Mind-Meld with Aaron: Jon Cohn
Welcome back to the second edition of Mind-Meld with Aaron!
Fun fact about me is that I absolutely love tabletop games. From RPGs such as Dungeons and Dragons, battle games like Warhammer, to narrative games like Betrayal on the House on the Hill (My favorite party game), I can’t get enough of them. There’s something special about gathering with some friends to roll dice and flip cards that just can’t be replicated any other way. Being able to craft a story through games with friends is truly a unique experience.
Creating stories and board games is something our guest today knows how to do very well, writer and game designer: Jon Cohn!
A: Do you have a favorite horror story?
J: I first read Stephen King’s IT in middle school, when I was roughly the age of the young members of the losers club. It was the first horror book I remember myself really getting lost in, feeling like despite being in a horrific situation, I wanted nothing more than to be in the midst of their epic struggle against an ancient evil. We never love things as adults as much as we did when we were kids, but re-reading IT as a grown up hit me with the rare combo of giving me the nostalgia factor mixed with a new perspective of the older versions of the characters who are now much closer to my age. Plus I’m a sucker for a little bit of Eldritch horror.
A: Is there a game, tabletop or otherwise, that you are frequently playing at the moment?
J: I’ve been really enjoying the Marvel Champions card game. The way the designers have been able to channel so much of the Heroes personalities into their decks makes it a really thematically engaging game to play. Each villain also feels like a different kind of puzzle that I have to solve by choosing the right hero and setting them up in different ways, so there’s a lot of replayability.
A: What books are you reading right now that have totally taken over your brain?
J: Easy. “Tender is the Flesh,” by Agustina Bazterrica. I’ve read like five books since this one and it still has me thinking about it daily. This book’s really not for the squeamish, and it’s super dark, but oh boy it’s a doozie. I don’t want to give anything away. All I can say is just read it, it’ll haunt you.
A: We can all agree that horror is a captivating genre, What is it about Horror that you personally find so alluring?
J: Life is scary. Everybody needs a way to deal with stress. For some of us, the best way to decompress is to face the things we’re afraid of on our own terms. I can’t really describe why I’m so inclined towards horror, but I’ve been obsessed with the genre ever since I was very young, and I think it’s a thing you kind of get addicted to. The Goosebumps books were a real gateway drug for me.
A: As someone who writes books and designs games, have you found similarities in the creative process for both ventures?
J: Definitely. Board games make for a different kind of storytelling, one that’s created by the players all sharing in a thematic experience together. Just like writing prose, you have to do the world and scene building before you can have your characters interact within it. When making board games, I’m just creating the setting for the players to tell their own story.
A: How did you get involved with Diablo House?
J:I was fortunate enough to design a number of licensed games that had some narrative aspects for IDW like Ghostbusters Blackout. When Clover press was looking for content, I was once again lucky enough to have a shot at submitting a horror story in the Diablo House universe. I guess they liked it, because here I am showing up in the same anthology as Grady Hendrix.
A: How was the process of writing for an anthology? Did you find differences from writing a singular story? Were there any similarities to the game making process?
J: Writing for an anthology is fun because I’m basically given a sandbox with specific toys and dimensions and told to go play in it. The same goes for making board games, especially licensed ones. For me it’s much easier to stay on track when I know exactly what the parameters of the world are that I’m working within. It’s like walking through the town from your favorite show and then given the keys to a house in the neighborhood. You want it to be an expression of yourself and to look great, but it also needs to belong in the same town as all the other houses.
A: What makes a good Diablo House story, in your opinion?
J: In my mind they’re monkey’s paw stories, which to me are some of the most fun. You get an opportunity for your main character to be the architect of their own demise, and that lets you really explore a character’s virtues and faults. You learn what their hopes and dreams are, but you also learn about the darkness that they just can’t seem to resist. No matter how much they may win you over with their heroic qualities or good intentions, they’re always going to end up succumbing to their worst impulse in some horrific and fitting way.
A: With the experience of making a game like Grind House under your belt, What advice would you like to give to someone who wants to make a tabletop horror game?
J: It’s all about tension. Jump scares are cheap, and damn near impossible to pull off in a board game, so it’s all about building that sense of dread that every decision you make is leading you one step further to game over.
A: If Diablo House granted you a wish, what would you wish for?
J: I think I’d wish for a tour, with the explicit condition that once I’m done I’m allowed to leave and never come back.
Diablo House Anthology now live on Kickstarter: http://kck.st/3B3SkE9
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