Genfærdets hævn - The Ghost's Revenge!

Currently live on Kickstarter is Genfærdets hævn, which is Danish for 'The Ghost's Revenge' - a.k.a. Night of the Necromancer.

The crowdfunding campaign is being run to fund production of a Danish translation of my seventh Fighting Fantasy gamebook, by publisher Faraos Cigarer, who have already published Danish language editions of Howl of the Werewolf and Secrets of Salamonis.

Danish gamebook author Morten Gottschalck - the man behind the new extended version of Starship Traveller - is handling the translation. As of writing, the Kickstarter is already 92% funded, having only gone live this evening.

I must admit that I have a vested interest in the Kickstarter succeeding, not because I will make an money from it - I won't - but because if it is a success, it could open the door to ACE Gamebooks being published in Danish.

So, if you are a Danish speak yourself, or a hardcore Fighting Fantasy collector, you can pledge your support to the crowdfunding campaign here. And even if you are not planning on backing it yourself, please share the link far and wide.

In other news, the Kickstarter for 100 Aker Wood, the ninth ACE Gamebook, goes live two weeks today on Tuesday 12 May 2026.

Gamebook Friday: La Nuit du Loup-Garou

The new edition of La Nuit du Loup-Garou, the French language edition of Howl of the Werewolf, is out now from Gallimard Jeunesse

Here's the translated blurb from the back of the book:

You would have to be crazy to cross the borders of the windswept, fog-shrouded, and soul-haunted principality of Lupravia. And yet, that is what YOU must do. A monstrous wolf has cruelly bitten you and you are now struck by a terrible curse. Fail in this new adventure and the beast that now lies dormant within you will not be able to resist the call of the Werewolf. You have until the next full moon!

Bonus: The Archives of the Old World will reveal to you everything a hero worthy of the name must know!

Two dice, a pencil and an eraser: embark on the adventure! YOU alone will decide the route to follow, the risks to take and the creatures to fight. GOOD LUCK... 

This is the fourth of my FF gamebooks to appear in this new edition, although all eight have been published in French at one time or another.

  

Gamebook Friday: Interview med Jonathan Green

Following the release of Varulvens hyl, I was interviewed by Morten Gottschalck for the Danish gamebook community.

In case you speak Danish, or you fancy giving Google Translate a workout, you will find the interview here.

Gamebook Friday: Varulvens hyl

Today sees the publication of Howl of the Werewolf in Danish.

This is the second Fighting Fantasy gamebook of mine that has been published in Denmark, after Secrets of Salamonis was released last year.

Here's hoping that one day Faraos Cigarer will publish a translation of one (or more) of my ACE Gamebooks. Beowulf Beastslayer perhaps?

Gamebook Friday: La Oscuridad Sobre Arkham

The paperback edition of The Darkness Over Arkham, the first Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebook, was released in the UK just last week, but it will be out in Spanish, courtesy of Ediciones Minotauro, this September.

There are some other overseas editions of The Darkness Over Arkham in the works, and I will let you know more once all the appropriate Is have been dotted, and the relevant Ts crossed.

In other news, Jambô Editora have recently released the 40th anniversary Fighting Fantasy adventures Shadow of the Giants and Secrets of Salamonis. They have also reprinted the Portuguese language editions of Howl of the Werewolf and Bloodbones.

So, with three ACE Gamebooks now available in Brazil as well, my takeover of the South American gamebook market is proceeding apace...

Gamebook Friday: Howl of the Werewolf Playthrough

Over on the GoneHollowMedia YouTube channel, Sean and Emily have been working their way through my fifth Fighting Fantasy Gamebook Howl of the Werewolf. Their playthrough runs to seven parts, and you can watch the first part below.

Martin McKenna (1969-2020)

It was with great sadness that I learned this weekend that Martin McKenna had passed away at the beginning of September. He was just 51.

Martin was an incredible artist, his illustrations for the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks some of the most realistic of all. They also dripped atmosphere, with their fine pen and ink details and sinister gothic air.

I first encountered Martin's work via Fighting Fantasy but I soon discovered that his art peppered numerous Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay products as well, and it was with genuine pleasure that I pored over his immaculate vignettes and character portraits.

His illustrations really helped bring the grimdark corners of Warhammer's Old World to life, as they did Fighting Fantasy's own Old World.

Naturally, when I started writing my own FF gamebooks, it was Martin I requested to illustrate the adventures, but it didn't happen until Curse of the Mummy*, my third FF title. Unfortunately, the illustrations weren't quite what I had been hoping for and Martin later admitted himself that they had been rather rushed. In contrast, the cover painting he produced for Curse of the Mummy** was astonishing.

The digitally retouched cover for Curse of the Mummy that Martin McKenna produced in 2007.

However, when Wizard Books started publishing new titles, I got the chance to work with Martin again. We were clearly inspired by the same source material, and the illustrations he produced for Howl of the Werewolf and Night of the Necromancer are some of my favourites.

The cover for Howl of the Werewolf, by Martin McKenna.

The Werebear, Water Wyrd, Van Richten the Vampire Hunter, Serpensa the Serpent Woman, Werebat, and Count Varcolac***, from Howl of the Werewolf.

The Sea Demon, Grave Golem, Dread Knights, Wraith Queen, Hellfire Golem, and Shadow King, from Night of the Necromancer.

He also painted the stunning cover for my zombie-pirate adventure Bloodbones, which ened up being animated for Tin Man Games' digital edition.

The cover for Bloodbones, by Martin McKenna.

When I wrote YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks, I knew there was only one artist who could produce the wraparound image I desired for the book.

The cover for YOU ARE THE HERO, by Martin McKenna.

And we were due to collaborate again on my new ACE Gamebook, Dracula - Curse of the Vampire, but sadly that is not to be now.

We never actually met and we didn't even speak on the phone, but I had huge respect for Martin and his work, and I think if we had met we would have got on very well.

However, my greatest regret is that is seems Martin did not have the same confidence in his own abilities as everyone who ever enjoyed any of his immaculate illustrations. I only hope that he had some inkling of the pleasure he brought to all those whose lives he touched through his art.

In memory of

Martin McKenna

1969-2020

Martin's close friends have set up a JustGiving page to raise money, to help disadvantaged children gain access to the arts, in Martin's memory. If you feel able to give something, no more what, follow this link.

* The upside of this was that I got to work with Alan Langford and Tony Hough instead, and Tony and I have a new RPG coming out this Christmas.

** His first FF cover!

*** Martin based Count Varcolac's face on his own.

Gamebook Friday: Vampires - The Dead and the Damned

Unusually,* this week I put out the call on social media for people to tell me what they would like to read in this week's Gamebook Friday blog post. There were a significant number of responses** - everything from where do I get my ideas from to how my approach to Kickstarters has changed over the last 8 years - but the suggestion that piqued my interest came from Ian Reynolds on Facebook who wanted this post to be about "Anything to do with Horror and particular Vampires!"

Since I am currently writing a gamebook about a vampire, I thought it might be fun to go back and look at how vampires have been portrayed in my previous gamebooks. However, before we proceed, I should warn you that this post will include SPOILERS!

Still here? Then let's get started...


Bloodbones (2006)

A vampire bat made an appearance in my second published gamebook, Knights of Doom, but the first full-fledged vampire didn't turn up until my fourth Fighting Fantasy adventure was finally published by Wizard Books in 2006.

Bloodbones was originally commissioned by Puffin Books in 1996. At the time, the publisher was intending to reprint the gamebooks but having edited them all to be only 300 sections long, so that's how long Bloodbones was. However, when Wizard Books agreed to publish it ten years later, they wanted it to be the traditional 400 sections long, so I had to add some new material.***

I did make up some entirely new encounters, including the Rainforest Sprite and the vampiric pirate Jolly Roger. Here is his flag-draped coffin, as illustrated by Tony Hough.


Howl of the Werewolf (2007)

Only a year later, another vampire turned up - or rather, a vampiress - in my gothic horror gamebook, Howl of the Werewolf. This was the Machiavellian Countess Isolde, a.k.a. the Lady of Maun and the illustration of her and her Werebat flunky by Martin McKenna is still one of my favourite images from any of my books.

Temple of the Spider God (2011)

Jump forward four years to 2011 and I was busy writing my contribution to Tin Man Games Gamebook Adventures series of digital interactive fiction apps. This is probably one of the most classically 'fantasy' adventures I have written and one of the encounters contained within it involved an island that was ruled over by a vampire.


Shadows Over Sylvania (2012)

Shadows Over Sylvania, the only Warhammer gamebook I have ever written, is also the most blood-soaked gamebook I have ever written, and is chock full of vampires. The reason for this is that you actually get to play as a vampire and can even choose which vampire bloodline you are from. This ultimately brings you into conflict with the blood-sucking thralls of other vampire factions, most notably at the climax to the adventure.

Good luck getting your hands on a copy of this, if you don't already own one - they are as rare as vegan vampires.

Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland (2015)

2015 saw the publication of Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland, which kicked off the ACE Gamebooks series.

In it, I re-imagined the well-known characters from not only Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventure in Wonderland but also Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. And when you have an antagonist called the Red Queen, it is not hard to imagine where I went with that...

Here she is, as illustrated by Kev Crossley.


Dracula - Curse of the Vampire (2021)

Which brings me to the book I am currently writing, Dracula - Curse of the Vampire. Dracula is the ultimate vampire story, and I'm hoping that Dracula - Curse of the Vampire. will go down in history as the ultimate gamebook re-telling of the ultimate vampire story.

In the adventure you can either play as one of the Vampire-Hunters who are trying to stop the blood-sucking Transylvanian warlord, or you can play as Count Dracula himself, and try to stop Professor Van Helsing et al. before they stop you.

Dracula - Curse of the Vampire is scheduled to be published next March. If you missed out on the original Kickstarter, you can still place a Late Pledge here.

And remember - the blood is the life!

* In fact I think it was the first time I've ever done this.

** Which may well form the topic of other Gamebook Friday blog posts in the future.

*** Or more accurately, in some cases, re-instated material.

Alice no País dos Pesadelos

I had an unexpected delivery today - the Portuguese language editions of Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland, Bloodbones and Howl of the Werewolf, all published by Jambô Editora.

Translated by Vinicius Ferreira Mendes, Alice no País dos Pesadelos - which literally means 'Alice in Nightmare Country' - looks very fine indeed, with Manga-style cover art by Eudetenis Paulo Giovana, spot UV on parts of the cover, and even some embossed elements.

Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland is now available in English, German, Czech, and Portuguese!

Gamebook Friday: Alice's Nightmare in Brazil

Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland is already available in English, Czech and German, French and Argentinian editions are on their way, and so is a Brazilian Portuguese language edition.

The new, manga-style cover art is by Giovana Basílio, winner of the Silent Manga Awards, an international illustration contest.

Alice no País dos Pesadelos will be published by Brazilian gamebook publisher Jambô Editora, who already have a loyal following thanks to having published numerous Fighting Fantasy gamebooks in Brazil, including translations of my own FF books Bloodbones and Howl of the Werewolf.

In other news, this weekend is Spiel, the Essen games fair. The German publishers of Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland are there, at Stand L103 in Hall 6, where they are selling copies of Alice im Düsterland. So if you're there, do stop by and say, "Guten tag."