Miskatonic Monday #124: Dream House

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: Dream House

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Evan Perlman

Setting: Jazz Age Boston

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Thirty-one page, 4.30 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: A spiritual successor to The Haunting

Plot Hook: Helping an old friend reveals horrible secrets
Plot Support: Staging advice, two floor plans, three handouts, six pre-generated Investigators, eight NPCs, one Mythos monster, and one Mythos tome. 

Production Values: Decent.

Pros

# One night one-shot

# Enclosed space, focused scenario

# Creepy sense of déjà vu

# Fun for the Keeper to run

# Literally a spiritual sequel to The Haunting

# Potential sequel down another trouser leg of time

# Potential to play around with multiple protagonists

# Can be run with player-created or pre-generated Investigators

# Good with two Investigators as it is with five
# Failure is not the end...

Cons

# Another sequel to The Haunting?

# Failure is not the end...

# The déjà vu requires careful handling

Conclusion

# Literally a spiritual sequel to The Haunting with a creepy and claustrophobic sense of déjà vu that is cleverly designed and thought out.