The Good Friends of Jackson Elias Paul Fricker, Matthew Sanderson and Scott Dorward

We’re back and we’re consuming. Mostly, we’re consuming media. At least that’s the consumption we feel happiest talking about in public. Also, the digestion of media tends to lead to less dyspepsia, bloating and flatulence than more tangible fare. Except for Dan Brown, that is.







Main Topic: Media Catch-Up







This episode is the latest in our ongoing series about the media we’ve been consuming recently and how it might influence our gaming lives. We’re shaking up the format a little this time, however, delving into both television and films. There may even be mention of a book or two.







Links







Things we mention in this episode include:







Matt















* Dirty Harry (1971)







* Doctor Sleep by Stephen King







* The Cellar by Richard Laymon







* The Woods Are Dark by Richard Laymon







* The Streets of San Francisco







* Quinn Martin







* Police Squad!







* The Fugitive







* The Invaders







* Poor Poor Ophelia by Carolyn Weston







* The Sweeney







* The Streets of San Francisco on YouTube







* Quincy, ME









Scott















* The Good Friends of Jackson Elias Discord







* Suitable Flesh (2023)







* Knights of Badassdom (2013)







* Mayhem (2017)







* Creepshow







* “The Thing on the Doorstep” by HP Lovecraft







* Stuart Gordon







* Dennis Paoli







* Re-Animator (1985)







* From Beyond (1986)

We’re back and we’re enjoying a nice seaside holiday. Of course, when most people talk about the seaside, they mean the bit that’s on land. Somehow, we’ve ended up in the wetter part. Maybe that’s more technically landside. Human languages are messy things. Regardless, it’s everything we could have asked for: cold, murky, and filled with terrifying creatures. If Lovecraft taught us anything, however, it’s that this nice section of seabed could be forced to the surface at any moment. We’ll just have to enjoy its benthic charms while we can.







Main Topic: The Ocean in Call of Cthulhu







The ocean and its horrors play a huge role in Lovecraft’s fiction and, by extension, in Call of Cthulhu. With entities such as Cthulhu, Dagon and the Deep Ones, and locations like R’lyeh and Y’ha-nthlei, Lovecraft placed many of his most memorable creations deep below the waves. So how can we make use of the ocean in Call of Cthulhu? What inspiration can we take from nature and folklore? And what memorable scenarios are there that use the ocean as their setting?







Links







Things we mention in this episode include:







The Ocean in Lovecraft









* “Dagon” by HP Lovecraft







* Atlantis







* Theosophy







* Graham Hancock







* I Watched Ancient Apocalypse So You Don’t Have To







* “The Temple” by HP Lovecraft







* “The Strange High House in the Mist” by HP Lovecraft







* Nodens







* “The Horror at Martin’s Beach” by Sonia Greene and HP Lovecraft







* Fear’s Sharp Little Needles







* “The Call of Cthulhu” by HP Lovecraft







* Cthulhu







* The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by HP Lovecraft







* “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” by HP Lovecraft







* At the Mountain of Madness by HP Lovecraft







* The Man From Atlantis







* “Out of the Aeons” by HP Lovecraft for Hazel Heald

We’re back and we’re wondering what’s in this jar on our desk. The contents are murky, but it looks like it might contain the heart of a small boy. Robert Bloch swears by it, but we’re worried that having it makes us accessories to some grisly crime.







Main Topic: Robert Bloch and the Cthulhu Mythos







Following last episode’s discussion of Psycho, we’re exploring the life and work of its creator, Robert Bloch. While Bloch is best remembered for the way he fused crime fiction and horror into a new genre, he was also a member of the original Lovecraft Circle. We look at Bloch’s unlikely friendship with HP Lovecraft and how it shaped his career, as well as offering a quick overview of Bloch’s contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos.













Links







Things we mention in this episode include:







Bloch and Lovecraft









* Once Around the Bloch: An Unauthorized Autobiography by Robert Bloch







* The Man Who Collected Psychos: Critical Essays on Robert Bloch edited by Benjamin Szumyskyj







* Robert Bloch: Appreciations of the Master edited by Richard Matheson and Ricia Mainhardt







* Lon Chaney







* “The Chaney Legacy” by Robert Bloch







* “The Clown at Midnight” by Robert Bloch







* Weird Tales







* “Pickman’s Model” by HP Lovecraft







* Robert Barlow







* Fritz Leiber







* August Derleth







* Clark Ashton Smith







* E Hoffman Price







* The Opener of the Way by Robert Bloch







* Marvel Tales

















* “The Feast in the Abbey” by Robert Bloch







* “The Shambler From the Stars” by Robert Bloch







* “History of the Necronomicon” by HP Lovecraft

We’re back and we’re abluting with trepidation. It used to be that taking a shower was relaxing. We could just pull that curtain closed and enjoy the jets of warm, cleansing water. Since watching Psycho, however, we can’t help but keep one eye open while showering. That wouldn’t be so bad if we didn’t keep getting shampoo in it. Still, it probably beats the alternative.













Main Topic: Psycho







We’re following our recent discussion of psychological horror by exploring one of the defining works of the genre. It’s no exaggeration to say that Psycho transformed horror, in both cinema and fiction, pretty much creating a new subgenre. It is one of the most imitated films of all time, spawning countless pastiches, parodies, and blatant rip-offs. But what is it that makes Psycho such an enduring favourite, even 65 years on? Why does it still make us afraid to draw the shower curtain? And which aspects of it have not aged so well?







Be warned that we spoil the hell out of the film. If you are one of those vanishingly rare people who have managed to avoid spoilers until now, we beseech you to watch Psycho before listening to this episode. Even so, its twists and turns have become so much a part of popular culture that they may still be familiar.







As well as digging into Hitchcock’s film, we also touch upon Robert Bloch’s original novel, and the many sequels each birthed. And, as ever, we look for aspects that might influence our games.













Links







Things we mention in this episode include:









* Psycho (1960)







* Psycho (1998)







* Alfred Hitchcock Presents







* Psycho by Robert Bloch







* One Around the Bloch by Robert Bloch







* Hitchcock (2012)







* Ed Gein

















* Crossdressing Killer trope







* The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris







* Psycho II by Robert Bloch







* Hell! said the Duchess by Michael Arlen







* Homicidal (1961)







* Dressed to Kill (1980)







* a href="https://en.wikipedia.

We’re back and we’re rolling to disbelieve. Honestly, the world around us just becomes weirder and weirder with every passing year. A lot of this is probably down to age, but we can’t discount some kind of breakdown of objective reality, right? Well, that’s assuming there was ever such a thing as objective reality. In order to determine this, we’d need to refer to objective sources, and then we’ll only get lost in recursion again. Compared such sophistry, all those sanity-blasting delusions in Call of Cthulhu feel like light relief.







Main Topic: Delusions in Call of Cthulhu







We thought we’d follow up last episode’s exploration of psychological horror by looking at the role of delusions in Call of Cthulhu. Psychological horror is filled with characters trapped in states of delusion, unable to tell what is real anymore. The game reflects this genre trope in its mechanics, and we delve into how it all works. We also discuss how such fictional delusions relate to real mental illness, what inspiration we might take from media, and just how much roleplaying we really want to see in our roleplaying games.













Links







Things we mention in this episode include:









* Psychological horror







* Insanity in Call of Cthulhu







* Walker in the Wastes







* X-Card







* The Two-Headed Serpent







* Pulp Cthulhu







* Shutter Island (2010)







* Fight Club (1999)







* Joker (2019)







* Mr Robot

















* The Matrix (1999)







* The King in Yellow







* Daoloth







* The Total Perspective Vortex







* Oculus (2013)







* Nyarlathotep





















News

We’re back and we’re doubting ourselves. Well, that’s assuming we have any selves to doubt. Once you start plumbing the dark recesses of psychological horror, you soon realise that you can’t take anything for granted. Objective reality is a joke and identity is just a lie we tell ourselves. If we’re not careful, we’ll narrate ourselves out of existence.







Main Topic: Psychological Horror in Call of Cthulhu







Once again, we’re examining a subgenre of horror, trying to pick out the main tropes and work out how they might influence our games of Call of Cthulhu. In previous episodes, we’ve turned our attention to ghost stories, body horror, survival horror, cosmic horror and Gothic horror. Now it’s the turn of psychological horror to lie on the analyst’s couch and tell us its darkest secrets.







Links







Things we mention in this episode include:









* The Appeal of Horror







* Survival horror







* Dead of Night







* Martin (1977)







* Let the Right One In (2008)







* The Shining (1980)







* The Shining by Stephen King







* Lake of the Dead by Andre Bjerke







* Lake of the Dead (1958)







* Vertigo (1958)







* The Usual Suspects (1995)







* The Sixth Sense (1999)







* Joker (2019)







* I’m Thinking About Ending Things by Iain Reid







* I’m Thinking About Ending Things (2020)

















* Before I Go to Sleep (2014)







* Split (2016)







* Dissociative I...