The Call of Cthulhu Mystery Program

Absolutely love this show, it’s so fun and so creepy. Howling House it top tier. This show reignited my passion for TTRPGs, to the point that I’m running my own Cthulhu campaign now. And I don’t care what anyone else says, Father Grandfather is great.

Season 2 is bad, going to listen to season 3

I love this podcast. It reminds me of the old radio series from back in the time frame of the 1920s and 30s. Keep it up I’m always excited to listen to the next episode.

I’m going to talk about Season 4 because that’s what I have the most to say about. S4 is an interesting combination of my least favorite of the story arcs with my favorite overall narration style. The first part is very much just due to my personal tastes (as opposed to anything about the podcast itself); I personally tend not to enjoy stories with small children as the protagonists like they have in S4, especially given some of the recurring themes that came up (though I _do_ want to give a shout out for the great job they do with content warnings before each episode). While the story my not have been my favorite for personal reasons, the style with which it’s delivered is _incredible_. On the spectrum between actual play and audio drama, seasons 2 and 3 skew more to actual play. While season 1 was probably my favorite of the seasons in terms of story arcs, if I’m being honest, some scenes felt a little too scripted. While interesting, some of the conversations between characters didn’t feel like the kind of thing that would naturally come up during play. Season 4, in my opinion, _nailed_ the balance between actual play and audio drama. Everything that happens very much feels like what might occur around the table, albeit without natural verbal fumbles that tend to occur in real life. On top of this, the way the players and GM interacted was phenomenal. Even though from a meta perspective there are places that are essentially a player asking for more details from the GM, it’s presented as the character interacting with the narrator. It’s a very cool way to seamlessly integrate necessary information without interrupting the flow of the narrative. It also allows for some elements of an unreliable narrator when the GM presents a character with information that is clearly not in their best interest (possibly due to a failed sanity roll that gets cut out?). Speaking of, they also did a great job balancing when to cut out the mechanics from the audio. I would imagine it’s a tricky balance to make: leave too much in and it bogs down the story but leave too much out and the story can feel more scripted (even when it really wasn’t). Given the obvious progression of their actual play/audio drama style based on the seasons, I’m really excited for their future story arcs! I’m looking forward to listening to their skills with a story arc that more up my alley. The only real downside to the podcast is their ongoing struggle with getting the funding they need. While I don’t know anything about what really goes into making a podcast, the amount of time they must spend editing the audio and polishing it not to mention adding sound effects and hiring voice actors makes me easily see why it must be an expensive endeavor. Here’s hoping they get enough funds to allow them to come out with the next season sooner rather than later!