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The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Paul Fricker, Matthew Sanderson and Scott Dorward
299 episodes
4 days 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
The Joy of Gore, with Jared Logan





We’re back and we’re bloody. Honestly, that’s the least of it. Most of this gore is blood, but we’ve found flecks of meat, shards of bone, and what looks like the occasional kidney mixed in. The plastic ponchos were supposed to help, but at this stage they’re more stencils than protective clothing. No one ever warned us that podcasting could get this wet. Maybe we should just focus on getting these teeth out of our hair for now.



Main Topic: The Joy of Gore



While not all horror involves gore, it is an essential part of the genre. Whether it’s a genteel smear of blood at the corner of the Count’s mouth or bodies being torn apart like wet piñatas, most horror media involves at least a drop or two of the red stuff. But what is the appeal of something that should, by rights, repel us? Why does it make us laugh even as we gasp in horror? And how can we make use of it in our games without it becoming desensitising?






Our Guest Host



We are delighted to welcome Jared Logan to the Good Friends! Jared is a stand-up comedian and writer who has been involved with a number of major actual play streams and podcasts, including Glass Cannon, Stream of Blood, and Ain’t Slayed Nobody. You can find Jared on tour right now, supporting Kumail Nanjiani.






Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* Extreme Subjects in Gaming



* Violence in Call of Cthulhu



* Disgust and Body Horror



* Hays Code



* British Board of Film Classification



* Hannibal TV series



* Video nasties



* Siskel and Ebert



* Mark Kermode



* Kim Newman



* A Pictorial History of Horror Movies by Denis Gifford



* Universal Monsters



* Hammer horror



* When Evil Lurks (2023)



* Speak No Evil (2022)
Show more...
2 days ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
28 Days Later, with Maverick Haenze





We’re back and we’re raging. While this virus may play a part, we’re mostly pissed off at the sequels to 28 Days Later. The first one, in particular, is enough to make you chew someone’s face off. Happily, the original film still has as much bite as ever. Now if only we could convince it to let go of our leg.



Main Topic: 28 Days Later



Following last episode’s look at zombies, we’re delving into a classic of the genre. Sure, the folks behind 28 Days Later have said that it’s not a zombie film, but we’re ignoring them. This has all the hallmarks of a zombie apocalypse, and the various films that have borrowed from it over the years since release haven’t been shy about using the ‘z’ word, so we’re counting it.



But what is it that made 28 Days Later such a significant entry in the zombie canon? How well has it stood up in the not-quite-28 years since its release? And, most importantly, what can we steal for our games?






Our Guest Host



We are delighted to welcome Maverick Haenze back to The Good Friends of Jackson Elias! Mav is a prolific actual play performer and scenario author. You can find them as the Head of Mythos Horror on The Old Ways podcast, as a regular cast member on Ain’t Slayed Nobody’s Bleeker Trails, and in many guest spots on other podcasts, including How We Roll. Under the name Rina Haenze, they wrote the Mythos slasher romp Saturday the 14th, the historical LGBTQ+ scenario Friends of Dorothy, and many others on the Miskatonic Repository. They also edited the fairy tale-inspired collection Cthulhu Once Upon a Time, which is now available on DriveThruRPG.






Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* 28 Weeks Later (2007)



* 28 Years Later (2025)



* Trainspotting (1996)



* Intacto (2001)



* “Plaything” from Black Mirror



* “Time Enough at Last” from The Twilight Zone



* The Walking Dead



* Burlington



* Kelvedon Hatch



* Show more...
2 weeks ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Zombies, with Maverick Haenze





We’re back and we’re hungry for brains. Sure, that whole that whole thing about zombies eating brains was made up by Dan O’Bannon in 1985, but that doesn’t make them any less tasty. And just because we’re chowing down on some grey matter doesn’t mean that we’re keen on any of that other new-fangled nonsense. Zombies shouldn’t run around or hold conversations, and they definitely shouldn’t be love interests. Shambling and moaning was good enough for those who came before us, and it’s good enough for us.



Main Topic: Zombies



Given how prevalent zombies are in horror media and how strongly the undead feature in Lovecraft’s earlier fiction, it’s surprising that it’s taken us 321 episodes to get around to discussing them. But, like the walking dead, we shamble slowly.



Our discussion takes in the origins of zombies in Voudon, the various ways they’ve been redefined in horror media, and some ways we might use them in games. And then we feast on the flesh of the living.



Once again, with such a big topic, we’ve almost certainly failed to mention some of your zombie favourites. Please do join in the discussion on Discord or Bluesky to help fill in the gaps. We may catch up with some of them in time before the next episode of Just One More Thing, the monthly companion podcast we put out for our Patreon backers.



Our Guest Host



We are delighted to welcome Maverick Haenze to The Good Friends of Jackson Elias! Mav is a prolific actual play performer and scenario author. You can find them as the Head of Mythos Horror on The Old Ways podcast, as a regular cast member on Ain’t Slayed Nobody’s Bleeker Trails, and in many guest spots on other podcasts, including How We Roll. Under the name Rina Haenze, they wrote the Mythos slasher romp Saturday the 14th, the historical LGBTQ+ scenario Friends of Dorothy, and many others on the Miskatonic Repository. They also edited the fairy tale-inspired collection Cthulhu Once Upon a Time, which is now available on DriveThruRPG.






Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* Revenants



* Slavery in Haiti



* Voudou



* Vampires



* Jé-rouges



* Show more...
1 month ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
The Broadsword, Laird Barron, and Old Leech, with Andy Goodman





We’re back and we’re checking the vents. They’re long overdue a service, but that doesn’t mean they should be talking about eating people’s kidneys. While we might dismiss that as a load of hot air, the vents don’t even provide that most days. We would ask the building supervisor to sort them out, but he’s either been eaten by the vents or tumbled through the alien portal in the basement. That portal is a safety hazard, and if it did swallow him that’s his own fault for not slapping some Polyfilla in there sooner. The cosmic nightmares of living at the Broadsword Hotel are bad enough, but it’s the slipshod maintenance that really gets to us.






Main Topic: The Broadsword, Laird Barron, and Old Leech



We’re following our discussion about how to roll your own Mythos with an exploration of Laird Barron’s Old Leech cycle and how it relates to Lovecraft. In particular, we’re focusing on Barron’s story “The Broadsword”, using it as a springboard to discuss the broader themes of his work. We bring in elements from some connected stories too, including “The Jaws of Saturn”, “Hand of Glory”, “The Men From Porlock”, and Barron’s novel The Croning.



Our Guest Host



We are delighted to welcome Andy Goodman back to the Good Friends! Andy is the mastermind behind Grizzly Peaks Radio, an actual play podcast focusing on Call of Cthulhu. It’s impressive enough when a podcast manages to play Masks of Nyarlathotep to completion, but Andy has balanced running that alongside The Two-Headed Serpent, Berlin – the Wicked City, and a pulped-up version of Shadows of Yog-Sothoth, not to mention numerous one-shots and an ad-hoc campaign made up of scenarios from the early days of White Dwarf. Our own Scott Dorward is a regular player in many of these games, as well as the two crossover campaigns with The Apocalypse Players, dubbed The Apocalypse Grizzlies.



Andy as depicted by John Sumrow


Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* Laird Barron



* Old Leech



* The Laird Barron Mapping Project



* Laird Barron subreddit



* Obsidian



* Show more...
1 month ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Roll Your Own Mythos, with Andy Goodman





We’re back and we’re hunting for the biggest cigarette paper known to man. Well, ideally known to the gods too. If we’re going to fit an entire pantheon inside, this thing needs to be truly cyclopean, and maybe even non-Euclidean. An extra dimension or two wouldn’t hurt either. And we haven’t even started working out how to light up the damn thing!



Main Topic: Roll Your Own Mythos



The Cthulhu Mythos didn’t really start out as a cohesive entity. It has become increasingly codified by generations of fans, starting with August Derleth, but this can be an impediment to creativity. This episode is a loose discussion about how you might bring in ideas from elsewhere, removing some of the canon from the general themes of cosmic horror, and roll your own Mythos.



We discuss the difference between Lovecraftian horror and cosmic horror, which authors might have interesting takes on the cosmic, how gods can interact at a human scale, and how we can put all of this together into something that feels new.



Our Guest Host



We are delighted to welcome Andy Goodman to the Good Friends! Andy is the mastermind behind Grizzly Peaks Radio, an actual play podcast focusing on Call of Cthulhu. It’s impressive enough when a podcast manages to play Masks of Nyarlathotep to completion, but Andy has balanced running that alongside The Two-Headed Serpent, Berlin – the Wicked City, and a pulped-up version of Shadows of Yog-Sothoth, not to mention numerous one-shots and an ad-hoc campaign made up of scenarios from the early days of White Dwarf. Our own Scott Dorward is a regular player in many of these games, as well as the two crossover campaigns with The Apocalypse Players, dubbed The Apocalypse Grizzlies.



Andy as depicted by John Sumrow


Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* Keeping Cthulhu Fresh



* Cosmic Horror



* Cthulhu



* The Tinfoil Dossier by Caitlin R Kiernan



* “Houses Under the Sea” by Caitlin R Kiernan



* The Final Revelation



* Cargo cults



* A Shoggoth on the Roof

Show more...
1 month ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Metafiction and Horror, with Eleanor Hingley





We’re back and we’re discussing metafiction and horror, shoehorning the title of the episode into the first paragraph for SEO purposes.



Main Topic: Metafiction and Horror



Metafiction turns up in every genre from literary fiction to superheroes, breaking fourth walls, embedding fictional narratives within fictional narratives, and generally dismantling storytelling conventions. Our focus here, however, is on the connection between metafiction and horror, whether this is self-aware slasher films or horror novelists who write horror novels about horror novelists. Done right, it can make things even creepier, making you doubt your own reality. Yes, you.



We look at various definitions of metafiction, how it’s been used in media, and how all this applies to horror gaming. As ever, we wrap things up with a few ideas about how we might bring all this into our games. And then we look directly into the camera and wink.



Our Guest Host



We are delighted to welcome Eleanor Hingley back to the Good Friends, following our recent discussion of small town horror. Eleanor is a lifelong horror fan, obsessed with Gothic and horror art since childhood. She has written for a bunch of tabletop roleplaying games, including Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game, Hollows, Aegean, Broken Weave, The Laundry, Heart, and many other game lines. She also writes interactive fiction for Choice of Games, and has had IF published in sub-Q magazine. Eleanor has released her own independent TTRPG zines, which you can find on her itch.io page: Ex Libris, Talking Thunder and Seed of an Idea. You can follow Eleanor on Bluesky.






Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* The King in Yellow by Robert W Chambers



* Call of Cthulhu and Detective Fiction



* Haunted Landscapes



* Ripples From Carcosa by Heather Miller



* Postmodern literature



* Small town horror



Show more...
2 months ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Small Town Horror, with Eleanor Hingley





We’re back and we’re keeping to ourselves. You really can’t be too careful. The outside world is full of dangerous ideas and strange people. Some of them don’t even play Call of Cthulhu. Sure, they might find our ways odd too, especially if they hear the singing in our early episodes. Still, the real small town horror is always other people.



Main Topic: Small Town Horror



This is a local episode for local people. We explore small town settings and why they work so well for horror. Isolated, insular communities are a mainstay of horror, usually populated by sinister locals who shun the outside world and treat strangers with suspicion, but there is much more to the subgenre than that. As well as digging into the major tropes of small town horror, we discuss ways to reinvent and subvert them, along with examples from media and our own gaming lives.



Our Guest Host



We are delighted to welcome Eleanor Hingley to the Good Friends! Eleanor is a lifelong horror fan, obsessed with Gothic and horror art since childhood. She has written for a bunch of tabletop roleplaying games, including Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game, Hollows, Aegean, Broken Weave, The Laundry, Heart, and many other game lines. She also writes interactive fiction for Choice of Games, and has had IF published in sub-Q magazine. Eleanor has released her own independent TTRPG zines, which you can find on her itch.io page: Ex Libris, Talking Thunder and Seed of an Idea. You can follow Eleanor on Bluesky.






Links



Things we mention in this episode include:




* An American Werewolf in London (1981)



* Hot Fuzz (2007)



* Folk horror



* In Cold Blood by Truman Capote



* “The Forbidden” by Clive Barker



* Candyman (1992)



* Archive 81



* Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin



* The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin



* Show more...
2 months ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Art and the Cthulhu Mythos, with Kailas Elmer





We’re back and we’re pushing boundaries. Good taste has never come easily to us, but it’s downright impossible when talking about art that might inspire Call of Cthulhu games. From performance artists who mutilate themselves in inventive ways to photographers who raid the local morgue looking for models, it’s hard for horror writers like us to make this stuff any nastier. But still we try.



Main Topic: Art and the Cthulhu Mythos



This episode is the conclusion of our two-part look into the relationship between art and the Cthulhu Mythos. Last time, we looked at the artistic influences that went into the work of Lovecraft and other Mythos writers. Now, we’re following that up with a discussion of artists who might inspire us at the gaming table.



Be warned that this episode covers a number of transgressive artists, and we discuss self-mutilation, bodily fluids, regurgitation, human remains, and acts of blasphemy.



Our Guest Host



We are delighted to welcome Kailas Elmer back 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:




* “A Message of Art” from Nameless Horrors



* “The Whisperer in Darkness” by HP Lovecraft



* The Imago Sequence by Laird Barron



* The brain as a receiver for consciousness



* Dawson’s Creek



* Ludwig Wittgenstein



* The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations by by Georges Polti



* Performance art



* Ron Athey



* Brian Catling



* The Vorrh Trilogy by Brian Catling



* Show more...
3 months ago

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...
3 months ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Analogue Horror, with Holly from RPG Reanimators





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 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...
4 months ago

The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Horror in Space, with Holly from RPG Reanimators





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 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...
4 months 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...
5 months 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...
5 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...
6 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...
6 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...
7 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...
7 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...
8 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...
8 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 ...
Show more...
8 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.