Dark Adventure Radio Theatre: Masks of Nyarlathotep

By: H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society

Narrated by: H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society

Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's Summary

Dark Adventure Radio Theatre: Masks of Nyarlathotep is an epic tale of globe-trotting adventure inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, presented as a 1930s-style radio drama. Dark Adventure Radio Theatre presents the tale with an absurdly large cast of professional actors, exciting sound effects and thrilling original music by Troy Sterling Nies. 

Like many Lovecraft fans, we played Chaosium's celebrated role playing game Call of Cthulhu®. Now, in partnership with Chaosium, we've adapted their most famed and beloved game supplement of all time -  Masks of Nyarlathotep - into a fully dramatized super episode of Dark Adventure Radio Theatre. And if you've never heard of or played the game - don't worry, you don't need to know anything about the game to enjoy this super-sized episode. The death of a dear old friend and an inquiry into a doomed archeological expedition spiral into a global investigation with dire repercussions. 

Can a handful of intrepid investigators make a stand against an insidious and bloodthirsty cult? Can a diabolical conspiracy be thwarted before a doomsday plan comes to fruition? Is there any hope for mankind against the machinations of an Elder God or will they meet only despair, death and madness?

©2018 Chaosium, Inc. (P)2019 HPLHS, Inc.

Great Lovecraftian style adaptation!

If you are looking for a narrated story by H.P. Lovecraft, skip this. HOWEVER.... if you enjoy his style of writing and are up for a bit of dark humor and frivolity, well then..., This is a perfectly done, over the top, '30's style radio play, commercials included. I didn't even catch how hilarious the commercials were until about the 2nd or 3rd one. After that, they were as much fun as the play. I love the use of dramatic musical overtones, old style sound effects, and the commercial breaks. Yes, the drama is a touch overly dramatic. That's purposeful. Take it as a vehicle used during radio plays to express things so you can see them with your ear. Please remember that even though this is definitely a legitimate Lovecraft Universe story, it does have a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor. I'm getting more of these. I absolutely loved this one.

most excellent!

I do love a really good radio play but this this takes me back well back to before I was but still!! remarkably done
if you play Call of Cthulhu and are familiar with masks of nyarlathotep the tantamount tour-de-force campaign, you'll love this. If you're playing through it still might be safe to listen to might give you some ideas. If you're running it! Cool beans to listen to this before or after and during. So much fun so so so much fun. If you don't know anything about any of those things, even if you don't know anything about HP Lovecraft, this is a fantastic tale of Adventure! Go for it just go for it.

Another great one!

Absolutely loved it. Story was very well done, great cast at HPLHS. Please keep doing the Chaosium modules, between Brotherhood of the Beast and this one just great stuff.

Simply outstanding!

HPLHS, they set the benchmark on radio dramatizations and readings of HP Lovecraft's works. Outstanding

Excellent story!!!

Great story, awesome presentation. It was full of action and adventure. Gripping story I actually found myself tooth,g for the characters and really got into the story. Also, the story was paced well enough so you weren't always sure what wad going to happen and the commercials were hilarious.

So much fun!

Loved it through and through! Now I just hope I can do the story the same sort of justice that this audiobook did when I run the campaign for my friends next month! Can't wait to see how the newest chapter on Peru solidifies the connection of the players to Jackson Elias!

Good performances. Uninspired story. Commercials.

The theatrical style and presentation are a welcome introduction to material as old as H.P. Lovecraft's original writings. The pulp style is novel and is a good fit. The story itself reminded me of an Indiana Jones adventure. I'm half-way through the recording and I'm not going to finish it and will request a refund after I'm done writing this.

I cannot stress how much I HATE the commercials. Whatever momentum which is built in any given scene comes to a screeching halt and hits a brick wall whenever an ad rolls. I enjoy the other work from group, of Lovecraft's other, more focused short stories. With the Masks of Nyarlathotep, it felt like the story just kept dragging on and on, interrupted by commercial after commercial.

The best way to listen to a Lovecraft book.

Absolutely brilliant. I can't wait to listen to more of their productions. I hope they do more modules like the horror on the orient express.

good but not very Lovecraftian

while thos is a charming adventure story that goes a long way towards recapturing the feel of old radio dramas, it doesn't especially recapture the spirit of classical Lovecraftian fiction.

Excellent performances

A fun but silly story very well acted. Some of the plot was a bit repetitive, but that may be expected from a game module

Great

A thoroughly entertaining romp, melodramatic, great performances and a cracking storyline. An old fashioned style radio drama that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Pulpy geeky fun!

Absolutely great fun from start to finish! Who knew that a dramatisation of an RPG campaign would be so engaging to listen to rather than play?

The plot and acting run a very thin line between loving pastiche of old pulp stories and slightly silly, but almost always land on the right side. I particularly loved the fake adverts at the end of each chapter, adding a nice touch of light relief to the tension of the cliffhangers. I really want some Bubble Pep now!

The acting is largely great - deliberately cheesy in places and doing a great job of making the large cast of heroes likeable. Some of the British accents are all over the place, but only the bit-parts - I doubt non-Brits will notice or care.

If you have any interest in Lovecraft or the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game, or you just generally like fun, I’d definitely recommend giving this a listen.

Absolutely brilliant!

Brilliant vintage radio show format complete with hilarious adverts such as 4 hands toothpaste, infused with Radium! loved it!

Absolute trash

Love, Lovecraft stories but this isn't anything close to Lovecraft and has been butchered by mass injection of current politics and ideology.

A rare miss.

I'm a big fan of the HP Lovecraft Historical Society but this, this is the first negative review I've ever given to one of their works. Previously all their works have been pretty damn good attempts to recreate the early radio broadcasts, the script for this one, just doesn't seem to be as authentic, the minor injections of modern politics particularly grate. In short if you like HPLS's work then you might enjoy this but I would consider this as the last one you buy once you have the others because it's by far the least impressive, in script and performance quality.

wonderful new departure for HPLHS

I recall being enthralled with Masks of Nyarlathotep in the nineties and wishing I could manage to persuade my group to let me run it but time and competing systems meant that never happened . We did manage to get through Beyond The Mountains of Madness over the course of several years off and on.
So when I saw that the excellent HPLHS had adapted and dramatised the campaign for their Dark Adventure Radio Theatre series I was delighted and the mammoth adaptation does not dissapoint .

I hope this leads to other adapatations-Horror on The Orient Express?

Very well done

This was brilliant, and an epic tale definitely worth listening to. I'd like to see a movie being made of this one day, either in period or even in modern-day with all its challenges...

Fantastic radio play

An all time classic Call Of Cthulhu story based on the 5th edition of Masks.

A MUST for H.P. Lovecraft fans

This is a fantastic production of an original story based on the work of HP Lovecraft. Delivered in the form of an old-time radio serial, even the 'adverts' are inspired.

This is my favourite ever Audible purchase.

wonderful pulpy loviness

This is a wonderful production with a fantastically pulpy execution that evokes classic radio theatre. Even going as far as to create great advertising parodies. If you are a fan of this genre then Masks of Nyarlarhotep will have you hooked even more than a fleur de lis cigarette.