Bloodbath Hotel is a "movie" adventure for the Slasher Flick RPG by Spectrum Games.  Normally retailing for $10.99 in PDF format, at the time of this writing it is on sale for $5.99...Let's take a look inside and see if it's worth it, eh?  The PDF is fully searchable and text selectable, so you can copy and paste if you like.  Like the previous Slasher Flick PDFs I have seen, it has the same black border around the top of the pages and halfway down each side, which looks suitable for the genre, but could be an ink hog.  The version I was sent has no printer-friendly option.  The "page count" on the PDF is 70 pages, but all the pages are sized for booklet printing, which means that each page is actually two, and the product is actually 139 pages plus an ad, with page one being the table of contents, broken down by section, much like this review shall be.

Flick Synopsis

Page two is a single page synopsis of the story behind the hotel.  A group of young people are hunting ghosts at an abandoned hotel.  Unfortunately, a psychotic killer is there.  Also, the place is actually haunted.  The synopsis shows that the adventure provides a few options up front for ways to play with the story, which is always a nice bonus.  Very clearly written without being boring.  Good start.

History of the Isherwood

For Director's eyes only: The horrifyingly true story of the Isherwood hotel...the setting of the adventure that gives it its name.  A reasonable enough history is laid out from its opening in 1914 through a sell to a hotel chain and eventual closure in the 80s due in part to the fact that the neighborhood around it has fallen apart.  For twenty years, it has been stripped down and taken over by squatters.  Word has come down that it is to be destroyed, and so your NPC Professor/Ghost Hunter has rounded up a group of hapless vict...er, college kids to help him document the ghosts of the Isherwood before they are forgotten.

The next bit details ten famous "hauntings" of the Isherwood, with feasibility ratings by Professor Hampton...for some reason, he doubts that Julius Caesar actually haunts the hotel.   One of the hauntings is tied into the past of Ben Crow, the psycho killer of the tale who is at the hotel already.

What's Really Going On

The next section peels back the default true story...telling us all about Ben Crow and his murderous actions in 1997, when he stumbled on the girl he loves "servicing" two men for crack...and so he brutally dismembered them.  All three of them.  Then he vanished into the walls of the hotel, where he has lurked since.  By this point, he is wracked with guilt and quite insane, believing that he is haunted by his victims, and if they were ever laid to "rest", it would be a deeper torment for him...even in his insanity, he has figured out that the hotel is set to be demolished, and he thinks the ghost hunters are here to do the job...

Ben's gimmicks include complete knowledge of the various pathways in the hotel, a knack for setting traps, and the ability to throw his voice, as well as mimicking others voices.  A neat trick there that you don't see too often, and the slipping in and out of passages gives him a ghostly feel, at least at first.

Hotel Description and Key

And now we get to the description of the seventeen story dilapidated hotel.  The authors take care to note just how bad the neighborhood is...which means cops aren't apt to patrol, and folks aren't likely to call the cops when they here screams.  As well, conveniently, the cell towers are just far enough out that cell phones and laptops aren't going to be any use communicating with the outside world once inside.

This section goes into some pretty good detail, discussing how the doors and windows have been stripped out, and how – if you need to – to determine if a given door or window is intact.  The section also discusses danger zones, which are hazardous areas of the hotel.  These include the stairs, crumbling walls and the like.  The adventure notes that Ben Crow, normally, can never be threatened by these zones, but once the surviving heroes have him on the ropes, it is possible to lure him into one in order to soften him up.  The authors also point out that it is best to conceal the plumbing accessways that Ben Crow uses to get around the hotel until the end of Act Two or in Act Three, as that basically gives away the fact that he's not a ghost.

The key begins with an encounter with a crack whore outside of the hotel, the modern version of the crazy old man warning the kids about the "death curse".  Of course, the cast will surely laugh it off and go inside.

Each floor includes a map, keyed, with descriptions speaking of the former splendor of the hotel, as well as details such as the urine soaked mannequins that now litter the floors.  The Mezzanine floor offers the opportunity for a cheap scare, finding the rat-eaten corpse of a homeless man among the litter.  As well, the key points out any danger zones that are present.  A few features, like the pentagram inside one of the restaurants is either creepy window dressing, or something much, much worse if you play with the default settings a bit.

The descriptions of the upper floors are filled with notes, either noting Ben's interest in a given place, or whether it is affected if you run Bloodbath Hotel with more of a supernatural bent.

Awesomely, the basement is flooded with sewer water three and a half feet deep.

Very in-depth description of the hotel, without getting too pleased with itself, IMHO.  Some of the flavor text goes on a BIT long, but nothing too bad.

Equipment

The adventure offers carte blanche on any normal equipment, provides a ghost hunting equipment list that players can arm their cast with, and then the equipment that the university has provided, such as thermal scanners and a gas generator.

Ghost Hunting

A very nice four page overview of the rituals of ghost hunting follows, for those who aren't familiar (like me).  It provides the general routine, as well as how it can (and should) be applied to the Isherwood.  Very useful and again, not at all too pleased with itself.

Running Bloodbath Hotel

Along with the key, this is the adventure proper.

Act One features the arrival, setting up the equipment, making doubly-sure the place is deserted, so on.  No one should die in Act One, the authors stress, and the hotel shouldn't be made out to be dangerous.

Act Two should have everyone in place for ghost hunting...and they should get some ghosts.  Ben Crow starts getting his victims, aiming for those alone and going on from there, building to a complete panic in the hotel.

Act Three is either trying to make a break for it or waiting out the night, unless your party does decide to saddle up and take it to Ben.

There is a whole timeline section later in the book, but this section also clarifies some events from around the time the killing starts, such as Ben Crow parking a stolen van against the entrance to the hotel to seal it off, as well as events that can be used just to spook the cast members.

Finally, this section ends with tips on playing Ben Crow, as well as a few inventive kills that can be derived from the areas of the hotel.

Customization & Options

The first part of this section details changing it from a hotel in Detroit in mid-December, to different places and times, such as post-Katrina New Orleans or rural Florida, with quick overviews of how the hotel would change, as well as how the killer would change.

As well, some random "junk generators" appear for fleshing out rooms that aren't heavily detailed otherwise.

Tips for using hidden character motivations to add depth to the plot are present, as well as customizing Ben Crow for larger or smaller groups, or tossing him out altogether in favor of having any of the Isherwood ghosts be the killer(s).  The final two selections even use demonic possessions for the killings, for a completely different twist.  There are enough options here that you could run it a few times and never run the same adventure.

Timeline

The detailed timeline of events over the day or so the ghost hunters spend in the hotel.  Pretty much as it sounds.  When ghosts appear or disappear, stuff appears on camera, the killings begin, etc.

Miscellaneous

Some handy random bits, my favorite of which is a collection of websites focusing on abandoned buildings.  Some great, creepy stuff here.

Pregenerated Characters

Pre-gen cast members, two of which even come with their own secret motivations tied directly to the hotel.  We have a "Spoiled Rich Bitch", a "True Believer Grad Student", a "Love Struck Co-Ed", a "Smart Jock", a "Punk Stalker", an "Obsessed Relative", a "Dippy New-Ager", a "Greedy Journalism Student", a "Geeky History Buff" and the "Cowardly Professor" heading up the expedition.  Some great stuff in here, as the Grad Student thinks the Professor walks on water...the Co-Ed is banging the professor...the Relative is kin to one of Crow's victims and the Journalism Student is looking for some jewels supposedly hidden in the hotel.  Each characters aside from the Professor is written up as a Secondary Character, with tips for converting to a Primary Character if they are selected as such.

Next comes a series of Player Handouts to be printed off, including the Equipment lists, the Ghost Hunting Procedures and The Professor's list of the hauntings.  Nice touch.  Included as well are all the floor maps (present through the adventure but collected here for easy printing), and a Character Activity Tracking Sheet, for tracking who is where and when, as well as what they can do, so you don't get lost if you use the whole, huge cast.  Excellent stuff.

Thoughts

If you have any interest at all in Slasher Flick, you have no reason not to get this.  Enough options to play around with, and written in an interesting manner...why not?  The authors did their research and they are obviously proud of that, but they stop just short of being "too proud"...as well, you could run this thing multiple times with the same group and get away with it if they could get past the hotel angle, as you can customize it enough to make it that different each time.  A fine entry into one of the most imaginative game lines I have seen in some time.  Strong recommendation.