Released in 1991, Horror on the Orient Express was probably the height of Call of Cthulhu’s early 90s renaissance. The Orient Express, a luxurious train line from Paris to Istanbul, with its air of intrigue thanks Agatha Christie’s famous mystery novel and famous passengers like Lawrence of Arabia and Mata Hari, was a natural setting for a Call of Cthulhu scenario, seeing as how Chaosium excelled at coupling its horror game with a kind of historical tourism.

The historical detail is unrivaled. The scenario itself (you can read the synopsis from the back cover in image #2) is interesting and does a great job of solving the problem of setting a horror mystery in multiple locations with an scavenger hunt for pieces of an ancient artifact, all of which are conveniently located near the Express’ stops. The suspension of disbelief is tested often, but the individual set pieces are varied and interesting enough to make up for it. It is surprisingly long for a train ride that spans only a few days.

Masterminded by Lynn Willis, it does lack a bit of the dramatic flair of Masks of Nyarlathotep, but it is still a hugely ambitious campaign. It is beautifully designed, runs over 206 pages and filled with surprising props and handouts, all stuffed into a box so small that every time I open it I fear I will never get everything back inside. Because of that, you only get one interior illustration today. Sorry.