329: Cthulhu and Board Games, with Paula Deming
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re wiping ichor off our meeples. Cthulhu and board games can be a messy combination, but also a popular one. Cynics may tell you that this is because Cthulhu is in the public domain, so anyone can slap his tentacles on a game for a bit of brand recognition. We prefer to think the truth is more insidious than that, however. Every die roll, every card played, every token moved towards its inevitable doom is done in Cthulhu’s most terrible name, the terrible luck of the players and the curses they utter when they lose sustaining him deep beneath the waves. Plus, they’re...
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328d: The Great God Pan 4
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We are wrapping up our festive ghost story reading of “The Great God Pan” by Arthur Machen. This reading has been organised by good friend of the Good Friends, Mike Perceval-Maxwell (host of ), taking place on . Mike is joined by guest readers , , , , and , and . You can find the first three parts in your podcast feed, or right here on this very server. So invoke the name of Nodens, practice your knots, and dive into Queer Street with us. , arranged by Jon Fylling, is licenced under the . If you would like to read along at home,...
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328c: The Great God Pan 3
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We are continuing our festive ghost story reading of “The Great God Pan” by Arthur Machen. This reading has been organised by good friend of the Good Friends, Mike Perceval-Maxwell (host of ), taking place on . Mike is joined by guest readers , , , and , and . If you’re reading this shortly after release, you have time to join us for the conclusion at 22:30 GMT on Thursday the 18th of December. So shake the cobwebs loose with a bracing night-time walk, brush up on your Latin, and do try not to dwell on those unsettling illustrations. , arranged by...
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328b: The Great God Pan 2
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We are continuing our festive ghost story reading of “The Great God Pan” by Arthur Machen. This reading has been organised by good friend of the Good Friends, Mike Perceval-Maxwell (host of ), taking place on . Mike is joined by guest readers , Brian Murphy, , , , and . If you’re reading this shortly after release, you have time to join us for part 3 at 22:30 GMT on Wednesday the 15th of December. We shall be continuing at the same time on Thursday the 18th. So put down those Chinese boxes, open up a good bottle of chianti, and listen to our tale of...
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328a: The Great God Pan 1
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
It is time once again for us to all gather around the virtual hearth for another festive ghost story reading. This year, we present “The Great God Pan” by Arthur Machen, a weird tale of mad science, supernatural horror, and very human revenge. This reading has been organised by good friend of the Good Friends, Mike Perceval-Maxwell (host of ), taking place on . Mike is joined by guest readers , , , , , and . If you’re reading this shortly after release, you just have time to join us for part 2 at 22:30 GMT on Tuesday the 16th of December. We shall...
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328: The Birds, with Ross Bryant
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re watching the skies. You never know when some gannet might decide to kamikaze its way into your skull, or a mob of hawks take exception to your woodwork and peck it to splinters. We’ve decided to turn to two experts for advice, but their approaches don’t really mesh. Daphne du Maurier would have us hunker down and wait for the inevitable, while Alfred Hitchcock favours stalking your love interest, barely even addressing the avian threat. We’re beginning to think these so-called experts are for the birds. Main Topic: The Birds The Birds is one of Alfred...
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327: Narration in Call of Cthulhu, with Ross Bryant
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re talking to ourselves. Not everyone has an interior monologue, but apparently exterior ones are ever rarer. Describing your life in real time like the voiceover from some hard-boiled detective movie may raise some eyebrows, but it is damn good practice for narration in Call of Cthulhu. It’s also a good way of drowning out your interior voice. No one wants to listen to that. If they did, podcasts wouldn’t be anywhere near as popular. Main Topic: Narration in Call of Cthulhu Narration lies at the heart of tabletop roleplaying. The worlds we play in are all...
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326: We Are the Horror, with Ericka Skirpan
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re scaring ourselves. Main Topic: We Are the Horror Most tabletop horror games revolve around the struggle between the player characters and one or more external antagonists. The concept of a “Big Bad Evil Guy” is at the heart of most of our gaming experiences. But what happens when we take all that away? How might games work when the horror comes from the interactions between the PCs? And what are some of the possible pitfalls of this approach? Our Guest Host We are delighted to welcome Ericka Skirpan back as our guest host for this episode! Ericka is a LARP...
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325: Using LARP Techniques at the Table, with Ericka Skirpan
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re acting out. Main Topic: Using LARP Techniques at the Table Live action and tabletop roleplaying share common roots and many similarities, but they are also quite separate hobbies. Each has evolved in its own ways, developing a unique variety of forms and tools. So what can the world of tabletop roleplaying, particularly Call of Cthulhu, learn from LARP? What are some of the different types of LARP? Which LARP techniques lend themselves best to tabletop play, and how can they be adapted? Our Guest Host We are delighted to welcome Ericka Skirpan as our guest host...
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324: The White People, with Jared Logan
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re enjoying a night out under the hill. While the rest of you are clubbing, we’re trying a different kind of dancing. There’s even a singalong, plus some arts and crafts. Sure, some people might say this is all witchcraft, but we promise you it’s no more sinister than a children’s game. The white people have tried to offer their opinion, but our Aklo is a bit rusty. Maybe the nymphs can help translate, assuming we ever figure out what they actually are. Meanwhile, we’ll just enjoy another goblet of what may be the best wine we’ll ever taste. Main Topic: The...
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We’re back and we’re bloody. Honestly, that’s the least of it. Most of this gore is blood, but we’re sure there are strips of skin, shards of bone, and maybe the occasional kidney mixed in with all this mess. The plastic ponchos were supposed to help, but at this stage they’re more like stencils than protective clothing. No one ever warned us that podcasting could be this wet and sticky. Maybe we should just focus on getting some of these teeth out of our hair for now.
Main Topic: The Joy of Gore
While not all horror involves gore, it is an essential part of the genre. Whether it’s a genteel smear of blood at the corner of the Count’s mouth or bodies being torn apart like wet piñatas, most horror media involves at least a drop or two of the red stuff. But what is the appeal of something that should, by rights, repel us? Why does it make us laugh even as we gasp in horror? And how can we make use of it in our games without it becoming desensitising?
Our Guest Host
We are delighted to welcome Jared Logan to the Good Friends! Jared is a stand-up comedian and writer who has been involved with a number of major actual play streams and podcasts, including Glass Cannon, Stream of Blood, and Ain’t Slayed Nobody. You can find Jared on tour right now, supporting Kumail Nanjiani.
Links
Things we mention in this episode include:
- Extreme Subjects in Gaming
- Violence in Call of Cthulhu
- Disgust and Body Horror
- Hays Code
- British Board of Film Classification
- Hannibal TV series
- Video nasties
- Siskel and Ebert
- Mark Kermode
- Kim Newman
- A Pictorial History of Horror Movies by Denis Gifford
- Universal Monsters
- Hammer horror
- When Evil Lurks (2023)
- Speak No Evil (2022)
- October Horror Movie Challenge
- Speak No Evil (2024)
- Martyrs (2008)
- The Vanishing (1988)
- The Babadook (2014)
- Braindead (1992)
- Raw (2016)
- Titane (2021)
- Cecil B Demented (2000)
- Herschell Gordon Lewis
- Blood Feast (1963)
- Day of the Dead (1985)
- Dawn of the Dead (1978)
- Tom Savini
- Splatter Movies by John McCarty
- Female Trouble (1974)
- Pink Flamingos (1972)
- Hairspray (1988)
- Alien (1979)
- Spaceballs (1987)
- King Kong (1933)
- Fangoria
- Cinefantastique
- Jurassic Park (1993)
- Kensington Gore
- The Beyond (1981)
- Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979)
- Monsterhearts
- Pathfinder
- Kult: Divinity Lost
- Hellraiser (1987)
- Bone Tomahawk (2015)
- Scanners (1981)
- The Fly (1986)
- RPG safety tools
- Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964)
- The Wizard of Gore (1970)
- The Gore-Gore Girls (1972)
- Blue Velvet (1986)
- The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
- “The Broadsword” by Laird Barron
- “UNLAND” on Ain’t Slayed Nobody and How We Roll
- The Monkey (2025)
- Bring Her Back (2025)
- Talk to Me (2022)
- Weapons (2025)
- The Cellar by Richard Laymon
- The Fog by James Herbert
- The Spear by James Herbert
- “New Murders in the Rue Morgue” by Clive Barker
- The Claw by Jay Ramsey/Ramsey Campbell
- The Pitt
- Jaws (1975)
News
October Horror Movie Challenge
Scott is in the midst of his annual October Horror Movie Challenge, posting reviews of horror films on this very site. The first few reviews are out now, with a new one appearing every day. If you’re of a mind to join us, we would love to chat with you about it. You can find the discussion on the Good Friends Discord server or over on Bluesky.
