Harlem Unbound 2nd Edition

At 370 pages, there is too much detail to cover it all. Harlem Unbound is a huge supplement that provides a deep look into the history and culture of Harlem, New York during the 1920s. The supplement brings together an expansive overview of Harlem with fresh takes on old nightmares so your investigators can stop complaining that you have nothing new to drive them nuts or kill them with.

 Harlem Unbound starts off with a strong but not minutiae-laden history of Harlem, all the way back to when America even went by that name, through Dutch and British colonization, the American Revolution and the Civil War, up to the Great Depression and the end of the Harlem Renaissance.

Throughout the timeline, Spivey interweaves fictional cosmic horror elements into actual history. Having Wappinger tribesmen fight against Nyarlathotep and the insinuations of other evil cults immigrating to Harlem during the Renaissance acts as an inspirational springboard for creativity

 Harlem Unbound also goes in-depth into the culture of Harlem at the time, covering artists, fashion, literature, the sciences, and of course the music. The "Music is Life" section is sheer poetry,  going into the deep soul of Jazz that fueled Harlem. 

The rise of theatre in Harlem as an expression of the black experience is detailed as well. An overview of W.E.B. Du Bois' work with Harlem's predominantly black "Little Theatres" to create musicals enjoyed by audiences of different races around the world creates another layer of vital creativity that thrived in the 1920s and beyond.

The melting pot element of Harlem is also discussed. Alongside black people in Harlem were Jewish and Italian communities, all creating an incredible mix that added to the arts, intellectual pursuits, and political activism of Harlem. All of these elements provide an excellent backdrop for Keepers to use, bringing details to your game beyond just telling investigators they go to see Jackson Elias' lawyer at 124th and Lennox. Harlem Unbound gives raw material for creating journeys as well as destinations.

 Spivey brings another level of immersion in the game with a section on non-black characters playing black characters. This is a fascinating, well-thought-out section. It guides the reader through the elimination of stereotypical hindrances and expands the diversity of play options that otherwise would remain locked away out of hesitancy. 

Harlem Unbound explicitly does not propose to convey the deeper experience of being black in the 1920s. White players are not going to have a deep experience of what the Jim Crow laws did to black people, but they may have the opportunity to play Call of Cthulhu in a world where the Jim Crow laws aren't included because they're difficult. It's an exciting prospect to approach.

 There are also seven scenarios included in the book. Three are older, revised ones from the first edition of Harlem Unbound, as well as four new ones. All of them are short-to-medium length and are excellent as standalone or integrated into a larger campaign. 

Included are scenarios about the Harlem Hellfighters, the all-black U.S. Army unit (Wikipedia search "369th Infantry Regiment" and get ready for a ride.) fighting cultists in Harlem, Deep One boxers, and journeys into the Dreamlands. Many of the scenarios include real-life people from Harlem, again bringing a vibrancy to the game. There are also four pre-generated investigators to get players up and running quickly, as well as all the necessary handouts.

Finally, the included appendices give a wealth of resources to explore. It includes recommendations of literature, music, and art to explore and see what came from the Harlem Renaissance. The reference bibliography is impressive unto itself.

This review covers only some of what Harlem Unbound provides, but all of it shows a strong labor of love that combines both passion for a vital time and place in American history with a deep pool to draw various strains of horror, both familiar and unfamiliar, into the Call of Cthulhu game. I love this book and cannot recommend it enough.

Harlem Unbound is available currently in PDF format directly through Chaosium with a hardcover edition coming out later.