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The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Paul Fricker, Matthew Sanderson and Scott Dorward
299 episodes
15 hours ago
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias is an irregular podcast devoted to the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game, horror movies and horror gaming in general. It is hosted by Paul Fricker, Matthew Sanderson and Scott Dorward, three freelance writers who have worked on the new edition of Call of Cthulhu and other horror roleplaying games.

Episodes are usually built around a particular theme, always centred on our shared love of all things dark and horrifying.
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All content for The Good Friends of Jackson Elias is the property of Paul Fricker, Matthew Sanderson and Scott Dorward and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias is an irregular podcast devoted to the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game, horror movies and horror gaming in general. It is hosted by Paul Fricker, Matthew Sanderson and Scott Dorward, three freelance writers who have worked on the new edition of Call of Cthulhu and other horror roleplaying games.

Episodes are usually built around a particular theme, always centred on our shared love of all things dark and horrifying.
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Games
Leisure
Episodes (20/299)
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Lovecraft and Art, with Kailas Elmer





We’re back and we’re poring over bas-reliefs yet again. Once you start looking into the relationship between Lovecraft and art, the damn things are everywhere. We would say that there’s no relief from them, but that would be beneath us.



Main Topic: Lovecraft and Art



This episode is the first of a two-part look into the relationship between Lovecraft and art. Next episode, we’ll be flipping things around and looking for inspiration from the world of art, but here we’re examining the influence it had on Lovecraft’s life and fiction, and how this shaped the Cthulhu Mythos.



All that said, we do go a little off-topic in the latter half of the episode, but it’s all related!



Our Guest Host



We are delighted to welcome Kailas Elmer to the Good Friends! Kailas is the publisher of Trebuchet Magazine, an international art journal which has featured writings from our own Scott Dorward. There is also an associated podcast, for those who like to experience art with their ears.



Issue 17 of Trebuchet, titled “Destinations”, is now available at Barnes & Noble, WH Smith, and directly from trebuchet-magazine.com.






Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* “Pickman’s Model” by HP Lovecraft



* Bas-relief



* Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s soup cans



* “The Call of Cthulhu” by HP Lovecraft



* E Hoffman Price



* The Hero’s Journey



* “Supernatural Horror in Literature” by HP Lovecraft



* Robert E Howard



* Romanticism



* Gothic horror



* Lord Dunsany



* Edgar Allan Poe



* Mervyn Peake



* At the Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft



* Clark Ashton Smith



Show more...
1 week ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Analogue Horror, with Holly Buteau





We’re back and we’re twiddling the tracking knob. It’s supposed to clear up the image on this old videocassette, but maybe that’s just missing the point. The static can be the most interesting part, filled with whispers, ghosts, and forbidden secrets. Compared to such beautiful nightmares, the film itself is often a bit disappointing. Then again, analogue horror seems to be more of a vibe than a form of storytelling, so maybe we should just let the static wash over us like electromagnetic waves.



Main Topic: Analogue Horror



This episode sees us explore analogue horror, trying to work out what exactly it is and how to bring it to life at the gaming table. It’s perhaps a harder genre than most to pin down, partly because it is relatively new, but also because it is arguably more of an aesthetic than a series of tropes. We ran into similar issues when discussing Gothic horror, however, that that didn’t stop us then!



As well as delving into the origins of the analogue horror, we discuss notable media, and some of the RPGs that have drawn upon it all. And, of course, we talk about some of our own ideas for how to let it seep into our games.



Our Guest Host



We are delighted to welcome Holly Buteau back to the Good Friends, following last episode’s discussion of horror in space! Holly co-hosts RPG Reanimators, a podcast focusing on providing resources for GMs and players of horror RPGs. She’s also a regular on Into the Darkness, an actual play YouTube channel. In addition to RPGs, she’s an avid board gamer, space nerd, and all-around trivia enthusiast. You can find Holly over on the RPG Reanimators Discord.






Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* Found footage



* The Blair Witch Project (1999)



* The Last Broadcast (1998)



* War of the Worlds radio broadcast



* Hysteria around War of the Worlds broadcast debunked



* Cannibal Holocaust (1980)



* Snuff films



* Cannibal Holocaust murder trial



* Blair Witch website on the Wayback Machine



* Butterfly Kisses (2018)



* Show more...
3 weeks ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Horror in Space, with Holly Buteau





We’re back and we’re answering the call of the void. It’s about the scariest call you can receive, regardless of what Cthulhu may claim. The yawning darkness of eternity just shouldn’t be that tempting. For all our talk about horror in space, maybe the real horror was inside us the whole time.



Main Topic: Horror in Space



This episode heads into the cold and the dark, exploring just what it is that makes space so scary. We talk about some of the real challenges and dangers posed by space travel and how they can amplify horror. Then we move on to inspirational media and just how all this relates to gaming. While we of course talk about alien life and all sorts of concepts from science fiction, the scariest part of the episode might be the details of just what can go wrong on a space walk.



Our Guest Host



We are delighted to welcome Holly Buteau to the Good Friends! Holly co-hosts RPG Reanimators, a podcast focusing on providing resources for GMs and players of horror RPGs. She’s also a regular on Into the Darkness, an actual play YouTube channel. In addition to RPGs, she’s an avid board gamer, space nerd, and all-around trivia enthusiast. You can find Holly over on the RPG Reanimators Discord.






Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* Heisenberg compensators



* The Expanse



* For All Mankind



* The Expanse by James SA Corey



* Alan Shepard



* EVA 23 account from Luca Parminato



* Apollo 13



* Apollo 13 (1995)



* Life (2017)



* Survival horror



* Alien (1979)



* The Expanse Roleplaying Game



* 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)



* Call of the void



* Gravity (2013)



* Firefly



* Warhammer 40,000



* Show more...
1 month ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Comedy Horror, with Evan Dorkin





We’re back and we’re and we’re putting on our plastic ponchos. Sure, they look a bit silly, but we can work with that. Hell, it might even help. The important thing, however, is keeping some of the gore off our clothes. Comedy horror can be a messy business, especially once you break out the gardening equipment. We’re not sure whether to laugh or cry, so we’ll probably just scream.



Main Topic: Comedy Horror



This episode sees us delve into the bloody world of comedy horror, trying to pin down what makes the two genres work so well together, looking at some examples from media, and trying to work out how to perform such alchemy ourselves. We also take some serious digressions into why so many comedians turn to horror, what fun can be found in terrible films, and whether horror parodies are actually horror movies themselves. As you might imagine from such a wide-ranging discussion, our chat went long. Patreon backers listening to the uncut version will find over an hour of extra material waiting for their ears.



Our Guest Host



We are delighted to welcome back Evan Dorkin! Evan is a multi-award-winning comics writer and artist, known for creations like Beasts of Burden, Blackwood, Milk and Cheese, Dork, Calla Cthulhu, and The Eltingville Club. With his wife, Sarah Dyer, Evan has also worked on TV programmes such as Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and Yo Gabba Gabba!



Along with Paul Yellovich, Evan is co-host of the wonderful horror movie podcast, Tear Them Apart. And if you have any interest in the history of comics or learning how they are made, you should definitely check out Evan’s Patreon, where he posts regular tales from the industry alongside all manner of cool artwork.



You can also hear Evan in our earlier discussion about the relationship between RPGs and fiction.






Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* Comedy in RPGs



* The Ghost Breakers (1940)



* Mystery Science Theater 3000



* Thomas Nast



* Show more...
1 month ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
RPGs and Fiction, with Evan Dorkin





We’re back and we’re making stuff up. But so much of the stuff we make up is inspired by stuff other people made up. And sometimes, it turns out, they’re inspired by some of the stuff we made up. Where does it all end? Ah, stuff it.



Main Topic: RPGs and Fiction



This episode is an exploration of how the worlds of RPGs and fiction inform each other. The obvious fantasy fiction influences on D&D and the sheer number of licensed RPGs make it clear just how much games have drawn from the literary world, but there is almost as strong a flow in the other direction. We dig into some of the ways the two worlds have bled into each other, and what happens when they merge, creating hybrids like actual plays, isekai, or litRPG.



Our Guest Host



We are delighted to welcome Evan Dorkin to the Good Friends of Jackson Elias! Evan is a multi-award-winning comics writer and artist, known for creations like Beasts of Burden, Blackwood, Milk and Cheese, Dork, and The Eltingville Club. With his wife, Sarah Dyer, Evan has also worked on TV programmes such as Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and Yo Gabba Gabba!



Along with Paul Yellovich, Evan is co-host of the excellent horror movie podcast, Tear Them Apart. And if you have any interest in the history of comics or how they are made, you should definitely check out Evan’s Patreon, where he posts regular tales from the industry alongside all manner of cool pieces of work.






Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* D&D



* Appendix N



* The Magic Sword (1962)



* Appendix N Book Club



* Wild Cards



* Superworld



* Champions



* Boot Hill



* Gamma World



* Show more...
2 months ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Something Wicked This Way Comes, with Cuppycup





We’re back and we’re riding the carousel. Holding onto the handlebars is a bit awkward, however, with all this pricking in our thumbs. Our digits may be warning us that something wicked this way comes, or they could just be telling us we need better gardening gloves. Either way, let’s just ignore that for now and enjoy the ride. It’s not like we’re getting any younger…



Main Topic: Something Wicked This Way Comes



We thought we’d follow last episode’s discussion of theme parks with a day out at the fair. Happily, the fair in Something Wicked This Way Comes is a travelling one, so we only had to wait for it to turn up at our doorsteps. The downside is that it’s evil. Still, nobody’s perfect.



As well as talking about the 1983 film version of Something Wicked This Way Comes, we also delve into the Ray Bradbury novel that birthed it. While we’ve discussed stories and their adaptations before, this is the first time we’ve blended our discussion so thoroughly. Part of this is simply because we watched and read them in the same week, and they sort of jumbled together in our heads. More usefully, perhaps, it gives us an opportunity to talk about how a novel is adapted to the screen and what some of the shortcomings can be.






Our Guest Host



We are delighted to welcome Cuppycup back to the Good Friends! Cup, of course, has been on the podcast before, discussing Louis Wain with us a few years ago, and theme parks more recently. He is best known as the mastermind behind the ENnie-award-winning actual play podcast Ain’t Slayed Nobody, where you will also find regular appearances by Scott alongside some of our other guest hosts, including Ross Bryant and Josephine McAdam.



As well as ASN, Cup is currently producing a new Call of Cthulhu podcast called Walking Shadows, with Ross Bryant as Keeper, and a cast that includes Becca Scott, Rashawn Scott, and Zach Reino. The first episodes should be out within the next couple of months.



And Cup’s first published scenario, “Deadwood on Lane 8”, will be out on the Miskatonic Repository later this year. This is a 1990s Pulp Cthulhu extravaganza that puts the cosmic firmly into cosmic bowling.



If you want to keep up with all these projects, you can follow Ain’t Slayed Nobody on Bluesky or join their Discord server.






Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* Ray Bradbury



* Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury



* So...
Show more...
2 months ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Theme Parks and Horror, with Cuppycup





We’re back and we’re mopping up protein spills. What sounded like an innocent sexual innuendo has turned out to be far more scatological than we would have liked. The unpleasant realities of theme parks are so well hidden behind twee language and cute costumes. Happily, once we strip these away, we can find some good horror inspiration quivering underneath. We just wish it all smelled a bit better.



Main Topic: Theme Parks and Horror



This episode, we visit theme parks, amusement parks, funfairs and the like, looking for Call of Cthulhu inspiration. As with so many things rooted in childhood joy, theme parks can easily turn into something nightmarish in both our imaginations and in reality. We dip into personal experiences, urban legends, and our own wild ideas, looking for both the roots of these fears and ways of bringing them into our games.



There is something of a focus on Disney in our discussion, even though they are almost certainly safer and cleaner than the vast majority of theme parks. The discussion merely went this way because Cuppycup, our guest host, used to work for Disney, as did Matt’s wife, Tiff. This gives us a wealth of personal anecdotes to draw upon.



Our Guest Host



We are delighted to welcome Cuppycup back to the Good Friends! Cup, of course, has been on the podcast before, discussing Louis Wain with us a few years ago. He is best known as the mastermind behind the ENnie-award-winning actual play podcast Ain’t Slayed Nobody, where you will also find regular appearances by Scott alongside some of our other guest hosts, including Ross Bryant and Josephine McAdam.



As well as ASN, Cup is currently producing a new Call of Cthulhu podcast called Walking Shadows, with Ross Bryant as Keeper, and a cast that includes Becca Scott, Rashawn Scott, and Zach Reino. The first episodes should be out within the next couple of months.



And Cup’s first published scenario, “Deadwood on Lane 8”, will be out on the Miskatonic Repository later this year. This is a 1990s Pulp Cthulhu extravaganza that puts the cosmic firmly into cosmic bowling.



If you want to keep up with all these projects, you can follow Ain’t Slayed Nobody on Bluesky or join their Discord server.






Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* Hersheypark



* Dutch Wonderland



* The Wonder House



* Hershey’s Chocolate World



* Tivoli Gardens



* Lammas Fayre in St Andrews



* Show more...
3 months ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
The Appeal of Vampires, with Josephine McAdam





We’re back and we’re smothering ourselves in garlic. While we’ve been assured this will protect us from vampires, we’re wondering if it might just make us more appetising to cannibals. Getting chopped up and roasted in an oven doesn’t seem anywhere near as sexy as a vampiric love bite, but maybe vampires just have better PR.



Main Topic: The Appeal of Vampires



This episode sees us enter the shadowy world of the undead. The vampire is arguably the definitive monster of the horror genre, but our fanged friends have so much more to offer. We discuss some of our favourite vampires from myth, fiction, and film, ranging from feral monsters to tragic antiheroes, and how they might inform our gaming. And while we don’t necessarily think of vampires as key to Call of Cthulhu, we discuss their place there too.



Our Guest Host



We are delighted to welcome back Josephine McAdam! As well as her many, many actual play appearances on series like LA By Night and Eclipse RPG, Josephine is an actor who has appeared in horror films such as The Mortuary Collection and Scare Package. You can find her streaming regularly on Twitch, and on various social media platforms, as JCVIM. You will also be able to see Josephine touring the UK later this year with Chaosium, playing live games of Call of Cthulhu.






Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* LA By Night



* New York By Night



* Lamashtu



* Lamia



* De Masticatione Mortuorum in Tomus by Michael Ranft



* Sasabonsam



* Pishtaco



* Varney the Vampire



* Dracula by Bram Stoker



* Strigoi



* Strix



* Léyak



* The Vampyre by John Polodori



* Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley



* Twilight by Stephenie Meyer



* Carmilla by J Sheridan le Fanu



* Show more...
3 months ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Horror For the Nervous, with Josephine McAdam





We’re back and we’re hiding behind the sofa. Sure, the monsters, masked killers, and mutants can probably find us back here, but it still feels safer for some reason. Fear is rarely a rational thing, so why should our response to it be?



Main Topic: Horror For the Nervous



This episode came about when Scott was playing The Between with Josephine McAdam over on Ain’t Slayed Nobody and she mentioned that she rarely watches or reads horror media because she finds it upsetting. Given how many horror projects Josephine has been involved with, this seemed like something worth exploring, so we pitched the concept of “horror for the nervous” to her.



As we’ve explored in other episodes, horror is about as divisive as genres get. While plenty of us love ghosts, ghouls, and gore, there are good reasons why others don’t. We’ve never really explored how you might engage with horror if you find it frightening, as it’s not something we’ve had to deal with ourselves, so Josephine’s insights have been enlightening.



Our Guest Host



We are delighted to welcome Josephine McAdam to the Good Friends. As well as her many, many actual play appearances on series like LA By Night and Eclipse RPG, Josephine is an actor who has appeared in horror films such as The Mortuary Collection and Scare Package. You can find her streaming regularly on Twitch, and on various social media platforms, as JCVIM. You will also be able to see Josephine touring the UK later this year with Chaosium, playing live games of Call of Cthulhu.






Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* The Between



* Ain’t Slayed Nobody



* The Shining (1980)



* The Appeal of Horror



* Is Horror Dangerous?



* Everything is Horror



* Elder Entertainment



* The Hounds of Tindalos



* Dancer in the Dark (2000)



* Cannibal Holocaust (1980)



* Joker (2019)



* Threads (1984)



* Show more...
3 months ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Quatermass and the Pit, with Seth Skorkowsky





We’re back and we’re digging up the past. Some of this excavation is purely physical, burrowing into the clay under London in search of the usual skulls and spaceships. The rest, however, is more atavistic in nature, uncovering the strange, alien memories buried within our minds. On reflection, we probably shouldn’t have used pickaxes for both jobs.



Main Topic: Quatermass and the Pit



This episode is our long-overdue exploration of the strange world of Professor Bernard Quatermass, and especially the 1967 film adaptation of Quatermass and the Pit. While we’ve mentioned Nigel Kneale on the podcast before, discussing his TV drama The Stone Tape and horror series Beasts, we’ve never really delved into his most famous creation.



While Quatermass and the Pit is our main focus, we begin with a brief summary of the professor’s other appearances. As we mention, the Quatermass TV serials and films were a huge cultural phenomenon in the UK in the 1950s, shaping British science fiction media for generations. This fame did not travel beyond our borders, however, meaning the films have never had more than a cult following in the USA. Consider this episode our small part in trying to rectify this!






Our Guest Host



We are delighted to have YouTuber, podcaster and author Seth Skorkowsky join us for this episode. Most of our listeners will know Seth from his ENnie-Award winning YouTube channel, as well as the Modern Mythos podcast, which he hosts with Jon Hook.



Seth is also the author of many fine books, spanning urban fantasy, sword and sorcery, and horror. His main focus right now is his ongoing video diary for the Traveller campaign, Secrets of the Ancients.






You can hear Seth’s previous appearances with the Good Friends here:




* Interview with Seth Skorkowsky



* Interview with Jon Hook and Seth Skorkowsky



* Peril in Call of Cthulhu



* How to be an Investigator







Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* Nigel Kneale



* Show more...
4 months ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
How to be an Investigator, with Seth Skorkowsky





We’re back and we’re blundering. That’s not to say that we don’t have a clue, but we’re not quite sure what to do with the handful we’ve managed to find. We’ve tried pinning them to a board and running strings between them, but the result is more abstract art than anything functional. Maybe we’ll just keep punching NPCs until one of them finally tells us what’s going on.



Main Topic: How to be an Investigator



This episode is our attempt to sharpen our own skills as investigators, or at least hope that others can learn from our mistakes. Scott and guest host Seth Skorkowsky have been playing an in-depth investigative campaign together recently, and both independently realised that they are terrible at investigation. So we spend this episode trying to work out how to get better at gathering clues and making sense of them once we’ve done so.



Our Guest Host



We are delighted to have YouTuber, podcaster and author Seth Skorkowsky join us for this episode. Most of our listeners will know Seth from his ENnie-Award winning YouTube channel, as well as the Modern Mythos podcast, which he hosts with Jon Hook.



Seth is also the author of many fine books, spanning urban fantasy, sword and sorcery, and horror. His main focus right now is his ongoing video diary for the Traveller campaign, Secrets of the Ancients.






You can hear Seth’s previous appearances with the Good Friends here:




* Interview with Seth Skorkowsky



* Interview with Jon Hook and Seth Skorkowsky



* Peril in Call of Cthulhu




Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* Bud’s RPG Review



* Over the Edge



* MK-RPG



* Vampire: the Masquerade



* Tales From the Loop



* The Between



* Ain’t Slayed Nobody



* Show more...
4 months ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Haunted Landscapes, with Heather Miller





We’re back and we’re digging deep. While you might expect to find ghosts in these haunted landscapes, mostly we’re unearthing history. Oh, and carcinogens. On balance, ghosts seem like the healthier option.



Main Topic: Haunted Landscapes



Building on last episode’s discussion of Lovecraftian horror and detective fiction explored in Heather Miller’s Ripples From Carcosa, we’re delving into another part of the book, which lays out the idea of haunted landscapes.



The landscapes in question are haunted by the past rather than ghosts, with layers of history transforming their geography and meaning. We take this concept and see how it might help us add depth to our Call of Cthulhu scenarios.



Our Guest Host



We are delighted to have Heather Miller join us for this episode. Heather is a Lovecraftian scholar who has presented a number of papers at Necronomicon Providence and has recently published a book for Hippocampus Press — Ripples From Carcosa — which explores the relationship between Lovecraft and True Detective.



Heather’s other papers include “Melville and the Lovecraftian Gaze”, which examines the connection between Lovecraft’s investigators and the cosmic horror of Moby-Dick, and “Toward a Definition of Lovecraftpunk”.



You can find Heather’s blog at notesonhplovecraft.blogspot.com, where, amongst other things, she discusses some of the research that went into her book.






Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* Ghosts in Call of Cthulhu



* Hauntology



* True Detective



* Detective fiction and Call of Cthulhu



* Requiem For a Nun by William Faulkner



* “The Shadow Out of Time” by HP Lovecraft



* Petrochemical America by Richard Misrach and Kate Orff



* Cancer Alley



* “The Colour Out of ...
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5 months ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Call of Cthulhu and Detective Fiction, with Heather Miller





We’re back and we’re polishing our magnifying glasses. Being a detective requires a keen eye for detail, an analytical mind, and a thorough knowledge of genre. But that happens when you find yourself in a different genre than you were expecting? Is your uncanny ability to piece together disparate clues really an asset when that only leads to horrifying revelations? Maybe this new dark age thingy we’ve heard so much about isn’t so bad.



Main Topic: Call of Cthulhu and Detective Fiction



This episode delves into the complex relationship between detective fiction and Lovecraftian horror. The two genres are closely related, both in their literary origins and in their broad tropes. But, as our guest host argues, they ultimately serve almost opposing purposes. We explore how detective fiction works, and what it can teach us about running Call of Cthulhu.



Our Guest Host



Regular listeners will know that Paul has left the Good Friends. Matt and Scott are inviting interesting people we know as guest hosts, bringing fresh perspectives and expertise to our discussions.



We are delighted to have Heather Miller join us for this episode. Heather is a Lovecraftian scholar who has presented a number of papers at Necronomicon Providence and has recently published a book for Hippocampus Press — Ripples From Carcosa — which explores the relationship between Lovecraft and True Detective.



Heather’s other papers include “Melville and the Lovecraftian Gaze”, which examines the connection between Lovecraft’s investigators and the cosmic horror of Moby-Dick, and “Toward a Definition of Lovecraftpunk”.



You can find Heather’s blog at notesonhplovecraft.blogspot.com, where, amongst other things, she discusses some of the research that went into her book.






Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* Ripples From Carcosa by Oscar Rios



* True Detective



* Edgar Allan Poe and detective fiction



* Masks of Nyarlathotep



* Palimpsest



* Dirk Gently



* “Shada”



* Walker in the Wastes



* Show more...
5 months ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
The Horse of the Invisible, by William Hope Hodgson – part 2





Our 2024 Christmas ghost story double-bill concludes with the second part of William Hope Hodgson’s “The Horse of the Invisible”, from the casebooks of Carnacki, the Ghost Finder. This is our second Carnacki tale this year, and you can find “The Searcher of the End House” on your podcast feed of choice or on this very server.



This reading has been organised by good friend of the Good Friends, Mike Perceval-Maxwell (host of Mr Spike’s Bedtime Stories), taking place on our Discord server. Mike is joined by guest readers John Casey, Scott Dorward, Sarah Dovey, Anthony Lee-Dudley, Brian Murphy, Nic Rosenberg, and Sue Savage.



So load your shotguns, fire up the electric pentacle, and prepare to make the First and Last signs of the Saaamaaa Ritual.






“Silent Night”, performed by The St. Joseph’s Convent Choir, is in the public domain.



If you would like to read along at home, you can find “The Searcher of the End House” in William Hope Hodgson’s collection Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder, available on Project Gutenberg.



And if all this has put you in the mood for Christmas ghost stories, please check out our previous readings:




* “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens



* “The Canterville Ghost” by Oscar Wilde



* “The Viy” by Nikolai Gogol



* “Told After Supper” by Jerome K Jerome

Show more...
6 months ago
36 minutes 6 seconds

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
The Horse of the Invisible, by William Hope Hodgson – part 1





Our 2024 Christmas ghost story double-bill continues with William Hope Hodgson’s “The Horse of the Invisible”, from the casebooks of Carnacki, the Ghost Finder. This is our second Carnacki tale this year, and you can find “The Searcher of the End House” on your podcast feed of choice or on this very server.



This reading has been organised by good friend of the Good Friends, Mike Perceval-Maxwell (host of Mr Spike’s Bedtime Stories), taking place on our Discord server. Mike is joined by guest readers John Casey, Scott Dorward, Sarah Dovey, Anthony Lee-Dudley, Brian Murphy, Nic Rosenberg, and Sue Savage.



At the time of release, you can still join us for part 2 of the story at 22:00 GMT on Friday the 20th of December. The reading will take place on the bar stage of the Good Friends Discord server.



So by all means enjoy our holiday snaps and help us prepare for the wedding, but please do tell us where that infernal gobbling is coming from.






“Silent Night”, performed by The St. Joseph’s Convent Choir, is in the public domain.



If you would like to read along at home, you can find “The Horse of the Invisible” in William Hope Hodgson’s collection Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder, available on Project Gutenberg.



And if all this has put you in the mood for Christmas ghost stories, please check out our previous readings:




* “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens



* “The Canterville Ghost” by Oscar Wilde



* “The Viy” by Nikolai Gogol



* “Told After Supper” by Jerome K Jerome

Show more...
6 months ago
36 minutes 56 seconds

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
The Searcher of the End House, by William Hope Hodgson – part 2





Our 2024 Christmas ghost story reading reaches the bizarre conclusion of “The Searcher of the End House”. You can find part one of this tale on your podcast feed of choice or on this very server.



We are not yet done with Carnacki, the Ghost Finder or William Hope Hodgson, however. Our next episode will embark on another Carnacki yarn — “The Horse of the Invisible”.



This reading has been organised by good friend of the Good Friends, Mike Perceval-Maxwell (host of Mr Spike’s Bedtime Stories), taking place on our Discord server. Mike is joined by guest readers Camille Brouard, John Casey, Scott Dorward, Sarah Dovey, Anthony Lee-Dudley, Brian Murphy, T A Newman, and Nic Rosenberg.



At the time of release, you can still join us for the start of the next tale at 22:00 GMT on Thursday the 19th of December, starting at 22:00 GMT, and concluding at the same time on the 20th. The reading will take place on the bar stage of the Good Friends Discord server.



So put down that leg of mutton and admire the fine work of the wire-smith as we explain precisely how wells work.






“Silent Night”, performed by The St. Joseph’s Convent Choir, is in the public domain.



If you would like to read along at home, you can find “The Searcher of the End House” in William Hope Hodgson’s collection Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder, available on Project Gutenberg.



And if all this has put you in the mood for Christmas ghost stories, please check out our previous readings:




* “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens



* “The Canterville Ghost” by Oscar Wilde



* “The Viy” by Nikolai Gogol



* “Told After Supper” by Jerome K Jerome

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6 months ago
39 minutes 43 seconds

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
The Searcher of the End House, by William Hope Hodgson – part 1





We have a special treat for our 2024 Christmas ghost story reading, with not one but two tales of Carnacki, the Ghost Finder by William Hope Hodgson. Our first is “The Searcher of the End House”, a weird tale plucked from Carnacki’s younger years. We shall wrap this up tomorrow night, before moving on to “The Horse of the Invisible” later in the week.



This reading has been organised by good friend of the Good Friends, Mike Perceval-Maxwell (host of Mr Spike’s Bedtime Stories), taking place on our Discord server. Mike is joined by guest readers Camille Brouard, John Casey, Scott Dorward, Sarah Dovey, Anthony Lee-Dudley, Brian Murphy, T A Newman, and Nic Rosenberg.



At the time of release, you just have time to join us for part 2 at 22:00 GMT on Wednesday the 18th of December. We shall be reading “The Horse of the Invisible” on the 19th and 20th, also starting at 22:00 GMT.



So forget about that “Straw Platters” business for now and let’s try to work out where that nasty smell is coming from. Maybe these flabby footprints offer a clue!






“Silent Night”, performed by The St. Joseph’s Convent Choir, is in the public domain.



If you would like to read along at home, you can find “The Searcher of the End House” in William Hope Hodgson’s collection Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder, available on Project Gutenberg.



And if all this has put you in the mood for Christmas ghost stories, please check out our previous readings:




* “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens



* “The Canterville Ghost” by Oscar Wilde



* “The Viy” by Nikolai Gogol



* “Told After Supper” by Jerome K Jerome

Show more...
6 months ago
30 minutes 57 seconds

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Carnival of Souls, with Ross Bryant





We’re back and we’re enjoying the salt air. Or should that be the Saltair? Either way, it would be even jollier if there weren’t all these ghouls around. We have nothing against ghouls, and they serve a useful purpose, but they do have an unfortunate habit of lurking in the dark corners of your house or even your car windows. On the other hand, they are lively dancers, especially for dead folks. We suppose that if you are going to have a Carnival of Souls, some not-quite-live entertainment goes a long way.






Main Topic: Carnival of Souls



This episode delves into the 1962 horror film Carnival of Souls. While it wasn’t a commercial success, it has become a classic of the genre, influencing everyone from George Romero to David Lynch. The story of its origins is almost as strange as the film itself, and we go into both in detail. There is plenty of inspiration for our games of Call of Cthulhu to be found here.



As Carnival of Souls is in the public domain, you can watch it on YouTube. We highly recommend doing so before listening to this episode, as we will spoil the bejesus out of it.









Our Guest Host



Regular listeners will know that Paul has left the Good Friends. Matt and Scott are inviting interesting people we know to join us as guest hosts, bringing fresh perspectives and expertise to our discussions.



We are delighted to have Ross Bryant join us again as our guest host for this episode. You may know Ross from The Improvised Shakespeare Company, Dropout TV, The Glass Cannon Network, or the many improvised Call of Cthulhu games he and Scott have played together on Ain’t Slayed Nobody. He is currently developing a new historical Call of Cthulhu actual play podcast called Walking Shadows, with Rashawn Scott, Becca Scott, and Zach Reino. The first episode will be out in 2025, wherever you find your podcasts.






Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* “She Moves Backwards” on Ain’t Slayed Nobody



* Herk Harvey



* Centron Corporation



* “Ministry of Fear” on Ain’t Slayed Nobody



* British Public Information Films



* Hauntology



* Candace Hilligoss



* The Third Man (1949)



* Show more...
6 months ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Bringing Historical Games to Life, with Ross Bryant





We’re back and we’re raising the dead. Well, sort of. After all that discussion about Joseph Curwen’s necromantic exploits, we thought we’d try something on a larger scale. Instead of tomes of forbidden knowledge, however, we’re poring over history books. Their visions of the past shall bring our historical games of Call of Cthulhu to shuddering, ghastly life! But can we get the details right enough to avoid subjecting our games becoming ye liveliest awfulness…?



Main Topic: Bringing Historical Games to Life



This episode delves into techniques and inspirations for enlivening our historical games of Call of Cthulhu. That said, the ideas we explore can be applied to any historical RPG scenario. We discuss why we’re drawn to historical settings, expanding on some of the media that influence us and how we can bring all this into our games.



Regular listeners will know that Paul has now left the Good Friends, and that this is our first episode without him. Matt and Scott are keeping the podcast going, inviting interesting people we know to join us as guest hosts, bringing fresh perspectives and their own personal expertise to our discussions.



Our Guest Host



We are delighted to welcome Ross Bryant as our inaugural guest host for this new era of the Good Friends. You may know Ross from The Improvised Shakespeare Company, Dropout TV, The Glass Cannon Network, or the many improvised Call of Cthulhu games he and Scott have played together on Ain’t Slayed Nobody. He is currently developing a new historical Call of Cthulhu actual play podcast called Walking Shadows, with Rashawn Scott, Becca Scott, and Zach Reino. The first episode will be out soon, wherever you find your podcasts.






Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* Stream of Blood



* Masks of Nyarlathotep



* Pulp Cthulhu



* Cthulhu by Gaslight



* Cthulhu Dark Ages



* English Civil Wars



* Wars of the Three Kingdoms



* Conquistadors



* Regency Cthulhu



* World War Cthulhu: Cold War



* Bobby Fischer
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6 months ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward part 5





We’re back and we’re peering through time. Handily, Yog-Sothoth has granted us the power to see he who is to come after us. Well, except Charles Dexter Ward actually turned up in 1926, around a hundred years earlier than anticipated. Time can be like that.



Happily, Ward has been raised from his essential saltes several times since then — on screen, in audio, and even within the pages of the occasional scenario. We’ll try to catch up with him where we can. Let’s just hope that it’s really Ward we’re meeting and not Joseph Curwen. It’s so embarrassing when we mix them up!



Main Topic: The Case of Charles Dexter Ward part 5



This is the conclusion of our investigation into HP Lovecraft’s novel The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. We start off with some final thoughts on the story itself, and then move on to discussing how it has found its way into other media. Considering what an overlooked tale this is, it has a rich history of being adapted.



Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* HP Lovecraft Historical Society reading of the complete fiction of HP Lovecraft



* At the Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft



* Yog-Sothoth



* “The Dunwich Horror” by HP Lovecraft



* “The Shadow Out of Time” by HP Lovecraft



* Gothic horror



* “The Thing on the Doorstep” by HP Lovecraft



* “Pickman’s Model” by HP Lovecraft



* “The Outsider” by HP Lovecraft











* The Haunted Palace (1963)



* “The Haunted Palace” by Edgar Allen Poe



* American International Pictures



* The Raven (1963)



* The Masque of the Red Death (1964)



* Charles Beaumont



* Heroes



* Roger Corman


Show more...
7 months ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias is an irregular podcast devoted to the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game, horror movies and horror gaming in general. It is hosted by Paul Fricker, Matthew Sanderson and Scott Dorward, three freelance writers who have worked on the new edition of Call of Cthulhu and other horror roleplaying games.

Episodes are usually built around a particular theme, always centred on our shared love of all things dark and horrifying.