Episode 164: Another Excuse To Drink In the Street
October 30th, 2015 | Robin
We kick off an episode devoted to Halloween in the Mythology Hut, where we survey the holiday’s history, mutations over time, and cultural diffusion.
Ken suspects that 1933’s so-called Black Halloween might be entirely apocryphal, but even so we head for the Gaming Hut to riff an outline for a Trail of Cthulhu scenario in which Nodens lets his dark side out.
The Horror Hut has us gazing into mirrors and their use in scary storytelling.
Finally the Consulting Occultist delves into the North Berwick witch trials, in which opponents of King James VI / I found themselves on the wrong end of a Halloween-related accusation.
Ken and Robin have oft been accused of being cards. Well, we can deny it no longer. We have become super-limited promo cards for Murder of Crows, Atlas Games’ fast-paced card game of murder and the macabre, for two to five players in the mood for something a little morbid. It’s Edward Gorey meets Caligari, by way of Edgar Allan Poe. Wait a minute, what does that graphic say? I’m not so sure about this…
Ken fans who did not partake of the Kickstarter will want to sink their fangs into the general release of the Dracula Dossier from Pelgrane Press, consisting of the Director’s Handbook and Dracula Unredacted.
You say that’s still not enough Ken for you? Very well, my friend. His brilliant pieces on parasitic gaming, alternate Newtons, Dacian werewolves and more now lurk among the sparkling bounty of The Best of FENIX Volumes 1-3, from returning sponsors Askfageln. Yes, it’s Sweden’s favorite RPG magazine, now beautifully collected. Warning: not in Swedish.
In a move that surely violates someone’s security clearance, this episode is also brought to you by our friends at Arc Dream Publishing. The Kickstarter for Delta Green: the Roleplaying Game has come to an end, but don’t let that stop you from indulging your fever for this classic game, or that pinnacle of the Cthulhu game zine world, The Unspeakable Oath.
There are lots of bodies of dead climbers on Everest. So many, in fact, that they are used by climbers as landmarks. It is believed that the Chinese authorities are removing the dead bodies and disposing of them. One well-known dead climber, known as “Green Boots”, has disappeared. What did the Chinese REALLY do with Green Boots?
Green boots, eh? Not green gloves?
I definitely like the idea of making hog roasts an official part of a good old-fashioned modern cutting edge traditional Halloween.
My mother grew up in the 1920s and early 30s, and mentioned that Halloween trick-or-treating was still a new thing then (in Houston, anyway) — her father reminisced fondly about putting wagons on the roofs of people’s houses and stealing outhouses back in the 1890s. Apparently the “protection racket” aspect of Halloween treats was still very much foregrounded when she and her friends were doing it.
Regarding Feasts of Misrule, Mardi Gras doesn’t involve much property damage, but there have been some regrettable gunplay incidents. As befits a Feast of Misrule, the big problem seems to be gangbangers having gunfights in public with absolutely shitty aim, hitting bystanders rather than one another.
I am absolutely astounded that the two of you sketched out a Cthulhu adventure involving madness and death in Baltimore and NEVER MENTIONED POE.
Hi guys,
you asked about merch?
How about dice?
Thanks
R
If you want some sort of Celtic cult in Baltimore, I point you to Druid Hill Park –
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid_Hill_Park
Hi guys,
Floods in Death Valley: could there be some sort of elliptanical reason?
https://vimeo.com/143646518
Or perhaps triggered by some backlash from Ken’s Time Machine?
Hmmm….
Loved the Halloween episode! I especially liked the mention of the North Berwick witch trials. One little pronunciation thing: as a Scottish-Canadian who grew up on “Berwick Crescent”, I should point out that “Berwick” (at least in Scotland) is pronounced “Berrick”. It’s that weird silent “w” thing. Every time a Canadian pronounced our street name, my very Scottish mother would roll her eyes.
On a Cthulhoid note, I came across several accounts of witch trials where they mentioned a “blak (sic) man” in attendance during their rituals. A witch from Orkney named him “Johne Stewart”. The devil appearing “in likness of a greate blak man” is mentioned in a North Berwick witch trial from 1649. Sounds like Nyarlathotep was slumming in Scotland for some reason in the 16th and 17th centuries.
As a Scot, coincidentally now living in Canada, I can confirm it to be pronounced Berrick.
Thanks guy for an otherwise excellent look into our Geek Christmas! 😉
Was going to say much the same thing. Also, Ber as in Berry, not Burr.
I think you missed an opportunity with the James I scenario. Election day in the US falls right around Guy Fawkes day. The traveling display of James I paraphernalia arrives, just before Halloween, in some polity with an authoritarian administration that is about to be voted out office. Some member of that administration steals the crucial mystical MacGuffin with the intention siccing the ghost of James I on their “anarchist” political opponents, (which maybe include some Occupy folks in Guy Fawkes masks).
Merch? Bottle openers, drink coasters, drink coizies, and gigantic travel mugs.
Suburb of Detroit Native here: There are still things here left to burn but sadly we can’t afford lighters. 🙂
Two of my co-workers, who’ve been dating for years, are Drake Power and Mahogany Jones. Some day, somehow, I will write a two-fisted detective story about them.