Be Kind, Rewind: A Review of The Gauntlet's Public Access

Much earlier this year, I came across references to a new RPG from the Gauntlet, a group whose podcasts I’ve been listening to for several years now. They’re a group of people who run, review, and publish role playing games. Originally based out of Austen, Texas, they have largely moved online. The RPG in question was a new game from designer Jason Cordova, Public Access, and and I paid the $15 to get the pdf of it as soon as I saw it had gone live.

Domesticity and Horror: the Woman-in-House Novel

Right now, I want to talk about a common subgenre within horror, which I am coming to call the “woman-in-house” novel. These are not simply haunted house novels; they are not simply feminist horror novels; these are not simply gothic novels. They display a constellation of traits that makes them identifiable as the same kind of thing.

A Spectrum of Haunting

Rereading it in preparation for the class, I was struck by a simple but surprisingly deep question: what does it mean for something to be haunted? Not on the surface, but as part of a deeper cultural question. What does it make sense to think of as being haunted?

Personalizing the Impersonal: on Hyperobjects, etc.

It becomes increasingly clear that what we are exploring is not a something-else but a something of which we, of which I and you and Cameron in the kitchen, are already a part. Something else is going on.

Katabasis: On Geist: The Sin-Eaters Second Edition

I need to take a brief break from talking about political and theoretical topics, because I’m building my classes for the fall, working a lot at my summer job, and it’s hot as hell in the apartment – so I’m going to do my normal thing when I need to do that and discuss tabletop role-playing games.