ESPoe & Poe's Spirits of the Dead

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ESPoe & Poe's Spirits of the Dead

Postby MatCult » Oct 17th, '14, 09:30



Hi guys,

Not sure if you've seen these new additions to the Lebanon Circle range, designed and created in the fertile mind of E. R. Perkins.

http://www.lebanoncircle.co.uk/collecti ... -r-perkins

ESPoe is a remix of the classic ESP deck using images from Poe's macabre tales. The cards have all the devious features we've come to expect from such decks, but clothed in gothic rather than clinical, scientific garb. In addition to the 5 sets of 5 symbols, there are several bonus cards to aid in creative presentations.

And speaking of creative presentations, the manual contains three routines that display the versatility of the cards.

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Poe's Spirits of the Dead is a set of alphabet/number cards themed after the great author. Several bonus cards offer evocative quotations from Poe's stories and even a mini pendulum board named "the nodding skull".

Image

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I just got my sets through from Dan at Lebanon and they are beautiful. The ESPoe cards come with two tuck boxes and a set of aged coffin nails for performing one of the included routines.

Recommended.

I should say that I was so impressed by Perkins's concept that I contributed a routine to the ESPoe performance manual. I'm honoured to see it in (digital) print alongside such a wonderful set.

MatCult
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Re: ESPoe & Poe's Spirits of the Dead

Postby Johnny Bravo » Oct 18th, '14, 22:31

Oooh these look interesting, can you add anything on the routines provided?

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Re: ESPoe & Poe's Spirits of the Dead

Postby MatCult » Oct 20th, '14, 08:41

The three routines included are:

"Another Nail" by E. R. Perkins

During a ritual using 25 cards and 5 coffin nails, a spectator makes a series of decisions to select five cards. The cards are found to match a prediction handed out before any choices were made. This is the "signature" effect with the cards and is a very powerful prediction using a classic method. The prediction itself can be written in front of the participants. Or it could take the form of an old letter. Or a facsimile of a page torn from Poe's notes. The framing of it is up to you.


"Phobias" by Mathew Gostelow

This is my submission to the project. It is a test of a participant's intuition, an exploration of the nature of fear and the motivations of literary horror authors. Again, it applies classic methods to these new cards. The end result is something I'm very proud of and that has played very well for me. It might lack the "ta-daaa!" moments of many alternative routines - but it makes a powerful and believable introduction that can segue neatly into other routines and effects.


"The Curse of the Red Death" by Brynmore

This is a wonderful and bitter-sweet exploration of Poe's tragic life story. Once more the coffin nails are used to dramatic effect as a series of choices made by a participant are found to mirror events in the author's life. I've not performed this one, but I think it would work wonderfully, especially for those with a talent for storytelling. The routine also has an optional "kicker" ending, which could be incredibly powerful.


Of course, the cards can be used for any ESP card effect. With a little imagination, you can re-frame almost any routine to become an exploration of horror, the psychology of fear, the powerful and resonant imagery of Poe's tales.


There are no routines included with the seance cards. But those are more suitable for "un-gaffed" performances/events.

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