I’d always been vaguely put off the Call of Cthulhu RPG’s “Dreamlands” supplement by its naff current cover. Partly because the cover recalls for me the boredom engendered in a boy by C.S. Lewis’s show-stopping The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (I think it was that one, in Narnia series), rather than the creepy wonders of encountering Lovecraft’s Dreamlands. And then there’s that awful garish typography and equally off-putting subtitle: Roleplaying Beyond the Wall of Sleep. When did “Beyond the Wall of Sleep” enter the Dreamlands canon? Nothing about the cover invites confidence in the likely contents.

But who knew there was this older cover, which makes the thing look very much more appealing and is a nice bit of Lovecraftian art in its own right…

Anyway, if you want to check out the CoC Dreamlands as it currently stands (with Gazetteer, creature guide and map, as well as RPG adventures), there’s no need to pay silly collector prices for it. The 2011 printing is currently available in print for $10 at the Chaosium site, although shipping is extra.

Here’s a peek at the contents for the two books and map found in the original box…