How do you measure fear? Is it in the rapid-fire pulse of an adrenalin-kicked heartbeat? Or the temperament of the bone-chill crawling ‘cross your spine? Or the number of follicles that prickle your goose-fleshed skin? Or the elapsed pause between anguish-choked breaths? Or the ear-splitting decibels of a terror-pitched scream?
Multi-award winning author and fantasy maven Monte Cook knows, and it is through his fictional transcripts, “The Shandler Chronicles,” that he measures it by. Published exclusively in Game Trade Magazine in 2003-05, “The Shandler Chronicles” introduced readers to intrepid occult investigator Phillip Shandler, taking us on a case-by-case, fright-fraught tour of 1930’s Arkham, Miskatonic U., and all-points preternatural. Through his storied accounts (culled from Shandler’s personally penned narrative), Cook embroiled us in foul and fiendish sorts and supernatural shenanigans. From the insidious trappings of the Necronomicon and the all-encompassing malevolence of Nyarlathotep, to the ethereal steps of Ulthar, city of The Dreamlands, and the labyrinthine intrigue of The Silver Moon Society, Shandler served as our guide (with a nose for the unnatural and profane) to a ghastly, ghoulish world ripped straight from the maniacal meanderings of H.P. Lovecraft, brimming with diabolical denizens, misanthropic monstrosities, and tentacled terrors.
Now, GTM has clawed open the archival gates, dug deep, and dusted off these vintage manuscripts for a new generation of readers. Revisit these classic Chapter grabs (32 in all), and check out the newest Shandler tales ["The Star of Unseen Stars"] from original scribe and progenitor Monte Cook.