The Good Friends of Jackson Elias

Main Topic: Gateway Horror Every horror fan started out somewhere. The works that draw us into the genre are often gentler ones, created to appeal to those put off by terror or gore. These are... The post Gateway Horror, with Sasha Sienna appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

Main Topic: Using Inspiration Creatively Scenario writers and GMs take inspiration from everything we can. Often, this means borrowing ideas from books, films, or other forms of media. But how do we do this without... The post Using Inspiration Creatively, with Seth Skorkowsky appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

Main Topic: Call of Cthulhu and Urban Fantasy Since the early nineties, urban fantasy has blended elements of horror and crime fiction with the fantastic to create something new. But how exactly does the genre... The post Call of Cthulhu and Urban Fantasy, with Seth Skorkowsky appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

Main Topic: When Games Go Wrong While ours always run perfectly, we have heard that games can sometimes go wrong. What are some of the problems that might bring a game to a crashing halt?... The post When Games Go Wrong, with Bridgett Jeffries appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

Main Topic: The Miskatonic Repository The Miskatonic Repository has allowed both new and established authors to self-publish material for Call of Cthulhu under licence from Chaosium. It has proved immensely popular, and there are now... The post The Miskatonic Repository, with Bridgett Jeffries appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re testing our faith. Sure, we understand that the Mythos is utterly indifferent to crucifixes and holy water, but maybe we can still find some comfort in religion. But we’re also worried... The post Religious Horror, with Zach Reeves appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re making a monster. While we have all these pre-written campaigns on our shelves, we’ve decided to go full Frankenstein and cobble one together from parts. The stitching can be rough at... The post Connecting Scenarios in Call of Cthulhu, with Zach Reeves appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re blurry. Sure, your camera phone might have all the pixels, but we remain resolutely low-res. You don’t get to maintain your status as a cryptid by being in focus. Mothman would... The post Cryptids and Call of Cthulhu, with Paula Deming appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back with something a little different. As our Patreon backers know, we put out an extra episode every four weeks in which Matt and Scott revisit the previous two episodes. This gives us a... The post Bonus: Just One More Thing appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re wiping ichor off our meeples. Cthulhu and board games can be a messy combination, but also a popular one. Cynics may tell you that this is because Cthulhu is in the... The post Cthulhu and Board Games, with Paula Deming appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We are wrapping up our festive ghost story reading of “The Great God Pan” by Arthur Machen. This reading has been organised by good friend of the Good Friends, Mike Perceval-Maxwell (host of Mr Spike’s... The post The Great God Pan, by Arthur Machen – part 4 appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We are continuing our festive ghost story reading of “The Great God Pan” by Arthur Machen. This reading has been organised by good friend of the Good Friends, Mike Perceval-Maxwell (host of Mr Spike’s Bedtime... The post The Great God Pan, by Arthur Machen – part 3 appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We are continuing our festive ghost story reading of “The Great God Pan” by Arthur Machen. This reading has been organised by good friend of the Good Friends, Mike Perceval-Maxwell (host of Mr Spike’s Bedtime... The post The Great God Pan, by Arthur Machen – part 2 appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

It is time once again for us to all gather around the virtual hearth for another festive ghost story reading. This year, we present “The Great God Pan” by Arthur Machen, a weird tale of... The post The Great God Pan, by Arthur Machen – part 1 appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re watching the skies. You never know when some gannet might decide to kamikaze its way into your skull, or a mob of hawks take exception to your woodwork and peck it... The post The Birds, with Ross Bryant appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re talking to ourselves. Not everyone has an interior monologue, but apparently exterior ones are even rarer. Describing your life in real time like the voiceover from some hard-boiled detective movie may... The post Narration in Call of Cthulhu, with Ross Bryant appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re scaring ourselves. Sure, we do all the normal stuff like jumping at shadows, gasping at loud noises, and cowering under the bedclothes when thunderstorms shake our windows, but the really frightening... The post We Are the Horror, with Ericka Skirpan appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re acting up. While we are normally pretty sedentary gamers, we have been convinced to try some LARP techniques and see if they can make our roleplaying more immersive. The props seemed... The post Using LARP Techniques at the Table, with Ericka Skirpan appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re heading out to a big party under the hill. While the rest of you are busy clubbing, we’ll be trying out a different kind of dancing. There’s even a singalong, plus... The post The White People, with Jared Logan appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re bloody. Honestly, that’s the least of it. Most of this gore is blood, but we’ve found flecks of meat, shards of bone, and what looks like the occasional kidney mixed in.... The post The Joy of Gore, with Jared Logan appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re raging. While this virus may play a part, we’re mostly pissed off at the sequels to 28 Days Later. The first one, in particular, is enough to make you chew someone’s... The post 28 Days Later, with Maverick Haenze appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re hungry for brains. Sure, that whole that whole thing about zombies eating brains was made up by Dan O’Bannon in 1985, but that doesn’t make them any less tasty. And just... The post Zombies, with Maverick Haenze appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re checking the vents. They’re long overdue a service, but that doesn’t mean they should be talking about eating people’s kidneys. While we might dismiss that as a load of hot air,... The post The Broadsword, Laird Barron, and Old Leech, with Andy Goodman appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re hunting for the biggest cigarette paper known to man. Well, ideally known to the gods too. If we’re going to fit an entire pantheon inside, this thing needs to be truly... The post Roll Your Own Mythos, with Andy Goodman appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re discussing metafiction and horror, shoehorning the title of the episode into the first paragraph for SEO purposes. Main Topic: Metafiction and Horror Metafiction turns up in every genre from literary fiction... The post Metafiction and Horror, with Eleanor Hingley appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re keeping to ourselves. You really can’t be too careful. The outside world is full of dangerous ideas and strange people. Some of them don’t even play Call of Cthulhu. Sure, they... The post Small Town Horror, with Eleanor Hingley appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re pushing boundaries. Good taste has never come easily to us, but it’s downright impossible when talking about art that might inspire Call of Cthulhu games. From performance artists who mutilate themselves... The post Art and the Cthulhu Mythos, with Kailas Elmer appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re poring over bas-reliefs yet again. Once you start looking into the relationship between Lovecraft and art, the damn things are everywhere. We would say that there’s no relief from them, but... The post Lovecraft and Art, with Kailas Elmer appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re twiddling the tracking knob. It’s supposed to clear up the image on this old videocassette, but maybe that’s just missing the point. The static can be the most interesting part, filled... The post Analogue Horror, with Holly from RPG Reanimators appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re answering the call of the void. It’s about the scariest call you can receive, regardless of what Cthulhu may claim. The yawning darkness of eternity just shouldn’t be that tempting. For... The post Horror in Space, with Holly from RPG Reanimators appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re and we’re putting on our plastic ponchos. Sure, they look a bit silly, but we can work with that. Hell, it might even help. The important thing, however, is keeping some... The post Comedy Horror, with Evan Dorkin appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re making stuff up. But so much of the stuff we make up is inspired by stuff other people made up. And sometimes, it turns out, they’re inspired by some of the... The post RPGs and Fiction, with Evan Dorkin appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re riding the carousel. Holding onto the handlebars is a bit awkward, however, with all this pricking in our thumbs. Our digits may be warning us that something wicked this way comes,... The post Something Wicked This Way Comes, with Cuppycup appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re mopping up protein spills. What sounded like an innocent sexual innuendo has turned out to be far more scatological than we would have liked. The unpleasant realities of theme parks are... The post Theme Parks and Horror, with Cuppycup appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re smothering ourselves in garlic. While we’ve been assured this will protect us from vampires, we’re wondering if it might just make us more appetising to cannibals. Getting chopped up and roasted... The post The Appeal of Vampires, with Josephine McAdam appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re hiding behind the sofa. Sure, the monsters, masked killers, and mutants can probably find us back here, but it still feels safer for some reason. Fear is rarely a rational thing,... The post Horror For the Nervous, with Josephine McAdam appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re digging up the past. Some of this excavation is purely physical, burrowing into the clay under London in search of the usual skulls and spaceships. The rest, however, is more atavistic... The post Quatermass and the Pit, with Seth Skorkowsky appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re blundering. That’s not to say that we don’t have a clue, but we’re not quite sure what to do with the handful we’ve managed to find. We’ve tried pinning them to... The post How to be an Investigator, with Seth Skorkowsky appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re digging deep. While you might expect to find ghosts in these haunted landscapes, mostly we’re unearthing history. Oh, and carcinogens. On balance, ghosts seem like the healthier option. Main Topic: Haunted... The post Haunted Landscapes, with Heather Miller appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re polishing our magnifying glasses. Being a detective requires a keen eye for detail, an analytical mind, and a thorough knowledge of genre. But that happens when you find yourself in a... The post Call of Cthulhu and Detective Fiction, with Heather Miller appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

Our 2024 Christmas ghost story double-bill concludes with the second part of William Hope Hodgson’s “The Horse of the Invisible”, from the casebooks of Carnacki, the Ghost Finder. This is our second Carnacki tale this... The post The Horse of the Invisible, by William Hope Hodgson – part 2 appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

Our 2024 Christmas ghost story double-bill continues with William Hope Hodgson’s “The Horse of the Invisible”, from the casebooks of Carnacki, the Ghost Finder. This is our second Carnacki tale this year, and you can... The post The Horse of the Invisible, by William Hope Hodgson – part 1 appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

Our 2024 Christmas ghost story reading reaches the bizarre conclusion of “The Searcher of the End House”. You can find part one of this tale on your podcast feed of choice or on this very... The post The Searcher of the End House, by William Hope Hodgson – part 2 appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We have a special treat for our 2024 Christmas ghost story reading, with not one but two tales of Carnacki, the Ghost Finder by William Hope Hodgson. Our first is “The Searcher of the End... The post The Searcher of the End House, by William Hope Hodgson – part 1 appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re enjoying the salt air. Or should that be the Saltair? Either way, it would be even jollier if there weren’t all these ghouls around. We have nothing against ghouls, and they... The post Carnival of Souls, with Ross Bryant appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re raising the dead. Well, sort of. After all that discussion about Joseph Curwen’s necromantic exploits, we thought we’d try something on a larger scale. Instead of tomes of forbidden knowledge, however,... The post Bringing Historical Games to Life, with Ross Bryant appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re peering through time. Handily, Yog-Sothoth has granted us the power to see he who is to come after us. Well, except Charles Dexter Ward actually turned up in 1926, around a... The post The Case of Charles Dexter Ward part 5 appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re peering into wells. Perhaps it’s not unusual to find dead things in wells, but they aren’t generally this animated. Maybe the poor things would lie down and die if there was... The post The Case of Charles Dexter Ward part 4 appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re rearranging the furniture in the library. All perfectly normal stuff. Nothing to worry about. Everyone gives a strangled cry or two when lifting heavy objects. And that nasty smell? Furniture polish.... The post The Case of Charles Dexter Ward part 3 appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.

We’re back and we’re researching our family histories. Nothing but wholesome stuff here. Surely everyone’s ancestors faced an angry mob or two. It was just the done thing in those times. Main Topic: The Case... The post The Case of Charles Dexter Ward part 2 appeared first on Blasphemous Tomes.