When I was a kid some of the first novels I read were from Poe, Melville, and Dickens. My great grandfather at some point had acquired this "great works of literature" set of books. Published in the early 1900's, they were sold in a sort of Columbia Records style service model.
I am pretty sure it was some sort of scam.
I got lucky that when my great grandmother died that the shitty relatives that raided her house left these behind. The books ended up with my mom and not that many years later, I discovered them.
I was mesmerized. I read my way through what used to be called the "canon" of great literature. Before I discovered the Sad Texan, the Repressed Racist, the Professor, and Saint Le Guin, I was well versed in the works that influenced them.
It is probably why I have been continuously drawn to and disappointed by Ravenloft.
The very idea of it is wonderful. A gothic horror RPG using the most well known RPG on the planet. Unfortunately gothic horror and D&D work like Malört and...
Well, pretty much everything...
Honestly, the best version of a gothic horror RPG is Annalise. We should all just go play that instead of both with this nonsense...
But as I am glutton for literary punishment, I dug out yet another Ravenloft product to poke and prod at. This time I reached for the Forbidden Lore boxed set to see if my memories are as faulty as I think they are.
