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Mansions of Madness – Vol. 1: Behind Closed Doors
Mansions of Madness Vol. 1 contains five scenarios for use with the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set or the 7th Edition Call of Cthulhu: Keeper Rulebook. It includes two fully updated and revised classics, along with three brand new adventures, and all can be played as standalone adventures, used as sidetracks for ongoing campaigns, or strung together to form a mini-campaign spanning the 1920s. Suitable for up to six players and their Keeper, each scenario should take between one and three sessions to play through, and are an ideal next step for those who have already experienced the horrors contained within the scenario collections Doors to Darkness and Gateways to Terror.
Mister Corbitt
Does a seemingly shy and retiring local businessman hide a terrible secret? Can the investigators solve the riddle and save the day?
The Crack’d and Crook’d Manse
Long considered to be a cursed place by the folk of Gamwell, it seems the Fitzgerald Manse has finally escaped its sordid past. But, no one’s seen the new owner, Arthur Cornthwaite, for quite some time. Is history repeating itself?
The Code
Summoned to the home of Dr. Kenneth Connolly by an urgent telegram, can the investigators make sense of the bizarre events afflicting Wellington Manor?
The House of Memphis
World-famous magician Memphis the Great has not been seen for weeks. Has he merely gone off on another of his legendary magic-hunting trips, or is there a more sinister reason for his disappearance?
The Nineteenth Hole
Renovation work at Thistledown Golf Club has not been running smoothly. First, there were tales of illnesses, then ghostly sightings, and now no one can find the owner. Dark shadows fall over Scotland and all is not what it seems.
This supplement is best used with the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set or the Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition) roleplaying game and, optionally, with the Pulp Cthulhu sourcebook, available separately.
Mister Corbitt
Does a seemingly shy and retiring local businessman hide a terrible secret? Can the investigators solve the riddle and save the day?
The Crack’d and Crook’d Manse
Long considered to be a cursed place by the folk of Gamwell, it seems the Fitzgerald Manse has finally escaped its sordid past. But, no one’s seen the new owner, Arthur Cornthwaite, for quite some time. Is history repeating itself?
The Code
Summoned to the home of Dr. Kenneth Connolly by an urgent telegram, can the investigators make sense of the bizarre events afflicting Wellington Manor?
The House of Memphis
World-famous magician Memphis the Great has not been seen for weeks. Has he merely gone off on another of his legendary magic-hunting trips, or is there a more sinister reason for his disappearance?
The Nineteenth Hole
Renovation work at Thistledown Golf Club has not been running smoothly. First, there were tales of illnesses, then ghostly sightings, and now no one can find the owner. Dark shadows fall over Scotland and all is not what it seems.
This supplement is best used with the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set or the Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition) roleplaying game and, optionally, with the Pulp Cthulhu sourcebook, available separately.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published May 5, 2020
About the author
Stuart Boon
9 books14 followersStuart Boon (1970- ) was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and grew up in nearby Spruce Grove, Alberta. He emigrated to the United Kingdom in 2002, finally settling in Glasgow, Scotland in 2005, where he currently resides with his wife and lectures at the University of Strathclyde.
Stuart is best known for "Cthulhu Britannica: Shadows Over Scotland" (2011), which won a number of prestigious gaming awards including Best Roleplaying Supplement or Adventure at the 38th Annual Origins Awards (2012), 'Gold' Best Setting at the ENnie Awards (2012), and Best Adventure Collection at the Diehard GameFAN 2011 Tabletop Gaming Awards.
Today, Stuart writes for Chaosium, Golden Goblin Press, Stygian Fox, and others. His latest publication is "The Nineteenth Hole" in Chaosium's Mansions of Madness: Vol 1 - Behind Closed Doors.
Stuart is best known for "Cthulhu Britannica: Shadows Over Scotland" (2011), which won a number of prestigious gaming awards including Best Roleplaying Supplement or Adventure at the 38th Annual Origins Awards (2012), 'Gold' Best Setting at the ENnie Awards (2012), and Best Adventure Collection at the Diehard GameFAN 2011 Tabletop Gaming Awards.
Today, Stuart writes for Chaosium, Golden Goblin Press, Stygian Fox, and others. His latest publication is "The Nineteenth Hole" in Chaosium's Mansions of Madness: Vol 1 - Behind Closed Doors.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 3, 2026
who doesn't love a good haunted house in Call of Cthulhu?
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April 2, 2023Note: This is a review of 3 books actually: Mansions of Madness (2327) for Call of Cthulhu 4th, Mansions of Madness 2nd edition (23110), and Mansions of Madness: Vol. 1: Behind Closed Doors (23167) for 7th edition.
How? Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition has this book and I'm collecting all 7th edition, apparently; and then I found a deal on a bundle that included the first version of this book, and then picked up the second just to compare.
What? Here's a thing that all these books have in common: they are adventures that revolve around big houses (or estates) where something untoward is or has happened. The first version has five adventures, the second adds one, and the third keeps two and adds three new adventures. That's a little confusing, so let's start with the two that have been kept from 1-3:
* Mister Corbitt - a neighbor who seems normal is actually a cultist with a half-godling monster child hiding in the house.
* The Crack’ d and Crook’ d Manse - after a disastrous expedition, a rich guy disappeared in his house that has a terrible history, now the PCs have to find him, and uncover the terrible monster that hitched a ride home.
Here's the three other adventures in 1-2:
* The Plantation - the PCs get sent to investigate weird goings-on in a Southern plantation, which turns out to be a snake cult that's actually worshipping a sorceress rather than the snake god, who wants the PCs to stop them.
* The Sanatorium - The PCs go to a sanatarium on an island -- for real -- only to discover that a monster has been let loose, all the mad people have been let loose, and an attendant is now a serial killer.
* Mansion of Madness - The PCs have to find someone who disappeared, so they look at his clue-ridden art, which leads them to a far away house where a cultist is blah blah blah, and also there's a terrible artifact that a Boston gangster wants, and the showdown is another house entirely.
Here's the one adventure that got added in the 2nd edition:
* The Old Damned House - The PCs try to find some missing pearls, which are cursed and which have caused this weird old family to degenerate.
And here's the three adventures that got added in the 3rd edition:
* The Code - the PCs are summoned to a scientist's house, to discover him missing, and his time machine in the hands of some people who are actually con artists who want the time machine.
* The House of Memphis - a famous magician has quarreled with his apprentice, and now is missing, but the PCs eventually learn that he was destroyed but actually inhabits the house, and is also an evil cultist.
* The Nineteenth Hole - The rich owner of a new estate has gone missing -- because he accidentally found two scientists squatting on his golf course property, and now all three are stuck out of time.
Yeah, so? This is interesting to me because we can clearly see a shift in 7th edition towards a pulpier mode, with mad scientists taking the role of cultists (or balancing out that role).
I still find myself head-scratching over some of the decisions made in this book over time. Like: it makes sense to add a new adventure to the 2nd edition, so you can sell to people with the promise of something new.
And you can understand why, say, they decided to drop The Plantation, with its magic Black preacher fighting against serpent cultists who claim to be practicing Obeah; and even drop the Sanatarium, which really feels cliched (but which I think could be fun to run, and maybe along with the Pulp rules, Call of Cthulhu should offer Camp rules).
But I really have to question the entire premise of this book being about horror stories in old houses, where there's often red herrings from the long history. I mean, "Crack'd and Crook'd" is classic but still seems fun -- but it also seems like maybe the best form of this, and filling up a book with other adventures like this would just dilute the form, which is what I felt.
Like: Mansion of Madness and The Plantation both break the premise by not really being about their old houses -- as shown by the fact that the stories take place over several locations (and bring in more than the needed number of villains); and The Code and The Nineteenth Hole basically have the same gimmick of time being weird in the house, but it seeming as haunted as Memphis or Crack'd and Crook'd. (The time slips are a good gimmick, but no reason to play it twice in the same book.)
This kind of falls back on the weirdness of adventure anthologies: you don't really want just random adventures, but if they're related -- say, by theme or type of threat/location -- then you also want to make sure they're hitting different angles so that it doesn't get repetitive.
You may notice the one adventure I haven't talked about -- well, there's two: The Old Damned House and Corbitt fall into the same general category of "it's not the house, it's the family," and as much as I like the degenerating family of Damned House, Corbitt feels like the right adventure to keep going here since it's nicely formed nonsense with one clear mystery (what happened in this house?) and one clear answer and monster to frighten.
How? Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition has this book and I'm collecting all 7th edition, apparently; and then I found a deal on a bundle that included the first version of this book, and then picked up the second just to compare.
What? Here's a thing that all these books have in common: they are adventures that revolve around big houses (or estates) where something untoward is or has happened. The first version has five adventures, the second adds one, and the third keeps two and adds three new adventures. That's a little confusing, so let's start with the two that have been kept from 1-3:
* Mister Corbitt - a neighbor who seems normal is actually a cultist with a half-godling monster child hiding in the house.
* The Crack’ d and Crook’ d Manse - after a disastrous expedition, a rich guy disappeared in his house that has a terrible history, now the PCs have to find him, and uncover the terrible monster that hitched a ride home.
Here's the three other adventures in 1-2:
* The Plantation - the PCs get sent to investigate weird goings-on in a Southern plantation, which turns out to be a snake cult that's actually worshipping a sorceress rather than the snake god, who wants the PCs to stop them.
* The Sanatorium - The PCs go to a sanatarium on an island -- for real -- only to discover that a monster has been let loose, all the mad people have been let loose, and an attendant is now a serial killer.
* Mansion of Madness - The PCs have to find someone who disappeared, so they look at his clue-ridden art, which leads them to a far away house where a cultist is blah blah blah, and also there's a terrible artifact that a Boston gangster wants, and the showdown is another house entirely.
Here's the one adventure that got added in the 2nd edition:
* The Old Damned House - The PCs try to find some missing pearls, which are cursed and which have caused this weird old family to degenerate.
And here's the three adventures that got added in the 3rd edition:
* The Code - the PCs are summoned to a scientist's house, to discover him missing, and his time machine in the hands of some people who are actually con artists who want the time machine.
* The House of Memphis - a famous magician has quarreled with his apprentice, and now is missing, but the PCs eventually learn that he was destroyed but actually inhabits the house, and is also an evil cultist.
* The Nineteenth Hole - The rich owner of a new estate has gone missing -- because he accidentally found two scientists squatting on his golf course property, and now all three are stuck out of time.
Yeah, so? This is interesting to me because we can clearly see a shift in 7th edition towards a pulpier mode, with mad scientists taking the role of cultists (or balancing out that role).
I still find myself head-scratching over some of the decisions made in this book over time. Like: it makes sense to add a new adventure to the 2nd edition, so you can sell to people with the promise of something new.
And you can understand why, say, they decided to drop The Plantation, with its magic Black preacher fighting against serpent cultists who claim to be practicing Obeah; and even drop the Sanatarium, which really feels cliched (but which I think could be fun to run, and maybe along with the Pulp rules, Call of Cthulhu should offer Camp rules).
But I really have to question the entire premise of this book being about horror stories in old houses, where there's often red herrings from the long history. I mean, "Crack'd and Crook'd" is classic but still seems fun -- but it also seems like maybe the best form of this, and filling up a book with other adventures like this would just dilute the form, which is what I felt.
Like: Mansion of Madness and The Plantation both break the premise by not really being about their old houses -- as shown by the fact that the stories take place over several locations (and bring in more than the needed number of villains); and The Code and The Nineteenth Hole basically have the same gimmick of time being weird in the house, but it seeming as haunted as Memphis or Crack'd and Crook'd. (The time slips are a good gimmick, but no reason to play it twice in the same book.)
This kind of falls back on the weirdness of adventure anthologies: you don't really want just random adventures, but if they're related -- say, by theme or type of threat/location -- then you also want to make sure they're hitting different angles so that it doesn't get repetitive.
You may notice the one adventure I haven't talked about -- well, there's two: The Old Damned House and Corbitt fall into the same general category of "it's not the house, it's the family," and as much as I like the degenerating family of Damned House, Corbitt feels like the right adventure to keep going here since it's nicely formed nonsense with one clear mystery (what happened in this house?) and one clear answer and monster to frighten.
November 19, 2021
Mansions of Madness purports to be the first volume in a series of haunted-house-based adventures for Call of Cthulhu. I say 'purports' because no further forthcoming volumes are as yet known. It's a pretty good mix of styles and plays on its central theme and is another solid release by Chaosium.
The adventures contain a good variety within them. The first adventure, Mr. Corbitt (No relation to the Corbitt House from The Haunting) brings the horror home to the players as they find their neighbor isn't what he seems. It's got some lovely body horror and is a great creature feature.
The Crack'd and Crook'd Manse is a little different. Mr. Corbitt, and indeed, the other adventures, has a plot and a line of clues to follow. C&CM is more of a game of cat and mouse with a monster inside a house. There's plenty to explore in the house but the main event is a creature attacking you from the walls that is all but invulnerable to your attacks. The adventure really relies on the investigators spending the night in the house as they explore means that this module is really only going to work on brand new investigators and, really, new players in general. Characters with experience in horror games are going to know right off the bat that there's no way in hell they're staying in the creepy house that creaks all the time. Experienced players might metagame this knowledge as it's a pretty common horror trope so it may pay to try a "House on Haunted Hill" sort of gimmick where they HAVE to stay in the house. This module has a lot of potential for Players and Keepers to play against each other in an almost board game-style manner with the Keeper tracking the monster's movement in the house waiting to burst out on isolated investigators.
The third adventure, The Code, shows the variety of the module. There are some horror elements but this is a low-lethality weird fiction sci-fi module. It's got some wonderful set pieces in it surrounding time travel and the module even plans for the players to abuse that and try to warn a character, even including separate hand-outs for this occurrence. This module includes one of two instances of the evil vampy femme fatale magic user that also follows in to the next adventure. It's.. a little tired as far as tropes go and it doesn't help that it appears twice in this book. But, the module itself is a serviceable tale of wild science run amok and the time phenomenon should make for great table play.
The House of Memphis is the fourth module and it is themed around stage magic. This one is most reminiscent of The Haunting with a malevolent will in the house that will first deter then try to drive out those snooping. There's a decent human drama behind the action and the module does allow for two different final showdowns depending on the deductive abilities of the players, though I think the more difficult of the two is the most likely to happen as there isn't much of a sledgehammer hint about the major plot detail needed to set up the easier ending. In any case, it's a pretty standard CoC haunted house story with creepy stuff happening in the mansion leading up to a final showdown with the malevolent intelligence.
Rounding out the book is The Nineteenth Hole, the haunted house in this case is a golf club house. Like The Code this is another weird fiction sci-fi story about science gone amok. There are some Mythos monsters in this one and their presence make this more lethal than The Code but otherwise it's another low-risk neat science fiction-y story. Once again you have a creepy building with bizarre phenomenon but this time instead of relatively random happenstance the phenomenon has an intelligence behind trying to lead the Investigators but struggling to communicate. It won't be actively hostile and that might make it a ton of fun, it could be a good laugh after the module when everyone realizes what's been happening.
The typographical errors that are becoming inseparable from Chaosium products are still present here but it's not AS bad as the Malleus Monstrorum. But there are some aggravating ones. One NPC's portrait bears the caption for an NPC from 2 modules back in the book and it's an error that leaps out at you so badly you have to wonder if they did *any* copy editing at all or just pushed it out as soon as the text was laid out. But there are LESS of these errors. So, I guess we should take the wins as we get them.
The adventures contain a good variety within them. The first adventure, Mr. Corbitt (No relation to the Corbitt House from The Haunting) brings the horror home to the players as they find their neighbor isn't what he seems. It's got some lovely body horror and is a great creature feature.
The Crack'd and Crook'd Manse is a little different. Mr. Corbitt, and indeed, the other adventures, has a plot and a line of clues to follow. C&CM is more of a game of cat and mouse with a monster inside a house. There's plenty to explore in the house but the main event is a creature attacking you from the walls that is all but invulnerable to your attacks. The adventure really relies on the investigators spending the night in the house as they explore means that this module is really only going to work on brand new investigators and, really, new players in general. Characters with experience in horror games are going to know right off the bat that there's no way in hell they're staying in the creepy house that creaks all the time. Experienced players might metagame this knowledge as it's a pretty common horror trope so it may pay to try a "House on Haunted Hill" sort of gimmick where they HAVE to stay in the house. This module has a lot of potential for Players and Keepers to play against each other in an almost board game-style manner with the Keeper tracking the monster's movement in the house waiting to burst out on isolated investigators.
The third adventure, The Code, shows the variety of the module. There are some horror elements but this is a low-lethality weird fiction sci-fi module. It's got some wonderful set pieces in it surrounding time travel and the module even plans for the players to abuse that and try to warn a character, even including separate hand-outs for this occurrence. This module includes one of two instances of the evil vampy femme fatale magic user that also follows in to the next adventure. It's.. a little tired as far as tropes go and it doesn't help that it appears twice in this book. But, the module itself is a serviceable tale of wild science run amok and the time phenomenon should make for great table play.
The House of Memphis is the fourth module and it is themed around stage magic. This one is most reminiscent of The Haunting with a malevolent will in the house that will first deter then try to drive out those snooping. There's a decent human drama behind the action and the module does allow for two different final showdowns depending on the deductive abilities of the players, though I think the more difficult of the two is the most likely to happen as there isn't much of a sledgehammer hint about the major plot detail needed to set up the easier ending. In any case, it's a pretty standard CoC haunted house story with creepy stuff happening in the mansion leading up to a final showdown with the malevolent intelligence.
Rounding out the book is The Nineteenth Hole, the haunted house in this case is a golf club house. Like The Code this is another weird fiction sci-fi story about science gone amok. There are some Mythos monsters in this one and their presence make this more lethal than The Code but otherwise it's another low-risk neat science fiction-y story. Once again you have a creepy building with bizarre phenomenon but this time instead of relatively random happenstance the phenomenon has an intelligence behind trying to lead the Investigators but struggling to communicate. It won't be actively hostile and that might make it a ton of fun, it could be a good laugh after the module when everyone realizes what's been happening.
The typographical errors that are becoming inseparable from Chaosium products are still present here but it's not AS bad as the Malleus Monstrorum. But there are some aggravating ones. One NPC's portrait bears the caption for an NPC from 2 modules back in the book and it's an error that leaps out at you so badly you have to wonder if they did *any* copy editing at all or just pushed it out as soon as the text was laid out. But there are LESS of these errors. So, I guess we should take the wins as we get them.
March 17, 2025
This is the 8th book I've read from the lot my friend sent me.
This is a collection of one-shot length modules, some of which are existing modules updated for the 7E rule set and a few of which are new stories. Moreover, they're all themed around some kind of house or other similar edifice, hence the title of the book.
The stories in the modules are, as usual, really clever and well-developed. As is the case with most books like this in CoC, they're great for a variety of things, including a break from a long campaign or a way to start a new game group. This is the first book in this reading project that I've had a real grievance with, specifically in the art. Most of the art is up to the usual standards of CoC 7E books but I just don't care for some of the art from the House of Mephis module, specifically the NPC portraits. I'm not sure who the artist is but they have a penchant for noses that look like they belong on boardwalk caricatures and it's unsettling in a way that was, I think, not at all intended. Still, that aside, it's a great book with a lot of great options for showing just what CoC can do.
This is a collection of one-shot length modules, some of which are existing modules updated for the 7E rule set and a few of which are new stories. Moreover, they're all themed around some kind of house or other similar edifice, hence the title of the book.
The stories in the modules are, as usual, really clever and well-developed. As is the case with most books like this in CoC, they're great for a variety of things, including a break from a long campaign or a way to start a new game group. This is the first book in this reading project that I've had a real grievance with, specifically in the art. Most of the art is up to the usual standards of CoC 7E books but I just don't care for some of the art from the House of Mephis module, specifically the NPC portraits. I'm not sure who the artist is but they have a penchant for noses that look like they belong on boardwalk caricatures and it's unsettling in a way that was, I think, not at all intended. Still, that aside, it's a great book with a lot of great options for showing just what CoC can do.
April 12, 2021
Not only does this book give the reader (and future Keeper) several great scenarios for the investigators, it also gives some insight into how you might alter the scenarios to either fit into your own campaigns or to suit the game you're trying to run by either changing the setting, characters, or other factors.
Like many of the books Call of Cthulu books from Chaosium, it looks incredible both inside and out.
Unrelated to the book itself, it's also nice that some actual play Call of Cthulu podcasts (my favorites are Ain't Slayed Nobody, and the How We Roll podcast) have run scenarios from this book, so keepers have another resource in that they can read the scenario, and also listen to it being played a few different ways by different players.
All of these factors have me feeling ready and excited to put together a team of investigators and delve into the mansions of madness.
Like many of the books Call of Cthulu books from Chaosium, it looks incredible both inside and out.
Unrelated to the book itself, it's also nice that some actual play Call of Cthulu podcasts (my favorites are Ain't Slayed Nobody, and the How We Roll podcast) have run scenarios from this book, so keepers have another resource in that they can read the scenario, and also listen to it being played a few different ways by different players.
All of these factors have me feeling ready and excited to put together a team of investigators and delve into the mansions of madness.
January 2, 2023
Significantly improves two adventures from the old Mansions of Madness supplement, and provides some excellent new scenarios. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...
December 5, 2022
Pretty good book. The usual excellent quality, layout and art. I'm not keen on all of the scenarios though. Seems weak compared to other Chaosium books I have.
March 16, 2026
Very atmospheric and creepy collection of scenarios. Each story has a strong mystery vibe and feels immersive. Great for fans of horror and role-playing adventures.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews