Loyal reader Kevin Scrivner asked me about how to handle humor in horror role-playing games. It's a question worth asking. Humor in horror gaming has many facets. There's humor in the horror game, and humor that arises on a meta-level as a result of the circumstances in the game.

Humor within a horror game is a challenge. Humor is used by horror movies all the time to relieve the tension and let off steam. A funny moment can help lighten the mood without lessening the horror. The jokes usually involve a character's reaction to the circumstances. My favorite is the Palmer's reaction to the Spider-Head in John Carpenter's The Thing. Most players will go along with this kind of humor without unbalancing the mood.

It's also possible, although more difficult, to mix humor and horror as part of the DNA of the game. Think Scooby Doo or Abbot & Costello. It's possible to handle this successfully of course, but humorous horror games are less about horror and more comedy with horror tropes. Usually this is done with monsters. Classic movie monsters are easy to lampoon.

Finally there's humor out of the game arising from player reactions to in-game events. I am particularly guilty of this; when a scene turns hairy I get a big smile on my face because I enjoy watching my players squirm. They also start making jokes, probably to relieve tension. What's interesting is that it doesn't seem to ruin the mood. For example:

"Oh God, I don't want to die…" Robert coughed. He started wheezing and this time blood burst in a stream from his right nostril.

Robert looked down and moaned. Something red and wet wiggled on Robert's lap in the pool of blood.

"Jesus," whispered Hammer.

"Kill me!" wailed Robert. "Kill me, PLEASE!"

Hammer took a deep breath. "Robert, I—"

"KILL ME NOW!" he wailed.

Hammer put his pistol to Robert's head and fired.

The scientist's head bucked and his body convulsed.

Hammer and Jim-Bean exchanged a sorrowful glance. They'd killed men before. But this was an innocent. He was…

Robert gasped, his head snapping back upright. A tentacle waved from the bullet hole in his head. "It's not working!" he croaked.

We were cracking jokes the entire time, but throughout the players were commenting how awful the situation was. Knowing your players' tolerance for humor and horror is critical; a relentlessly grim campaign might be great fun for one group but not another.

Humor is actually a very important part of horror. The key is knowing when to use it.

Your Turn: Does humor have a place in your horror game?

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