Gamebook Friday: Valentine's Weekend sale now on!

 The ACE Gamebooks Roleplay Valentine's weekend sale is now on.

You can get any ACE Gamebook or RPG for 50% off on DriveThruRPG from now until Sunday. So, what are you waiting for?

Tie-in Tuesday: Arkham Horror Investigators

With the release of The Kingsport Metamorphosis, the official Arkham Horror website has shared the downloadable Investigator character sheets for the Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebooks series.

Remember, the USP of this series is that you can play through any adventure as any Investigator.

So, those currently available to download from ArkhamHorror.com are...

The Kingsport Metamorphosis
Jacqueline Fine, the Psychic
Lucius Galloway, the Dreamer
Lola Hayes, the Actress

The Tides of Innsmouth
Silas Marsh, the Sailor
Kōhaku Narukami, the Folklorist
Marion Tavares, the Trawler

The Darkness Over Arkham
Agnes Baker, the Waitress
Nathaniel Cho, the Boxer
Rex Murphy, the Reporter

Bonus Investigators
George Barnaby, the Lawyer
Stella Clarke, the Letter Carrier
Skids O'Toole, the Ex-Con
Amanda Sharpe, the Student
Sister Mary, the Nun (released to mark the publication of The Kingsport Metamorphosis)

These are the 14 Investigators available to download from ArkhamHorror.com.

However, there are two more Investigators available - Jenny Barnes the Dilettante, and Joe Diamond the Private Investigator - whose character sheets can be found in the graphic novel The Terror at the End of Time.

So, I think you will agree, the Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebooks offer endless replayability, and any Investigators that might be released in the future will also be compatible with any existing adventure in the series.

How's that for variety?

Gamebook Friday: The Kingsport Metamorphosis and other Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebooks

The Kingsport Metamorphosis, my latest Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebook, was published on Tuesday and I recieved a copy of it on Thursday.

The Kingsport Metamorphosis, with cover art by Joshua Cairós.

I have had one AHIG published each year since 2024, meaning there are now three in print*.

It struck me the other day that back in 1995, I had three Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks in print and this felt like a real achievement. In fact, when Curse of the Mummy was published, I only had three books published in total.

The Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebooks have come out over the same period of time, but today I am a full time writer and other titles have also been written and published during the last three years, including YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks, and the ACE Gamebook Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come.

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"If gamebooks be the food of love, play on."

Antony Johnston, author of Can You Solve The Murder?

Even though The Kingsport Metamorphosis is my 86th published book (not including reprints and omnibuses), I still get excited when I get to hold a copy of one of my books for the first time. I am particularly keen to give The Kingsport Metamorphosis a read myself, to see if I succeeded in what I set out to do with this adventure.

If you have ordered The Kingsport Metamorphosis, or any of my other Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebooks - such as The Darkness Over Arkham, or The Tides of Innsmouth - when you've had the chance to give them a read/playthrough, please do post a review online.

* Three and a half if you include The Magpie and the Bat.

The Kingsport Metamorphosis - new Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebook out now!

New book day! The Kingsport Metamorphosis, my third Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebook, is published today by Aconyte Books.

As with the other books in the series, The Kingsport Metamorphosis includes three Investigators with whom you can play through the adventure*. They are...

Jacqueline Fine
The Psychic

When Jacqueline's supernatural senses pull her towards the fog-bound streets of Kingsport, with a peculiar letter in her hand, she understands that she has no choice but to follow where they lead.

Lola Hayes
The Actress

When a letter arrives from one Elijah Harcourt inviting Lola to visit his home in Kingsport, she decides it might be nice to have a break from performing. But, as she comes to the coast, she can’t help wondering if she is about to take on the most important role of her life.

Lucius Galloway
The Poet

The mists of Kingsport have haunted Lucius's work since before he ever set foot in the town. Now he walks its alleyways, and if the truth of his visions awaits him here, he will meet it, whether it brings triumph or ruin.

Featuring another fantastic cover by Joshua Cairós, The Kingsport Metamorphosis is a classic country house murder mystery... only it isn't!

To find out more, pick up your copy of The Kingsport Metamorphosis today!

In other news, the Italian edition of The Darkness Over Arkham - L'Oscurità su Arkham - the first Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebook, is out now from Vincent Books.

* Although you can play as any Investigator whose stats have been published in another Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebook or online.

Gamebook Friday: The Kingsport Metamorphosis

The Kingsport Metamorphosis - the third title in the Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebook - is out on Tuesday 3rd February 2026 - which is next week!

A mysterious letter summons you to the seaside town of Kingsport, where dreams leak into reality, to a wealthy estate transformed into a place of unspeakable nightmares in this new action-adventure gamebook set in the popular world of Arkham Horror.

Curious to meet your mysterious host, Elijah Harcourt, your excitement is dashed when you discover the recluse's purpose is far more nefarious than you realized, leaving you and his guests with riddles to solve if you are to survive. As each hour passes, your companions meet terrible fates, forcing you to navigate a spiderweb of betrayal…

You can order your copy of the The Kingsport Metamorphosis here.

Gamebook Friday: Jonathan Green attending Words in Watchet

I will be attending the Words in Watchet Literary Festival on Saturday 21st February 2026, from 11:30am-1:00pm, when I will be giving a talking about Writing Fantasy Gamebooks, and signing copies of my books.

You can find out more and book your ticket (although entry to FREE) here.

So, if you're in Somerset and fancy finding out more about how I turn a classic into a gamebook like Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come, or how I plotted the latest Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebook, The Kingsport Metamorphosis, why not pop along?

Gamebook Friday: Review of the Year - 2025

Strangely, 2025 will go down in history for me as the Year of Valiant, even though all most of you have heard about the Valiant gamebook appeared in this news item back in September.

I started this year finishing writing the first Valiant gamebook, and have ended the year working on the second. Valiant will be out in March, so look out for more news about that in the New Year.

Out before then is my third Arkham Horror gamebook, The Kingsport Metamorphosis, which was announced during Arkham Horror Week in October, after The Tides of Innsmouth was published in the Spring. To find out more about any of my Arkham Horror gamebooks, click the image below.

Last, but most definitely not least, among the gamebooks I have worked on this year, is Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come, which came out in ACE Gamebooks' 10th anniversary year.

As of writing, it has received three 5-star reviews on Amazon, one of which has been written in the style of William Shakespeare himself:

"O gentle reader, lend thine ear awhile,

And hark to Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come,

A book most strange, where inked worlds intertwine—

The Avon bard with eldritch horrors wed."

This was the first ACE Gamebook I have self-published, and the first book my son has laid out, and I am very pleased with the result. Two overseas publishers have already signed up to release the book in their territroies, which is very exciting.

Talking of overseas editions of my books, there weren't so many this year - certainly not compared to last year's seven! There was a new edition of La Nuit du Loup-Garou (the French language version of Howl of the Werewolf) and Pax Britannia: Unnatural History was published in Hungary.

Next year, however, I am expecting a glut of overseas editions of my gamebooks.

In terms of events, this year I attended AireCon, Dragonmeet: Call to Adventure, the UK Games Expo, and Dragonmeet. I already have my place booked at UK Games Expo 2026, and next September we will be holding Fighting Fantasy Fest 6 in West London.

My wife turned 50 in 2025 and it was her desire to visit 12 places she had never been to before in 12 months. This resulted in us going overseas five times! The countries we visited were Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Hungary, and Denmark. 

Yours Truly in Faraos Cigarer, in Copenhagen, with my Danish FF gamebooks. 

All of them were amazing and have provided me with all sorts of material for future stories or games, especially an exhibition at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen about the role of the Sorceress in Viking culture. I even got to see the lengendary Gundestrup Cauldron in the flesh, as it were.

An image of the horned god Cerunnos on the Gundestrup Cauldron.

I have also had some health issues to contend with this year, which I need to get a better handle on in 2026, but throughout it all - the highs and the lows - I continue to have my furry companion by my side.

Conker the Cavapoo is now three!

In the New Year I will continue to work on the second Valiant gamebook, but I also have a new gamebook coming to Kickstarter. So, watch this space.

Wishing you a very happy and healthy New Year!