In the basement of BBP’s Editor-In-Chief, Andy Burns, I’ve played Fantasy Flight’s Arkham Horror co-operative board game along with a few other wayward, cosmic-horror loving pals.
Admittedly, the game is creepy stuff.
With more than one glass of red wine, players assume the role of investigator and, with the aid of pistols and arcane weaponry, attempt to thwart the entrance of ancient evils in the dark and mysterious early twentieth century town of fictional Arkham, Massachusetts.
Based on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, the beloved Arkham Horror is full of unspeakable and grotesque creatures and the terrifying humans that would see them overthrow mankind. It’s a compelling world and a game that grows increasingly frantic as time passes, becoming more and more difficult to win – at least for my basement-dwelling pals and I.
And that’s just as the Old Ones would have it, didn’t you know?
Fantasy Flight Games has been hard at work expanding their original offering into new avenues of entertainment: from board games to card games to video games, novels and, finally, to the comic book medium via Dark Horse Comics and the first issue of Arkham Horror: The Terror At The End Of Time.
Written and illustrated by masters of the horror genre, Cullen Bunn (Harrow County, Monsters Are My Business, The Midnight Show, The Sixth Gun) and Andrea Mutti (Parasomnia, The British Paranormal Society, The Panic, Cold Bodies), Arkham Horror: The Terror At The End Of Time is a four-issue miniseries featuring characters that those acquainted with the board game would easily recognize.
Along with her sister, Izzie, socialite Jenny Barnes was living the good life, partaking in well-to-do champagne-sipping parties and carousing with members of the opposite sex. That is until her sister fell into a furtive group and was abducted by a dangerous cult and their high priestess leader, Abigail Olmstead. Now, with the help of private investigator Joe Diamond, the two partners will search under every floorboard and at the bottom of every basement dwelling in order to follow the clues of Izzy’s tangled whereabouts.
But this is Arkham. And that means strange horrors await Jenny and Joe.
From dusty, death-defying cultists and human thralls to the cosmic terrors of shamblers, nightgaunts and other, more unspeakable and otherworldly entities, somewhere out in the horror of Arkham is a life that needs saving! And the clock is ticking down.
A wonderful tie-in to the world of Arkham Horror for both new and old fans of the game or genre, Arkham Horror: The Terror At The End Of Time #1 is a great and fast-paced read that broadens the mythology the board and cards games started. It’s perfect for the shortening of summer holidays and lengthening of end of season nights.
Make the run to your local comic book shop, reach out your own tentacles and wrap yourself around the mesmerizing and thrilling Arkham Horror: The Terror At The End Of Time #1 today!
You can catch a sneak preview of Arkham Horror: The Terror At The End Of Time #1 right here.