Lynn Willis

It was sad news to hear that Lynn Wills at Chaosium recently died. Lynn was Chaosium's editor in chief and instrumental in making Call of Cthulhu the game on 18 January 2013. He will be greatly missed. I found him to be an excellent editor. He was the first editor I worked with, and he was instrumental in making my books Secrets of Kenya, Cthulhu’s Dark Cults and The Spiraling Worm, amongst my other early Chaosium projects, what they became today.

Here are what several key contributors to the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game, which Lynn directed for many decades, had to say about him:

“He was incredibly smart, astonishingly widely read, detail oriented, and capable. He is largely responsible for the high quality, playability, and popularity of the leading horror RPG in our field.” – Charlie Krank, President of Chaosium Inc.

“Lynn was always a great guy to work for, an all around good guy, and I'm very sorry to hear of his passing.” – Brian M. Sammons, author of Secrets and editor of Atomic Age Cthulhu, Steampunk Cthulhu and Eldritch Chrome.

“Lynn very graciously bought the first book I ever pitched, right out of college. And by the time he put it out (12 years later), we'd developed a real(ly weird) friendship. I'll truly miss (arguing with) him.” – Cody Goodfellow, author of Secrets of San Francisco.

“He was a gentleman and a scholar; I learned so much from him - indeed, I honestly would not be the writer I am today were it not for Lynn's guiding hand.” – Richard Watts, author of “Love’s Lonely Children”, “Tatterdemallion” and “Behold the Mother”

“Lynn was the editor of the 1991 edition of Horror on the Orient Express (and many other Chaosium books besides), and every page is rich with his love of history and detail. We miss him, and do our best to honour the work he left behind.” – Mark Morrison, author of Terror Australis and Horror on the Orient Express.

The House of R'lyeh Announced

Chaosium have just announced their next book, which I co-edited with Glyn White and contributed one and a half gaming scenarios. Out in Winter 2012 (or Summer 2012 if you live on the opposite side of the world to me).

THE HOUSE OF R'LYEH

Five Scenarios Based on H.P. Lovecraft Tales

Cover Art by Scott Purdy

The House of R’lyeh contains five scenarios that closely follow the events of H.P. Lovecraft stories. They are set in Boston, Providence, the British Isles, continental Europe and the Middle East. None of the scenarios need to be played at set dates or in a set order, but they could be run in the order presented to form a loose campaign using optional links between scenarios to draw investigators from one to the other.

Alternatively, the scenarios may be used to supplement classic Call of Cthulhu campaigns such as The Shadows of Yog-Sothoth and The Fungi from Yuggoth, the latter currently in print as The Day of the Beast, both of which suggest their component scenarios should be interspersed with others.

The first scenario in this book, “The Art of Madness” (Brian Courtemanche) follows on from the events of the Lovecraft tale “Pickman’s Model”. Artist of the macabre, Richard Upton Pickman, is now a ghoul living a subterranean netherworld beneath Boston creating a new school of art. There are several ways that player characters might be drawn into investigating his macabre activities and, while dangerous, Pickman’s intent is not particularly lethal. The difficulty for investigators will be to resolve the situation without becoming compromised.

While in New England, the investigators discover “The Crystal of Chaos” (Peter Gilham with David Conyers), a retelling of the events of Lovecraft’s “The Haunter of the Dark”. Hired by professors of Miskatonic University, the investigator seek out a fabled crystal with origins in Ancient Egypt, but they soon find a far greater evil lurks in an abandoned church in Providence. This scenario originally appeared in Different Worlds issue 34, May/June 1984, and has been expanded and revised in this publication.

“The Return of the Hound” (Glyn White) draws investigators an auction in Yorkshire, in England, where a rare edition of the Necronomicon is going to be sold. The previous owners, the decadent occultists from Lovecraft’s “The Hound”, are dead, as that tale recounts, but what they unearthed in ‘a Holland churchyard’ has grown strong, and has schemes of its own to fulfill. The amount of danger the investigators face is dependent on how determined they are not to let this Necronomicon fall into the wrong hands.

“The Jermyn Horror” (David Conyers) takes place in Britain, beginning in London and then moving to Huntingdon with the investigators seeking a rare edition of Regnum Congo, reputedly to be found in the crumbling estate of the deceased Jermyn family as described in Lovecraft’s “Arthur Jermyn”. The search is imperiled by a creature that a Jermyn brought back from the Congo some three hundred years ago that haunts the mansion seeking a human vessel for its escape.

“Nameless City, Nameless Terrors” (Brian M. Sammons) concludes this collection with an expedition into the heart of Arabia’s Empty Quarter in search of Irem as described in Lovecraft’s “The Nameless City”. This scenario requires investigators to risk their bodies and their minds as, in the midst of the desolate ruins of Irem, the investigators learn something of the nature of the Great Old Ones, and perhaps forestall the rising of Cthulhu from his watery grave.

The Return of The Black Seal

Many, many years ago (circa 2003 to be precise) I restarted my writing career in gaming writing for the Call of Cthulhu role-plyaing game. One of the first magazines to publish me was The Black Seal. It was a classy gaming magazine designed to support not only the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game, but the spooks and the mythos setting Delta Green.

The Black Seal only survived long enough to see three issues, as editor Adam Crossingham went on to edit Worlds of Cthulhu but there were some very fine articles in their pages, with authors such as Dan Harms, Ben Counter, Brian M. Sammons and William Jones. Unfortunately the magazine went out of print almost as soon as each issue came out, and so has been unavailabke until now.

Adam recently informed me that The Black Seal has returned in PDF format, now available at DriveThruRPG. Individual issues can be purchased here:

• The Black Seal #1
• The Black Seal #2
• The Black Seal #3

I appeared in issues 2 and 3, and many of may articles, particularly my role-playing gaming scenario "The Spiraling" was the basis for my Harrison Peel novella collaboration with John Sunseri, "The Spiraling Worm".

I had articles planned for The Black Seal #4, alas that magazine never came to be, but there was a pretty cool cover prepared by David Lee Ingersoll, which I've included below. Perhaps I should post some of those articles here on my journal.

Cthulhu's Dark Cults: "Requiem for the Burning God" by Shane Jiraiya Cummings

The longest story in Cthulhu’s Dark Cults was penned by Shane Jiraiya Cummings, a novella of 18,000 words which involves a sinister global corporation that featured in the Call of Cthulhu gaming supplements Day of the Beast, At Your Door and Unseen Masters. Shane’s tale, “Requiem for the Burning God”, like “Devil’s Diamonds” by Cody Goodfellow and my “Sisters of the Sand”, is a tale written in pulp adventure style with lots of action, suspense and intrigue. I put all three stories last, as the energy and pace picks up in these tales compared to the more subtle and personal horror of earlier tales. I also did this because the later tales are more in line with the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game’s Pulp Cthulhu style adventuring, if that supplement is ever released.

Shane Jiraiya Cummings is one of the most active members of Australia’s horror writing communities, and in the small press, one of our countries more successful writers with more than sixty short stories published in Australia, the United States, and Europe. He is the Vice President of the Australian Horror Writers Association and an active member of the US Horror Writers Association. Shane has won the Ditmar Award twice, and has been nominated for over twenty other awards. Recently moving into longer works, Shane's recent books include Shards (Brimstone Press) and Phoenix and the Darkness of Wolves (Damnation Books). He is currently working on a Japanese fantasy series and other novels.

Shane said this about his story, “As a Lovecraft fan, I've always wanted to write a Mythos-inspired story, and when David Conyers invited me to contribute to Cthulhu’s Dark Cults, my dream was realised. I wasn’t very familiar with the Call of Cthulhu game, but David gave me the scenario and – Peru, early 1930s – and the rest of the story leapt onto the page. “Requiem for the Burning God” soon became an epic that incorporated my fascination for biplanes, zeppelins, and the corpses of mysterious gods.”

An extract from his story follows:

REQUIEM FOR THE BURNING GOD
Shane Jiraiya Cummings

Callao, Peru, 1932

Part I

A week at sea was one thing; a Pacific storm adding a day to the voyage and wobbling Max’s sea legs was something else altogether. Used to the constant downpour, the gloom, and the isolation for seven very long days, he was caught off guard by the glare of the dawn sun and the noise as he disembarked the gangplank onto the Callao docks.

A man with ferret features pushed through a knot of wiry, brown-skinned dock workers. “You Calder?”

“Who’s asking?”

“The name’s Neville.” He extended a hand, which Max shook with the curtness of a professional. “C’mon. The others are in the truck.” Neville thumbed at an open-backed truck parked on the dock. The paint job looked fresh, with a prominent New World Incorporated logo emblazoned in red on the door.

The four men sitting in the back, all white, wore uniforms that matched the newness of the truck. Three clutched rifles. The Peruvian dock workers circled wide of the truck. For their part, the NWI men watched everyone with suspicion.

“Those are German rifles, right? Mauser carbines?” Calder asked.

“Very good, Mr. Calder.” Neville stroked his chin. “You know your guns.”

“That’s what I told your man in San Francisco. That’s why I’m here, I guess.”

“Yes, yes. Tell me, Mr. Calder, are you a Max or a Maximillian?”

“I’m a Maximillian but Max will do.”

“Very well then, Max. I can’t place your accent. South African?”

“Displaced British, actually.”

“Displaced?”

“Yeah.” Calder kept his eyes ahead, studying the NWI recruits who in turn studied him as he approached.

Neville waved a hand at the truck. “Up you go, Mr. Calder. Make yourself as comfortable as possible. The trip to the mountains is long and bumpy to say the least.”

As Max tossed his backpack up into the truck, Neville opened the passenger door and stepped up. “A word of advice, Mr. Calder.” Neville paused on the threshold of the cabin. “Keep your eyes open for trouble. President Cerro’s government may welcome New World Incorporated but some of the locals are less enthusiastic about our presence. These are difficult times and you know why you’re here.” As if to emphasize the point, Neville pivoted to reveal the handle of a Colt .45 auto jutting from his belt.

Cthulhu’s Dark Cults: “Perfect Skin” by David Witteveen

Here is the extract from Cthulhu’s Dark Cults, this time a story from fellow Australia author David Witteveen with his short story “Perfect Skin”.

David lives in Melbourne, Australia. He won the inaugural Australian Horror Writers Association's Flash Fiction Competition. His other published Mythos work includes the story “Ache” in Hardboiled Cthulhu, which was reprinted in Australian Dark Fantasy and Horror Volume 2. By night he writes, drinks absinthe and wears cravats. By day, he does something dull with computers. He’s a very talented author and I’ve always admired how he can say so much with so little words.

David and I are long time friends, having met in high school. For a time we shared a flat with another friend, and backpacked through Africa and the United Kingdom together. We’ve also collaborated, on the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game supplement Devil’s Children and more recently in a short story appearing in Macabre from Brimstone Press, out later this year.

“Perfect Skin” is set in Istanbul featuring the cult that is central to the Call of Cthulhu campaign Horror on the Orient Express. David was inspired by two things when he wrote this story, as he explains, “The first was the factoid that President Ataturk banned the fez from Turkey in the 1920s. He wanted to transform Turkey into a modern, Western country rather than a traditional Oriental one. As part of that, he wanted Turks to wear Western clothing. But not all the citizens felt the same way, and there was a black market that smuggled fezzes in from other countries.

“The second inspiration was Evelyn Waugh's novel Vile Bodies. It's the definitive novel about the Bright Young Things. I love how the dialogue is so breezy and witty, but it's very clear the characters are all terribly sad underneath.

“The honeymooners Charles and Evelyn in "Perfect Skin" are my humble attempt to write something similar. And like Vile Bodies, my story starts off being quite light-hearted and amusing, and ends up somewhere very bleak.

“Something else I enjoyed about writing this story: there's not a squid-headed monster or unpronounceable name in sight. Lovecraft’s Mythos are a rich and deep platform for telling stories, and there’s a lot more that can be done with them than just the usual clichés.”

An extract from the story follows:

PERFECT SKIN
David Witteveen

Istanbul, Turkey, 1922

The sun rises in the east. Five hundred years ago the Ottomans swept out of Istanbul into Europe as a tide of Islam and blood. Now Europe sends its revenge –- a dozen luxury carriages, drawn by the very latest thing in steam locomotives. The Orient Express, a luxury hotel on rails, carrying smiling tourists to holiday in the city where the Sultans once plotted war.

Come into the dining car. Breakfast is being served.

Businessmen and diplomats sit side by side with gangsters and flappers. Look there by the window: newlyweds Charles and Evelyn Drake are sharing a meal. Such a handsome couple. His suit is expensive, his skin tan, his smile rakish and charming. And Evelyn -- slim and blonde, skin white and fresh as milk, her blue eyes wide with excitement.

“How long until Istanbul?” she asked.

Charles flicked back his sleeve to check his watch. “Another hour yet, darling.”

Evelyn watched the brown hills flicker past the window. She was a London girl, born and raised. The landscape out the window was as alien to her as the moon. Charles, who made business trips here six times a year, barely glanced up from his omelet.

“Where shall we go first?” she asked. “The bazaar?”

“If you like. They sell monkeys there, you know.”

“Really? Monkeys? Will you buy me one?”

“Of course. Nothing says ‘I love you’ quite like a small hairy mammal.”

Someone coughed behind Evelyn. She turned, thinking it was the waiter come for her plates. And her breakfast lurched back up in her throat.

A man stood there. Half his face had melted. The skin was rippled and scarred like the wax on the side of a candle.

Evelyn tried to swallow, but the food was stuck in her throat.

“Charles Drake?” asked that horrific face. “My name is Colonel Phelps, British Embassy. We need to talk.”

Charles stared up at him coolly. “You’re scaring my wife, Sir.”

“My apologies. But I insist that we talk.”

“Insist away. I’m having breakfast.”

“It concerns one of your clients in Istanbul, Mr. Drake.”

“We’re here on our honeymoon, Colonel. This trip is strictly pleasure.”

“Sir...”

Charles sighed and put down his cutlery. “Look. You’re scaring my wife and you’re spoiling my breakfast. If you want to talk, go talk to a mirror. Otherwise I’m calling the waiter.”

Cthulhu’s Dark Cults: “Captains of Industry” by John Goodrich

Cthulhu’s Dark Cults has gone to print, scheduled for release on the 27 May 2010. I also noticed that the anthology reached #15 in the Horror Anthology best sellers on Amazon.com today.

Here is my first post on the various stories included in Cthulhu’s Dark Cults. This post focuses on “Captains of Industry”, an opening novella by John Goodrich.

John lives in the Green Mountains of Vermont, which he calls “the last remnant of true Lovecraft country”. He has published several Cthulhu Mythos stories, all of which reflect some aspect of his unsavory life-style. When not writing or reading tales of madness and horror, he divides his time between hepatomancy, fencing, Facebook, and an obsessive regimen of feline grooming. He regularly gets Honourable Mentions from Ellen Datlow in her Year's Best Horror summations. An exciting new voice in the Cthulhu Mythos sub-genre of horror, he's appeared in the anthologies Cthulhu Unbound 1, Tales Out of Miskatonic University, R'lyeh Rising and Arkham Tales.

I asked John to provide me with some information on his story, which is set in Boston, Massachusetts and features the Hermetic Order of the Silver Twilight from the first Call of Cthulhu role-playing game campaign, Shadows of Yog-Sothoth. In his tale union members of a washing machine manufacturing company wanting better work conditions, and so are forced to go up against a private detective agent in the pay of the company owner. The owner in turn is backed by a more sinister organisation.

John said about his story, “one of the major inspirations for “Captains of Industry” is the fiction of Robert Howard, specifically, his dichotomy between barbarism and civilization. For Howard, barbarian meant freedom, as opposed to the lockstep knuckling under required by civilization, and I wanted to explore those themes for myself.

“Just before writing this story, I had spent six months working in factories. I realized that it didn’t matter who you were when you worked on the line. You could be strong as a bear, swift as a panther, or as brilliant as Steven Hawking; to the guys upstairs, you were just a cog in the machine. I decided to write a story in which Conan was forced to get a factory job to feed his family, and the character of János was born. At the same time, I learned that my government was torturing people at Camp X-Ray, and the story came together.

“The story is intended to feel like a twenties-era Socialist protest story, in the tradition of Jack London and Upton Sinclair, while (hopefully) maintaining its readability for a modern audience.”

An extract from the story follows:

CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY

John Goodrich

Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 1921

The strikebreakers formed a grim skirmish line opposite the strikers. Whatever the color of their greatcoats, they looked grey against the gently falling Boston snow. Among the union men, an uneasy current of conversation sprang up, muffled by fear and snow. They held the bottleneck, the defensive ground just inside the black, wrought iron gates of Emerson’s washing machine factory. To break the line, or even get to the factory, the strikebreakers would have to physically smash their way through the striking workers.

“Come away.” Dimitri’s insistent hands plucked ineffectually at the threadbare cuffs of János’s woolen overcoat. “The strike is over.”

János looked down at the narrow shape at his elbow. Dimitri’s mouth was full of rotten teeth, and his small, delicate hands would not be much use in the battle with the strikebreakers. The pipestem Russian read books aloud on the factory floor, to keep the workers somewhat entertained. He had been a good friend to János, even if their countries had fought in the last war. There was something somehow refined about the small Russian, but János couldn’t say how the impression had wormed its way into his brain. While Dimitri had been a great supporter of the union and the strike, the fight with the strikebreakers was not going to be something he should be involved in. János placed a powerful, calloused hand on the Russian’s smaller one in a gesture meant to reassure his fellow striker.

“I owe it to the union. But you should go.”

“Little brother, they are from the Agency. They had coal miners hanged in Pennsylvania, and burned women and children who were hiding from their machine gun bullets in Colorado.” His clutch on János’s coat was hard with desperate strength. János watched the easy, familiar way that the strikebreakers held their long truncheons.

“It is 1921. Emerson cannot simply hire a gang of thugs to beat us into submission in the streets.” János knew how hollow his words sounded.

“You will get your head knocked in.” Dimitri’s voice was hard and angry, but it did not make him any less right. The Agency men weren’t here just to break the strike; they were here to break heads. Where anger had failed, Dimitri began to wheedle. “Who will look after your wife and beautiful baby?”

János’s face clouded, and he gave the little man a hard shove.

“Run while you can, Dimitri. This will get bad.”

Cthulhu's Dark Cults: 6 May 2010

It has come to my attention that my first edited anthology, Cthulhu's Dark Cults, will be released on 6 May 2010. I'm naturally very pleased to discover this.

The anthology contains ten short stories and novellas using characters, monsters, locations and cults that first appeared in the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game. Sources include old classics familiar to many gamers from my generation or older, such as Masks of Nyarlathotep, Day of the Beast, Horror on the Orient Express and Shadows of Yog-Sothoth. The cover incidentally is by the very talented Steve Gilbert, and I'm pleased we got him.

Up until the book's release, I'll be posting a little on many of the stories, a bit about the author and an extract from their tale. In the meantime there is already a Wikipedia page for the anthology where more can be unveiled.

A very animated forum topic at Yog-Sothoth.com on the book can be found here.

"The Burning Stars" Handouts

Anyone interested in running my Call of Cthulhu scenario "The Burning Stars" found in Terrors from Beyond, I have handouts for the scenario as a download from the Yog-Sothoth.com website here. These have correct maps and tarot cards, as well as more realistic looking handouts to the ones found in the book.

Les Secrets du Kenya

I've just discovered that I've now been translated into French, with my Secrets of Kenya book for the Call of Cthulhu game out as Les Secrets du Kenya.

Unforunately I don't have my author copy to contribute much more here, but the cover does look nice. It seems to include all four scenarios from the original, and many of my photographs as well as historical photographs I found. Appartently my interior artwork is gone, with new art to replace it.

That's all I know for now.

A Detailed Review of Terrors From Beyond

Just noticed this review for Terrors from Beyond, which featured my scenario "The Burning Stars" for the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game. This is what the reviewer said about my scenario:

Superb! One of the most unusual premises for any scenario I've read in the entire hobby. Beyond that, phenomenally well-executed; a treat to read, and one that the players will definitely never forget.

Read the rest of the review here.

Worlds of Cthulhu #6

A nice surprise greeted me in the mailbox today, Worlds of Cthulhu #6, which features my artwork for Dennis Detwiller's "The Sense of the Sleight of Hand Man" Call of Cthulhu role-playing game scenario.

I know this issue came out in June 2009, so I'm a bit late to post (and arrange my contributor copy). Still an impressive looking issue from editor Adam Crossingham featuring scenarios from Oscar Rios and Frank Heller.

I'm a Guest at GenCon Australia

I'm going to be a guest at GenCon Australia this year, after circumstances prevented me from attending last year. Held at the Brisbane Convention Centre 18-20 September 2009, so the event is less than a week away. Time to pack my carry-on luggage and go.

I'll be on various seminars as I've detailed below, talking about my fiction writing including The Spiraling Worm and Cthulhu's Dark Cults, my work with Albedo One and some tips on the magazine's Aeon Award for short speculative fiction with an annual price of 1,000 Euros, and on my gaming writing for the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game.

I also hope to run a couple of sessions of a demonstration Call of Cthulhu role-playing game based on a scenario I wrote. Which scenario that will be I will keep as mystery for the moment, but needless to say, it is one on this list. In between all of that I hope to catch up with people and meet a whole lot of new people. So I'll be busy, but if you are there, please say hello.

Friday

Hot Tips for Fiction Writers (Seminar Room 1, 2pm): Join Karen Miller, David Conyers, and Matt Farrer as they give away the hot tips that all aspiring writers should know.

Fights, Chase Scenes and Other Action (Seminar Room 1, 11 am): Want to know how to keep a reader on the edge of their seat? Join writers Kylie Chan, David Conyers and Marianne De Pierres as they discuss how to writer a killer action scene.

Saturday

The Writer’s Journey (Seminar Room 1, 12 pm): Join Marianne De Pierres, Kylie Chan, and David Conyers as they talk about the journey from aspiring writer to published author.

Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself (Seminar Room 3, 6 pm): Want to scare your players? Join game designers David Conyers and Ryan Naylor as they discuss the techniques they use when writing for horror games.

Sunday

Gaming and Writing (Seminar Room 1, 4 pm): How do you make the jump from playing games to becoming a writer? Join Matt Farrer, David Conyers, and Ryan Naylor as they talk about how they made the jump from gamer to author.

How to Make a Really Good Bad Guy (Seminar Room 1, 2 pm): What makes the perfect bad guy? Join authors Matt Farrer and David Conyers as they discuss the very best of the very worst.

Keith Herber (1949-2009)

It was sad news to learn today that Keith Herber died suddenly. Keith was arguably the most prolific writer for the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game producing respected supplements such as The Fungi from Yuggoth, Spawn of Azathoth, H.P. Lovecraft's Arkham and H.P. Lovecraft's Dunwich, amongst others. Most recently he spearheaded the creation of Miskatonic River Press, a licensee producer of Call of Cthulhu supplements such as the well-received New Tales of the Miskatonic Valley. He will be missed, and my thoughts go out to his wife Sharon and son Eric.

Further news on Keith's passing can be found here and here.

Terrors From Beyond Out Soon

My latest Call of Cthulhu scenario will see print in May this year, appearing in Terrors from Beyond. Here is the news item from Chaosium's website:

Terrors from Beyond

Terrors From Beyond is a collection of 1920s adventures for Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu, designed for play with pre-generated characters. The book provides fine opportunities for an impromptu game or tournament play and – because the characters are intimately connected with the plot – roleplaying challenges not normally available in most published material. An excellent adventure collection for new and veteran Call of Cthulhu players alike.

GHOST LIGHT – Gary Sumpter

The keepers of a remote Scottish lighthouse have vanished. What fate awaits those who come to investigate the disappearances?

GRAVE SECRETS – Brian Courtemanche

The people of Stafford, Rhode Island, live much the same as their colonial forbears, making only gradual concessions to the encroaching tread of progress. Now, a fate both formless and awful has befallen a family in town. One by one, the children succumb to a newly arrived yet ancient menace.

THE DIG – Brian Sammons

Miskatonic University students on an excavation at nearby Dunlow Woods uncover ancient secrets, murder and horrors from the past.

A METHOD TO MADNESS – John A. Almack

The investigators have been committed to a private asylum. Are they really insane? Is their impending cure now worse than their derangements?

DEATH BY MISADVENTURE – Glyn White

Evidence suggests that Charles Stanhope was killed by the accidental discharge of a faulty shotgun at his home in the Lincolnshire Fens. The Coroner's verdict is death by misadventure – but is there a suggestion of something far more sinister?

THE BURNING STARS – David Conyers

The investigators recover in a US Military hospital in Haiti suffering from ongoing and prolonged blackouts. The last seven days of their lives have vanished from their minds. Can they not remember, or can’t they bear to?

More News from Chaosium

Chaosium, publisher of the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game, have just announced two books that I'm appearing in. In fact one of them I'm the editor.

That book is Cthulhu's Dark Cults which is an anthology of ten interconnected short horror stories set in the same shared world setting of the Call of Cthulhu game.

It's due out in May and here is the line up of authors and their stories:

1. "The Eternal Chinaman" by John Sunseri



2. "Captains of Industry" by John Goodrich



3. "Perfect Skin" by David Witteveen



4. "Covenant of Darkness" by William Jones



5. "The Whisper of Ancient Secrets" by Penelope Love



6. "Old Ghost" by Peter A. Worthy



7. "The Nature of Faith" by Oscar Rios



8. "The Devil's Diamonds" by Cody Goodfellow



9. "Requiem for the Burning God" by Shane Jiraiya Cummings



10. "Sister of the Sands" by David Conyers

The other is Terrors From Beyond, a book of six Call of Cthulhu scenarios which I posted about earlier. This one is due out in March. I contributed a scenario and some artwork.

2009 is shaping up to be a good year.

Terrors From Beyond Artwork

I'll soon be appearing in a book for the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game called Terrors From Beyond, a collection of six horror gaming scenarios set in the 1920s. I'm one of the six contributing authors, with a scenario I set in Haiti called "The Burning Stars". The collection is edited by Gary Sumpter and features well known gaming authors such as Brian M. Sammons, Glyn White, Brian Courtemanche and John Almack.

I'd forgotten about this book as the manuscript was sent to the publisher nearly two years ago and I didn't hear much since. Then I was browsing the web the other day and discovered some of the artwork for my scenario posted online here. The artist is David Grilla and he's very talented. I'm looking forward to seeing what else he contributed to the book.

The other extremely talented artist featuerd in Terrors from Beyond is David Lee Ingersoll, whom I've worked with previously on several books including the cover for The Spiraling Worm. I've seen the two illustrations he did for "The Burning Stars" and they are just as good as David Grilla's work. Very different styles, but as equally effective.

So hopefully this means Terrors from Beyond will be out soon, and that it will be a very impressive looking collection.