It isn't the adventure that will convert all non-believers to Macabre Tales and it could do with expanded information for the Referee in a couple of key places. However, it isn't a bad adventure and in the hands of a horror veteran Ref', this could provide a good evening of entertainment on whatever system you enjoy.

• I have a more in-depth review at http://knightsoftheblackbanner.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/macabre-tales-secret-of-dead-mans.html

Ok, I admit it: I wrote this scenario, but I gave it my best effort, and I'm pleased with how it turned out.

My goal with writing the adventure was to make something that was Lovecraftian but filled a niche that I hadn't quite seen filled in Lovecraftian horror games before (and I've been playing Call of Cthulhu since 4th Edition first hit stands). As it turned out, the domino driven mechanics as well as the One GM & One Character method really worked for the ideas I had in mind.

In short, I wanted a story that blended Lovecraft's weirder elements with some mundane (but no less dangerous) threats--a story that had both human and mythos horrors! I wanted to bombard a character with multiple mysteries and force them to untangle them. I wanted the adversaries to be both empathetic and nasty. I wanted a story that worked for one PC or (with little modification) for a handful. I hope I've succeeded.

The art is pretty great, too--pulpy and eerie at the same time. Writers get little say in the way their material is presented via illustrations. Stephen Shepherd, Scott Harshbarger, and Jiří Dvorský delivered some fine images.

Special thanks go out to Cynthia Celeste Miller for giving my crazy ideas a shot.