100 Aker Wood - One week in!

Amazingly, a whole seven days have passed since 100 Aker Wood launched on Kickstarter and the project is currently 113% funded.

If you are new to Kickstarter, or you are a tried and tested backer of ACE Gamebooks projects, you will be pleased to hear that yesterday I completed my second pass on the 100 Aker Wood manuscript and have sent it to be printed, ready to be proofread.

Once I have done that, I will be ready to send the adventure to play-tester backers, once the Kickstarter ends on Thursday 4th June 2026 at 8pm BST.

We are more than a quarter of the way towards the first Stretch Goal, which will add postcards of Heraldo Mussolini's artwork to physical rewards of 100 Aker Wood.

So, if you would like to receive a pack of postcards - and then dice, and eventually playing cards - along with your book, and at no extra charge, please share this project far and wide, reposting my own social media posts, as often as you can.

Thank you for your ongoing support. :-)

Gamebook Friday: 100 Aker Wood is fully funded on Kickstarter!

Despite only launching on Kickstarter on Tuesday, within 48 hours 100 Aker Wood passed its funding goal.

If you are one of those who has already pledged your support, thank you very much. If you have yet to choose your reward, you can do so here.

As the Kickstarter has already funded, we are now working towards the Stretch Goals. The first of these will add packs of postcards, featuring Heraldo Mussolini's artwork for the book, to any physical reward. And after that come bespoke ACE Gamebooks dice and themed playing cards for backers of the hardback edition.

As well as pledging your support, you can help by sharing the Kickstarter project page on any social media channels you have access to. Thank you for your support.

Gamebook Friday: If you go down in the woods today...

You're sure of a big surprise!

100 Aker Wood launches on Kickstarter in under three weeks' time, and you will want to be there are the beginning, because there are some rather special rewards on offer, that are limited by time and number.

If you are one of the first 50 people who back at the POOH Hardback reward level or above, you will have your name listed in the front of the book as a Founding Backer.

On top of that, anyone who backs the project within the first 24 hours will be invited to join a live Zoom Q&A with Yours Truly on Saturday 16 May 2026 at 3pm UK time (7am West Coast US/10am East Coast US/4pm Central Europe/6pm Middle East/10pm East Asia/11pm Japan/Midnight Sydney, Australia).

The initial funding goal for the Kickstarter is £5,000. Once that is achieved, the Stretch Goals will kick in, which will add artwork postcard packs, dice, and playing cards to qualifying backer's rewards.

So, set an alarm for 12pm BST on Tuesday 12 May 2026 to make sure you don't miss out on one of these special rewards.

Gamebook Friday: 100 Aker Wood

The ninth ACE Gamebook, 100 Aker Wood, is coming to Kickstarter on Tuesday 12 May 2026.

As you will doubtless be able to tell from the title, 100 Aker Wood is inspired by the Winnie-the-Pooh books by A. A. Milne.

Winnie-the-Pooh was published 100 years ago this year, on 14 October 1926, and the plan is to publish 100 Aker Wood early in 2027. (Please note, the image to the right is not the final artwork for the cover but merely a placeholder.)

It is unnusual because the story is told through just 100 sections, but will still include everything you would expect from an ACE Gamebook.

It is also an interactive folk horror story, about grief and guilt. To explain much more than that at this stage would be difficult without giving away too many of the book's secrets. But rest assured that 100 Aker Wood will be a more subtle take on the idea than some other recent adaptations*, and will have a pervading atmosphere of creeping dread.

Other influences on the adventure include Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood (which won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1985) and Stephen King's Pet Sematary (which the author considers his most disturbing and terrifying novel).

I'm not entirely sure what made me think of merging Winnie-the-Pooh with Pet Sematary, but what clinched it for me was when I considered how Christopher Robin misspelt 'Acre' on his map of Hundred Acre Wood, just as the children of Ludlow, Maine, misspelt 'Cemetery' on the sign they made to mark the resting place of their much-missed family pets.

If all of this has you intrigued, check out the Kickstarter preview page and click the button to be notified when the campaign launches. You could also subscribe to my newsletter.

* And I use the word loosely here.

Cthulhu Thursday: Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu - What Dreams May Come

Available now from ACE Gamebooks is Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come, written by Jonathan Green and illustrated by Heraldo Mussolini.

“We are such stuff as dreams are made on…”

The year is 1613, and England's foremost playwright is committed to finishing his latest magnum opus, Love's Labour’s Won, for his new patron, the Earl of Gloucester. However, after falling asleep while working late at the Globe, he wakes to find himself in a subtly altered world that is both familiar and yet strangely unfamiliar.

What follows is an epic quest through Shakespeare’s plays in which the Bard of Stratford is confronted by sinister eldritch forces in service of the Great Old Ones – malign beings of unimaginable power – the greatest of which is the cosmic entity known as Cthulhu.

______________________________________

Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come is an interactive fantasy novel, inspired by the Bard’s most popular plays and the unsettling creations of the American pulp horror writer H.P. Lovecraft.

In this adventure gamebook, YOU take on the role of William Shakespeare himself, deciding which route to take, which perils to risk, and which of the villains and eldritch horrors you will meet along the way to fight. But whether you survive your ordeal or succumb to riotous madness, will be down to the choices YOU make.

“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.”

You can buy Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come via Amazon here.

Gamebook Friday: Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu

The crowdfunding campaign to fund Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come concluded one year ago today. Thanks to Stretch Goal #1 being unlocked during the campaign, everyone who has backed to receive a physical copy of the book will also receive a pack of five postcards featuring Heraldo Mussolini's artwork.

If you visit Shakespeare's Birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon, you can pick up postcards featuring extracts from the 1623 First Folio edition of Shakespeare's works enhanced by woodcut images printed from original blocks by Louisa Hare. 

Louisa Hare's First Folio postcards.

I wanted to pay homage to the First Folio postcards in Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come, and so Heraldo has produced a stylised woodcut illustration for each Act of the adventure, and it is these images that will be printed on the five postcards. Here's the one for Act 3 - Full Fathom Five.

Full Fathom Five, by Heraldo Mussolini.

If you would like to place a Late Pledge to Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come, there's still time - but you only have until the end of the month to do so!

Happy Birthday, Mr Shakespeare!

It is one year to the day since Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come funded on Kickstarter, but there's still time to place a Late Pledge - but only just!

I am making a few final tweaks to the manuscript, ready to start proofreading and renumbering next week. In the meantime, illustrator Heraldo Mussolini is working on producing the artwork for the book. Here are a couple of his finished illustrations.

"O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?"

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."

Happy Birthday, Mr Shakespeare!

Gamebook Friday: Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu Late Pledges

This is a reminder to let you know that you can still place a Late Pledge to Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come.

Due to the Late Pledges already placed by others, we are now just £274 away from hitting Stretch Goal #3. (That's roughyl equivalent to one CTHULHU, one PROSPERO, and one ROMEO.)

If we hit Stretch Goal #3, everyone who has backed at the KING LEAR reward level or above will receive, in addition to their signed, limited edition hardback, a pack of five postcards featuring artwork from the adventure, two Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu-themed dice, and a deck of Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu-themed playing cards.

It will also unlock the MACBETH reward, meaning that anyone who has backed at the HAMELT level can upgrade their pledge so that they receive the dice and playing cards too, along with the postcard pack.

So, don't delay - and place a Late Pledge today!

"That is not dead which can eternal lie,

And with strange aeons even death may die."

Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come - The Final 48 Hours!

We're into the final 48 hours of Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come on Kickstarter and are slowly creeping towards Stretch Goal #2.

It is at this point that anyone who clicked on the remind-me-later button will be receiving an email from Kickstarter, reminding them that they might what to pledge their support to Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come on Kickstarter, so it's quite possible we will see a surge in pledges over the next two days.

However, you can do your bit by sharing the link to the Kickstarter far and wide among your contacts too. With your help, there's no reason why we can't hit Stretch Goal #3 by 2:00pm BST on Thursday 16 May, when the Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come Kickstarter concludes.

Thank you for all your support.

"Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends."

Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come is LIVE on Kickstarter!

The eighth ACE Gamebook is now funding on Kickstarter. In Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come, you take on the role of England's foremost playwright William Shakespeare, battling the forces of the Great Old One Cthulhu. Check out the rewards below and pledge your support today.

Thank you for your support and please share the Kickstarter project link far and wide.

“I can no other answer make but thanks, and thanks…”

Gamebook Friday - Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come

There are just 11 days to go until Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come launches on Kickstarter.

Because you are a faithful reader of this blog, you can check out the preview of the project page here.

If you are thinking of backing the Kickstarter, here are some of the rewards you might want to consider.

And even if you're not thinking of backing the Kickstarter, you can still play your part by sharing the Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come project page far and wide.

Thank you for your support.