The 1970's was I think a great decade for spooky board games, especially for the box art of a lot of them; 'Ghost Train' is no exception. I really love the graphics, the box art is second to none and what is great is that the box art matches the actual game too really well. It is this kind of creepy artwork that used to grace some of the best horror comics of the 50's, 60's, & 70's and even some horror film posters of the time. The box art is really atmospheric and certainly more atmospheric than any actual Ghost Train rides, although some of these Ghost Trains have some really amazing graphics and spooky effects. The game itself as you can see from the above picture also is decorated with nice creepy artwork even around the sides of the raised gameboard. There are some really nice touches such has the waiting room on the back wall of 3 skeletons sat down, the Ghosts, Skeleton and Bat attached to some of the turning wheels of the board, the big green spider hanging over one of the entrances/exits. I love that domed skull headed ghoul looking over the top of the building, whom also appears on the reverse of the back wall [See above]. I won't go into how the Ghost Train game is played [Maybe at a later date] but I just thought it was more special to show the actual images of the game.
9 comments:
Wow! That's what it's all about - stunning graphics which broach the imagination - a really interactive looking piece of kit.
You're so right...these games are wonderful. The game itself looks like it makes no sense...but most of them didn't. It was all about the boards and boxes!
-Billy
I would love to know who the artists were on these sort of games and if they went on to doing other games/comics etc. I am hoping to put some more games up from this period with similar types of graphics.
Hi Billy
I agree it was all about the boards and boxes, well for those who appriciate this type of artwork, some games could be confusing to play and they certainly couldn't capture the atmospherics of the illustrations unless you played in a dimly lit room with eerie music or howling winds playing through speakers.
I had and played this game!
I cant remeber it completely except you had to avoid the monsters of get sent to the waiting room area as the rout chaned each turn. At the end if you landed at the door, instead of passing through it, the spider would swing down to knock you out of the game.
I remember thinking the game was awesome. wish I still had it.
My name is Darren, i was sorting out parents loft and came across the game "Ghost Train". We used to play this when we were kids back in the 70s, have just played it with my 14 year old son and he loves it, all the parts are still in the box- bit bent but still work. This was a brilliant game to play, why dont they bring them back. Darren
Hi Mr.Vampire, yes the way you described the game sounds about right, thank you. Hope you managed to get another 'Ghost Train' game again, it is a great game to play and looks fantastic too.
Hi Darren, thats great that you came across your Ghost Train game again and that your son enjoyed playing it. It would be nice if it was made again, I don't see why not as they have made a number of versions of the Haunted House game over the years, I think 'Ghost Train' would be just as popular too.
It looks like Ghost Train shared the same rotating board mechanic as Lakeside's 1972's Haunted Mansion board game. https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/5893/haunted-mansion-game
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