upon by a well meaning(?) outside world of school staff, social workers and haughty housewives. There is enough ambiguity to keep the viewer guessing as to what is actually going on, and the hero of the story is most unlikely–though always close by.
“Fear’s Sharp Little Needles” is a book of short scenarios, by Stygian Fox, and written for the Seventh Edition Call of Cthulhu role playing game published by Chaosium.
The cover art has elements I like, but is so dark it gives the impression you’re missing detail. That said, it’s very well executed.
The pages have a very cool parchment look. It’s bold enough to be noticeable, yet subdued enough to not interfere with reading. The table of contents gives the scenario titles on simulated scraps of paper, which is a nice touch. The text is Times New Roman, with the section headings bolded, and in some sort of sans serif font, making for an easy reading experience.
The interior art is beautiful. Also, not only does each scenario start with a full-page illustration which is a teaser for what’s in store, but there are also maps galore. The scenarios are intentionally brief. They are all set in the modern era.
Now, on to the scenarios, with an effort to minimize spoilers. Unfortunately, this leaves me only room for introductions. The cover page of each scenario contains three or four words which give an even briefer idea of what is contained therein–nice touch.
First things first, this is a beautiful product. Arc Dream Publishing does a great job with the covert ops decoration–bits and pieces of classified documents, blurry, black and white photographs, documents with blood drops, etc. Combine this with beautiful cover art of a sufficiently horrid monster and you’ve got a product which says “Buy me. Play me.”
“I swear, Doctor, they’re real. They came at us last night after our van slid off the road. They were all dressed differently, one was in an expensive suit, but they had no faces!
If they grabbed you, your face started disappearing too. One of them got Bill and he started changing! I shot it twice and it just vanished, like Alka Selzter in water. Later, Bill said he could still breathe when his face was going smooth, but he was forgetting his identity. After I shot the one, and Jeremy–he’s a boxer–knocked one down, they just ran away.”—Name withheld for HIPPA compliance, Harrison City Psychiatric Hospital.
The Faceless Human-Like Things are a creation of the Mi-Go. They appear like ordinary men, except they have smooth skin where their faces should be. They wear various, ordinary clothes.
![Cthulhu's Minions (The Arkham Detective Book 1) by [Craft, Byron]](https://i1.wp.com/www.evernote.com/shard/s86/res/1d98cb7e-bb21-4f6d-83d2-140abf1e43cb.jpg?resize=327%2C500&ssl=1)
Cthulhu’s Minions, by Byron Craft
![The Innsmouth Look (The Arkham Detective Book 2) by [Craft, Byron]](https://i2.wp.com/www.evernote.com/shard/s86/res/0e2abf79-9bd2-45ae-a58c-76d6e29d77f2.jpg?resize=260%2C500&ssl=1)
The Innsmouth Look, by Byron Craft
Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero
To be entirely honest, when I first picked up my audio copy of Meddling Kids, by Edgar Cantero, I had no idea that I would be writing a review for Shoggoth.net. As a matter of fact, I only picked it up because I remembered reading somewhere that it’s an adult parody of Scooby Doo. To that point, it absolutely is a 100% homage to Scooby Doo, but it is also an homage to Lovecraft, the mythos, and the other players in the mythos.
Greeting Cultist the Old Ones Revival: 1st Church of Innsmouth Traveling Revival Show will be coming to this year’s GEN CON in Indianapolis Thursday Aug 2 at 7pm. Host by those touched by those unholy hand Boy Preacher Dr. Rev Randj Portajonni and his Rev. Albert Shiny. Testify your love for Cthulhu for eternal damnation Swag and Prizes. Father Dagon and Mother Hydra will be there to judge your sincerity Also there will be and all gender Duct Girl Contest.
Thursday Aug 2th 7pm Lucas Oil: MTG Rm 2
ZED 18125983 $2.00
We can’t wait to meet you.
It seems inevitable that such a book would eventually come along, and it has. There have been
others in the same vein, but this one provides actual recipes, made with wholesome ingredients,
which are good to eat.
Possibly the most entertaining part of this book, is the intermingling of the descriptions of ingredients and processes with Mythos-ian imagery. Continue reading
Master of Chaos by David Hambling
Masters of Chaos by David Hambling is the fourth book in the Harry Stubbs series and it goes without saying that I am a huge fan of the series. Continue reading
The Gods of H.P. Lovecraft
Normally, I have mixed feelings when it comes to anthologies. It’s not that I don’t like them, my problem is quite the opposite. I love them, but once I get to the point in an anthology story where I want it continue divulging the secrets it’s only just now begun to show me is when the story ends and we shift gears into an entirely different story.
