Spooky Spaces: 5 Settings for your Spooky Season RPG Session

Location! Location! Location! In this latest episode of our spooky season series, we focus on some spooky locations for your players to visit. In previous blogs we have discussed some monsters and villains that you can use to ramp up the spookiness and, now, with these location suggestions–you can have the spookiest RPG session for this Halloween!

The Deadlands 

“The way is shut. It was made by those who are Dead, and the Dead keep it, until the time comes. The way is shut.”  - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King 

I remember visiting Native American Burial Grounds on a field trip when I was young. At that time you were able to go down into the mounds and see some of the dig sites. It was both a neat experience and a spooky one. There is something eerie about trespassing in the land of the dead. There is an unsettling awareness that we do not belong there and that we are not alone. The deadlands can take many forms including: ancient tombs, forgotten cemeteries, or long lost necropolises. Our ancestors took special care with the dead. Sometimes erecting monuments or sealing the remains away for all time. It is important to play up the foreboding sense that the players do not belong there and that it is best to step lightly and leave these realms undisturbed.

The Wild 

 "In the middle of the journey of our life I found myself within a dark woods where the straight way was lost."— Dante Alighieri, Inferno

When I was a young Boy Scout I found myself lost in the woods with some of the other young members of my troop and, I must say, it was terrifying. The trees seemed to grow taller and loom ever higher over me. Every path felt the same and each step was carefully measured as any fall could have been dangerous. We were eventually able to locate higher ground out of the thick forest and regain our bearings. What we were not anticipating was that between us and salvation were a pack of angry farm dogs. We were terrified but were able to run from them and ultimately escape. Still, being lost in the woods with no one else to help you can be incredibly isolating and terrifying. Nature can be beautiful but it can also be deadly, as its denizens are primal, instinctive, and often predatory. Play up the isolation and the desperation when you are using the wild as a backdrop for your campaigns. Nature is scary.

The Quiet 

“Alone. Yes, that’s the key word, the most awful word in the English tongue. Murder doesn’t hold a candle to it and hell is only a poor synonym.” ― Stephen King

Near our house there is a park and at the far end of that park there is an abandoned building. We have no idea what it was but it appears to have had some kind of religious connection as there are broken statues nearby. My wife and I investigated the exterior on one of our walks when our curiosity got the better of us. We found a broken window and peered inside. Even with a flashlight we could see nothing and the only thing we could feel was. . .cold. There is something unsettling about ghost towns, haunted houses, and the like. Places normally filled with life that are suddenly filled with only the creaking of doors and the rustle of leaves. Where there should be joy and happiness there is only silence. Where there should be people there is nothing. Why did they leave? Where did they go? Nature has not yet stepped in to reclaim its lands yet but it is only a matter of time. Much like nature, playing up the theme of isolation is important here, but also the mystery. How long have they been gone? Why did they leave? Is whatever caused them to leave still here? Is it still a threat? Is it near?

The Dark 

 “I fear not the dark itself, but what may lurk within it.” - Unknown

As a child I was terrified of the dark and to some degree I still am. I hurry up the stairs after turning out the light and I do not enjoy spending too much time in the darkness. I remember as a child visiting the world famous Mark Twain Cave. At a point in the tour, the guide turned out the light and I audibly whimpered “Turn the lights back on!” The guide explained that this was absolute darkness and, try as they might, our eyes would never adjust to the darkness. Terrifying. We rely so much on our senses that when we are deprived of them, it can be very scary. The darkness need not only extend to caves but to perhaps realms of darkness as well such as those featured in and popularized by Netflix’s Stranger Things. Realms like the Plane of Shadow or the Upsidedown can be fantastic realms of darkness for insighting terror. Play up the feeling of dread and the unknown in your players. Even those with darkvision cannot look everywhere at once.

The Unknown Depths 

“We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.” - H.P. Lovecraft

When she is not expertly editing our blog, my wife Abigail is a teacher in her professional life. She shared with me an interesting fact: we know more about outer space than we do our own oceans. In fact, less than 10% of our oceans have been explored and 90% of all life lives in the sea. My father was in the Navy and told me that the spookiest thing he experienced during his tour of duty was when the ship he was stationed on was no longer able to see the shore. He said that seeing only blue in all directions as far as you could see was unsettling. One of the oldest emotions is fear of the unknown and we know so little about our own oceans. In fact, there are giants that dwell beneath the waves. The giant squid was not caught on film until 2006 and was not filmed in its natural habitat until 2012. So afraid are we of the unknown that ancient sailors wrote “Here be monsters”. Perhaps we would be wise to heed those warnings. When running your adventures at sea, be sure to hint that something may be lurking just below the surface, waiting to strike.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this spooky series of blogs and that they give you some inspiration for your campaign! We’d love to hear from you if you use any of our tips and tricks, or if you have any spooky secrets from your own session or campaign to share! So leave us a comment on our blog, write to us on Facebook or Instagram, or drop a message in chat on our Thursday night Twitch livestream. And Happy Halloween!! 

Take Heart! 

Karington Hess

Game Master and Founder of Open Heart Games