The original Globe Theatre burned down 413 years ago today!

The original Globe Theatre burned down on this day, 29 June, in1613, during a performance of Shakespeare's All is True - a.k.a. Henry VIII.

A theatrical cannon fired during the play ignited the wooden structure's thatched roof, and the resulting conflagration destroyed the building in less than an hour. Incredibly, no one was killed. The theatre was subsequently rebuilt in 1614.

Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come tells a different story, however...

Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come is dedicated to Master Scott Lewis and Mistress Claire Byard - two good friends who have helped me out at various events over the years, but mainly the UK Games Expo.

When I made the dedication, I had no idea that Scott's birthday happens to be 29 June. It's almost as if it was written in the stars... by a big, nasty gribbly called Cthulhu!

Warhammer Wednesday: No Peace Amongst the Stars

I've just seen the new trailer for Warhammer 40,000 11th edition and, quite frankly, it's awesome. It also sounds like they got Richard Armitage to do the voiceover.

It was great to see Games Workshop back at the UK Games Expo - Ork bottle openers, Tyranid sceneted candles, Necron Scarab plushies and all - and in such force.

It almost makes me want to pitch another story idea to the Black Library. Almost.

Gamebook Friday: JG at UK Games Expo 2006

I am attending the UK Games Expo this weekend, at the NEC just outside Birmingham, from Friday 29th - Sunday 31st May 2026.

You will find me in Hall 2, sharing Stand 2-359 with Sir Ian Livingstone.

Click to enlarge.

I will have copies of all the ACE Gamebooks currently in print for sale, including
Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come, and the 5th anniversary collector's hardback of Dracula: Curse of the Vampire.

I will also have all three of my Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebooks for sale, but primarily The Kingsport Metamorphosis, which was published earlier this year.

Wayland Games will also be in attendance - in Hall 2, at Stand 2-502 - and will have copies of my Valiant gamebook for sale, which you can then bring to Stand 2-359 to be signed.

If you are attending the UK Games Expo this year, I look forward to seeing you over the course of the weekend.

World Dracula Day 2026

Today is World Dracula Day, since today would have been Bram Stoker's 179th birthday. 2026 also marks five years since my gamebook adaptation of Stoker's seminal novel - Dracula: Curse of the Vampire - was first published.

Out now is the 5th anniversary hardback of Dracula: Curse of the Vampire. Where the original hardback had a black cover with red text, this new edition has a red cover with black text. And where the original had red page edges, this new edition has black page edges.

I have also produced a new foil bookmark, which will be give away with copies of the new hardback, which will be on sale at the UK Games Expo next weekend. 

Meanwhile, those people who supported the Kickstarter I ran to produce this new edition of the sixth ACE Gamebook, will also receive a pack of artwork postcards, a pair of bespoke black dice, and a pin badge in the form of Dracula's crest.

Gamebook Friday: ACE Gamebooks at UK Games Expo 2026

Four weeks today, I will be attending the UK Games Expo at the NEC in Birmingham*. You will find me sharing Stand 2-359 with Sir Ian Livingstone.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the UK Games Expo. Checking back on my blog**, my first visit was in 2010, the fith year it had been on, when it was still in Edgbaston. Since that time, I have only missed two years - 2020, when it wasn't on, and 2021, when it returned after Covid but clashed with my son's birthday.

On sale at this year's UK Games Expo for the first time will be Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come.

I will also have copies of The Kingsport Metamorphosis, my third Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebook, with me.

So, if you are visiting the Expo this year, please do stop by Stand 2-359 and say hello.

* Which means that three weeks today I will be travelling to Italy, ready for Play: Bologna.

** I knew I kept this up for a reason.

Fighting Fantasy Quest Live Preview - Friday 12th September!

This Friday, 12th September 2025, Paul Grogan of Ulisses Spiele will be doing the first live play preview of Fighting Fantasy Quest: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain online at 8:00pm UK time.

Paul previewed the game at the UK Games Expo earlier this year, but now everyone, all over the world, can see what it's all about.

Paul Grogan and Sir Ian Livingstone at the UK Games Expo with
Fighting Fantasy Quest: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain

So, make sure you put 8:00pm Friday 12th September in your diary and join the livestream here.

UK Games Expo 2025

I am at the UK Games Expo at the NEC all weekend, from Friday 30th May - Sunday 1st June 2025. You will find me at Stand 2-359 in Hall 2.

This will be the first time you can buy my new Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebook The Tides of Innsmouth.

Strange and mysterious sightings send Arkham Investigators to explore the decrepit town of Innsmouth where horrors beneath the sea have risen to consume the world in this new action-adventure gamebook set in the popular world of Arkham Horror.

2025 marks 10 years since the publication of the first ACE Gamebook, Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland, and I will have copies of all eight adventures that are currently in print with me.

I will also have copies of my ACE Gamebook Roleplay RPGs for sale, including The Box of Delights RPG, not to mention copies of YOU ARE THE HERO and MAGIC REALMS.

So, if you're coming along, do stop by Stand 2-359 and say hello. I might even show you the artwork for Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come.

Gamebook Friday: JG interviewed on Rand Roll

The title of this blog post says it all really. I was recently interviewed by Duncan Thomson for the Rand Roll website, a blog about RPG tools, solo gaming and random tables. Click this link to read the interview.

If you follow me on social media, or are a regular reader of this blog, you will already know that I will be attending the UK Games Expo from Friday 30th May - Sunday 1st June 2025. You will find me at Stand 2-359, where you will be able to buy my new Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebook The Tides of Innsmouth for the first time.

Gamebook Friday: The Darkness Over the UK Games Expo

Does that sound like a clickbait-y post title or what?

I can't believe it's been a week since my book signing at the Aconyte Books stand at the UK Games Expo 2024. 

As well as signing copies of Moon Knight: Age of Anubis, I also signed 40 copies of The Darkness Over Arkham, which was the first time the first Arkham Horror Investigators Handbook has been available to buy in the UK. The paperback isn't officially published here until 18 July 2024, although you can pick up the eBook now.

Signing books is a serious business!

The final signed copy ended up as the prize in a giveaway competition, although I don't know who actually won it.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to buy a copy. They had all sold out by Saturday lunchtime and so the Aconyte team armed me with postcards and bookmarks featuring the different characters' stats* to give away to interested parties.

Welcome to Arkham, The Darkness Over Arkham, and a UK Games Expo award!

Congratulations must also go to the Aconyte team, but especially graphic designer and layout guy Nick, for winning the Best Gaming Novelty category in the UK Games Expo Awards for the in-world background book Welcome to Arkham: An Illustrated Guide for Visitors. It has already proved an invaluable resource for me when plotting my Arkham-set adventures.

Nick and Jack of Aconyte Books accepting the award for Best Gaming Novelty.

On the subject of gamebooks at the UK Games Expo, I was delighted to be given a copy of Secrets of Salamonis in Danish by Morten, who later interviewed me for a Danish gaming podcast. I will, of course, share a link when it goes live. ;-)

The Danish edition of Secrets of Salamonis.

* Rather like the ACE Gamebooks bookmarks.

UK Games Expo 2024

I will be at the UK Games Expo all weekend and this is where you can find me.

Stand 2-T21

I'm sharing a stand with Sir Ian Livingstone in Hall 2. If you've been to the UK Games Expo in the last couple of years, it's in our usual spot.

Click to enlarge.

New Books

UK Games Expo 2024 will also be the first time you will be able to buy the following books (outside of a Kickstarter in the case of YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks).

The paperback, hardback, and limited collector's hardback editions of
YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.

The new, fifth anniversary hardback editions of Beowulf Beastslayer (with map endpapers) and 'TWAS: The Krampus Night Before Christmas (with colour art).

Friday 31 May

11:00am - Aconyte Books Signing

I will be at Stand 1-1094, signing the first copies of The Darkness Over Arkham availtable in the UK. If you want to read the first Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebook a full seven weeks before the book is published in the UK, make sure you stop by the Aconyte Books stand on Friday morning.

Sunday 2 June

12:30pm - Write Like a Pro Workshop

I will be joining game designer Darren W. Pearce for a workshop on writing professionally and adventure design.

From starting out, to the middle, to the end like all good stories. You'll learn from them what it's like to work with established IP holders, and how to approach the art of adventure writing, in a fun informal workshop. No previous experience required.

The workshop will be held in the NEC Piazza 1-2 - Panda Room. Apparently.

Gamebook Friday: YOU ARE THE HERO at the UK Games Expo

All of these books arrived within the last week.

The copies of Dracula: Curse of the Vampire and Beowulf Beastslayer at the bottom of the image are the Czech editions of those ACE Gamebooks.

I have spent much of the last eight days posting out YOU ARE THE HERO Kickstarter rewards, which means that I will be able to have the book for sale at the UK Games Expo next weekend, guilt free. ;-)

You will find me sharing Stand 2-T21* with Sir Ian Livingstone.

Rather appropriately, I also received a commission for another new gamebook today...

* Our usual spot.

Gamebook Friday: The Globe, Arkham, and the NEC

I have three things to tell you about in this week's Gamebook Friday post.

Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come has one week left to run on Kickstarter and has already passed its first Stretch Goal. Everyone who backs to receive a physical copy of the book will also get a pack of 5 postcards featuring Heraldo Mussolinin's artwork from the book.

If you haven't pledged your support yet, check out the Kickstarter page here, and please share it widely among your social networks.

The Darkness Over Arkham, the first Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebook, was released by Aconyte Books and Fantasy Flight Games this week and has already garnered some glowing reviews.

Click to enlarge.

If you missed the interactive livestream launch of The Darkness Over Arkham with Jordan Sorcery, you can watch it now on YouTube.

You can pick up the global eBook here and, if you are in the States, you can purchase the paperback of the adventure, which will be coming to UK shores in July.

That said, if you are attending the UK Games Expo at the end of the month, you may be able to pick up a paperback of The Darkness Over Arkham at the Aconyte Books stand, where I will be doing a signing session on the Friday.

The rest of the time, you will find me at Stand 2-T21, which I am sharing with Sir Ian Livingstone, apart from when I am running the 'Write Like a Pro' workshop, with Darren Pearce, at 12:30pm on the Sunday.

If you're coming along, do stop by and say hello. Maybe I'll see you there.

Gamebook Friday: The Darkness Over Arkham Livestream

On Wedneday 8 May 2024, at 7:00pm BST, I will be taking part in a livestream of my new gamebook The Darkness Over Arkham on Jordan Sorcery's YouTube channel.

The Darkness Over Arkham is released on Tuesday 7 May 2024 as a global eBook and as a paperback in the US*. So, if you're free, do stop by and help decide which path to take and, if you're not free, you will be able to catch it later on YouTube.

In other gamebook-related news, Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come is heading towards its first Stretch Goal on Kickstarter. It's almost halfway through the funding period so there's still plenty of time to get on board and share the latest ACE Gamebook Kickstarter with all your gaming friends.

In four weeks' time, you will find me attending the UK Games Expo 2024 at the NEC in Birmingham. I will be sharing Stand 2-T21 with Sir Ian Livingstone, so do come and find us in Hall 2. You will find more details about the UK Games Expo here.

* The UK paperback of The Darkness Over Arkham is out on 18 July 2024 but, it you're lucky, you may be able to pick one up at the UK Games Expo.

The UK Games Exp 2023

A week ago, I was in the thick of things at Day 2 of the UK Games Expo. It's an event that I look forward to all year and now that it's over for another year, I can't believe it's already been a week since I was at the NEC with my ACE Gamebooks.

ACE Gamebooks at the UK Games Expo.

Talking of which, the books were very well received. RONIN 47 proved popular, although some of my regular readers chose not to pick up a copy because it's science fiction rather than fantasy, and Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland did well, as it always does. On top of that, I sold out of NEVERLAND - Here Be Monsters!, Beowulf Beastslayer, and Dracula: Curse of the Vampire (again).

A shield-maiden showing off her 'Hwaet' tattoo.

One of the things I love about the UK Games Expo is the number of friends I catch up with from all over the country, and all areas of my life. A couple of my university friends still live nearby and stopped by my stand to say hello, as did Twitch streamers Ken Boyter and Julian Sparrow. 

Richard, one of my best friends from university and a huge fan of board games.

Ken Boyter (EdraTales) and Julian Sparrow (Babel_17).

And then there are the usual suspects, such as Rene Batsford, Ed Fortune, Kev Abbotts, PJ Montgomery, Neil Roberts, Jamie Fry, George Mann, James Wallis, Justin-Lee Morrison, Jonathan Hicks, and all the Kickstarter backers who stop by and say hello. I also talked business with Holmgard Press and Aconyte Books, which was nice.

Olly Mc, a.k.a. the Storymaster, of The Storymaster's Tales.

Hanging out with a Terminator Space Marine, as you do.

The Aconyte Books stand, promoting the Marvel Multiverse Missions gamebooks.

A very impressive piece of Necron cosplay.

PJ Montgomery with an original copy of Spellbreaker, my first book, published 30 years ago this month.

The Lone Wolf Miniatures Game at the Holmgard Press stand.

Dr Peter Wright and the gang from Edge Hill University, where my ACE Gamebooks are on the game design course reading list.

On the Saturday night I went to the live readthrough of Sir Ian Livingstone's City of Thieves, during which Olly Mc guided John Robertson through Port Blacksand until he met a grisly end at the hands of Zanbar Bone. Wearing bunny ears. Zanbar Bone, not John Robertson.

Olly Mc and John Roberson at the City of Thieves live readthrough.

The victorious Zanbar Bone, plus fluffy, rainbow bunny ears. 

Another highlight was the Heorot RPG photoshoot with the reenactors of The Vikings UK, as was the 'Write Like a Pro' workshop I did with Darren Pearce on the Sunday morning.

Vikings reading a Viking RPG. How very meta...

Darren Pearce and Jonathan Green, your hosts for the 'Write Like a Pro' workshop.

However, a huge thank you must go to Scott Lewis and Claire Byard, who helped out on my stand again this year and kept me entertained on Saturday night, drinking cocktails and playtesting card games.

Scott and Claire.

Playtesting a certain Christmas-themed card game at around midnight.

If you've never been, you should check out the UK Games Expo because there is something there for everyone, no matter their age. And I hope to be there again next year, but I'm going to need to pull my finger out if I want to have another ACE Gamebook for sale at the event.

ACE Gamebooks at the UK Games Expo 2023.