Weird War II Sources and Inspiration

[copeab]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

I was not familiar with either of these, but the review material I find online makes them seem worth looking into. Thanks for the recommendations!

Cast A Deadly Spell is, unfortunately, not on DVD but someone has put it up on YouTube.

[macphersonrants]

I watched a flick called Unholy this morning. I can't say that I would give it a strong recommendation overall, but it does explore some interesting ideas involving Nazi occult experimentation and the U.S. government. I guess I'd have to chalk it up with high marks in the so-so movie that has potential to be mined for cool ideas category.

[macphersonrants]

Secret Agent 666 by Richard B. Spence deals with Aleister Crowley's involvement with British intelligence. What more could you ask?

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by macphersonrants

Secret Agent 666 by Richard B. Spence deals with Aleister Crowley's involvement with British intelligence. What more could you ask?

In my covert supers campaign, the PCs got sent to Germany, where one of them met Uncle Aleister and ended up in a threeway with him and Alraune. Subsequently they borrowed the Nautilus to track the ghost of a U-boat that was taking Adolf Hitler to the sunken ruins of Atlantis to retrieve the One Ring of Power.

My theoretical rationale for that campaign was "the major figures of 1920s popular culture were real, but their creators were not." After that session, my preferred example was that Adolf Hitler existed, but not Leni Riefenstahl.

Bill Stoddard

[macphersonrants]

Originally Posted by whswhs

In my covert supers campaign, the PCs got sent to Germany, where one of them met Uncle Aleister and ended up in a threeway with him and Alraune. Subsequently they borrowed the Nautilus to track the ghost of a U-boat that was taking Adolf Hitler to the sunken ruins of Atlantis to retrieve the One Ring of Power.

My theoretical rationale for that campaign was "the major figures of 1920s popular culture were real, but their creators were not." After that session, my preferred example was that Adolf Hitler existed, but not Leni Riefenstahl.

Bill Stoddard

Love the Riefenstahl rationale. I'm somewhat hesitant to give it an endorsement, but Triumph of the Will probably warrants a look from anyone interested in getting a handle on the whole Nazi thing.

[macphersonrants]

I pick up some interesting nutiness today at the library-

The Secret King: The Myth and Reality of Nazi Occultism by Stephen E. Flowers and Michael Moynihan looks to be a mix of decent scholarly essays with primary source material relating to the nuttier elements of the occult faction at the core of the SS. You have to love a book focused on a guy in Himmler's inner circle who went around calling himself Weisthor.

The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies that Threaten to Take Over America by Jim Marrs looks to be pure loony conspiracy theory, but perhaps of the type that would serve as a strong foundation for a really fun campaign in which Nazi ideology survives and gains a foothold at the core of the American power stucture.

Once I get a chance to read them, I'll report back if anything disturbs my initial assessments.

[aesir23]

I second all Declare recommendations.

Also: the film Below: it's a ghost story set on a U-Boat with a script by Darren Aronofsky. Underrated.

[Six_Gun_Sam]

Originally Posted by copeab

...Cast A Deadly Spell is one of my favorite movies.

Same here. Fred Ward was great.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cast_a_Deadly_Spell

[macphersonrants]

Originally Posted by macphersonrants

The Secret King: The Myth and Reality of Nazi Occultism by Stephen E. Flowers and Michael Moynihan looks to be a mix of decent scholarly essays with primary source material relating to the nuttier elements of the occult faction at the core of the SS. You have to love a book focused on a guy in Himmler's inner circle who went around calling himself Weisthor.

I'll go ahead and give this one a good endorsement. It's rigorously scholarly. To a certain extent it's a debunking of the idea that the Nazis were deeply involved with the occult, instead arguing that this trope is largely a result of scapegoating aimed at taking focus away from the role Christianity has played in fostering the anti-Semitic attitudes that led to the holocaust. Despite that there is plenty of useful information on Himmler's fascination with the occult and the role played by the occult within the SS. It's probably a little dry if you are looking for pulp sensationalism.

[chrisd]

How about Bedknobs and Broomsticks? Witches vs. Germans in 1940

Chris D-W