Real-Life Weirdness

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by William

Following up on the new Mozart, we now have new Bram Stoker: a short story called Gibbet Hill, found in a collection overlooked by his catalogers.

People familiar with D&D's "Ravenloft" setting, with its many Domains arranged around the central Domain of Barovia focused on the vampire Strahd von Zarovich, might find it amusing to have Gibbet Hill be a brand new Domain suddenly appearing themed around this story. What mystic ties there are to the writing of an author in some distant world (and the awareness of a given work by the general public) would, of course, remain mysterious.

Bah, the vulgar fiction of a demented Irishman.

Mystic ties and travel between worlds should involve the Dreamlands of H.P. Lovecraft, with liberal thievery from Indo-European mythology, in particular the Poetic Edda, Lord Dunsany, Edgar Alan Poe, Lewis Carroll, Cervantes, Fritz Leiber, Clark Ashton Smith, R.E. Howard, the less well-known Arthur Machen and the inimitable, almost-unreadable, but incredibly imaginative Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Stephen King and Dean Koontz have both done more modern versions of the same, with King's forays into the genre generally far superior, and depending on the players, a bit of Cormac McCarthy might or might not improve the flavour. It's strong spice and an acquired taste, to be sure.

For instructions on how to prepare the meal, turn to the incomparable Ken Hite and his Suppressed Transmission, still the greatest guide to worldbuilding and concepts for campaigns. Of course, you know about the Suppressed Transmission? You'll probably not regret buying anything else written by Hite, such as GURPS Horror, in case you like Horror, GURPS, or just any kind of gaming where horrific things might occasionally appear.