October Horror Movie Challenge: The Watcher in the Woods (1980)

There was a time in the late 70s and early 80s when Disney was going through a slump. It roughly corresponds to the time when Walt and Roy Disney died and before the coming of Micheal Eisner.  This gave us some very different kinds of movies from the House of Mouse.  The Witch Mountain series on the onset and the Black Hole near the end typify of what I think of when I say Dark Disney.
We also got the thriller with multiple choice endings, The Watcher in the Woods.

Now I'll be honest, at age 10 this movie gave me a scare, but I was fascinated with it too.  It' doesn't quite hold up to today, but it was still a ton of fun to watch again.

I have to say Bette Davis left a mark on my psyche so deep that I think every old witch I have done is a bit of a reflection of her Mrs. Aylwood. Or maybe that and her role in Disney's earlier Return to Witch Mountain (1978).  Both films were directed by John Hough, so that might explain the similar vibe.

The Watcher in the Woods is also part of a string of movies, books, and other media popular at the time (and before) that took the point of view of "it's not supernatural, it's alien!" but never to the extent that Lovecraft took it.

Still, it is interesting to view this movie through the lenses of Lovecraftian cosmic horror.  Especially if you stick to the original ending of the movie the alien creature at the end (The Watcher) could very easily be a Mi-Go.



The ending is still a little too happy to be real Lovecraft.

I watched the less interesting Official version.

But it was still a blast to go back to this!


Watched: 3
New: 2

Kickstart Your Weekend: Calidar "On Wings of Darkness"

I have been a fan of Bruce Heard's work for sometime now.  Ever since I picked up a copy of the Glantri Gazzeteer for BECMI D&D I have been following what he does. 
His new project has been his world of Calidar and it has been a lot of fun. 
Now we come full circle to Calidar's magical kingdom.

Calidar "On Wings of Darkness"

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ambreville/calidar-on-wings-of-darkness

The book includes:

•  History of Caldwen:  This chapter covers the origins of the magiocracy, from its ancient time on Munaan, a moon of Calidar, to present-day Caldwen. Includes a summary and a huge timeline of events.
•  Lay of the Land: Geography, climate, local culture, main cults and races, economy, regional peculiarities, and local dynamics combine to depict each province separately.
•  Intrigues of the Magi: Internal politics, government by academia, and the military overlaid upon rivalries among the wizardly aristocracy and the sorcerous hoi-polloi give the magiocracy a unique character. 
•  Behind the curtains: Discover the odd brotherhoods and secret sects working from the shadows, scheming to make an already-challenging setting even more perilous.
•  A Cast of Many: A host of political figures, academic personalities, and curious individuals populate these pages. They are presented here, with game stats, motivations, secrets, and connections galore.
•  Master & Servant: A nation where demons serve the spellcasting class, local laws, and tools of lordship are presented alongside a who's who of Caldwen's most notorious demons.
•  Beasties in the Dark: Some of the more curious creatures dwelling in Caldwen populate this section, complete with stats and illustrations, beckoning game referees to summon them during their adventures.
•  At the Heart of Magic:  Discover Caldwen's schools of magic and how their benefits, tuition, philosophies, diplomas, and campus rivalries influence the fabric of the entire magiocracy.
•  Secrets of the Cabals: Private guilds provide alternate career paths in the fields of Alchemy, Demonology, Dracology, Elementalism, Necromancy, and Skymastery, with deadly trials and fabulous powers.
•  Blood of the World Soul: An order of mage-knights concerns itself with a mystical source of raw magical power forbidden to all but Caldwen's aristocracy. Though potent, it is deadly if abused.
•  Sky City of Arcanial: The capital city is a wondrous place flying above a sprawling shanty town on the ground. Packed with encounter ideas, each district requires flying gondolas and teleporters to reach.

So really a must buy for anyone that was a fan of Glantri.

The Calidar books so far have been great and top notch in quality, so I expect nothing less here.

October Horror Movie Challenge: The Nightmare Never Ends / Cataclysm (1980)

Its Atheist vs Satanist is this 1980 Troma...er...classic.

The movie details the struggle between an atheist (Martin Richard Moll in a very early role), his wife a psychic and surgeon, a police detective and the immortal satanic Nazi they are all hunting.

Personally, I think they tried to cram too much into one movie and none of it fared well.  Plus it is Troma and while they are still a couple years from their Golden Age of Toxic Avenger, they have not yet found their sweet spot.  Though I do recall there were a couple of Troma movies from the early 80s that were fine.

Plus the woman playing Moll's wife, Faith Clift, is not very good.  Though my favorite part in this is she goes to see a psychiatrist friend and he suggests she go to the Disco to get rid of these nightmares she is having.  It comes off as so pandering that he made me laugh. (Psychologists will often suggest a vigorous physical activity to aid with night terrors.)

Maybe if they had split this into two movies, with the detective following the case from both and then had you know a good script.  I like the idea of evil, immortal satanic Nazis as bad guys.

Did I mention though our Nazi sucked too?  No? Wel,l he did.  IF he is the best that the Nazi's and Satan can collectively come up with then the army of evil is nothing.

The movie was released as "The Nightmare Never Ends" but at some point was renamed "Cataclysm". No idea why.  Also, the movie has two release dates; 1980 for the US and 1983 for West Germany.

Watched: 2
New: 2

Dark Places & Demogorgons: The Ghost Hunter's Handbook

Nothing beats a good ghost story and the early 80s was full of them.  From the old school hauntings of 1981's Ghost Story to 1982's Poltergeist to the old guard in House of the Long Shadows (1983) and even to 1984's Ghostbusters. And this is now where near all. If you loved ghost stories it was a great time.

Thankfully Bloat Games hears you and has what you need.

DARK PLACES & DEMOGORGONS - The Ghost Hunter's Handbook is 60 pages (digest sized) with color covers and black and white interior.  It has the same feel as the other books in this series.  The art is good and I recognize a lot of the names inside. 

With this book, like the others, we start out with new classes.
The Clairvoyant can see things the others can't (we have a couple "I see dead people" classes already, but this is a good one).
The Parapsychologist is great, but I think it is stretching what it means for a "Kid" class like the core book is filled with.  Though, I guess reading the starting equipment this is also the class that best fit me in High School! Yes, I did write a program to emulate a PKE meter on my TRS-80 Color Computer.
The Mystical Ghost Hunter covers your basic exorcists/cleanser type.
But the class I was happiest to see was the Nullifier!  This is the guy who walks in the room and all paranormal activity stops.  The class might have limited growth, save that they are the ones that will survive any magical attack, but I like them all the same.  In college one of my "hippie" friends claimed I was a "Null" because his Ouija board never worked when I was around! 

Pages 14-24 cover different kinds of ghosts, spectres, and haunts and their reasons for haunting.   This is one of the parts that make this book "and use w/other OSR games".  You can drop these spookies into any OSR game (some will require tweaks) and you are good to go.  They can all be run as-is really; especially if you are playing Swords & Wizardry.    In fact, there is a lot here in the DP&D that the S&W game master can use.

A few pages on what you can find on The Other Side! (uh...Thanks! but I didn't get you anything.  OH! THAT Other Side.)

There are a couple pages on equipment including Ghost Hunter kits to fit your price range.

Next, we have some new ghost-related magic items.
A couple pages of minor and major spells.

And what book on ghosts would be complete without a haunted house? Well, this one taped into that 80s feeling well and gives us a haunted asylum! It's like you guys read my Christmas lists or something!

Information of the J'town Paranormal Society (which feels like it is somewhere between Supernatural's "Ghost Chasers" and Doctor Who's LINDA).

We end with a great, but incomplete, list books, movies, and television shows.

Author Josh Palmer did a hell of a job here and this is a worthy addition to the DP&D line. The book is worth every penny. In truth, at just $5 and 60 pages you are getting a hell of a deal.
Print on demand is coming soon.

It's Halloween. Get out there and bust some ghosts!

October Horror Movie Challenge: Beyond Evil (1980)

It's Halloween everyone!  Or October. Same thing.
This year I want to focus on movies made in the 1980s.  I have done a lot 70s and 60s movies, but never a dedicated tour of the horror movies on the 1980s.  I also want to focus on the Occult and things that made people really nervous in the age of the Satanic Panic.

So let's get started.

Up first is John Saxon in Beyond Evil (1980).  It's slightly less Blaxploitation than say Live and Let Die,  but the vide it there.  in fact this movie feels very 70s to be honest. No surprise of course, but it will be interesting to see when the shift happens.

The movie is a "Scooby-Doo" plot where John Saxon and wife Lynda Day George get a house in the Caribean.  Of course, it is haunted by a woman who was murdered by husband.  So we get a lot of Lynda Day George acting all possessed and weird.  A lot of John Saxon not believing in black magic and then of course wackieness ensues.

The movie is not bad it an attempt to update the old haunted house trope by sticking it into someplace really nice. But in the end, the cast is better than their script.

Watched: 1
New: 1

Magic Kids for Magic School

I was talking with my kids this weekend about our Magic School game.  Since I first proposed the idea to them they have both discovered and fell in love with Call of Cthulhu.  As such my plans have drifted a bit and my magic school is more Miskatonic University rather than Hogwarts.

I'm still going to stick with B/X era Basic for this.  With all the material I have and what I want to do it just seems to be the better fit.

Over the weekend I went to my FLGS and we found these minis that would be PERFECT for a magic school game.

They are from WizKids and are called Wardlings. Each one is a kid with an animal companion.

We did not grab them all but we did get these based solely on their pets. 
They are great little sculpts and the pets are cute as hell.
I just had to have that winged cat for my witches.

Love the little moon design on his fur.

Currently, there are two waves out, Wardlings 1 and Wardlings 2.  I have heard that there is a third one on the way, but I can't find confirmation of that.

Can't wait to see what they come up with next.

Alice Kyteler, the "First" Irish Witch

But now wind drops, dust settles; thereupon

There lurches past, his great eyes without thought

Under the shadow of stupid straw-pale locks,

That insolent fiend Robert Artisson

To whom the love-lorn Lady Kyteler brought

Bronzed peacock feathers, red combs of her cocks.

-  William Butler Yeats, "Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen"

I love finding new things.  In this case, I found a new artist and a new (sorta) witch.

The artist is Neftali Hinojosa aka Hassly.  They have DeviantArt, Patereon, and Facebook pages, so there is plenty of chances for you to enjoy their art.

The witch is Alice Kyteler and she was the first woman to be tried for witchcraft in Ireland. Reading through her history she was a fascinating woman. Really a self-made woman who had made a small fortune and it appears as if she was targeted for her money.  Also, it is very likely she did kill her husbands.

Looking over Hassly's version of Alice I can't help but think she has to be some ancestor of my Larina.  Not one of the "good" witches to be sure, but all witches have a little good and bad in them, don't they?  They share the same hair color, eyes and taste in tattoos.

Reading over her trail there is a lot here to assume that she was a Demonic witch, but I am going to say this is just the populace spreading rumors.  There is a lot more to support her as a Venefica, or poisoning witch.  Her husbands were poisoned and she kept all sorts of jars of strange ingredients.
Plus I have not tried to make a Venefica in a while.

Alice Kyteler
Alice was the only daughter, and only surviving child, of Flemish merchants who settled in Ireland near Kilkenny.  She was married 4 times, but each husband died with poison being the prime suspected method. 
Dame Alice escaped her trial, but her chief servant Petronella de Meath  (Petronella of Meath) was burned in her stead.

Alice Kyteler (14th level witch)
The Witch

Strength:	12		Death Ray, Poison	9
Dexterity:	12		Magic Wands	10
Constitution:	16		Paralysis, Polymorph or Turn to Stone	9
Intelligence:	17		Dragon Breath	12
Wisdom:	16		Rods, Staffs, Spells	11
Charisma:	17

Hit Points: 41
Alignment: Chaotic (Evil)
AC: 6 (Tattoo of Protection, on her chest and back)

Occult Powers (Veneficia Tradition)
Familiar: Robin Artison / Robert, son of Art / Robertum filium Artis (Alchemical Familiar)*
7th level: Brew Love/Hate Potion
13th level: Manufacture Potions

Spells
Cantrips (6): Arcane Mark, Black Flame, Daze, Irritate, Object Reading, Sound

First (5+2): Bewitch I, Cause Fear, Charm Person, Command, Glamour, Increase Sex Appeal, Silver Tongue

Second (4+2): Ecstasy, Enhanced Familiar, Enthrall, Hold Person, Phantasmal Spirit, Twisting the Heartstrings II

Third (4+1): Bestow Curse, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Enlarge Familiar, Fly, Witch Wail

Fourth (4+1): Confusion, Intangible Cloak of Shadows, Masque, Neutralize Poison, Withering Touch

Fifth (3): Endless Sleep, Nightmare, Waves of Fatigue

Sixth (2): Mass Suggestion, Repulsion

Seventh (2): Foresight, Wave of Mutilation

*Alchemical Familiars are created by venefica witches. They are similar to homunculi but are given life by a familiar spirit.  In Alice's case, this familiar was a demonic spirit. She was accused of sexual relations with it.

Alice Kyteler, Green Witch
Some point out that Alice is believed to be evil only through the lens of her time.  Indeed if she did not kill her husbands then she very easily could have been a pagan caught up in a wave of new religion.  You can play her as you like in your games.

If you want to know more about Alice, she is all over the web (more or less).
Hassly can be found on Pateron.