207: Strange NPCs: Albert Fish

https://blasphemoustomes.com/2021/04/27/strange-npcs-albert-fish/

We’re back and we’re presenting a somewhat darker episode than usual. While The Good Friends of Jackson Elias is definitely a horror podcast, most of the horror we discuss is rooted in the fantastic. In this episode, however, we’ve decided to look into some real nightmares from the classic 1920s era for gaming inspiration and talk about Albert Fish.

Main Topic: Albert Fish

Originally, this episode was going to form a segment in one of our Great NPCs of History series. There were a couple of problems, however. The first was that once we had dug into the research, there was so much material that it would require a full episode. More important was that however fascinating we find Albert Fish, there is nothing about him we could describe as “great”.

If you’ve heard the name Albert Fish before, you should have some idea of what to expect from the episode. Otherwise, be warned that he was a serial killer, sexual predator and cannibal who targeted children. He also delighted in taunting the families of his victims. His crimes are the stuff of nightmare. While we try to present the details soberly and without too much prurient detail, this episode will not be to everyone’s tastes.

As ever, our motivation is to find inspiration for Call of Cthulhu. While the actual crimes of Albert Fish are too horrible for most games, details of the police investigation, newspaper reporting and trial that his crimes spawned should prove useful to Keepers of classic-era campaigns.

Once again, the pandemic means we recorded this episode remotely.

Links

Things we mention in this episode include:

• Great NPCs of History
• More Great NPCs of History
• Albert Fish
• Deranged: The Shocking True Story of America’s Most Fiendish Killer by Harold Schechter
• Albert Fish: In Sin He Found Salvation (2007)
• Michael Fish
• William Burroughs: El Hombre Invisible by Barry Miles
• Classified: The Secret History of the Personal Column by HG Cocks
• Walker in the Wastes
• Charles Lindbergh
• Lindbergh baby kidnapping
• Zodiac (2007)
• Fredric Wertham
• Bellevue Hospital
• Letter from Albert Fish to the Budd family
• Cosmic horror episode
• Captain Pugwash urban myths
• Piquerism
• Trephination
• Seduction of the Innocent by Fredric Wertham
• The Comics Code
• Edgar Laplante
• Ted Bundy

News

Chaosium Reprints

Matt discusses some goodies from Chaosium that have landed on his front doorstep. Horror on the Orient Express and Beyond the Mountains of Madness are now available again in print-on-demand format. As Matt points in the segment, however, the binding quality is a lot higher than you might expect from POD. He also touches upon the new scenario collection, Does Love Forgive?

The Blasphemous Tome Issue 7

Issue 7 of The Blasphemous Tome will be escaping into the wild before the end of June. It includes a brand new Call of Cthulhu scenario, licensed by Chaosium, written by our very own Matt Sanderson. Everyone backing us on Patreon will receive a copy. Please see our Patreon page for more details.