One word: WOW!

What an amazingly well done expansion. We kept having encounters with the Dark Whispers. Players fought over who got to land there that turn. The theme is thick and great, Miskatonic Horror, only further added to the fun.

I was blown away with just how well it intergrated and continually threw it's theme into the ring. As, say compared to Black Goat, when it rarely chooses to show up at all.

The Mythos Card where the nile floods Arkham blew us away. It leaves Exibit items on the board! So much fun. Thanks FFG!

Here, here (anyone actually know how that's spelled? I've only heard it, never seen it written out. My version is probably wrong). Dark Pharaoh revised is my personal favorite small box. The only downside is the herald, who inexplicably shuts down his own expansion's mechanic. But, as I've said before, Dark Pharaoh was my second small box, my first being Black Goat, and there was no contest in my mind about which of those two to play with.

But yes, without the herald, the Ancient Whispers marker is great. It's now become my fall-back for investigator actions. If my investigator could not jump in a gate (or didn't have five clues), and could not reach any clues or monsters they could defeat, I used to just have them go to a shop or a beneficial location, but now, it's always the Ancient Whispers marker. Of course, there's a very small chance they'll actually get an item, but it's exciting all the same. I particularly like how the encounters generally give you a choice about making the check, meaning you can back off if you don't think you can succeed. Thus, there are no real "bad" encounters in the Exhibit Encounters deck, and it's generally safe to hit the marker even if your stats aren't great.