Three horror one-shots in January

I thought it’d be nice to start the year with some short, sharp shocks. For the first 24 hours, please don’t sign up for more than one of these so more people get a chance to play.

This event description includes specific blurbs for each game, and then some general information that applies to all of them. Session times are given in AEDT but follow the link for your local start time.

Bluebeard’s Bride - 10am Saturday 15th Jan
Session link: https://gauntlet-hangouts.firebaseapp.com/event-detail/-MqE9YHvgpI2XSnv7dRy

One spot in this game is saved for David S.

Reader, you married him. A wealthy noble far above your station. But now he’s left you in his enormous estate, free to explore the house as you wish - as long as you don’t go into that one room.

Bluebeard’s Bride is a game of feminine horror by Whitney ‘Strix’ Beltran, Marissa Kelly and Sarah Doom, inspired by stories like Ginger Snaps, Jennifer’s Body and The Bloody Chamber. You play as aspects of the main character’s psyche as she explores the nightmarish rooms in her new husband’s mansion, trying to decide whether or not you trust him, and whether or not you will open the one forbidden door.

This is one of the darkest and most intense horror games I’ve played and includes not only the usual horror staples of violence and gore but exploration of many kinds of gendered violence, abuse, poverty, loss of agency and body horror.

Lovecraftesque - 10am Saturday 22nd Jan
Session link: https://gauntlet-hangouts.firebaseapp.com/event-detail/-MqE9xsdwT9OAW-8xGLu

Luis Alvarez is a former soldier of a quasi-military governmental organisation that fought to suppress Mythos threats. After a failed operation, the force was disbanded. To forget the organisation that abandoned him and the fight that is no longer his, Luis is losing himself in the New York disco scene, abandoning himself to drugs, sex and dance. But something terrible is about to interrupt his hedonistic idyll.

Lovecraftesque is a GMless storytelling game where we co-create a slow-building tale of cosmic horror. The game is by Becky Annison and Joshua Fox, and Resonate is a scenario by Graham Walmsley. We all take turns to play as both the shared protagonist and the narrator as the story moves towards a terrible climax.

Subject matter may include references to alcohol and drug use, sex, violence, gore, body horror, and military trauma. You’ll need to be comfortable playing a sexually active gay man to enjoy this game.

Quietus - 10am Saturday 29th Jan
Session link: https://gauntlet-hangouts.firebaseapp.com/event-detail/-MqEAWdQ7pHS6XG38zu9

Quietus is a game of melancholy horror by Oli Jeffery that evokes the high-emotion dread of movies like Hereditary, Titane, The Badadook, etc. It’s a prep-less game so we will decide on the set-up together at the start of play. This means I can’t provide specific subject matter warnings, but we’ll talk together about boundaries and safety tools before we play.

Info For All Three Sessions

We’ll use safety tools including lines and veils, the X card and the open door, and the game will run under the Gauntlet Community Code of Conduct.

No rules knowledge is required, and all rules will be taught during play.

We’ll be playing over Streamyard with short breaks on the hour. I’ll ask if players are comfortable recording the sessions, and will only do so if all players consent.

I’ll email players a week before the session to confirm attendance and share play materials.

Open access time for sign ups is 9pm 8/12 AEDT.

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