hi gang, it's me the troublemaker here to have no excuses on why fulfillment is dragging on so long, but just know--it's me, all me, and I really apologize for the delay, I regret it and I hope I never leave anything this long again.
here's the problem....these books are historical horror and as a very obsessive layout artist I really want them to be historically accurate. fun fact, though: harvest, a layout which also took 1 million years longer to finish than anticipated, is set around 1790 where (here's the fun fact) pretty much all printed matter was typeset in caslon. now follow me to my type folder for grand guignol..........
and these aren't even the really craziest samples (that's these from bradley.) so you can see why i'm up late dragging my feet!! anyway we're in progress but these sample pages don't look even close to crazy enough for me. but they exist I promise, and I'm working on it, and truly the second the book looks good enough we're going to zoom it right to your hands.
Thank you all for your patience and concern while we've struggled to get the ship back on track. Possum Creek is now proudly an imprint of our newfound parent company Steve Jackson Games, and after eight or so months where it wasn't clear if Possum Creek would survive the turbulent financial waters, I'm excited to say we're back at it and we're getting Grand Guignol & Harvest out the door. The new goal list is as follows:
Ruby is hard at work doing the layout for both books (some teasers at the end of this update)
Then, we'll actually charge all of you for shipping via Backerkit (as we haven't done that yet, and we now have updated shipping rates from SJGames's fulfillment center, Warehouse 23.)
Then, we'll send out the PDFs of both games, and send the games to the printers. We anticipate that we'll be using a domestic printer, so tariffs won't have a major impact here.
Then, once the books arrive to our warehouse, we'll ship them out to all of you.
I would also like to take a moment to apologize for the lack of communication between ourselves and all of you. There was a chunk of time in 2024 in which we had no clue what the future was going to look like, in ways I couldn't comfortably talk about without putting any potential future in jeopardy. It left me in a frustrating double-bind, and it left all of you holding the bag. I apologize. I wish I had been clearer during the periods when I could've, and that I could've been clearer during the periods where I couldn't. Possum Creek having a parent company (with timelines, budgets, and dedicated administrative staff) means we now have a lot more safeguards against this kind of disaster occurring again, and it means we can get you your books as promptly as possible over the next few months.
Speaking of, here are Ruby's layouts-in-progress, to get a taste of what she's been up to!
Thank you all again, and I'll update you again next month.
hey everyone! grub here. Since this project funded, Possum Creek has been in our signature winter hibernation but we're now back in the swing of things and I wanted to share some brief progress updates with y'all.
Technically I am taking the lead on managing this project, but I will always be our art director first in my heart, so: art is finished! I'll drop final covers once I do the type treatment for them but for now, please appreciate the masterwork of line and texture and value (can you tell I have no idea how to work in black and white?) that Rowan and sarcoma have put together here for the interior art. Definitely added some of these to the mental folder I have for "possum creek art that would make amazing tattoos."
Setting Elements by Rowan MacColl
Playbooks by Rowan
The Powers that Be by doomed sarcoma
more powers by sarcoma
In January, in spite of a heroic fight again a bought of bronchitis, Luke finished the full updated text of both games, and they are now in the capable hands of our editor, Melody Watson. Editing will finish up in the next month or so and then move on to me for layout (an editing of another kind.)
In prep for laying out these historical games (and for funsies) I got a custom tour of Philly's own Rosenbach Rare Books Library from my dear friend Isabel for era-accurate books and illustrations. It's all specific to that collection so is definitely more US-based than Harvest or Grand Guignol but........still extremely cool I think. I've been meaning for a long time to write up a patreon post about it but it will maybe now wait until I tie all these references into layout. For now, just some cool old books:
Treatises on withcraft with original binding, circa 1684-1693. Harvest is technically set in the 1780s but Luke and I have talked about (especially with art briefs and costuming) how because it is set on a remote island, things will be behind the times.
A harvest-era (1743) pocket almanac with tide table, fold-out map, and important astrological dates.
Early (original?) printings of Dracula, with some of Stoker's research.
Folio of Aubrey Beardsley prints for Wilde's Salome
Really getting into the salacious queer eroticism & spiritualism of Grand Guignol's late 1800s here.
Deeply obsessed with these gilded decorations for an early House of Pomegranates.
Possum Creek is always working towards having this many little accompanying glyphs and ornaments. Warms my cold designer heart to see someone else who also painstakingly set text against an illustration.
Ok hope that is enough to sate y'all! Thanks for your support as always, see you next time :) xoxo grub
Jay here! We're halfway there through this crowdfunding project and I wanted to reach out to show off some new art for Grand Guignol and Harvest. Right now everything's just sketches, but the level of detail being applied to these setting elements do an amazing job of building out the historical world of 18th/19th century England and the strange magic present there.
These depict The Blood That Flows and The Embrace of Night, two setting elements from Grand Guignol, with art by Rowan MacColl.
These depict the Empire, the University, the Holy Church, and the Deathless Wyrm, four of the powerful masters of Harvest, with art by Sarcoma.
We have just 11 days to support Grand Guignol and Harvest, so be sure to tell your friends. Don't forget that last update we released the manuscript of Grand Guignol to all backers, so if that's something that interests you, be sure to go check it out!
