• Published by Chaosium Inc.
• Reviewed by Steve Hatherley

(Written for Gamesman shortly before it folded.)

Tales of the Miskatonic Valley is the fourth book in Chaosium's Lovecraft Country series, following from Arkham Unveiled, Return to Dunwich and Kingsport. Valley contains six unrelated scenarios set along the Miskatonic River. The earlier books are useful, but not essential.

Freak Show is first and concerns the return of a kidnapped child to his family. The action takes place around a travelling carnival, complete with clowns, lion tamers, italian jugglers and the sinister freak show of the title. There is enough detail here to use the carnival elsewhere. However, the best thing about Freak Show is that it turns some player preconceptions upside down, revealing that not every monstrosity is necessarily a monster. Indeed, many of the humans are less humane than the investigator's traditional adversaries. This moral dilemma is appealing, and should make players think.

Unfortunately, the action doesn't happen until the players go and take a look. There is no hook of any kind, it is sheer coincidence that the child's family arrive as the investigators do. Worse, the plot motors along by itself and players find themselves with little to do except watch.

In Regiment of Dread the players are hired to investigate the sudden deterioration of an old man's health. Pretty soon they are mixed up in a conspiracy to alter history and wipe out a war veteran's shameful actions. Regiment has some repellent set-pieces, including the strange transformation of an Arkham monument and a shattering, bloody climax.

Regiment suffers from the same problem as Freak Show - the plot drives itself and there is little the investigators can do to change anything. The whole adventure takes less than 4 days and once the investigators have an idea of what's going on, it is far too late to do anything about it.

Still, perhaps this is a good thing. After all, the investigators can't have their own way every time. And Regiment does contain some of the best moments of Tales of the Miskatonic Valley.

As a result of a chance encounter with a dying woman, the investigators become the targets of her vengeful spirit in A Painted Smile. The spirit attacks the investigators in the only way it knows: through the old woman's hand-made china dolls. China dolls are creepy at the best of times and A Painted Face uses them well. The investigators are not going to win this in a stand up fight, they will have to think their way out.

The Watcher in the Valley has a fairly simple (if somewhat hoary) premise. An archaeological excavation has disturbed Something Bad and is suffering its revenge. Getting the investigators involved is not easy - there are few reasons for them to be interested in a minor dig. Once Watcher gets going, however, they will be hard pressed to find a solution.

The investigators are called on to solve a number of disappearances in Fade to Grey. Three detailed suspects are presented in the scenario, but investigators are likely to identify the culprit fairly quickly. Dealing with him is another matter, for the villain is dangerous in more ways than the police realise.

Trail of Yig starts with too many coincidences for comfort. The investigators, attending a seance, innocently hand over an old ring when suddenly the spiritualist has a kind of fit. She then commits suicide but not before hinting that the ring is linked to a legend she has been researching. After this unlikely start the scenario proceeds quite sensibly, leading to a creepy derelict museum and the destruction of an unborn mythos creature.

Tales of Miskatonic Valley is rounded off with a fold-out map of Lovecraft Country, No wonder they call it New England, the place is brimming with some very familiar names: Manchester, Gloucester, Ipswich, Worcester and more.

My main reservation with Valley is that many of the scenarios start with too much coincidence. A chance encounter with an old woman, trouble starting at the carnival, and an heirloom relating directly to a spiritualist's research. Such coincidence is acceptable once or twice in a lifetime, but not every other adventure. This is sloppy, openings should be more intelligent than this.

Overall, and despite my various misgivings, Valley is a solid piece of work. The writing is evocative and detailed, the art is excellent. Some of the scenarios provide background information useful elsewhere, such as the carnival and the archaeological dig. Two alien races (deep ones and the lloigor) are treated with more respect than usual, providing information useful to any keeper.

Overall: 75%

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