Finding the Horror in History, with Eleanor Hingley

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349: Finding the Horror in History

Main Topic: Finding the Horror in History

History is rife with real horror, be it war, plague, famine or something less biblical. Incorporating these horrors into our games can add depth and texture, but what are the advantages and potential pitfalls of doing so? Which elements and eras are we drawn to? And what kinds of games might we create with this approach?

We discussed how to bring historical settings to life with Ross Bryant back in episode 301.

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.

Eleanor can also be found on her new Patreon site.

Eleanor has previously joined us to discuss:

Things we mention in this episode include:

News

Patreon Changes

We are still trying to implement the planned changes to our Patreon subscriptions ahead of the deprecation of per-creation charging at the end of this month. It’s taken much longer than anticipated, but Patreon’s customer service reps are finally talking to us. We shall post updates to our Patreon and Discord as we hear more.

October Horror Movie Challenge

Scott is once again undertaking the October Horror Movie Challenge, posting a review every day of a horror film he hasn’t seen before. Current highlights include Messiah of Evil and Why Don’t You Just Die! If you fancy joining in, you can find a lively discussion taking place on our Discord server.

Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum, Macharian Adversary Guide

Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum, Macharian Adversary Guide has just been released, featuring work from our own Matt Sanderson.

At the highest echelons of Imperial command in the Macharian Sector, Prefectus Castel and her office of adepts collect and curate threat assessments for Sector Lord Aulus Sejanus. Reports on xenos atrocities, depraved cults, and hidden sedition are collated from the testimonies of survivors, spies, and captives. Those reports not diverted or censored by agents of the Inquisition are presented to the Sector Lord and his advisors, whose swift and decisive action will surely address the adversaries at hand.

Or at least, so it should be, for Castel’s office is no different from other branches of the Adeptus Administratum. Constrained by endless bureaucracy and labyrinthine politicking, no report makes its way to the desk of Sector Lord Aulus Sejanus unless a dozen interested parties agree that doing so may serve their own interests. This deadlock leaves the sector vulnerable, abandoning whole worlds to their fate, leaving the grim task of facing down these enemies to others, most of whom are far from equal to the task…

Halloween Livestream with Symphony Entertainment

In what has become another Halloween tradition, Scott will be joining our good friends at Symphony Entertainment for a livestreamed improvised game on the 20th of October, at 8 PM UK time/3 PM EDT. As ever, the game will be run by Graham Walmsley, with Bridgett Jeffries and Scott as players. These short games are systemless and played for maximum creepiness. If you can’t join us live, the session should appear on YouTube not long afterwards.

Glass Cannon Live Recording

Once again, Scott wrote a scenario for our good friends at The Glass Cannon Network to run at Gen Con, and it is now available on YouTube. “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” (which may be published as “The King in Gold Lamé”) is a weird Elvis-themed romp through Las Vegas and even stranger realms, and features an all-star cast including Good Friends regulars Ross Bryant and Jared Logan.

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Atomic Horror, with Jared Logan

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Main Topic: Atomic Horror

Since the dawn of the atomic age in the 1940s, our fear of atom bombs and radioactivity has mutated horror in all sorts of strange ways. But is this purely an artefact of the Cold War? What are some of the most striking ways we’ve seen atomic horror used in media? And what happens when we irradiate our own games?

Our Guest Host

We are delighted to welcome Jared Logan back 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, Ain’t Slayed Nobody, and Push the Roll With Ross Bryant. You can also find Jared running Vampire: the Masquerade for the good folks at Last Podcast on the Left.

Jared has previously joined us to discuss:

Things we mention in this episode include:

News

Patreon Changes

Patreon has announced that they are discontinuing the option for creators to charge per creation (per episode, in our case). This is the model we have always used, as it was the only option available when we started. Instead, we now have switch to a monthly subscription.

We are also taking this opportunity to change from US dollars to British Pounds, as, again, this wasn’t an option when we started.

From September 2026, our three basic tiers will be £3, £6 and £10 per month, replacing the old $1, $3 and $5 per-episode tiers. Higher tiers will simply be double the current cost, but in Pounds. This works out as roughly the same cost. The rewards for each tier will also stay the same.

This change additionally allows us to enable annual subscriptions, although we are still looking into these. If this sounds like something you would be interested in, please let us know.

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The Voice in the Night, with Jared Logan

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Main Topic: The Voice in the Night

While William Hope Hodgson never wrote a Cthulhu Mythos story, his brand of weird fiction complements the Mythos nicely, and Lovecraft himself was a fan. His work ranged from ghost stories that could almost be Scooby-Doo episodes to the wildly cosmic, passing through the uncanny and body horror. And, as with the story we’re discussing today, many drew on Hodgson’s own experiences as a sailor. But what can “The Voice in the Night” tell us that might inspire our Call of Cthulhu games?

Our readings for this episode come from Mike Perceval-Maxwell. You can hear the full story on his podcast, Mr Spike’s Bedtime Stories, along with many other fine classics of weird fiction.

Our Guest Host

We are delighted to welcome Jared Logan back 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, Ain’t Slayed Nobody, and Push the Roll With Ross Bryant. You can also find Jared running Vampire: the Masquerade for the good folks behind Last Podcast on the Left.

Jared has previously joined us to discuss:

William Hope Hodgson

Things we mention in this episode include:

News

Patreon Changes Update

We hit a delay on switching over to monthly subscriptions. Patreon need to manually authorise the change and have not yet done so. While this means the September billing was done on the old per-episode model, we anticipate that October will be monthly as planned.

As we mentioned before, we are also taking this opportunity to change from US dollars to British Pounds.

From October 2026, our three basic tiers will be £3, £6 and £10 per month, replacing the old $1, $3 and $5 per-episode tiers. Higher tiers will simply be double the current cost, but in Pounds. This works out as roughly the same cost. The rewards for each tier will also stay the same.

We are currently looking into enabling annual subscriptions and will have more details soon.

Matt at the Innsmouth Literary Festival

Matt will be attending the Innsmouth Literary Festival in Bedford on Saturday the 19th of September. Please do say hi if you find him shambling through the aisles.

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Cosy Horror, with Holly from RPG Reanimators

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Main Topic: Cosy Horror

Horror is usually meant to scare us, but this isn’t always the case. Sometimes it can be oddly comforting — cosy, even. Maybe this is because it’s an old favourite, or perhaps it’s something non-threatening, even hopeful.

So how do we even start defining cosy horror? What are some of the defining works of this subgenre? And how might we bring a touch of cosiness to our own games?

There is some overlap between this and our discussions of horror for the nervous (episode 307) and gateway horror (episode 337), but we take things in a different direction.

Our Guest Host

We are delighted to welcome Holly back 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.

Holly has previously joined us to discuss:

Things we mention in this episode include:

News

Patreon Changes

Patreon has announced that they are discontinuing the option for creators to charge per creation (per episode, in our case). This is the model we have always used, as it was the only option available when we started. Instead, we now have switch to a monthly subscription.

We are also taking this opportunity to change from US dollars to British Pounds, as, again, this wasn’t an option when we started.

From September 2026, our three basic tiers will be £3, £6 and £10 per month, replacing the old $1, $3 and $5 per-episode tiers. Higher tiers will simply be double the current cost, but in Pounds. This works out as roughly the same cost. The rewards for each tier will also stay the same.

Existing backers do not need to take any action. The update will happen automatically.

This change additionally allows us to enable annual subscriptions, although we are still looking into these. If this sounds like something you would be interested in, please let us know.

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Food and Horror, with Cuppycup

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Main Topic: Food and Horror

To live is to require sustenance. Food is not only nutrition but usually a source of pleasure. But our relationship with food is complicated and filled with potential horror. Can we trust that what we eat is not tainted? What happens when our relationship with food becomes dysfunctional? Should we blind ourselves to the horrors of where our food comes from? And how do we react when humans are on the menu?

We touched on some of these issues in episode 182, on Disgust and Body Horror.

Content Warnings

After our look at gore, we had requests for content warnings when we mention extreme or potentially upsetting subject matter. In this episode, we discuss contaminated food, coprophagy, factory farming, disordered eating, body dysmorphia, bullying, cannibalism, brain diseases, and parasites. There will probably also be other aspects that may be upsetting in ways we haven’t anticipated. Be warned.

Our Guest Host

We are delighted to welcome Cuppycup back to the Good Friends!

Cuppycup is the creator and producer of Ain’t Slayed Nobody and Push the Roll with Ross Bryant, both part of the Push the Roll umbrella. His work in actual play has earned an ENnie Gold Award, Golden Lobe, AudioVerse Awards, and a place in the EN World Actual Play Hall of Fame. Across his shows, Cup blends horror, comedy, and sound-rich production, with a special love for Call of Cthulhu and stories where bad decisions only make things better.

He can be heard as a player on Push the Roll with Ross Bryant. Find him on pushtheroll.com or via Instagram or Bluesky.

You can also hear Cup on other episodes of the Good Friends:

Things we mention in this episode include:

Arthur Rackham’s illustration of Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market”

News

Thanks for A Weekend With Good Friends

As we wrap up another Weekend With Good Friends, we would like to thank all the lovely people who made it happen. The convention organisers and staff did a staggering amount of work behind the scenes to ensure everything went smoothly, and we’d like to thank the individuals involved.

PT, Sue and Mike handled the organisational and technical work that underpins the entire convention, creating and maintaining code that handles everything from game signups with localised times to the lottery system that assigns places in games. Without their efforts, the convention simply would not have happened.

Miranda and Nate organised and ran the panels, wrangling guests, handling the technology on the day, and ensuring it all made it onto YouTube. This year, these panels included two live episodes of the Good Friends, which will go out in edited form on the podcast feed in July, and we couldn’t have streamed them without Miranda’s help and expertise.

Our wonderful volunteers and moderators helped tirelessly throughout the weekend, ensuring people got into games and that vacancies were filled quickly. Thank you to Dave, Wishmoon, AnalogFrog, Martin, Mav, Chris, and anyone I may have missed for answering tickets, offering advice, and generally providing moral support.

And I would also like to thank all of you who joined us this weekend, whether as a GM, a player, a panellist, or if you read a story on the bar stage. A convention is only as good as the people who attend it, and this was as wonderful a collection of attendees as we could have wished for.

A Weekend With Good Friends logo

Tools of the Trade

The book that cost Matt many sleepless nights and at least 1D20 points of Sanity has been announced! Tools of the Trade will be out later this year, containing the fruits of countless hours spent picking through old catalogues from the classic Call of Cthulhu era and converting the entries into gameable items. If you encounter Matt at a convention, please thank him for his efforts, commiserate for the toll they took, and wait patiently for the thousand-yard stare to leave his eyes.

For Whom the Taco Bell Tolls

Scott recently did a reading for our good friends at the Titterpigs podcast, relating Scott Joest’s sanity-blasting burrito experience at Chaosium Con 2026. Check it out below or on their podcast feed. You may never see a tortilla the same way.

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