AVL Scarefest--A Halloween Weekend Of HORROR Gaming--Invites Gaming Ghouls To North Carolina!

The full moon parts the clouds on a chilly fall evening. Tucked someplace in the North Carolina mountains is a secluded camp retreat. A rustic cabin sits empty...dark....unsettlingly quiet. It's the Halloween season -- the time when the monsters come out. You steel up your nerve, enter the cabin...and enjoy three solid days of horror gaming mayhem!

Asheville Scarefest runs from October 21 through 23 at the Montreat Conference Center in Black Mountain, North Carolina. The organizers embrace this time of year by hosting and encouraging a schedule of horror-themed roleplaying. Call of Cthulhu? Check. Dread? Check. Deadlands? Check and check. (Even Ghostbusters is making an appearance!) This genius idea of a game convention originally started off as a Pathfinder Society-specific yearly gathering focusing on horror-themed fantasy adventures. Last year, the organizers opened it to any and all game systems with a focus on keeping the horror "alive". Horror adventures for D&D. Horror adventures for DCC RPG. Horror adventures for Pathfinder. And horror adventures for horror RPGs. Click here and take a look at what's available thus far for three days of terror-fueled gaming. (And the GM cutoff doesn't happen for another month!)

The location of Scarefest only adds to the atmosphere of the weekend. The Montreat Conference Center is a secluded mountain resort, and attendees will be staying in a "rustic" lodge. Let me set the stage...

Why do I get an "Overlook Hotel" vibe from this photo?

Oh-so-inviting residential lodging.

The event is nicely priced. $20 gets you a weekend pass for everything. Lodging is very reasonable (though rooms are going fast), and -- due to the isolation and difficulty running out for a bite -- a weekend meal plan for $70 will make sure you're fed throughout the convention.

The con is a smaller regional one (last year's attendance was under 200), but it's getting bigger and they've got at least one out-of-towner interested enough to make the trip -- yours truly.

Oh, and I shall be running some games too at this terror-filled weekend. And what better way to celebrate the season than by running several Cryptworld adventures during the weekend?

Maybe a few horror-themed boardgames would be fun during the downtimes. I may bring Betrayal at House on the Hill and Are You a Werewolf, in fact. And who might be up for a midnight game of Nightmare?

YES MY GATEKEEPER!

As always, I'll be live-blogging from the event, so stop by The Savage AfterWorld during Scarefest to catch up on what's going on. Or, better yet, join us for three days of horrifically fun gaming!

H.R. Giger: 1940 - 2014

Swiss surrealist H.R. Giger has passed away. Giger's style is immediately recognizable to most of you, as his "biomechanical" creatures and designs are singly unique. Best known for creating the design of the creature from "Alien," I recall his artwork appearing on the covers of multiple issues of Omni that I used to collect. One of my favorite games "back in the day" was "Dark Seed" which was based on his designs. Nightmare fuel -- and I loved it. He and his horrific visions will be missed.

[Late, Late, Late Show] Random B Movie Title Generator

I believe my RPG of choice for the upcoming "Obsolete Simulations Roundup" will be It Came From the Late, Late, Late Show by Stellar Games.  (Role-playing in the world of cheesy B-movies!) While doing a bit of research, I stumbled across the Random B Movie Titler at Seventh Sanctum.  Not only is this PERFECT for a cheesy movie RPG, the titles it churns out is great fodder for your horror/sci fi adventures. Wouldn't YOU like to play in an adventure titled:


Annie Oakley versus The Bees

Battle Beyond Uranus

Dreadful Journey to Hyboria

Drought!, Part III

Lancelot and Aladdin versus The Ravager
Labyrinth of Satan

Mission of Bloodthirst
Plague Breaker

Ravager Attack, The Return

The Depraved Emperess Miller

The Destruction of De Sade

The Disease Breed

The Evil Case of The Heart Controller

The Eye Healer, The Final Chapter

The Minotaur from The Future

The Moscow Evil

The Paris Damnation

The Sensual Mystery of The Radioactive Eternity

Sniderman encourages you to check this nifty tool out. A bazillion inspirations await!