Our favorite month has begun! With Halloween around the corner, homes are glowing pumpkin-orange and funeral purple, kids and adults are getting ready to wear their nightmare faces, and the streets are about to be overrun by hordes of monsters and demons.
So what better time to sit down and play VHS: Very Horror Stories?
Sure, one of the many pre-built Films will work perfectly to honor the month of horror, but in this short article, I want to give you a few tips on how to create or adapt one yourself.
And that’s not all: at the end of the article, you’ll find a small gift to help you create Monsters and Characters for your Halloween sessions!
So grab your candy bucket and your remote. Press play… and MAKE them scream!
Dressing the Monster
The Monster is already dressed as a monster, but for an occasion like this, it’s time to wear its best outfit. Think of a distinctive touch that visually defines your Film’s antagonist. Just describing it might be enough, but if you want, you can also give it a special ability.
For example, instead of his skull mask, Edmund Carving could wear a pumpkin-shaped one that grants him +1 Strength in Areas containing a Crime Scene. Or, through his Special Ability, he could summon little homunculi made of twisted vines that steal items from the Characters instead of calling up alligators.
Or maybe The Man in the Bowler Hat could become The Candle Man, hiding a ghostly flame beneath his hat, capable of hypnotizing Characters before absorbing them into his waxy body.
Of course, some Monsters will lend themselves to this transformation more easily than others: it’s not as simple to imagine an Oniboros strung up with orange fairy lights.
Setting the Scene
The Main Set works beautifully for adding Halloween-themed elements.
In natural maps (forests, caves, fields), you might add twisting vines ending in swollen pumpkins. In artificial ones (buildings, homes, hospitals), macabre decorations can appear: post-mortem photos, orange lights, broken toys.
You can keep these as descriptive details or give them mechanical purpose.
For instance, vines could risk entangling Characters who try to flee through their Areas, or pumpkins might burst into clouds of caustic miasma when a Dreadful Event occurs. Macabre decorations could even cause Insanity loss whenever Characters within them experience Fear.
Or you could flip it: let the vines entrap Monsters instead, pumpkins provide cover for Hiding, and creepy decorations “numb” the Characters, preventing the loss of the first Insanity point.
As you can see, there’s no need to overcomplicate things (or even add rules at all). A Film should stay quick and intuitive, focus on immersion, and on making the session feel like Halloween.
Prepare the Table
If you’re playing in person, there are quick, easy tricks to turn any Film into a tribute to the Halloween season.
Lighting: Keep it low and warm: use an orange or red bulb, or a few electronic candles. Shadows should reign.
Tablecloth: A black sheet or cloth makes the perfect base for dice and sheets. You can dust it with flour for a “dusty” effect or spatter dry red paint for dried blood.
Soundtrack: The official VHS soundtrack is ideal, but if you don’t have it, go for a playlist of ’80s–’90s horror soundtracks or ambient noises (wind, creaking branches, rain).
Props: Simple, generic things: masks laid on the table, jars filled with red-colored water (a bit of paint does the trick) and pumpkin seeds, crumpled newspaper clippings, or broken dolls.
Scents: A stick of moss or burnt-wood incense adds the perfect touch of rural horror.
Snacks: Popcorn and candy are a must, or, if you’re up for it, themed drinks. You can even use candies to represent Side Sets, Characters, or Monsters, or place “special snacks” that players can grab whenever they suffer (or inflict) Wounds or Insanity.
Create your own Nightmare Session
Instead of using pre-built Characters, Monsters, and Films, why not make your own?
Not sure where to start?
Don’t worry: we’ve already prepared everything you need for the occasion.
Below, you’ll find free downloads for:
- A pack of 12 Traits to create Monsters and Characters with a Halloween twist;
- All Hallow’s Fright, a Scenario that gives you everything you need to build Films set in the eerie town of Harvest Hill.
Still not enough? Us neither.
Get ready, on Friday, October 17th comes Killer Pumpkin Night, a special release for VHS featuring: a brand-new Film (Harvest of the Damned), an original Monster (Vernon Grady, the Ripperkin), and a Main Set (The Grady Fields).
An extra dose of terror for those who dare to dive even deeper into the nightmare of Halloween.
Thanks for reading this far. Wishing you a safe descent into horror.
– Simone