End of year Roundup
The last months of 2023 have been busy! I’ve attended four conventions: the Innsmouth Literary Festival, Gamehole Con, Grogmeet, and Dragonmeet, and made a flying visit to Edinburgh, Scotland, to present a talk. More on these below.
I’ve also been working on a bunch of Call of Cthulhu books that’ll be coming out in 2024 - these include a mini campaign, a Pulp Cthulhu collection, the new edition of Cthulhu by Gaslight and more! I can’t say too much about these at the moment, but keep your eye out for news on 2024 releases from Chaosium! Joining the Chaosium mailing list is a good way to get the news first.
The Innsmouth Literary Festival
This was an inaugural one-day event in Bedford, UK, hosting games, literary talks, author readings, music, and a packed trade stall area. I was a guest at the show, appearing on a panel about the influence of weird fiction, which produced an interesting discussion. There were many traders offering a plethora of weird delights - here’s some highlights:
The British Fantasy Society - a society of authors, artists, and lovers of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy. Well worth considering membership if you too like such things!
Wyrd Stitchers - who produce cross-stitch and patterns (to do yourself) of eldritch designs.
The Key of Dreams - a special mix of escape room puzzle solving, informal live action, and Lovecraftian-inspired mystery set in a wonderful stately home. This is a 24-hour immersive and interactive experience running on a number of dates in 2024. Looks fabulous.
London Lovecraft Festival (11-12th February 2024) - dramatizations of Lovecraft stories and new original works, live podcast shows, gaming, and Re-animator the Musical!
Gamehole Con
Took place in Madison, Wisconsin, USA and was filled with RPGs. Organized by Alex Kramer, this year saw over 6,000 attendees, and raised $35,00 for charity in a packed auction of rarities. I was fortunate to be a guest and ran a ton of Call of Cthulhu games for some great players. I was also fortunate to get the chance to meet and play in a game of old skool D&D with Luke Gygax, son of Gary. I also caught up with my pals Bob and Rachel from the You Too Can Cthulhu team, who were there also running a bounty of Call of Cthulhu - if you get a chance to play in one of their games at ChaosiumCon, GenCon, or Gamehole Con (or anywhere else) do so, as their games are well produced and always a delight to play in.
Grogmeet
The annual gathering (they say it’s not a convention) of the listeners of the Grognard Files podcast. Over two days, there’s games aplenty run across nearby sites in Manchester, UK, including the inimitable Fan Boy Three games store. This year, Dirk the Dice had kindly invited me as the guest of honor, so on the Sunday morning he interviewed me on my work and remembrances of my gaming life. It’s always a relaxed and very friendly gathering and I’d strongly recommend going.
Dragonmeet
Last event of the year, Dragonmeet takes place in London, UK, on the first Saturday of December. The Chaosium booth was busy as usual, especially as we had Ben Aaronovitch on hand, signing copies of the Rivers of London RPG, and also some advance copies of the new Call of Cthulhu solo adventure - Alone Against the Static. I was joined by Lynne Hardy, Paul Fricker, Keris McDonald, Jason Durall, and Jeff Richard. We also had Nick Brooke with a booth packed with delights from the Miskatonic Repository and Jonstown Compendium.
Edinburgh
Organized by the National Library of Scotland and the University of Edinburgh’s History and Games Lab, this was a presentation I did on writing and designing horror scenarios, as part of an on-going series of game related events. It was a sold out event with a very engaged audience who asked me a ton of questions following my talk. It was great to see just how vibrant the Edinburgh (and Scottish) gaming scene is. I’d definitely been away for far too long, so hope to return soon.
What’s Next?
It looks like 2024 will be just as busy as 2023. As I mentioned at the start, I have a stack of new Call of Cthulhu books coming out, plus I’m furiously typing away, working on the books to follow in late 2024 and 2025. Lots of events coming too, from ChaosiumCon in Michigan to GenCon in Indy, and the bi-annual and absolutely fabulous NecronomiCon convention in Providence, RI. There’s also a new event - of which I can say no more - coming next year that looks to be awesome. And while the first season of Mason and Ficker’s Eldritch Stories is now coming to end, keep your ears peeled for season two, coming later in 2025!
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Have a very merry Yuletide break and a Wonderfull New year.