Miskatonic Monday #253: The Neighbor

Between October 2003 and October 2013, Chaosium, Inc. published a series of books for Call of Cthulhu under the Miskatonic University Library Association brand. Whether a sourcebook, scenario, anthology, or campaign, each was a showcase for their authors—amateur rather than professional, but fans of Call of Cthulhu nonetheless—to put forward their ideas and share with others. The programme was notable for having launched the writing careers of several authors, but for every Cthulhu Invictus, The Pastores, Primal State, Ripples from Carcosa, and Halloween Horror, there was Five Go Mad in Egypt, Return of the Ripper, Rise of the Dead, Rise of the Dead II: The Raid, and more...

The Miskatonic University Library Association brand is no more, alas, but what we have in its stead is the Miskatonic Repository, based on the same format as the DM’s Guild for Dungeons & Dragons. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

—oOo—

Name: The Neighbor

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Quico Vicens-Picatto

Setting: 1890s Liverpool

Product: One session one-shot
What You Get: Seventeen page, 10.96 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Madness begins at home
Plot Hook: Possession of a new home leads to possession of another kind.

Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators, ten NPCs, and two handouts.

Production Values: Colourful

Pros

# Cthulhu by Gaslight one-shot

# Fantastic cover

# Weird sense of impinging horror

# Porphyrophobia

# Eisoptrophobia

# Trypophobia

Cons

# Needs a good edit

# Potential for domestic abuse and violence

# No solution except their end

# No NPC stats

# No floorplans
# No street plans

Conclusion

# Uneasy, queasy horror that eases into the torturous

# Mature players-only scenario which includes potentially difficult subjects in a nasty case of eviction