I run a theatrical style horror game using Call of Cthulhu, a role-playing game produced by Chaosium. The rules are very simple and effective and remain relatively transparent so that the players can concentrate on their roles and the story. The game is augmented by sound effects, music, and lighting to set the mood and create an atmosphere intended to foster role-playing. Additional equipment can include strobe lights, fog machines, and other effects. The game feels like a cross between a LARP and a tabletop game, but it is tabletop play. I utilize a simple stereo for sound effects and music and bring a variety of lighting equipment depending upon the room. The table is dressed with props appropriate to the scenario. The games include detailed handouts and materials.

I have been running these games since Chaosium published the first edition in 1981. The primary venues are my home and the homes of others. In the last 5 or 6 years I have presented the games at several gaming conventions including Carnage in Vermont, Open Gaming Convention in New Hampshire, Portcon in Portland, Maine, and a number of times each year at Game Geeks in South Portland, Maine. In February of this year I will be putting on 5 sessions at Total Confusion in Mansfield, Massachusetts.

These scenarios are intended for mature players, but no rules knowledge or prior experience is required. A good attitude is a must. The scenarios may contain some mature themes that are not suitable for all players.

Your group of friends and relatives has spent years tracking down an ancient vault secreted on an old family property. Despite the labor problems with the superstitious locals, the difficulties of excavation, and the years of painstaking research, you are finally ready to open the vault. The false notions of the locals and the reservations of some of your kin and friends have not deterred you. After all, what could be dangerous about an old long sealed vault?

After the trials of your youth you have come far. College was wonderful and everything now seems grand. You and your fellow orphaned siblings and cousins are on the eve of your inheritance. The time has come to return to your ancestral home and learn of the wonders that the foundation has in store for you. Only one thing mars your experience, the nightmares of so long ago have returned…

Jack Wilson is dead, one of the best friends that you have ever had. Many years ago you made one of those promises that you never expect to fulfill. You promised that if something should happen to him you would investigate. The letter that he had left for you raised questions. (Jack had been behaving a bit oddly in recent years. Delving into odd books and traveling to different Universities instead of hunting and fishing.) As you and your companions drive deep into the New England woods, you cannot help but wonder what strange fate may await you…

You are attending an auction at Harwicke Castle on Glendower Island in Southern England. As this is a normal affair surely one need not be concerned about horrors in the dark, sudden violence, terror beyond imagination, and madness. Surely, there will be nothing to fear…

With the strange reports of cult activities around the world, widespread assassinations, the apocalyptic devastation of the earth by a red comet, the tidal waves and fallout, civilization as you know it is in collapse. At least you and your friends are secure in your mountain camp with some of your basic needs at hand. After all, it could not get any worse…

With the apocalyptic devastation of the Earth by a red comet, the tidal waves and fallout, civilization, as you know it, has collapsed. To make matters even more horrific the dead have begun to rise and attack the living. If that was not terrifying enough, it seems that the zombies are being organized into armies by black uniformed cultists. You are part of a handpicked team of volunteers chosen for a special mission to gain vital intelligence. You are expendable, but your mission is critical to the survival of your family, friends, and loved ones. There are many questions: Who are they? What do they want? Why are the dead rising? Can we stop them? Can you help the leaders of your rag-tag group of survivors find any answers?