Here are some books and movies that get us in the mood to explore the Chronicles of Darkness.
Comic Books
Demo
By Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan
This anthology comic follows strange events in the lives of a myriad of people. Sometimes there’s a supernatural element, like a young woman who can barely control her psychic powers. Other times, the truth is more ambiguous, like when the “ghost” of a suicide leaves her boyfriend a mix tape. Demo illustrates how the uncanny can impact ordinary people.
Fell
By Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith
This brooding procedural comic follows the titular Fell, a detective in a “feral city” – a major metropolis where law and order have collapsed but life goes on. Ellis’s seedy narratives and Templesmith’s deceptively stylized visuals reveal the kinds of characters and crimes that would be right at home in the Chronicles of Darkness. The supernatural is never overt or confirmed, but an eerie atmosphere and macabre rituals permeate the story.
Films — Live-Action
The Crow
Directed by Alex Proyas
Witness a city burning for a mysterious ritual, and a man risen from the dead to wreak vengeance upon those who wronged him. The Crow’s seedy characters and revenge-driven story are an example of what can happen when a Chronicles of Darkness chronicle goes, very, very wrong. Keep your eyes on the depiction of Detroit in the 90s, a place which must look very much like the Chronicles of Darkness.
The Exorcist
Directed by William Friedkin
A young woman is in trouble, and the Church tries to help. It could be almost sweet, except that the trouble is demonic possession and the help is a priest due for a crisis of faith. This is a great example of how a horror story can be terrifying and hint at bigger mysteries while sticking to very personal stakes.
The Terminator
Directed by James Cameron
Though nominally science fiction, this classic horror-action flick is the story of a woman pursued by an implacable monster as the result of a family curse. Pay attention to the neon-lit neo-noir Los Angeles setting, and the way an ordinary waitress becomes a hardened survivor.
Live-Action TV
True Detective
Created by Nick Pizzolatto
This show, which jumps back and forth in time, follows multiple homicide cases and conspiracies over a 17-year period. Though the series begins with the ritualistic murder of a prostitute, it rapidly expands in scope to include biker gangs, drug deals, politics, and a possible conspiracy involving abuse at a now defunct religious school. True Detective is an excellent show to use as inspiration for a longer chronicle wherein players slowly piece together what is really happening, while still having contained adventures in each session.
Mixed
Gone Girl
By Gillian Flynn and directed by David Fincher
Gone Girl owes much of its mystery and atmosphere to its unreliable narration. Both the book and the movie switch from the perspective of Nick Dunne, who comes home one day to find his wife missing, and the diary of Amy Dunne, the missing wife. Are memories reliable? Can one really believe witnesses and news stories, or is everything just tabloid journalism? How well can you ever really know a person, whether a neighbor or a spouse? Both the movie and the novel as well as Gillian Flynn’s other two books, Sharp Objects and Dark Places, exemplify how a seemingly-simple situation can actually possess unexpected depth, if only people know how to ask the right questions.
