Candela Obscura: Chapter 2 Q&A with Spenser Starke

Tell us a little bit about you and the role you play as Gamemaster in Candela Obscura Chapter 2

I’m Spenser Starke, I’m the game designer over at Darrington Press and the co-designer of Candela Obscura! As the GM for Chapter 2, I lead this new circle into the horrors of their past, exploring how their old wounds never healed. It gets dark and intense and brutal this season, and I’m excited for people to watch!

Are you afraid of the dark, or are you afraid of what’s in it?

In the Fairelands, I’m always afraid of what’s in it. But in this latest season, it’s so much more about being afraid of what is already in the light. The horror this season lives in more than just the monsters– what is inside of people can be just as scary.

Do you have a favorite scary movie, series, or book? Let’s imagine you’ve suddenly found yourself in the middle of that world, what is your survival strategy?

Amongst a plethora of influences in horror, I am a huge fan of the work of Mike Flanagan. His limited series for Netflix (Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass, etc.) were major touchstones in the way I ran Chapter 2 of Candela Obscura. I think my survival strategy in a Mike Flanagan series would be to go to more therapy, as a lot of his protagonists have what they are afraid of manifested by their fears and their trauma. That’s the realest horror for me!

As Gamemaster, what do you define as a monster?

I think the next chapter’s thematic approach would define a monster as someone or something that has become so obsessed with a singular goal that they will do whatever it takes to make it happen, even if that means hurting innocent people.

Describe this next chapter in 3 words.

Found-Family, Sacrifice, and Brutality.