A Halloween treat from Lulu.com

If you've been thinking about ordering a print-on-demand game (or book, or any other items) from Lulu.com, they just released two coupon codes valid this weekend only. From the announcement email:

Enter coupon code TRICK305 at checkout and receive 20% off your order. The maximum savings for this offer is $100. Enter coupon code TREAT305 at checkout and receive 25% off your order of $500 or more. The maximum savings for this offer is $500. Sorry, but these offers are only valid in US dollars and cannot be applied to previous orders. You can only use these codes once per account, and unfortunately you can't use these coupons in combination with other coupon codes. These great offers expire on November 1, 2010 at 11:59 PM...

15 games, 15 minutes

Following along with the gaming blog meme "15 Games in 15 Minutes", which I first spotted at Age of Ravens and later at Grognardia.

The rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen games you've played that will always stick with you. List the first 15 you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.

My list:

1. Dungeons & Dragons (1e, Mentzer Basic/Expert)
2. Call of Cthulhu (particularly 4th and 5th ed.)
3. Star Frontiers
4. Warhammer 40,000
5. GURPS (3rd ed.)
   
6. The Bard's Tale II (for the Amiga!)
7. TIE Fighter (PC)
   
8. Pitfall (Atari 2600)
9. Villains and Vigilantes
   
10. James Bond 007
11. Starcraft (PC)
12. Marvel Super Heroes (TSR, FASERIP)
13. Rolemaster
14. Tekken 2/3, Soul Caliber (PS2)
15. Tomb Raider (PS2)

Mostly tabletop gaming, but with a mix of console and computer games. The games in this list have meaning for me because they each could represent a particular stage in my (gaming) life. Also, these might represent different styles of play or design philosophy.

Happy Birthday, Bela Lugosi

The actor famous for his portrayal of Dracula was born 128 years ago today.

"Bela, how do you do that?"
"You must be double-jointed. And you must be Hungarian."

Jazz Age Culture for Call of Cthulhu players

Jazz Age Culture, parts I, II, and the Writers page, is a scholarly resource on 1920s popular culture, focused specifically on the United States. Aside from a few short articles, most of the site is a collection of links to other 1920s resources on the web loosely grouped by subject. Much of the information linked here would be of interest to Cthulhu 1920s players, including fashion, movies, gangsters, music, technology and inventions of the time. Where else would you find The Unofficial Tommy Gun Page? It is an excellent resource for historical research for both Keepers and players.

Update: The Jazz Age Culture pages have been moved to another site.

Vampire Circus release date

The Digital Bits is reporting that the release date for the Vampire Circus Blu-ray/DVD combo is December 14th. Of course, you can check it out right now through Instant Netflix.

The Red Box Diaries at The Escapist

This "escaped" me earlier -- about three weeks ago The Escapist Magazine had an issue devoted to the influence of Dungeons & Dragons on the videogame industry, timed to coincide with the release of the new "Red Box" 4th edition Starter Set. Articles in this issue include the story of a veteran computer gamer's first try at a tabletop role-playing game, and a look at the new Starter Set with Mike Mearls, who is now the full D&D manager at Wizards of the Coast.

I purchased the new "Red Box" the week it was released, partially for nostalgic reasons and partially with the hope that it would make a good introduction to 4e. I have mixed feelings on both counts which I'll share in a future posting.

Hammer horrors and others this month on Turner Classic Movies

Continuing the theme of Halloween movies, I just found out yesterday that Turner Classic Movies is showing Hammer films each Friday night this month. My apologies for not noticing earlier; the Dracula films were on October 1st. Check the link above for the main article and the movie listing.

Take a look at the rest of the schedule for more non-Hammer monster and suspense films throughout October, especially the three days of the Halloween weekend. Universal horrors from the '30s and '40s with Lionel Atwill, Boris Karloff or Bela Lugosi on Friday and Sunday, a block of William Castle films on Saturday, and Vincent Price and haunted house movies on Halloween itself.

For your Instant Netflix viewing pleasure...

The cool chill of autumn is in the air, which means that October is here. For me the tenth month has always meant Halloween and, perhaps more importantly, monster movies.

Here is a list of Showa-era Godzilla and Toho kaiju films that have been added recently to Instant Streaming Netflix:

Rodan (1956)
Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965)
War of the Gargantuas (1966)
Godzilla vs. Mothra (1964)
Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster (1964)
Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)
Godzilla's Revenge (1969)

Also, from this thread at the Mobius Home Video Forum, a partial list of other horror and monster movies newly-added to Instant Netflix:

COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE (1970)
THE RETURN OF COUNT YORGA (1971)
VAMPIRE CIRCUS (1972)
HANDS OF THE RIPPER (1971)
IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE (1958)
THE MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD (1957)
THE FOOD OF THE GODS (1976)
EMPIRE OF THE ANTS (1977)
TENTACLES (1977)
OCTAMAN (1971)
FUTUREWORLD (1976)
YONGARY, MONSTER FROM THE DEEP (1967)
THE VAMPIRE LOVERS (1970)
SOMETIMES THEY COME BACK (1991)
THE RETURN OF DRACULA (1958)
THE RAVEN (1963)
THE TOMB OF LIGEIA (1964)
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964)
THE COMEDY OF TERRORS (1964)
DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN (1972)
TALES OF TERROR (1962)
WITCHFINDER GENERAL (1968)
THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (1976)
AMITYVILLE II: THE POSSESSION (1982)
AMITYVILLE 3D (1983)
TRANCERS 2: THE RETURN OF JACK DETH (1990)
ZONE TROOPERS (1985)
NIGHT DRIVE (1971)
AMOK TRAIN (1989)
GHOST WARRIOR (1986)
OPEN HOUSE (1987)
THE FALLING (1987)
THE IMMORTALIZER (1989)
THE VIDEO DEAD (1987)
VICIOUS LIPS (1987)
ROCKULA (1990)
NEW YEAR'S EVIL (1980)
DR. HECKYL AND MR. HYPE (1980)
DERANGED (1974)
CRAWLSPACE (1986)
CULT OF THE DAMNED (1969)
THE CRIMSON CULT (1968)
THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT (2009)
CATACOMBS (2006)
SHAOLIN VS. EVIL DEAD (2004)
SHAOLIN VS. EVIL DEAD: ULTIMATE POWER (2006)
THE VAMPIRE (1957)
NEANDERTHAL MAN (1953)
THE TOMB (1986)
BLACK SABBATH (1963)
THE ANGRY RED PLANET (1959)
QUEEN OF BLOOD (1966)
THE BEAST WITHIN (1982)
ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU: DIRECTOR'S CUT (1977)
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1977)
SQUIRM (1976)
VAMPIRE'S KISS (1989)
COUNTESS DRACULA (1971)
DIE MONSTER DIE! (1965)
THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN (1977)
FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC (1987)
CARRIE (1976)
THE DEAD HATE THE LIVING (2000)
LASERBLAST (1978)
LEVIATHAN (1989)
EVENT HORIZON (1997)
EDGE OF SANITY (1989)
THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972)
SPHERE (1998)
HOUSE OF 9 (2005)
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (1992)
THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE (2001)
THE GHOUL (1933)
FROM A WHISPER TO A SCREAM (1987)
INTRUDER (1989)
THE BURNING (1981)
THE INCREDIBLE TWO-HEADED TRANSPLANT (1971)
THE THING WITH TWO HEADS (1972)