Ahoy matey! These days pirates and swashbucklers are all the rage on land and on sea. With roleplaying games like the recently released Conan: the Pirate Isles by Paizo Publishing and the older title Skull and Bones by Green Ronin out on the market, it should come as no surprise that GMs and players alike are on the hunt for some mood-setting music.

I’ve been picking up various motion picture scores (not soundtracks) and King Diamond albums (no kidding) for years to use as background music in my campaigns, but I’ve never been very impressed with any self-produced albums meant specifically to serve as roleplaying campaign scores. For the most part, I’ve found such efforts to be of an amateurish quality at best, often sounding more like a funhouse sound reel than a musical composition. Nox Arcana changed this by delivering a polished, professional and purely enjoyable product in Darklore Manor.

Let me introduce you to Angel, the Starry-eyed Serial Killer. She was cursed by the queen, and grew old without grace. In her old age, she was pushed down the stairs. May our dearly departed Angel rest in peace. I was immediately drawn to Gloom for two reasons. The first is artwork, produced in the etching style of Edward Gorey by Scott Reeves, that sets the mood of the game. The second, is the unique game design concept created by Keith Baker. The result? One of the best card games I’ve ever played.

Haverghast Mansion sits beyond a path through the mist, where crickets herald your coming and cascading violins cry of deadly possibilities. “The 13th Hour”, a “haunting blend of horror movie music, dark orchestration, and chilling sound effects”, is more than just a group of sounds thrown together on a page. It’s a purposeful collection of music designed to tell a story from the first song title to the next. Songs like “Mansion in the Mist” conjure images of a Victorian mansion decayed through time and neglect, flow into the next by an expert set of unseen hands.

The Haunting House: a Twisted Strategy Board Game for 2 to 6 players is just one of several products offered from Twilight Creations, Inc. The object of this game, to get to the exit, sounds easy enough. Trap doors and sneaky opponents stand in your way from winning the game.