Miskatonic Monday #256: The True Housewives of Arkham

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 True Housewives of Arkham

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Keith DEdinburgh

Setting: Modern Day Arkham

Product: One-Shot Scenario
What You Get: Forty-nine page, 2.37 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: The hell of other housewives is a whole other reality (television pitch).

Plot Hook: Fame, fortune, and fabulous frenemies in Arkham

Plot Support: Staging advice, five pre-generated Housewives, three NPCs plus Mister Chow Wow, one  map, and three Mythos monsters

Production Values: Decent

Pros

# Reality Television terror 

# Adds interesting social mechanics for inter-Housewife interaction

# Plenty of scope for over-the-top roleplaying 

# Potential convention scenario

# Vestiphophobia

# Metathesiophobia

# Scopophobia

Cons

# The parody can tip over into the camp and vice versa

Conclusion

# The horror of Reality Television becomes a reality

# Housewife horror sets up plenty of scope for unreal roleplaying before the reality of the horror hits!