Please note that this review was originally posted over on RPGGeek almost a decade ago (OMG!) and is mirrored here for completist reasons only!

If there is one genre that draws me more than any other in gaming, then it is horror. From the investigative paradigm of Call of Cthulhu, through the brutality of Kult, and even into the wackiness of Deadlands, the horror genre has always been more than just monsters hiding in the darkness to me. This generic interest in horror was probably what first drew me to The Book of Unremitting Horror, but it is its note-worthy content (which is much more than your typical collection of ghouls and goblins) that inspired me to write this review.

In Brief…

The Book of Unremitting Horror is an atmospheric supplement of horrific additions for Pelgrane Press’ GUMSHOE game system (most specifically their The Esoterrorists and Fear Itself horror settings). Written by Adrian Bott and Dave Allsop (who is also the artist) it brings all new, modern nightmares to life, which, to quote the foreword, “…show[s] us the ugliness that underlies reality“. I’m sure that if you’d want to be unfair, you could call this book simply a gory monster manual of assorted weird horrors, but the truth of the matter is that it is much, much more than that!

The Physical…

Please note, all the following observations are based on a self-printed copy of the electronic book, as well as the original on-screen PDF.

Coming in at 223 pages (which includes a grim, full colour cover of exactly the sort of horrors you’ll be greeted with inside), the Book of Unremitting Horror presents a range of creatures, artifacts, scenario seeds, and other horror gaming information (including two complete adventures) for the GUMSHOE horror RPGs.

The book is very well presented, so much so that I’m being honest when I say more than once I had to put down the pages after seeing some of the grisly illustrations within it. The book’s artist, Dave Allsop, has a fantastic and gritty style with his ink drawings, and this really puts an edge on some of the creature illustrations he has created for the supplement. Allsop is also one of the authors and together with Adrian Bott, they have managed more than adequately to produce an invocative and emotionally charged text to support the aforementioned art. When these two elements are combined with Jerome Huguenin’s excellent layout, you have a ready demonstration of just how effective good design choices can be in making a game product really stand-out.

In fact, if one was to be critical about anything in this book, it would probably only be the inconsistent use of heading styles throughout. While the majority of the text is well spaced and readable, some of the headings are anything but; a few appear as the same size as the body text, while others change size and font each time they are used (which can be slightly confusing, as for the most part, each section within the book follows the same structured format in each entry). While this isn’t a ‘deal’ breaker, a future edition would do well to fix these variations.

Devil in the Detail…

It is tempting to detail all of the contents of this book in depth, but in my opinion, this would not only turn this review into a veritable novel in an attempt to do it justice, but it would also greatly spoil the eerie un-comfortableness that comes from ‘digesting’ The Book of Unremitting Horror for the first time. As such, I will instead focus on the specific types of content in the supplement and where they really shine.

New GUMSHOE Rules and Abilities

After the introduction, the first section introduces a selection of new GUMSHOE mechanics and Abilities. While the majority of these are logical additions to basic GUMSHOE system (such as dealing with drowning or how readily a monster can detect the characters using its Alertness pool), the most interesting of these add-ons is the Aberrance Ability. Introduced as a catch-all statistic to mechanically reflect a creature’s supernatural power to change reality, it really allows GMs to make the threats in this book even more ‘otherworldly’.

Monsters and other Entities

The next section is most definitely the core of the book; a selection of 40-plus creature descriptions (or Other Dark Entities as they are called in The Esoterrorists). Presented as some of the most horrific and unsettling monsters you’re ever likely to read in a roleplaying game, these entities are the real highlight of The Book of Unremitting Horror. Each creature is written up in its own entry, and all follow the same general structure of introducing an entity in a creative and often disturbing way, before detailing the game statistics. This approach of beginning the entries with vivid and descriptive pieces of fiction (ranging from ‘lost letters’, diary entries and even a transcript of a Dictaphone recording, etc.) is a great way of introducing the creatures, and is made even more so when you realise that they all do what any good horror story should; revealing just enough of the thing to let reader’s imagination fill in the rest.

It is only after creating a mental picture of the creature that the game statistics are presented to cement the entity into the GUMSHOE mechanics. Here a great design decision plays to the system’s strengths with a sub-section called ‘All That Remains’. This portion of each entry details how an entity might be revealed based on the specific GUMSHOE Investigative Abilities a character might have (i.e. what an investigator with the Evidence Collection Ability might discover at a scene where the creature was encountered or what their Natural History Ability might tell them about the nature of the entity, etc.). Such defined information is great for reinforcing the procedural structure of GUMSHOE, by providing clues about a threat but keeping the true identity of the creature hidden.

Artifacts of Horror

The next section of the book details a range of horrific artifacts connected to the creatures already described. Almost as diverse and unsettling as the entities themselves, this collection of objects and devices are a good source of inspiration for adventures and story twists.

As with the creature descriptions, all the items are presented using a standard format. Opening with a detailed description on what the object is and its effects on the creature(s), humans or even reality. This is supported with a series of options on just where or how the item might be acquired, and GMs are encouraged to pick and choose from these rumours as they see them best fitting with their own storytelling. Each entry wraps up with a Function section, which while not always providing specific GUMSHOE mechanics for the item, does detail of how they might work in play.

Seeds of Terror

The book wraps up with a selection of scenario outlines and two full Fear Itself adventures; Crook’s End and The Final Case. These focus on bringing the various entities and artifacts described earlier in the book into play, and act as examples of just how to expand a kernel of a scenario idea into a full-fledged adventure. All of these outlines could easily occupy a night or two of horror gaming (if a GM is willing to put a little time and effort in fleshing them out further), and to assist in this process, each is presented similarly structured format. Using consistent headings such as the Sinister Conspiracy at Work, The Instigating Scene, and Core Information, etc. they provide a GM plenty of information about the premise of the adventure while being open enough to allow them to add their own flavour and style.

The two complete adventures provided at the end of the book are excellent examples of just how one might construct a complete Fear Itself scenario (and by extension a The Esoterrorists one as well). Each introduces a simple storyline and an appropriate twist which is then played out via a collection of core and optional scenes. This format will be familiar to anyone who has played GUMSHOE before, and both scenarios have recognisable themes and don’t require too much preparation to play. Avoiding spoilers, I think the second of the two stories – The Final Case – has the more interesting premise, and I’d be keen to see how it would unfolds in play.

What to do with it…

As an eclectic gamer I have to say that I really like this book in all its facets, from the way it is presented through to the detail provided in each and every entry. One doesn’t even need to be a fan of the GUMSHOE system to reap the benefit from this book either (which appeals my somewhat fickle nature in supporting game systems) and I would hazard a guess at saying that every (horror) GM, no matter what their game of choice, could get something from this supplement; be it in the form of a monster to throw at their players or as inspiration for an interesting artifact or adventure.

As for utilising The Book of Unremitting Horror as written? I can just imagine it forming the basis of a horrific and disturbing version of the Supernatural television programme as a GM showcases the various monsters provided herein. Or even as a grizzly revival of the old Friday the Thirteenth: The Series show, with the unsuspecting characters having to track down and secure a collection of lost artifacts before the evil is unleashed on the world. I know that I’d be keen to play either of those in a skip of a heart-beat!

Would I recommend it…

Without a doubt The Book of Unremitting Horror is one of the most useful (and unsettling) modern horror roleplaying game supplements available. I believe it should be in every GM’s collection, if not for the GUMSHOE game material, then as a source of ideas and examples of how to think outside the square in creating new and interesting horror elements.

For those who enjoy investigative horror (such as Fear Itself or The Esoterrorists), we all know that creating a procedural horror scenario is not always the easiest task(especially in the GUMSHOE system where explicit leads based on the characters’ Investigative Abilities are expected). As such, this book does a lot to demonstrate how a story of this type can be structured, and highlights what I think is the single key element in creating investigative horror stories – a strong threat upon which every other aspect can be based.

All in all I can’t recommend The Book of Unremitting Horror highly enough, and at just US $14.95 (in PDF format at the time of this review) it is almost a steal!