23 October: Harlem Unbound

 

"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.”

I was hoping to switch things up more often for Cinematic Void’s 31 Days of Voidoween. While Voidoween is a daily challenge for Void-iacs to share their favorite horror movies for Halloween, I thought that I would be able to share some non-cinematic treats here and there. I’ve had a few up until today, but for the most part I’ve stuck to choosing movies. Boring! So, for today’s challenge - “Blaxploitation” - I’m gonna go way out on a limb and choose a supplement to my favorite role-playing game, Call of Cthulhu. Today, let’s chit-chat about Chris Spivey and Darker Hue Studios’ sourcebook Harlem Unbound!

H. P. Lovecraft is going through a renaissance lately. The Providence, RI, native has got a slimy tentacle in every media format you can think of: movies, music, comic books, board games, video games, role-playing games, etc. Unfortunately, Lovecraft and his works come with a lot of baggage. Lovecraft is a racists’ racist. Name a race, a gender, a sexual orientation, a national origin, attach the suffix “-phobe” to the end, and you’d have a pretty accurate description of ol’ Howard Phillips.

Yet, there’s something about the world Lovecraft’s words describe that keeps drawing people's attention. Men, women, Black, white, gay, straight, and every point on the spectrum these terms try to define – everyone, it seems, can find something in Lovecraft that they can use in their own work. I think it’s Lovecraft’s conception of “cosmic horror” that keeps folks coming back for more. Just go back and re-read the quote that begins this blog post. It’s the opening paragraph of Lovecraft’s short story, “The Call of Cthulhu,” and it serves as a good definition of the term.

Chris Spivey’s Harlem Unbound is a sourcebook and supplement to Chaosium, Inc's role-playing game Call of Cthulhu. It is an excellent example of the ways in which a black artist can use Lovecraft’s world but not his worldview. Call of Cthulhu is a game that usually takes place during the 1920s, the time that Lovecraft himself was alive. Harlem Unbound is also set in the 1920s, but it gives voice to those who were silenced in Lovecraft’s stories. Inside Spivey’s tome, you’ll find a history of Harlem and the people who live there. There are discussions of how to best create stories that don’t turn a blind eye to racism, but instead address the pain it causes through cooperative storytelling and improvisational gameplay.

Spivey and his team have done a terrific job creating Harlem Unbound. From the first page to the last, it is a great read and a lot of fun to play. They have also done a wonderful service for roleplayers everywhere - those of color and those not - by showing keepers and players how to give a voice to the voiceless and power to the powerless.

If you want to learn more about Call of Cthulhu, then go to Chaosium’s website. Keep up with what Darker Hue Studios is up to by visiting their website here. And play more games!