Ghosts of Albion is a series of fantasy films, books and role-playing games created by Amber Benson and Christopher Golden. Set in England, the storyline focuses on two siblings, Tamara and William Swift. The series started as a computer-animated web movie series on the BBC's website and has now spawned two book adaptations and two novels and a role-playing game.
The story is about the Swift siblings, Tamara and William, the descendants of a wealthy early Victorian era London family. Tamara is a budding novelist (specializing in pulp horror novels, or "penny dreadfuls") and William is an architect's apprentice. One night in 1838 they are called to their ailing grandfather's bedside. There he tells them that while he may have seemed to be another stage magician, he is actually a mystical soldier who protects Albion, the mystical spirit of Britain. William and Tamara at first do not believe him, until he is suddenly slaughtered before their eyes by werewolves, and their father is possessed by a demon. Before dying, their grandfather had told the two that they are to carry on his legacy as protectors of Albion.
His words are soon confirmed when they are soon introduced to the ghosts of the poet Lord Byron (Joseph McFadden), Admiral Nelson (Anthony Daniels), and Queen Bodicea (Emma Samms), also mystical protectors of Albion. They all leave their home, now overrun with demons, to the house of Nigel Townshend (Paterson Joseph), an old friend of their father's (as well as Nelson's). There they study spells and prepare themselves to fend off certain doom from Britain—and the world.
On June 28, 2007, Eden Studios released the "quick start" version of the Ghosts of Albion RPG . This free PDF, written by Timothy S. Brannan and Garner Johnson is designed to introduce players to the Ghosts of Albion RPG. The PDF version of the complete RPG was published in August 2008 and is available from the Eden Studios website for the game. The print version of the RPG, originally due in September 2008, was released in December 2011. Created by Amber Benson and Christopher Golden and written by Timothy S. Brannan.
Amber Benson is an American actress, writer, director, and producer. She is best known for her role as Tara Maclay on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1999–2002), and has also directed, produced and starred in her own films Chance (2002) and Lovers, Liars & Lunatics (2006). She also starred in the movie Kiss the Bride (2007). She co-directed the film Drones (2010) with fellow Buffy cast member Adam Busch. Benson also starred as a waitress in the horror movie The Killing Jar (2010).
In English folklore, Herne the Hunter is a ghost associated with Windsor Forest and Great Park in the English county of Berkshire. He is said to have antlers growing from his head, ride a horse, torment cattle, and rattle chains. The earliest mention of Herne comes from William Shakespeare's 1597 play The Merry Wives of Windsor, and it is impossible to know how accurately or to what degree Shakespeare may have incorporated a real local legend into his work, though there have been several later attempts to connect Herne to historical figures, pagan deities, or ancient archetypes.
Joan D. Vinge is an American science fiction author. She is known for such works as her Hugo Award–winning novel The Snow Queen and its sequels, her series about the telepath named Cat, and her Heaven's Chronicles books. She also is the author of The Random House Book of Greek Myths (1999).
Mantra is an American comic book series written by Mike Barr, mainly penciled by Terry Dodson and published by Malibu Comics in the mid-1990s, until it was purchased by Marvel Comics. Adam Hughes is credited for the character designs. After the purchase, the title was cancelled after 24 issues and revamped in a new version, with a new protagonist.
Guardians of Order was a Canadian company founded in 1996 by Mark C. MacKinnon in Guelph, Ontario. The company's business output consisted of role-playing games (RPGs). Their first game is the anime inspired Big Eyes, Small Mouth. In 2006 Guardians of Order ceased operations due to overwhelming debt.
Sophie Anna Ward is an English stage and screen actress, and a writer of non-fiction and fiction. As an actress, she played Elizabeth Hardy, the female lead in Barry Levinson's Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), and in other feature film roles including in Cary Joji Fukunaga's period drama Jane Eyre (2011), and Jane Sanger's horror feature, Swiperight (2020). In 1982 she had a role in the Academy Award-winning best short film, A Shocking Accident. On television she played Dr Helen Trent in British police drama series Heartbeat from 2004 to 2006, the character Sophia Byrne in the series Holby City from 2008 to 2010, the role of Lady Ellen Hoxley in the series Land Girls from 2009 to 2011, and that of Lady Verinder in the mini-series The Moonstone (2016). She has had a variety of other roles on stage and in short and feature films.
Christie Golden is an American author. She has written many novels and several short stories in fantasy, horror and science fiction.
Del Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House and, in turn, by Penguin Random House. It is a separate imprint established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. It specializes in science fiction and fantasy books, and formerly manga under its Del Rey Manga imprint.
James Daniel Lowder is an American author, anthologist, and editor, working regularly within the fantasy, dark fantasy, and horror genres, and on tabletop role-playing games and critical works exploring popular culture.
Christopher Golden is an American author of horror, fantasy, and suspense novels for adults and teens.
Stan! is an American author, cartoonist, and game designer. He is sometimes credited as Stan Brown.
Tony Shillitoe is an Australian fantasy writer.
Record of Lodoss War is a franchise of fantasy novels by Ryo Mizuno based on the work he originally created for a world called Forcelia as a rules-free setting for role-playing games (RPGs). There have since been multiple manga, anime and computer game adaptations, several of which have been translated into English. The plots generally follow the conventions and structure of the RPG systems including Dungeons & Dragons and Sword World RPG, in which several characters of distinct types undertake a specific quest.
Barbie in A Christmas Carol is a 2008 computer-animated Christmas film directed by William Lau and produced by Mattel Entertainment with Rainmaker Entertainment. It was given a limited theatrical release by Kidtoon Films on November 1, 2008. It was later released to DVD on November 4, 2008, and it made its television premiere on Nick Jr. UK on December 23, 2011. The fourteenth entry in the Barbie film series, it is based on Charles Dickens's 1843 novel and features the voice of Kelly Sheridan as Barbie, with Morwenna Banks as Eden Starling.
The following is a timeline of tabletop role-playing games. For computer role-playing games see here.
Peter V. Brett is an American fantasy novelist. He is the author of the Demon Cycle, whose first volume was published in the UK by HarperCollins's Voyager imprint in 2008 as The Painted Man and in the US by Del Rey Books as The Warded Man.
The Dresden Files is a series of contemporary fantasy/mystery novels written by American author Jim Butcher. The first novel, Storm Front—which was also Butcher's writing debut—was published in 2000 by Roc Books.
The Exorcist is an American media franchise that originated with William Peter Blatty's 1971 horror novel of the same name and most prominently featured in a 1973 film adaptation of the novel, and many subsequent prequels and sequels. All of these installments focus on fictional accounts of people possessed by Pazuzu, the main antagonist of the series, and the efforts of religious authorities to counter this possession.
The Ghosts of Albion Roleplaying Game is a role-playing game published by Eden Studios, Inc. in 2008.
Carlos J. Martijena-Carella is a role-playing game designer and novel author.
