290: Media Catch-Up - Books

Release Date: 07/01/2024

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias

We’re back and we’re and we’re putting on our ponchos. They look a bit silly, but that works for us here. The important thing is that they’ll keep some of the gore off our clothes. Comedy horror can be a messy business, especially once you bring gardening equipment into play. We’re not sure whether to laugh or cry, so we’ll probably just scream. Main Topic: Comedy Horror This episode sees us delve into the bloody world of comedy horror, trying to pin down what makes the two genres work so well together, looking at some examples from media, and trying to work out how to perform...

311: RPGs and Fiction, with Evan Dorkin

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias

310: Something Wicked This Way Comes, with Cuppycup

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias

309: Theme Parks and Horror, with Cuppycup

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias

We’re back and we’re learning about protein spills. What sounded like an innocent sexual innuendo has turned out to be more scatological than any of us would have liked. The unpleasant realities of theme parks are well hidden behind twee language and cute costumes. Happily, once we strip them away, we can find some good horror inspiration. Although we do wish it all smelled a bit better. Main Topic: Theme Parks and Horror This episode, we visit the topic of theme parks, amusement parks, funfairs and the like, looking for Call of Cthulhu inspiration. As with so many things rooted...

308: The Appeal of Vampires, With Josephine McAdam

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias

307: Horror For the Nervous, with Josephine McAdam

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias

We’re back and we’re hiding behind the sofa. Sure, the monsters, masked killers, and mutants can probably find us back here, but it still feels safer for some reason. Fear is rarely a rational thing, so why should our response to it be? Main Topic: Horror For the Nervous This episode came about when Scott was playing The Between with Josephine McAdam over on and she mentioned that she rarely watches or reads horror media because she finds it upsetting. Given how many horror projects Josephine has been involved with, this seemed like something worth exploring, so we...

306: Quatermass and the Pit

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias

We’re back and we’re digging up the past. Some of this excavation is purely physical, burrowing into the clay under London in search of the usual skulls and spaceships. The rest, however, is more atavistic in nature, uncovering the strange, alien memories buried within our minds. On reflection, we probably shouldn’t have used pickaxes for both jobs. Main Topic: Quatermass and the Pit This episode is our long-overdue exploration of the strange world of Professor Bernard Quatermass, and especially the 1967 film adaptation of Quatermass and the Pit. While we’ve mentioned Nigel...

305: How to be an Investigator

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias

We’re back and we’re blundering. That’s not to say that we don’t have a clue, but we’re not quite sure what to do with the handful we’ve managed to find. We’ve tried pinning them to a board and running strings between them, but the result is more abstract art than anything functional. Maybe we’ll just keep punching NPCs until one of them finally tells us what’s going on. Main Topic: How to be an Investigator This episode is our attempt to sharpen our own skills as investigators, or at least hope that others can learn from our mistakes. Scott and guest host Seth Skorkowsky...

304: Haunted Landscapes

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias

We’re back and we’re digging deep. While you might expect to find ghosts in these haunted landscapes, mostly we’re unearthing history. Oh, and carcinogens. On balance, ghosts seem like the healthier option. Main Topic: Haunted Landscapes Building on last episode’s discussion of Lovecraftian horror and detective fiction explored in Heather Miller’s , we’re delving into another part of the book, which lays out the idea of haunted landscapes. The landscapes in question are haunted by the past rather than ghosts, with layers of history transforming their geography and meaning. We...

303: Call of Cthulhu and Detective Fiction

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias

We’re back and we’re sifting through evidence. Being a good detective requires a keen eye for detail, an analytical mind, and a thorough knowledge of the genre. But that happens when you find yourself in a different genre than you were expecting? Is your uncanny ability to piece together disparate clues really an asset when it leads you to horrifying revelations? Maybe this new dark age thing we’ve heard about isn’t so bad after all. Main Topic: Call of Cthulhu and Detective Fiction This episode delves into the complex relationship between detective fiction and Lovecraftian horror....

More Episodes

We’re back and we’re reading. Specifically, in this episode, we seem to be reading in bed. You’d think that such a basic activity wouldn’t merit much discussion, yet somehow we manage to derail our conversation about the actual books with opinions about the best positions for reading them, and what their relative merits are. It’s like the Kama Sutra, only with more papercuts.

Main Topic: Media Catch-Up – Books

Once again, we’re catching up with some of the books we’ve been reading recently, discussing how they’ve inspired us, or maybe just given us nightmares. There’s quite a range this time, and more digressions than usual, but you should still come away with a few solid recommendations.

News

The Blasphemous Tome Issue 12

Issue 12 of The Blasphemous Tome will be going out in early August. This is the fanzine we produce for Patreon backers of The Good Friends of Jackson Elias. The latest issue contains “A New Dark Age”, a brand-new Call of Cthulhu scenario by our own Paul Fricker.

Every backer will receive a PDF of issue 12 as soon as it’s available. Anyone backing us at the $5 level or above by the end of June will also get a printed and signed copy.

Main Topic: Media Catch-Up – Books

Links

News

The Blasphemous Tome Issue 12

TOPICS