The current day. Earth.

These things are true:

Cosmic horrors from the beyond sleep under the surface of the world, in the deeps or in caves or ancient places few men have ever seen. In a parallel realm within dreams, ancient cities and landscapes exist where the powers of these horrors permeate the subconscious of humanity. Their names are Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, Shub-Niggurath, Azathoth, Hastur, and so on. Cults that worship them exist on the fringe of society. The center of knowledge about these horrors is a town called Arkham in Massachusetts at its university, Miskatonic. Also in Arkham, a mad scientist named Herbert West has invented a chemical reagent that restores the dead to life in a horrifying fashion.

Three women, ancient witches, live in specially built houses. These are the Mother of Tears, Sorrow, and Darkness, and together, they are death. Also, the gods of ancient Babylon and Sumer are very real and have incredible power.

Bizarre cloning organisms exist across the world, spores that possess people and demand blood, eventually replicating them.

In medieval Spain, a sect of the Knights Templar betrayed their vows and resorted to murder and blasphemy. Crows pecked out their eyes, and now they sleep in the ruins of their castle, blind and waiting for someone to unleash them upon the world. In Haiti, voodoo is a very real power accessible to those who know its secrets. In Transylvania, in a castle in the mountains, an ancient crusader lies, undead, preying on the innocent and naive. In Antarctica, a spacecraft lies under the ice, holding an alien mimic in stasis until some fool digs them out. In Texas, a family of cannibals exists on the outside of society, living as an incestuous cult to the ancient methods of the slaughterhouse. In Bali, the power of leyak is very real.

An ancient city called Midian exists where monsters dwell, safe from the dangers of man. Most are deformed freaks, but some appear to be "normal" humans. These either have incredible power or are completely morally bankrupt.

Homes built over graves and sites of tragedy house ghosts and other horrors. The spirits of the dead are very dangerous in this realm. At sites of massacres, ghosts take the living away, leaving only shadows behind.

In secret, the very wealthy use advanced plastic surgery techniques to redesign themselves, creating a cult of identity that indulges in pleasure and excess at the expense of others. Serial killers stalk the world, drawing lifeforce from every kill them commit. Madness spreads through viral language.

Witches are real.

And in Italy, a small child is born to a man and a jackal, destined to lead the forces of darkness.

Mad Science
Witchcraft
Demonology
Vampirism
Spiritism
Cults
Compendium