Episode 27: The Haunted Mansion

The Wonderful World of Darklords

CONTENT ADVISORY: because the 2023 film version of The Haunted Mansion involves convincing a living soul to die and join the happy haunts, this episode discusses suicide.

Welcome, foolish mortals, to Wonderful World of Darklords! We are your hosts--your podcast hosts. Kindly load the full episode, and make room (on your hard drive) for every byte. There's no turning back now. Unless you stop listening five minutes in, I suppose. There's always that way out...

This episode is primarily drawing on the 2023 Haunted Mansion movie since it has a darklord and a plot, but if you prefer other versions of the Mansion, don't worry; we're incorporating as many as possible. Topics discussed include:

• How to give Alistair Crump, a fun but cartoonishly evil villain, an element of tragedy and relatability;
• How to essentially turn the Haunted Mansion into Hill House, Hell House, or the Overlook;
• Alternate versions of the domain that highlight other ghosts as the darklord or boss, including Ramsley the butler, Constance Hatchaway, Henry Ravenswood, or even Madam Leota;
• So, so, SO many mechanics from the older material to represent hauntings;
• And more!

The full write-up for the Haunted Mansion is available for free on DM's Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/497406/The-Haunted-Manor-A-Ravenloft-Domain-of-Dread?affiliate_id=241770

Grim Grinning Gauntlet, Michael Loving's version of the haunted mansion as a pure dungeon crawl, is available here: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/254923/Grim-Grinning-Gauntlet

If you want a gonzo haunted house full of surreal manifestations from the older material, check out Bleak House: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/201381/Bleak-House-2e?filters=0_0_0_0_45359_45347_0_0

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction

9:09 The Lord

38:51 The Land

49:03 Dread Possibilities

1:02:06 Aging Up (CW more detailed discussions of suicide and murder-suicide)

1:05:40 Aging Up ends

1:19:19 Parting Thoughts

1:49:37 D’s Parting Thoughts

All music recordings are in the public domain (mark 1.0) and are licensed through https://musopen.org:

Chopin Nocturne in B-Flat Minor, Op. 9 No.1 (main theme), performed by Eduardo Vinuela

Chopin Etude Op. 25, No. 12 in C Minor: “Ocean” (darklord theme), performed by Edward Neeman

Chopin Nocturne in F Minor, Op. 55 No. 1 (land theme), performed by Luke Faulkner

Rachmaninoff Morceaux de Fantaisie, Op. 3 - 2. Prélude in C sharp minor (Dread Possibilities), performed by Sergei Rachmaninoff

Chopin Nocturne in E Minor, Op. 72 No. 1 (parting thoughts), performed by Luke Faulkner

Dialog for Yensid was written by Azalin Rex himself: http://www.tumblr.com/darklordazalin

The Wonderful World of Darklords logo was designed by Halite Jones, whom you can find on Tumblr and Instagram: https://www.tumblr.com/halite-jones and http://www.instagram.com/insta_halite

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