Crowdfund Update - 2026-05-23
A big catch-up, round-up, some FAQs and some new items incoming...
A lot to do here today. We're going to cover some FAQs about CDs, Crowley, Stickers etc, then we're going to get into some new offers that are going up up on the Backerkit site, including scripts, donations, T-shirts, gifting, and a NEW BOOK! But first...
A HUGE round of applause to all of you, along with our heartfelt thanks. We launched the crowdfund on Wednesday, with a target of £85,000. We did think it was a bit touch and go; it was a big target and you never really know how these things are going to launch. When we pressed the "Launch" button at midday, we really didn't know if this was going to pay off.
But we smashed through that target within the first hour and went on to end the day with all of our initial stretch goals met. At time of writing, we are around the £237,000 mark, which is completely incredible.
This success is entirely down to all of you; you have been cheerleaders for this project, and your unflagging support and enthusiasm have got us to where we are today. Thank you.
Looking over some of the community comments, we have seen a few commonalities arising and so we thought we'd address them here. We'll still be trying to answer individual questions when they come up, but if you happen to spot someone asking a question that is answered below, please send them over here.
FAQs
- CDs/Downloads of previous seasons. These will be available in the near future, but the rights situation prohibits us from being able to include them in this crowdfund.
- Crowley catch-up. None of the Crowley materials are available in this current crowdfund, because we wanted to make it as clean and easy to navigate as possible. The Village Shop, linked to at the top of this site, or available HERE, offer all digital material from that campaign.
- Stickers and other incentives. Those who backed in the first 48 hours, or who were returning backers from Crowley, were entitled to a range of digital downloads and a couple of physical items (pin badge and sticker set). This has thrown up some questions...
- The physical items were keyed to those who had pledged at tiers that included physical delivery. This is because we didn't want someone who had deliberately only pledged digital to suddenly have to deal with shipping admin and costs. Of course some people pledged digital and then went on to add physical delivery items to their order. Those people do not AUTOMATICALLY qualify for the stickers and badges but, at the end of the campaign, we will be able to generate the list of people who qualify and add those items onto your order - don't worry.
- If you used a different e-mail address for this crowdfund from the one you used for Crowley, there is probably no way for either Backerkit or us to know that you are a returning backer. In the survey at the end of the campaign, you will be able to indicate that you did this, and we will be able to cross-check and sort you out.
The Soundtrack
The soundtrack CD and download has been on the Backerkit site since launch, and it has been selling very well, but we haven't really said anything about it specifically. Tim Elsenburg, of Sweet Billy Pilgrim, has been composing music for the show since day one. For the first time, we are making a selection of that music available. Disc One (if you're on CD, otherwise Part One) is a smorgasbord of music spanning the entire run from The Case of Charles Dexter Ward to the present day (it may even include some music from the new series). And yes, it will include the theme...
And Disc/Part 2 will be one continuous mix of music. We have loved working to the loops Tim created, for Crowley especially, and so we've asked him to create a "dream mix" of music that will tranport you, whether you're working, reading, or just staring out the window...
The CDs and downloads are available to buy on the Backerkit site right now.
New Items
Over the next few days, we're going to be introducing a few new add-ons, some by popular demand, some because we thought they would be fun, and relevant, additions to the list. In the latter category we have...
Red Hook Stories book 1
This is one we're excited about. Paying subscribers to this website will already be aware of the Saltmarsh and De Kliek investigations. Plenty of elements within these stories tie in or tee-up aspects of the forthcoming season. We presented them online in a form that best fitted that medium, but now we are going to substantially revise, rewrite (and in the case of De Kliek, FINISH!) those accounts and present them in book form.
SALTMARSH - This investigation was undertaken by Kennedy following the events of The Shadow Over Innsmouth. A mysterious death in Paris leads to a village on the Thames Estuary that may not really exist.
DE KLIEK - Following on from the end of The Haunter of the Dark, Matthew and Kennedy stumble onto the strange death of Arthur Jermyn and find themselves, at Parker's urging, investigating a sinister European organisation that just might be behind everything that has happened so far.
This will be a single paperback novel, containing both stories (with additional endnotes), with a cover designed by our friend Carl Pugh to resemble something you might have found on the spinner of your local newsagents in the 1970s or 80s.
We're going to be offering an ebook format (EPUB, probably) at £5.99 and a physical paperback at £9.99. If you buy the paperback, we will also throw in an ebook copy.
These books will be available to buy from the Village Shop once the new season is released, but the Backerkit price we're offering now will be a little lower than the eventual retail price.
We're excited, not only to present these stories in a new way, but also for readers to experience how elements of both of those investigations feed into The Call of Cthulhu.
Previous Scripts
Softcover copies of the full scripts to The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, The Whisperer in Darkness, The Shadow over Innsmouth and The Haunter of the Dark. These are being designed to match the Crowley script we're about to send out and the Call of Cthulhu softcover that we're already offering (so they'll look good as a set on your bookshelves!)
Price will be £20 each, with a "Buy 3 get 1 free" price of £60.
We're also offering a PDF compendium of all four previous seasons for £14.99, and this will be available almost as soon as the campaign closes.
Please note that these books are JUST the episode and bonus episode scripts; the additional material planned for the Collectors Edition hardbacks will not be included in these.
These softcover scriptbooks and the PDF are available NOW.
Community Donation
An incredible number of people have asked whether they can donate to a fund to allow others to participate in the crowdfund. You're all so nice! We've talked to Backerkit about this, and it seems that a tried-and-tested method is to add a "Community Donation" add-on, priced at £10. We'll keep tabs on how much is in that pot and create a commensurate number of "Donated Pledge" tiers, priced at £1 for basic Cultist access (it has to be priced, there's no mechanism for free tiers). If you have friends who would like the show but can't afford to get involved, that will be the tier to point them too. We have to operate it on an honesty-basis and see how it goes.
AVAILABLE NOW
Gifting Tiers
Christmas is just around the corner (or it will be, by the time we deliver - NO PROMISES!) and a few backers have asked about being able to gift tiers to people. Again, Backerkit have been really helpful. If you email us at gifts@pleasantgreen.co.uk, we can set up a special gift tier for you, which you can add to your package. When the campaign is done, you will then be able to tell us who you would like that gift sent to.
More T-Shirts
We're going to be putting a couple of new T-shirts up over the next few days. One will be an old design we tracked down from back in the day for the "Devil's Reef Trailer Park", and the other is TBA.
That MIGHT be it for now. We hope everyone enjoys the holiday weekend, and thank you again for your kindness and support during this campaign so far. We can't wait to see you at the live show (or via the livestream of that, which we are hoping to set up) and we're looking forward to digging into those old Eleanor Peck lectures, should that stretch goal be reached.
M&K