I have been reading a whold lot about inserting urban legends and childhood myths into Little Fears, but there have been plenty of real-life monsters who have posed a great threat to both the lives and sanity to many children. Let me give you the most extreme example:

In the early part of the 20th century, kids in different parts of the country would disappear and never be seen again. Almost always they were playing with other kids, but then went off on their own. Despite the fact that the locations of the children were often in different areas, the fact that the situations were all so peculiarly exact made it obvious that they were all connected. In time, a pattern was discovered and the one thing that connected all the disappearences was the arrival of a harmless looking old man, grey-haired and drab in appearance, who would be seen hanging around the neighborhood chatting with the locals. Whever a child disappeared, so did the old man. Eventually the law set up a massive manhunt for the mysterious figure known only as "The Grey Man" that would last for over ten years. During the entirety of the hunt, no trace of the Grey Man was ever found.

It wasn't until the early 1930's that the Grey Man was caught, almost by a fluke, and made to stand trial. What they found out about him stunned the world. His name was Albert Fish, a sado-masochist, pedophile, murderer, and cannibal. A psychotic who often believed himself to be on a holy mission, Fish was also capable of appearing to be a kindly old grandfather who many unsuspecting people had allowed to babysit their young children after knowing him for only a few hours, only to come home and find both Fish and the child gone forever. He would force his young captives to flagellate him with a wooden plank, then kill and devour them. In at least one instance, he sent a letter (anonymously, of course) to the parents of one of his victims, detailing at length what he had done to her and how he had slain and eaten her.

Fish was sentenced to the electric chair, which thrilled him no end. He stated for the press that he had experienced every sort of pain known to man except for fatal electrocution, and speculated on how much of a sexual thrill it would give him. When they strapped him in and turned on the juice, the machine failed because Fish had such a large quantity of metal in his body due to years of pushing long pins deep into his own flesh and leaving them there. It took a second trip to the chair to finally kill the old man.

If you wanted to set your game between 1910-1930, Albert Fish can be a far more frightening encounter than any demon. If you want to leave it set in the modern era, Fish could be a vengeful spirit or perhaps (and this is what I plan to do when I run the scenerio) reincarnated as a little boy the same age as the player characters. The best part is that once they get the name "Albert Fish," they can actually go onto the internet, look it up, and get the whole macabre story as to what they are dealing with.

Promises some real genuine chills.

That is indeed quite a chilling tale. Is anyone currently running a True Horror game? If so, how are the players reacting to it? Any advice for GMs who are thinking of dipping their toes into those darkest of waters?

Thank you for the post, Slant.

Isn't it scary how flesh-and-blood people can be far more terrifying than any critter you see in a movie? I will let you all know how the scenario goes when we play it out.