Narrative game books steered my interest into dark fantasy reading and playing. The 1980s phenomenon of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks championed blending RPG elements into the choose-your-own-adventure genre. Although these persist in 2025 (in releases, digital versions, several tabletop games... all susceptible to reviews here soon), the last decade has enabled new forms of narrative, choose-your-own-adventure solo games.
This post highlights DOOM PILGRIM, a narrative-card-game-book by War Claw Games. The company is based in the Czech Republic. Most of their lineup has Print-to-Play options in addition to physical copies (produced by US-based manufacturer, The Game Crafter).
Released in 2022 as a physical and print-and-play game, Doom Pilgrim was awarded "Best Small Game of the Year" from the solo-dungeon-crawler guru Daniel from Dungeon Dive (see also his his Doom Pilgrim tutorial). In short, it is a superbly elegant, beautiful game. Doom Pilgrim has several expansions available now, with more on the way. Also, these proven game mechanics have evolved into Arthurian Legend, Sci-Fi, and weird horror games.
This August, we hailed the emergence of a second Chain Story project championed by Michael A. Stackpole. This is a Sword & Sorcery-focused, contagious set of connected ("chained") stories. Each is....
This continues the longstanding tradition of sharing homemade cards. Heidi drew the card again. Hope you enjoy it! It echoes elements from the 2024(making that card link). Below is a 30-second time-lapse of its creation (actual time 1hr 40min).
2025 was fun, with Heidi and Seth taking a Rick's Steve's tour of England & Wales (literary highlights blogged; select photo of Tolkien's door below)
2026 promises to be fun, with Erin getting engaged (to Connor Richman, yes, another Connor. Our Connor will graduate from U-Cincinnati in May with an Environmental Engineering degree.
Wishing everyone a peaceful holiday season and a new year. Sincerely,
Seth, Heidi, Erin & Connor (and Connor") [image of the 5 of us below]
2025 Card Notes
Lindberg Holiday cards made since ~1998 are viewable on Team Lindberg Crafts - Blog (which often does not load at workplaces, but it's just a Google Photoblog).
Heidi (wearing her wedding ring as the One Ring) and Seth in front of the doors that J.R.R. Tolkien drew inspiration (and literally drew) for the door into Moria [Stow on the Wold, England]
The 'Tolkien Door' at Stow on the Wold Doors of Durin, also known as the West-gate of Moria
The north porch of St. Edward's Church in Stow on the Wold, Gloucestershire, is home to a wooden door which looks like something from a fairy story. Indeed, rumour has it that the door was the inspiration behind J.R.R. Tolkien's J. R. R. Tolkien's Doors of Durin, the west gate of Moria that appears in a scene in the The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
The door is made of dark wood with studded panels, and it has an old oil lamp hanging above it. The door is quite small, and it is said that only a hobbit could fit through it.
Tolkien was known to visit the area while he studied at, and later became a professor at, Oxford University (Merton College). Much as we'd love to believe that the door was instrumental in the creation of the Doors or Durin, the claims have never been authenticated.
The north porch of the church was built about 300 years ago and young yew saplings were planted to enhance its entrance. Today these trees are now part of the architraves for the door and make this one of the most photographed doors in the Cotswolds!
St Edward's Church is just a short walk from the Market Square and the magical yew tree door and stained glass windows are well worth visiting.
Read (I mean listen) "Immolating Ember," a Dyscrasia Fiction®
Savage Realms Monthly July 2025
A Collection of Dark Fantasy Sword and Sorcery Short Adventure Stories (Savage Realms Monthly Dark Fantasy Sword and Sorcery Adventure Magazine, Book 37)
THE BLOOD DAGGER OF DILGARE CHAPTER 1, by Richard Rubin
Quench Your Thirst for Savage Sword and Sorcery Action Adventure!
The masters of sword and sorcery fiction might be dead but just because Robert E. Howard is no longer penning Conan tales doesn't mean you have to go without your fix of axe-wielding barbarians, lusty wenches and evil wizards! Literary Rebel is proud to bring you a whole new crop of monthly fantasy fiction by talented new authors.
"The first issue does not disappoint!"
"Hack and slash goodness."
"Harkens back to the days of the pulp masters..."
Fans of Robert E. Howard, Lin Carter, Clark Ashton Smith, and Karl Edward Wagner will love this new fantasy fiction adventure magazine.
My annual trip to the IASR Surfactant Consortium in Norman, Oklahoma, lets me connect with friends and authors there.
Managed to meet the esteemed Adrian Simmons (one of the Heroic Fantasy Quarterly editors, author, and fellow Black Gate contributor). Super fun, spontaneous connection. Cheers to Adrian. Thanks for tracking me down.
And I got to present (brand? lol) fellow Perseid Press Heroes in Hell writer Tom Barczak with Dyscrasia Fiction swag! Long live Valka!
August 3rd, we highlighted the first three stories of The Chain Story 2 – Sword and Sorcery. All these stand-alone stories are “chained” together with a common element (a common magical artifact represented in the logo), with different contributors showcasing their own characters/worlds. They can be read in any order, for free (at least for several months, many times indefinitely)!
Stories will be released every few weeks, so check the Chain Story website continuously! This post highlights the next five!
For many enthusiasts of pulp fiction, there is a rite of passage in which the reader stumbles into H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, or Clark Ashton Smith, and as they track down stories or read adjacent publications, they learn about the others and they were pen pals and shared numerous cross-over characters/ideas. People usually discover Howard or Lovecraft first, and are often floored last by the poetic, cosmic madness of Smith. Clark Ashton Smith (1893-1961) was a poet at heart, also a sculptor and artist, and his approach to weird fiction was to introduce lyricism and literary depth. Indeed, he is a major reason I started interviewing authors on their take on "Beauty in Weird Fiction" in 2014, the series hosted by Black Gatesince 2018. Check out the Eldritch Dark website for his fiction, nonfiction, and images of his drawings and sculptures.
He could not tell the duration of the weaving, the term of his enthrallment. Dimly, at last, he beheld the thinning of the luminous threads, the retraction of the trembling arabesques. The globe, a thing of evil beauty, alive and aware in some holocryptic fashion, had risen now from the empty armor of Yanur. Diminishing to its former size, and putting off its colors of blood and opal, it hung for a little while above the chasm...
So, it is with great pleasure that we spotlight a conference dedicated to Clark Ashton Smith, duly hosted in the author's hometown (Auburn, CA, to be held Jan 10th, 2026)! Read this to find out all the details, the amazing panelists, and get an inside perspective from the organizer about the origin of the event.
Saturday August 30th, my son and I passed Aikido testing (now Shodan and Nidan, respectively ... aka 1st and 2nd degree black belts). Thanks for all the support from Mushinkan Dojo (Q, Chris, Daryl Everding and Hanna Everding, and Sensei Dirk Domaschko, and many more). The journey started for us ~2011 give or take, and still continues.
Daryl sports a Dsycrasia Fiction shirt for support
Gen Con 2025 - SELindberg Writers Symposium Panels Review
Remembering Howard Andrew Jones
Thursday, 11:00 AM EDT for 1 hr Marriott: Marriott Ballroom 4
Join us as we honor and celebrate the life, work, and memory of Howard Andrew Jones, one of our own.
Featuring: Bryan Young, C. S. E. Cooney, Carlos Hernandez, Chris A. Jackson, Erik Scott de Bie, Erin M. Evans, Gregory A. Wilson, Katherine Monasterio, Matt Forbeck, Sean CW Korsgaard, Seth Lindberg
- We announced the Howard Andrew Jones Memorial Travel Grants (for enabling BIPOC and first-time panelists/authors to attend); thanks to the 2025 Writer's Symposium organizing committee
- Also, some homeage pictures of the Skull's Zigguratt (Goodman Game's Vendor booth) and of the piano outside the Writer's Symposium green room (this haunts me, but I love it. Miss you Howard)
See previous Memorial Obiturarys, Memorial Panels:
Bar fights, professional fights, ambushes, duels, full-scale battles - how do we do them justice? How do we craft a physical confrontation in our scenes?
Featuring: J.B. Garner, James A. Hunter, Richard Lee Byers, Seth Lindberg, Stephen Kozeniewski
Community Building
Thursday, 4:00 PM EDT for 1 hr Marriott: Boston
Writers who have a community thrive better in their creative work. Come listen to our panelists talk about the communities they participate in, best practices, and how to get started.
Featuring: DaVaun Sanders, Kelli Fitzpatrick, Rob Cameron, Seth Lindberg
Sometimes, it's the monster's turn to be the star of the show. How do you write for when your protagonist is a bloodsucking fiend, an evil genius, or a shambling corpse?
