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Inspirations for Humorous Horror


seneschal

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Just wondered if anyone had ever run a successful campaign mixing humor with horror?  Some of my favorite inspirations for the sub-genre include:

 

The Cat and the Canary (1939) -- Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard
 
A remake of the venerable 1927 old dark house mystery with Bob Hope guarding the lovely heiress from the mysterious "Cat" killer
 
The Ghost Breakers (1940) -- Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard
 
Hope again romances and protects an heiress who has inherited a spooky Cuban castle haunted by ghosts, zombies and perhaps more.  The zombie is smarter and more energetic than we've come to expect of the breed.
 
Hold That Ghost (1941) -- Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
 
The duo inherit a gangster's abandoned roadhouse, complete with secret passages and changing rooms.  Somebody else is crawling about the place.  Is it a ghost?
 
Spooks Run Wild (1941) -- The East Side Kids
 
Boys from a tough neighborhood encounter Bela Lugosi while attending summer camp.
 
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) -- Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
 
This is the first and best of their "meet" series.  In this case, they're up against nearly every Universal Monster except the Creature of the Black Lagoon (who encountered them later on TV).
 
Castle of the Monsters (1958) -- Antonio Espino
 
Masked wrestlers met lots of horror icons in Mexican cinema, but this is an early supernatural comedy starring a less buff protagonist.  Is there a spooky castle?  A mad scientist?  A creepy assistant?  Secret passages?  Need you ask?
 
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) -- Don Knotts
 
A cub reporter gets more than he bargained for when he agrees to spend the night in a mansion in which a celebrated murder took place.  But afterward, no one will believe him.
 
There are other comedic thrillers, of course, but these entries all share similar tropes and most are set not too long after the classic Lovecraftian era.  There is usually a damsel in distress, a large edifice of evil renown riddled with secret passages, multiple antagonists both human and supernatural, and stubborn but nervous heroes who can't simply beat the bad guys up.
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I have not, but I hope to. I like those old movies, and I think such a game would go over well with my daughter and wife.

 

OTOH I could be wrong. I showed them "The Gorilla." My wife got up and left the room partway through. After the show my daughter (12 yrs old) said it was a pretty crazy movie (not in a good way), and she didn't really understand what was going on.

 

Will shoot for "Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein" next.

 

I'm still considering Scooby Doo Cthulhu, but haven't found a decent episode to show them yet.

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Scooby and Shaggy could meet some of the old tentacled gods and after quite a nightmare realize they just got some bad marijuana.

Er...I mean scooby snacks...

Author QUASAR space opera system: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/459723/QUASAR?affiliate_id=810507

My Magic World projects page: Tooleys Underwhelming Projects

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I have not, but I hope to. I like those old movies, and I think such a game would go over well with my daughter and wife.

 

OTOH I could be wrong. I showed them "The Gorilla." My wife got up and left the room partway through. After the show my daughter (12 yrs old) said it was a pretty crazy movie (not in a good way), and she didn't really understand what was going on.

 

Will shoot for "Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein" next.

 

I'm still considering Scooby Doo Cthulhu, but haven't found a decent episode to show them yet.

The films I listed didn't include gorillas but killer apes are definitely another staple of the old dark house mystery, inspired no doubt by Edgar Allan Poe's The Muders in the Rue Morgue.  They almost comprise their own sub-genre.  Everyone from Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi to The Three Stooges ran into them at one point or another.  Whether it is an escaped circus exhibit, a mad scientist's experiment, an evil jungle queen's pet, or a human murderer in a costume -- the killer gorilla excels at hiding in rafters, lurking in dark corners, scaling walls to enter through an open bedroom or office window.  Mere iron bars and wooden doors cannot restrain its brutal rage.  Of course, it never leaves behind any evidence that a '40s movie policeman can interpret correctly, sometimes even making its way back into a cage or pen before authorities arrive.

 

Fer gosh sakes, don't go in the attic/basement/south wing/exhibit hall D!!!

 

Mr. Jealousy -- Played many a game of TOON.  Good times!  Rules lite, and since nobody ever dies you don't have to keep rolling up replacement player-characters.  :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

http://www.amazon.com/Killer-Pizza-Greg-Taylor/dp/0312674856

 

http://tinyurl.com/lgt7ve4

 

I stumbled across the second volume of a kids' horror series, Killer Pizza:  The Slice by Greg Taylor, and read the first couple chapters.  It actually isn't very well written, no character development and stock situations, but I love the concept:  instead of SAVE or a doddering collection of Miskatonic U. professors, the organization fighting to rescue humanity from the unknown is a fast food pizza chain.  ;D

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