Little Emily and I will be going on vacation in Massachusetts. Most of the time we'll be in Western Massachusetts. We are looking for games of Arkham Horror. Will drive a long way for a game.

Phone: 650 302 6243

Limited computer access: [email protected]

The phone is better.

BTW, little Emily is not all that little anymore.

Dates: May 29-June 8th

That is very close to Providence, RI. You could go see the house where all of it began, and then head down to Newport, RI a great place to spend a day of your vacation time.

That close! I'm from the West coast and nothing is very close to anything else. We'll probably do it then. Thanks.

Wait, you said you'd be in western MA right? Providence is not very close at all. But you would be reasonably close to my mother's house. Problem is, I was just up there and might not be making the trip again until later in June. Sorry

But you will be near by brother's apartment in North Adams, and probably remotely near Athol, MA—Dunwich was based on that town.

Its only 2 hours 17 mintues from Pittsfield to Providence on I-90, how much more west could he be?

Mageith tell us exactly where you're going to be so we can send our cultists to abduct you.

Vaxsythrakul said:

It's a place called Hancock, MA. We will definitely be going to Salem and Boston.

Wow he is going to be "really" close to North Adams, probably 25 mins or less looking at the map. Hancock is like about as far West as you can get and still be in Mass. If you're already planning the Boston / Salem trip going to Providence would only add 57 minutes drive time according to Google Maps, and it is way worth the trip, go see HP Lovecraft's house, oh and his Grave, they probably have some kind of Lovecraft museum too but I don't know for sure. You could go check out Brown University the model for Miskatonic, or just bum around.

Whatever you end up doing have fun and let us know what you did when you get back !

Vaxsythrakul said:

I'm in Salem right now. Two days here, then to Hancock. But there's a lot to do here, so we'll probably take a road trip back in the middle of the week. Providence sounds good. We hope to vist the Witch museum, of course, then there's the actual Witch House and a schooner ride time. The there's the Maritime museum. We'll have a couple of days also at the end. Providence sounds like a must go. Though next week end is the Salem Art's Festival. The House of the Seven Gables is also here.

There are five season in Salem: Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring and October.

Sounds like real news is in the stores, tho! I hope Innsmouth is waiting for me when I get back.

Salem, eh? Don't forget to visit the Witch House!

No, it was pretty dull. No Rat-Things or apparitions.

Tibs said:

The Witch House is being rennovated, but you can still get in if you dare. There's a hand written note on the front, written in small white letters on something black that tell's you to go around the back (except one of the words is unreadable). I went around the back and the solid wood door is really uninviting. I went in anyway and two women were in there and looked up like we had intruded. (I guess most people knock). It's a very old house with very large beams and very creaky (but not squeaky).

One of the women walked with us but wouldn't go upstairs. Climbing the stairs was like climbing a ladder.

There are no right angles in the house anymore so probably safe from the Hounds of Tindalos. The walls lean every witch way, though the ladies claimed to not have noticed that before.

As we passed the inside of the front door, there was some scratching at the door. Our escort looked slightly alarmed since her back was only inches from the door. "Why did They do that?" she wondered aloud. "There's a "sign"" (rather than the more obvious term "note) "on the door." I said, "All the words aren't readable." She looked at me blankly. (Apparently interdimensional rats can't read scribbled English anyway.)

I just realized that whatever scratched never made it to the back door. We're were the only "visitors" in there and we were there for about half an hour.

In some places they have ropes so you clearly shouldn't go any further. In other places, just a sign stating you are not to be beyond this point, though the point isn't very clear.

The house was moved (moved?) 35 feet from it's original position. From the second floor you can see outside light coming in from the sky (or from another dimension?). There is apparently an attic, though I could see no way to get up there. Probably beyond the the points of no return.

We also went to The Witch Museum. Pretty interesting and one of the cheaper things to do.

There's a list given out about 10 things to do for free in Salem. Number 9 is visit the graveyard. That's where we'll be today. If I don't report back..... I've inquired about a Black Cave. Everyone is playing dumb.

We drove east looking for the Atlantic Ocean. It was pretty hard to find. The swamps and inlets prevented us from going in many directions. We eventually found it. The tide was going out.

mageith said:

Not that you were being serious, but the Black Cave location was probably inspired by Mammoth Cave/Collosal Cavern/Bedquilt Cave in Kentucky. The Lovecraft story "The Beast in the Cave" takes place there, and there is an encounter about getting lost in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike. This line is from the maze in the computer adventure game Zork (of which Kevin Wilson is apparently a fan based on on his Board Game Geek badges). However, the maze in Zork is based on the maze in the older Adventure, and even includes the same line about twisty passages. In turn, Adventure was a game built on top of Colossal Cave, another program which was basically a simulation of exploring Mammoth Cave (i.e., the same place as "The Beast in the Cave" is set). It's all so wonderfully recursive.

Cheers,
Chris

Which begs the question, "what is a grue?"

In all seriousness though sounds like you're having a ton of fun back East. I wish I was on that trip right now instead of stranded in Idaho, hope you make it to Providence, probably not quite as fun as The Witch House, but its a must go for any hardcore H.P. Lovecraft fan.

Thelric said:

Shucks. Already been there. No wonder they all played dumb in Massachusetts