Halloween Reading Material

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Here are just a few of the books I've been reading recently to inspire my Halloween game as well as some upcoming games.

D&D: the Mark of Nerath
Given that it is dealing the a mad Lich, undead and the Shadowfell I thought this would make a good choice for my Haloween D&D Essentials game. I'm almost done with it and so far it has been a really good read.

Next on my Halloween season reading list is Star Wars: Death Troopers.

This books received a lot of criticism because it strays too far from the normal Star Wars universe and others claim it is just poorly written. Honestly, I liked it. It isn't the most brilliant novel I've ever read, but it sure was fun.

I've just started reading Dead City but so far it seems pretty good. There's sort of a Walking Dead feel to it. I believe it is set to be a trilogy, so I'll definitely be picking the other two up when they are released.

The trilogy of Monster Island, Monster Nation and Monster Planet are ones I definitely recommend. This is one of my favorite zombie series, so far.

                                              

Naturally Halloween wouldn't be complete without some King and I recommend the short story collection, Just After Sunset.

 Since most of the books I've mentioned have been about zombies, I can't leave out two of my favorite by Max Brooks.

World War Z

and The Zombie Survival Guide. Everyone should own a copy of this book. You never know when you are going to need it.

Although this has little to do with Halloween I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my copy of Towers of Midnight (November 2 release from Amazon). I'm a Wheel of Time fan, as are many others, and I can't wait to read this book. If Sanderson did as good of a job as he did on the last one, I'm sure it will be great.

A Little Something For Halloween

Here are 3 versions of a song we use to sing on Halloween when I was a kid and thought I would share.

The Hearse Song v1:

The old grey hearse goes rolling by,
You don't know whether to laugh or cry;
For you know some day it'll get you too,
And the hearse's next load may consist of you.

They'll take you out and they'll lower you down,
While men with shovels stand all a-round;
They'll throw in dirt and they'll throw in rocks,
And they won't give a damn if they break the box.

The worms crawl in and the worms crawl out,
They crawl all over your chin and mouth,
They invite their friends and their friends' friends too,
And you look like hell when they're through with you.


The Hearse Song v2:
Do you ever think as a hearse goes by, that you may be the next to die?
They wrap you up in a big white sheet
From your head down to your feet.
They put you in a big black box,
And cover you up with dirt and rocks.

All goes well for about a week,
Then your coffin begins to leak.
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out,
The worms play pinochle on your snout.
They eat your eyes, they eat your nose,
They eat the jelly between your toes.

A big green worm with rolling eyes,
Crawls in your stomach and out your eyes.
Your stomach turns a slimy green,
And pus pours out like whipping cream.
You spread it on a slice of bread,
And that's what you eat when you are dead.


The Hearse Song v3: This is the version I remember from when I was a kid.

Do you ever think as a hearse goes by, that you may be the next to die?
They wrap you up in a big white sheet,
And bury you six feet deep.
They put you in a big black box,
And cover you up with dirt and rocks.

All goes well for about a week,
Then your coffin begins to leak.
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out,
The worms play pinochle on your snout.
They eat your eyes, they eat your nose,
They eat the jelly between your toes.

A big green worm with rolling eyes,
Crawls in your stomach and out your eyes.
Your stomach turns a slimy green,
And pus pours out like whipping cream.
You spread it on a slice of bread,
And that's what you eat when you are dead.

This Year's Halloween Theme?

I'm not sure what I want to do for this year's Halloween themed game. I've done zombies more than once, but then again you can never get enough of zombies. I've done vampires, werewolves, mummies, ghosts, mad Nazi scientists, Cthulhu(naturally) and I think I even did aliens one year.

My past Halloween games have been in fantasy, pulp, modern and future settings. This year I don't know what to do. Maybe it is still too early, or maybe it is the fact we are still having 100 degree weather, but this year I'm not feeling too inspired.

So is anyone else planning to run a Halloween themed game this year? If so I'd be glad to hear what you plan to run so I can steal your.... ummm.. use your ideas for inspiration.

Scooby Doo vs Cthulhu

I found this site with Call of Cthulhu stats for Scooby and the gang and thought this might be of some interest to those running CoC this Halloween. If nothing else this would be a fun way to run a light hearted CoC game with everyone's favorite paranormal investigators.

Scooby Doo Cthulhu

Star Wars and Zombies?

As a Star Wars fan I am intrigued by the release of Death Troopers, the first ever horror novel for the Star Wars universe. The books is written by Joe Schreiber and should be available in a bookstore near you, or online, Tuesday October 13th. I've already got mine ordered.
I don't really play Star Wars RPGs anymore, but I may break out my d6 or d20 SW book and try running a one-shot based on this premise. As a lifelong fan of zombie horror and of Star Wars this seems like genre mixing made in geek heaven.
While it is gratifying that there is so much zombie activity in nearly every form of media, and very cool to have zombies in SW, it is also kind of sad that someone felt it was necessary use a gimmick like this in the Star Wars universe. Still I'm a sucker, I did buy all of the Marvel Zombies comics after all, so I have to get this book. Besides, it would make a good halloween game for Star Wars gamers.

Death Troopers (Amazon.com)

Top 10 Books to Read for Halloween 2009

I am an avid reader and naturally gravitate towards horror books at this time of year. What follows are some of my all time favorite books that get me in the Halloween spirit. Most of which are great for coming up with ideas for your Halloween RPG session. Especially the H.P. Lovecraft stuff if you are a Call of Cthulhu player.

1. Don't Open This Book
2. Everything's Eventual
3. Nightmares and Dreamscapes
   
4. Black Seas of Infinity
5. The Bad Place
6. Skeleton Crew
7. World War Z
   
8. Waking Up Screaming
9. Book of the Dead
10. Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark(I read this every year when I was a kid)

Top 10 Halloween Songs

Keeping with this months theme, here is my top 10 list of songs to listen on Halloween.

1. Hey There Little Red Riding Hood
2. Thriller
3. re: Your Brains
4. Ghostbusters
5. Red Right Hand
6. Werewolves of London
7. Bad Moon
   
8. Wicked Old Witch
9. Creepy Doll
10. Living Dead Girl
    

My Top 10 Halloween Movies

Every holiday my family and I get a stack of movies together that celebrate the spirit of the season and watch them in the weeks leading up to the holiday. Anyone who read the old Geek Gazette e-zine, knows that I like to make lists, especially around the holidays. So to keep the tradition alive here are my Top 10 Halloween Movies.
I have many other favorites but these are 10 of my must watch movies for Halloween. Most of which I have used as inspiration for my Halloween games. Feel free to share your favorites as well.

1. Young Frankenstien
2. Halloween (original)
3. Dawn of the Dead
4. Dagon
5. Nightmare on Elm Street
   
6. In the Mouth of Madness
   
7. Night of the Living Dead (original)
8. Army of Darkness
   
9. Ginger Snaps
   
10. Silver Bullet
    

Superhero Apocalyptic Horror

Since there are multiple themes running on the various RPG blogs this month, Horror, Superheroes, and the Apocalypse, I thought I would try to combine the three for this post. What follows are just some quick thoughts for a game with all three elements. Keep in mind this is not a detailed adventure, just some basic concepts and ideas I'm toying around with. If you decide to use it you will need to flesh it out a bit more to suit your game.

Character Concept:
First of all the power level for this campaign will have to be fairly low to moderate. Think of a team more along the lines of Booster Gold, Wolverine, Iron Fist, Batman and Cyclops. Thor, Superman, and the Hulk would likely be a bit too powerful for this one. Though if you really like the high powered games you would have to increase the threat level proportionally, but I'm sticking with the low to moderate level. If a player manages to min/max a PC with at least one outstanding power, such as a speedster, make sure to note their inherent weakness. In the case of the speedster example, they are not indestructible, probably can't fly and are still susceptible to the same things as a normal human, which can be exploited.

Campaign Concept:
Towns all across the globe(or keep it in a specific country to start) are being transformed from healthy communities into run down ghost towns over night. The people are all disappearing and the towns themselves look to have been abandoned decades ago. The buildings that were only a few years old now appear to have aged to the point of being run down, and dilapidated shells. The area within a 10 mile radius also appears to be affected by the same thing as the town with vegetation over running the area. Some towns are so over run that they are near impossible to reach by way of vehicle due to the think plant growth that covers the now cracked and broken pavement.
The occurrences are happening more and more often and beginning to affect larger towns. At the current rate over half of the world(or country) will fall into ruins within a month unless these strange occurrences are stopped.

Setup:
The PC are tasked with finding out about the strange occurrences, either by their own accord or by the government. They find out that Lexington, Kentucky and the surrounding area have just succumbed and is now in ruins, devoid of human life. The PCs arrive by air and begin to investigate.

The PCs and the Mystery:
While in Lexington the PCs confirm that no people, or few animals can be found in the area and that everything seems to have aged many years. If there is a psychic or magic user on the team you could have them get incredibly horrific feedback from the area, such as panic, and terror, apparently from those that are missing. If not just have the PCs experience an overwhelming feeling of dread.
During their investigation of the area they notice some strange smell (sulfur, salt water, corn syrup... you decide) which is very faint but still noticeable in some areas. Communication devices no longer work and the PCs are left without a way to call for back up if needed.
You could also use the psychic feedback idea to keep psychics or magic users from just calling for help. Flyers should not be hampered, since they likely won't be strong enough to cary the whole team out due to the power level. Speedsters will be inhibited by the overgrowth in the area.
During their investigation the team discovers a strange glowing spot in the center of town (the actual center of the occurence). It grows more brightly as the PCs approach.
When they reach a certain distance, you decide if they actually have to touch it, there is a brilliant light and they disappear.

The Big Bad World:
The PCs find themselves in a world that is a horrific, dark reflection of our earth (think of the movie Nightwatch, a Tim Burton film, or Silent HIll). While they still can not find the missing people the area is familiar as it is nothing but the dark reflection of the town they were in. Everything is basically in the same location as in our world.
Allow the group to explore a little bit and have them feel they are being watched, but see no one yet. As they explore have them hear chanting in the distance. They will naturally want to investigate and find it coming from a church or large gathering place in town... you decide. As they approach they see a gathering of robed figures around an altar. On the altar is a statue of some horrific being. You could make it Cthulhu, or any other horrific being you want.
This is when you start throwing monsters at the group.
Again depending on the type of monsters you prefer you could have all the hooded "people" be Cthulhu spawn, vampires, zombies or some combination. This should also give the PCs a little time to shine as they can flex some muscle and smarter PCs will try to do some investigating as well.

The Discovery:
Basically the PCs discover/realize that this is our world's dark twin and that the beings of this world somehow discovered the existence of our world. Every creature in this world is basically some type of monster and pretty much nowhere is safe. The inhabitants of this world, or more likely their horrible leader, is temporarily transporting areas from our world to theirs so that they can kidnap all the people and use them for food and/or slave labor. The side effect is that the area is influenced by the warped world and ages rapidly. The only reson nothing surives upon the towns return is the fact that everything ages so quickly nothing had time to reproduce.

You can really go many different ways with the concept. Here are a few possibilities off the top of my head.
1) Stick with the horror theme and have the PCs fight their way out, finding and rescuing as many people as they can. Only to return to our world, you decide how, to find that while they were gone the creatures succeeded with their plans and our world is being over run by the monsters.
2) Same as above except the PCs defeat the leader and/or smash the device that allows them to access our world, then escape and eveyrone leves happily ever after. For now...
3) They become trapped in this warped world and try to defeat the monsters in an attempt make it a better place and keep the surviving people alive until they can find a way home. This could be an ongoing campaign.
4) You get a TPK and they have to roll up new heroes that go looking for the first group. I like this one ;-)

Top 10 Apocalyptic Films

The Geek Emporium has posted a couple of fun little posts( here and here ) about gaming and the Apocalypse. So since I think this is fitting for my plans to have a running Halloween theme for the month of October (the Apocalypse can be scary) and I love movies about the Apocalypse I thought I would throw my 2 cents in.
Here is my Top 10 List of Movies about the Apocalypse. FYI, post apocalyptic movies count as well. FYI all of these are very good sources of ideas for running apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic RPG sessions in a number of systems. As always feel free to share your favorites.

1. Mad Max
2. Logan's Run
3. The Omega Man
4. Dawn of the Dead
5. Water World
   
6. 28 Days Later
7. Night of the Living Dead
8. Damnation Alley
9. Escape from New York
10. The Day After Tomorrow