Gamebook Friday - Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come is coming to Kickstarter on 23 April 2024

In the eighth ACE Gamebook - Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come - YOU are William Shakespeare, taking on the forces of dread Cthulhu.

“That is not dead which can eternal lie,

And with strange aeons even death may die.”

Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come is a brand new interactive fantasy novel, inspired by the Bard's greatest plays and the eldritch creations of the American pulp horror writer H P Lovecraft. In this adventure gamebook, you choose the course of the story, deciding which route to take, which perils to risk, and which of the monstrous creatures you will meet along the way to fight.

Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come, which will be illustrated throughout by Argentinian artist Heraldo Mussolini, who contributed illustrations, including backer portraits, to Heorot: Roleplaying in the World of Beowulf Beastslayer.

Rewards on offer to backers include signed limited edition collector's hardbacks, custom dice and playing cards, and the chance to appear in one of the illustrations in the book.

I first announced Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come back in 2016, after funding the Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu short story anthology on Kickstarter. At the time I was going to use Patreon as the crowfunding platform for the project but in the end felt that the regular commitment it would have needed would have put me under too much pressure at the time.

Artwork by Nic Wykes.

Fast forward eight years, and here we are, just a few short weeks away from the launch of Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come on Kickstarter. Not only has it been a while since I first announced the adventure, it's also almost three years since I ran the last ACE Gamebooks Kickstarter. I've not been idle in the interim, however, having written several other gamebooks, a couple of RPGs, and YOU ARE THE HERO - An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.

Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come launches on KickstarterIf on Tuesday 23 April 2024. If you are able to support the Kickstarter, I would really appreciate it if you could back it on Day One so that it gives the project as strong a start as possible. That way, the Kickstarter platform is more likely to give it additional support as well, which will help spread the word. And the more people who get to hear about Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come and support it on Kickstarter, the more impressive everyone's rewards will be.