Keep off the Borderlands

In tribute to Tim Curry who we sadly lost last month, this month’s movie was 1985’s board game based comedy mystery Clue, directed by Jonathan Lynn. Starring Tim Curry, Madeline Khan, Eileen Brennan, Christopher Lloyd, Lesley Ann Warren, Michael McKean, and Martin Mull.This episode features contributions from: (in order of appearance) Jason Connerley of Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast (podcast) Joe Richter of Hindsightless (podcast) Goblin’s henchman (podcast, blog) and the UmberBulk of the Southwest Sofa Crew Darkfluid of The Silver Key (podcast) and Q Find the Movie Monday Letterboxd list here https://letterboxd.com/the39thman/list/movie-monday-1/ It’s been a while since we’ve had some proper sword & sorcery and, as it’s October, I figured it was time to check out Lucio Fulci’s contribution to the genre, Conquest from 1983. That episode will air 26th of October, so submit your message by the 24th please, to ensure you can be included in the episode. Send submissions to ⁠[email protected]⁠ or look me up on Discord as FreeThrall “Warning” by Lieren of Updates From the Middle of Nowhere Leave me an audio message via ⁠https://www.speakpipe.com/KeepOffTheBorderlands You can find me in a bunch of other places here ⁠https://freethrall.carrd.co⁠ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit freethrall.substack.com

There’s a whole host of stuff mentioned in this episode. First, there’s some Movie Monday feedback from Jason Connerley, then I speak a little bit about the possibility of recreating Kane Parson’s Backrooms (2026) at the gaming table. Here’s Bob World Builder talking about it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBPaGuWnNmg Ben Stiller's Severance, my new favourite thing. A few things I picked up recently from Beyond Cataclysm; Donn Stroud’s Ruination Pilgrimage bundle and Eely Moon’s The Fangwitch’s Falls. Here’s the Quinns Quest review of Jeremy Strandberg’s Stonetop https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH5-uQj4uOA Here’s Cody Barr’s Zones, perfect for solo play. Find tips for playing solo at Legends & Dice Cafe https://youtu.be/K0tT1ZKlPJU?is=ZM_A301Gk6psNdvN Ishirō Honda's Matango recommended by Roy Vieira as inspiration for TerrorFormed https://free-thrall.itch.io/terrorformed You can here The Good Friends of Jackson Elias discussing it here https://open.spotify.com/episode/2UxRstQ6aPeUu8ySe4Uxsu?si=VB0CSTulSKKlElAtIXfo8w&utm_source=copy-link Here's a better picture than the one I took of Jon Hodgson's Cold City/Hot War 2nd edition slipcase from Handiwork Games. Honourable mentions: Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu, Andy Goodman's Grizzly Peaks Radio, Goblin Archive's Liminal Horror, Pawel Kicman's Corp Borg, Chris Lowery's Mörk Org, William Hope Hodgson's The House on the Borderland. Find the Movie Monday Letterboxd list here https://letterboxd.com/the39thman/list/movie-monday-1/ In honour of the legend that is Tim Curry, who sadly passed on last month, I’ve chosen the comedy mystery Clue from 1985, directed by Johnathan Lynn. That episode will air on the 28th of September, so please submit your message by the 26th to ensure you can be included in the episode. Send submissions to ⁠[email protected]⁠ or look me up on Discord as FreeThrall “Warning” by Lieren of Updates From the Middle of Nowhere Leave me an audio message via ⁠https://www.speakpipe.com/KeepOffTheBorderlands You can find me in a bunch of other places here ⁠https://freethrall.carrd.co⁠ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit freethrall.substack.com

This month’s Movie Monday was a little out of left field: 1987’s House II: The Second Story, directed by Ethan Wiley. This episode features contributions from: (in order of appearance) Jason Connerley of Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast (podcast) Joe Richter of Hindsightless (podcast) Goblin’s henchman (podcast, blog) and the UmberBulk of the Southwest Sofa Crew Honourable mention: Safer Fantasy Crafting (podcast) In Praise of Shadows: House: Anatomy of a Franchise https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=His-f25qcmQ Find the Movie Monday Letterboxd list here https://letterboxd.com/the39thman/list/movie-monday-1/ In honour of the legend that is Tim Curry, who sadly passed on 25th, I’ve chosen the comedy mystery Clue from 1985, directed by Johnathan Lynn. That episode will air 28th of September, so submit your message by the 26th please, to ensure you can be included in the episode. Send submissions to ⁠[email protected]⁠ or look me up on Discord as FreeThrall “Warning” by Lieren of Updates From the Middle of Nowhere Leave me an audio message via ⁠https://www.speakpipe.com/KeepOffTheBorderlands You can find me in a bunch of other places here ⁠https://freethrall.carrd.co⁠ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit freethrall.substack.com

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve put out, thanks to a challenging few weeks. I’m catching up with some #RPGaDay2026 news and a few messages I’ve received since my last episode. Find out more about #RPGaDay2026 on Anthony Boyd’s Casting Shadows blog https://castingshadowsblog.com/2026/07/01/rpgaday2026-starts-august-1st/ Discover how Mirke the Meek, Jason Connerley of Nerd’s RPG Variety, and Riley of Diegetic Advancement are tackling #RPGaDay2026 here https://podbypost.com/nerds/rpg-a-day-2026 The first message is from The Southwest London Sofa Gang with a late entry for the Jason & the Argonauts episode, followed by some feedback for that episode from Joe Richter of Hindsightless, Jason Connerley of Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast, and Goblin’s Henchman, who also has some thoughts regarding June’s film Gary Goddard’s Masters of the Universe (1987). Honourable mention: The Odyssey dir. Christopher Nolan (2026) Find the Movie Monday Letterboxd list here https://letterboxd.com/the39thman/list/movie-monday-1/ The movie for August is 1987’s House 2: The Second Story, directed by Ethan Wiley. The episode airs on August 31, so please submit your message by August 29 to ensure you can be added to the episode. Send submissions to ⁠[email protected]⁠ or look me up on Discord as FreeThrall “Warning” by Lieren of Updates From the Middle of Nowhere Leave me an audio message via ⁠https://www.speakpipe.com/KeepOffTheBorderlands You can find me in a bunch of other places here ⁠https://freethrall.carrd.co⁠ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit freethrall.substack.com

Welcome to another Movie Monday, and with Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey looming over the horizon, I felt this was the perfect opportunity to visit the ancient Greece of 1963 and the Ray Harryhausen classic Jason and the Argonauts, directed by Don Chaffey. This episode features contributions from: (in order of appearance) Jason Connerley of Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast (podcast) Karl Rodriguez of The GMologist Presents… (podcast, YouTube) B. J. Taylor of The Arcane Alienist (podcast) Goblin’s henchman (podcast, blog) and the UmberBulk of the Southwest Sofa Crew Joe Richter of Hindsightless (podcast) Mirke the Meek (podcast) M. W. Lewis of The Worlds of M. W. Lewis (podcast) and The War of Independence (Youtube) Honourable mentions: Calliope Callisto Clark and the Search for Wisdom by Claudia Mills, Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan The GMologist presents… 300 Greek-inspired Table Top Roleplaying Clydesdale: Saving the Greatest Horse savingthegreatesthorse.com Find the Movie Monday Letterboxd list here https://letterboxd.com/the39thman/list/movie-monday-1/ The movie for August is 1987’s House 2: The Second Story directed by Ethan Wiley. That episode will air August 31st, so submit your message by the 29th please, to ensure you can be added to the episode. Send submissions to ⁠[email protected]⁠ or look me up on Discord as FreeThrall “Warning” by Lieren of Updates From the Middle of Nowhere Leave me an audio message via ⁠https://www.speakpipe.com/KeepOffTheBorderlands You can find me in a bunch of other places here ⁠https://freethrall.carrd.co⁠ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit freethrall.substack.com