LASZLO TAMASFI
LASZLO TAMASFI

LASZLO TAMASFI

horror writer, RPG designer and publisher

ABOUT ME

Hi, I’m Laszlo Tamasfi (he/him), a Hungarian-American horror author, translator, and role-playing game designer. My comics include Invisible Hands and The Observatory. My ttrpg works include The Conduit, a journaling solo game, and Pod People. I also run Strangers From Nowhere, a small press specializing in illustrated horror paperbacks.

I have a bi-weekly newsletter where I talk about writing, publishing, and interesting things I run across.

You can find all the links to my socials here. I’m a member of the HWA’s Chicagoland Chapter.

 COMICS

I still remember walking into a comic book store for the first time, back in 2001, just a few weeks after I arrived to the United States. I flipped through a back issue bin, and picked out two random issues of The Sandman solely because of Dave McKean’s stunning covers. I read them that afternoon (as much as I could, since I didn’t really know English) and went back the next week to pick up my first Sandman trade paperback.

I fell in love with comics, and it still makes me immensely happy that I get to write them!

OBSERVATORY COMICS

Observatory Comics was a flash fiction webcomic that ran between 2014 and 2017 at www.observatorycomics.com. Each installment was a one page long, stand alone short story. Over the years, it was a regular feature at heavymetal.com, was included as back matter in several issues of Hoax Hunters, and found its way onto the pages of Galaktika and The Charleston Anvil.

There was an extremely limited 28 page physical edition created for promotional purposes, and it was only available to the public once: on March 22nd, 2017, at All Books and Comics in St Augustine, Florida, during a signing of Invisible Hands #1.

The following year it was collected into a trade-paperback by Caliber Comics, as the 4th installment in their anthology series, Caliber Presents. It includes a brand new framing story, a gallery, a prose short story, and an introduction by horror author Mary SanGiovanni. 

Written/Created by: Laszlo Tamasfi, Art by: Jeremy Ray, Lost Arno, Branko Jovanovic, Akhmad Yusuf Marzuki Wijaya, Andi Supriyono, Gergely Leposa, Eleonora Kortsarz, Justin Cornell, Jozsef Svab, Tejlor, Tesni Edathil & Manoj Kumar A, Michael Malatini, Earl Geier, Luca Bulgheroni, Facundo Nehuen Lopez, Atagun Ilhan, Gustavo Arian Desimone, Edited by: Andrea Lorenzo Molinari, Colors by: Jeremy Ray, Lost Arno, Jozsef Svab, Tesni Edathil & Manoj Kumar A, Lettering by: Jeremy Ray, Laszlo Tamasfi, Introduction: Mary SanGiovanni

INVISIBLE HANDS

Invisible Hands is a 3 issue mini series from American Gothic Press, based on my Silver Scream Award winning script. This marked my first big collaboration with Michael Malatini, and I believe this marked his debut in American comic book stores!

Written by: Laszlo Tamasfi, Art by : Michael Malatini, Colors by: Riley Schmitz, Lettering by: Marshall Dillon

I’m really proud of this book; unfortunately it is out of print and only available on the second hand market…

THE LAST PANEL

The Last Panel was a one panel cartoon series that originally appeared on the pages of  The Dark Side horror magazine, starting with Issue 182 in April of 2017. It ran for 7 issues.

Written by: Laszlo Tamasfi, Art by: Lost Arno

 ROLE-PLAYING GAMES

I got into role-playing games in the early ‘90s, when I was about ten years old, and to say that it defined my teenage years would be an understatement. While it’s always been on my creative bucket list to one day make RPGs, I didn’t feel comfortable getting into the design space until I discovered the indie zine scene.

THE CONDUIT - a journaling solo RPG

The Conduit is a journaling solo RPG zine where you play a character who begins to receive telepathic messages. The goal of the game is to create an intriguing object in the form of a journal: a handwritten book crafted by someone who was bestowed secret knowledge. Revelations for our modern times.

The game was inspired by the real-life intersection of spirituality and science-fiction: the UFO cultists who believe that flying saucers will take them to Heaven. The mediums who claim to channel civilizations from inside the Hollow Earth. The New Age gurus who are guided by extraterrestrial forces.

The Conduit will prompt you to build a one-of-a-kind mythology, unfolding through a series of diary entries as you discover the source of the telepathic messages, the true nature of the cosmos, and a threat that looms over the world...

The final journal can be enjoyed as a book of fiction, or it can be used as a prop in any role-playing game that dabbles in the occult.

Written by Laszlo Tamasfi, Illustrated by Jozsef Svab.

We had a very successful Kickstarter campaign to bring this zine to life, check it out if you want to learn more about the game.

POD PEOPLE

An experimental horror RPG zine about a body-snatching alien invasion, inspired by movies such as Invaders From Mars, John Carpenter’s The Thing, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers… and imagines these stories from the point of view of the alien organism who tries to conquer Earth!

The currents of space brought you to the tiny blue planet called Earth. You arrived as a microscopic organism: a spore, evolved to withstand cosmic radiation and the million-year journey through the cold galaxy.

Now that you have arrived, you will be driven by a single instinct: to replicate and replace the most intelligent life form on the planet. You will grow into a pod, and after a short period of gestation you will emerge as a perfect replica of someone in your close proximity. Once you take their place, you will disperse more spores, and without being detected by the humans around you, you’ll attempt to overtake their society... One doppelganger at a time.

Written by Laszlo Tamasfi, Illustrated by Michael Malatini.

Pod People has a successful Kickstarter campaign, so please check out the page to learn more about it.

DRACULA’S DEATH

The first motion picture to ever feature the character of Dracula was Dracula's Death, a Hungarian silent film made in 1921. It was not based on Bram Stoker's novel, but rather it was an original story about a young woman, who encounters the famous vampire during her stay at a mental asylum. 

The movie, just like so many others from the silent film era, is considered lost. Luckily, a prose adaptation was published in 1924, which I translated to English. I also wrote a companion essay called The Devil Flew Away, about the history of Dracula's Death. Published by my small press Strangers From Nowhere, with stunning new illustrations by Jozsef Svab, available in ebook, paperback, and a numbered/signed hardcover edition.

SHORT STORIES

STONEGARDEN
A moody dark fantasy story with mist-covered forests, old headstones, an abandoned village, and a very angry Sir Galahad! Stonegarden was written for the anthology King Arthur: Knight's Tale -Chronicles of Avalon, which was a companion piece for the role-playing tactical game King Arthur: Knight’s Tale. Published as a backing reward in NeocoreGames’ Kickstarter campaign.

STARGAZER
A strange story about spirits communicating with us through the bowel movements of household pets. Yes, that really IS the premise, but I promise that it makes sense!
Night Terrors Vol. 16 (2021)

BLOOM, STRANGER
Two flash fiction short stories appeared in the second volume of the Fox Hollow anthology series.
Nothing Ever Happens In Fox Hollow volume II. (2021)

THE MORGUE, PREY, THE SPECIAL
Three flash fiction short stories depicting everyday life in a quiet small town where nothing is what it first seems...
Nothing Ever Happens In Fox Hollow volume I. (2020)

THE IRON JAW
A ghost story about a possessed recliner.
Published in Ghosts, Spirits and Specters volume 1 (2019)
​
THEY BLEED GREEN
The Trump presidency unintentionally unravels a centuries old conspiracy in Washington DC.
Published in Terror Politico in 2019

GLUE
A group of high school dropouts journey through a post-apocalyptic Hungary to catch the reanimated Ramones play at a festival.
The Rock N’ Roll Horror Zine #4 (2018)

The RPG Academy Podcast’s CrowdFUNding Review Episode 19 shines a spotlight on my Kickstarter campaign for The Conduit!

I returned to the Creator Talks Podcast to talk about Dracula’s Death.

Wyrd Transmissions Podcast: Episode 45 Dracula’s Death with Laszlo Tamasfi

Castle of Horror Podcast: Castle Talk - Laszlo Tamasfi on bringing back Dracula's Death the long-lost book (based on a long-lost movie)

Watch Geek Culture Congress (video) for a discussion about some of the inspiration behind The Observatory!

I was a guest (three times!!!) on the brilliant Shh, The Movie Is Starting Podcast to provide fun (and possibly drunk) commentary:
Halloween III Season of the Witch
Invaders From Mars
Batman Returns

Funny Book Splatter 085 is a podcast focusing on horror comics, hosted by James Ferguson.
​
I chat with Christopher Calloway about writing comics, flash fiction, and our love of David Bowie on Creator Talks #133

Listen to Deconstructing Comics Podcast: #097 Observatory for a thoughtful discussion about the webcomic.



REVIEWS

An in-depth article about Dracula’s Death at Daily Grindhouse for which I was interviewed for.

Issue #199 of the Rue-Morgue Magazine has a write up on Dracula’s Death.

Pick up Issue 183 of Rue-Morgue for a full page article about The Observatory!

CONTACT