"Darker" Deck reccs?

Umbrae

As an affianado of Dark Decks, I’m with Little Baron on a few points.

Archeon is not dark. It’s a Dark Wanna-Be. It’s dark via palate, not subject matter.

Vertigo is confusing to use. The artists never made up their minds about what it was – the minors suck, the majors scattered – lovely collectors piece.

Abysmal Tarot: Majors only. Designed for the serious LHP Pathworker.
Der Akron Tarot: Strange…Cartoon Network on Bad LSD.
Baphomet/Giger Tarot of the Underworld: Majors only. Good solid Darkness.
Dark Sirens: A Shame the deck was never completed. Only 11 cards were ever finished.
Vargo Gothic: Classic Darkness for the last five years. Ghosts, vampyres, skeletons and gargoyles. Own it.
Wendell Gothic: Majors only. Brilliant psychological darkness.
Gothic Tarot of Vampires: only if you’re a vampyre.
Guardian Tarot: Brilliant stuff. Try it out…
Book of Kaos: Hand drawn, thought provoking, some real good images, some not so good.
Lovecraft Tarot: not tarot. Minors are funky – not compiled using tarot as a template.
Mage: The Ascension: If you wanna go dark, you gotta own this one. Hunt it down. Very very readable, lovely dark, sci-fi fantasy dark deck…yummy.
Necronomicon Tarot: I’ll speak when I see it.
Tarot of Shadows (Vera Sklyarova ) : you’d better be well versed in fallen angels. Not for the casual user.
Vampire: it’s okay for a starter…
New Orleans Voodoo: You know Boudreaux? Ya gotta know Boudreaux...For Valentines Day Boudreaux wanted to get Clotile, his wife, a real surprise. She had been wanting a milk bath for a long time.
So Boudreaux told his friend Pierre, he say, "Pierre," he say, "I wanna give Clotile a milk bath for Valentine Day." He say, "Why don't you bring you cow over to da house and put me some milk in da battub."
And Pierre say, "Okay, Boudreaux," he say, "Dat milk, you want dat pasteurize?"
Boudreaux thought about it a while, then said, "No, just so it covers her belly, dat's all I want."

Boudreaux calls the doctor and shouts, "Doc! Doc! My wife Clotile she be in labor and da contractions are only two minutes apart!"
The doctor asked, "Is this her first child?"
Boudreaux shouts, "No, you idiot, this is her husband!"
 

Sidhe-Ra

I have to disagree about the Vertigo- it's one of the best, if not THE best reading deck I own. At least I did one of the most insightful and accurate readings for a client with it that I have ever done.

I find the artwork perfectly coherent, extremely original, beautiful and very symbolically eloquent.

Also I've just got the Giger. That's about as dark as you get!

Blessings,

Em x
 

Bat Chicken

Umbrae said:
Archeon is not dark. It’s a Dark Wanna-Be. It’s dark via palate, not subject matter.
I guess the question would have to be restated with preference, then. Because I agree that the Archeon is dark in palate - therefore - that gives it a mysterious atmosphere. The subject matter weaves in and out of death, life and decay. It draws one in rather than repelling. Some of the symbols are obscured and I find it's darkness draws on one's own imagination. I don't like being told what's dark nor do I require a black fantasy deck to explore the 'shadow' side. I think a deck that takes you into shadow can be as disturbing as 'vampires' and demons. If anything - the less imagination required - the more 'wanna-be' it is in my opinion.

The Vargo Gothic appeals to the graphic novel crowd and it is a good deck - but - I find it too cartoony and fail to see how it is 'darker' than the Archeon. And in the case of the Giger... Why does something have to be creepy to be dark?
 

6 Haunted Days

Bat Chicken said:
I guess the question would have to be restated with preference, then. Because I agree that the Archeon is dark in palate - therefore - that gives it a mysterious atmosphere. The subject matter weaves in and out of death, life and decay. It draws one in rather than repelling. Some of the symbols are obscured and I find it's darkness draws on one's own imagination. I don't like being told what's dark nor do I require a black fantasy deck to explore the 'shadow' side. I think a deck that takes you into shadow can be as disturbing as 'vampires' and demons. If anything - the less imagination required - the more 'wanna-be' it is in my opinion.

The Vargo Gothic appeals to the graphic novel crowd and it is a good deck - but - I find it too cartoony and fail to see how it is 'darker' than the Archeon. Why does something have to be creepy to be dark?

Exactly. I was vastly underwhelmed with the Vargo. Talk about your typical "Hot Topic Goth" deck. I guess if someone isn't that deeply into the underground goth culture (not the current mainstream goth culture I mean the older more varied one) they might see it as "dark", profound and great. But frankly it's pretty cheesy. Some of his artwork is wonderful, but most is pretty cut and paste.

These dark threads always end up like this. Everyone has their own opinion on what dark is to them. People should just list dark decks and let the person decide. Instead it always turn into what is or isn't dark (or enough). Really, there isn't a dark deck out there I even like so far. I have high hopes for the Bohemian Gothic though.
 

caridwen

6 Haunted Days said:
Exactly. I was vastly underwhelmed with the Vargo. Talk about your typical "Hot Topic Goth" deck. I guess if someone isn't that deeply into the underground goth culture (not the current mainstream goth culture I mean the older more varied one) they might see it as "dark", profound and great. But frankly it's pretty cheesy. Some of his artwork is wonderful, but most is pretty cut and paste.

These dark threads always end up like this. Everyone has their own opinion on what dark is to them. People should just list dark decks and let the person decide. Instead it always turn into what is or isn't dark (or enough). Really, there isn't a dark deck out there I even like so far. I have high hopes for the Bohemian Gothic though.

This is so interesting and very confusing. I tend to use decks for readings first and foremost and the Vargo Gothic reads amazingly well - for me. As for 'cheesy' I'm not sure what that means. Does it mean cliched? Then yes, he has a lot of scantily dressed ladies and ghosts which is pretty typical of the gothic from a male perspective and from the Romantic period.

It bears no relation whatsoever to eighties Goth and shouldn't be confused with that at all. The Vargo is Byronic Goth, the stuff of dark, Romantic fantasy. The artwork is nowhere close to the quality of decent Japanese anime.

Having been a Goth from the eighties and pretty into it I don't know that much about the modern goth mainstream it seems to stem from Anime characters from what I can see and is severed from the original goth ethos which was mainly musical.

For eighties Goth watch a Bauhaus video or some cheesy Hammer House horror stuff. Goth was never supposed to be that serious, it was always tongue in cheek and had a kind of dark humour. It bordered on fetishistic in some places with a lot of emphasis on rubber, leather and S & M. As far as I'm aware there aren't any eighties Goth decks that typify that period.

The concept of 'dark' depends on the person - you can do shadow readings with the Hello Kitty Tarot.

As far as I'm aware, vampiric stuff deals with sex, blood, death, necrophilia and others things of that nature which stem from the repressed Victorian psyche but has been a subject of fascination since time immemorial. It's supposed to be the stuff of nightmares and desire. Early vampires aren't sexy, they're like grotesque blood eating zombies with hardly any limb movement. The Fantasy Genre has a lot to do with our modern concept of the Vampire which Vargo follows. Many of his pictures are illustrations for short stories.

Edited to add this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_YQXFs7Ts

This is a Bauhaus video full of eighties goth and Nosferatu imagery which is typical of eighties Goth and very camp.

and one of my favourite Bauhaus songs just for posterity:p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HdLKCIcQv4&mode=related&search=
 

rebecca-smiles

I really want the vertigo deck, but i'm in two minds about it (since i can't afford to buy an expenseive deck i won't use) but there seems to be mixed opinion on how good it is. is it very 'readable'?
 

Umbrae

6 Haunted Days said:
These dark threads always end up like this. Everyone has their own opinion on what dark is to them. People should just list dark decks and let the person decide. Instead it always turn into what is or isn't dark (or enough). Really, there isn't a dark deck out there I even like so far. I have high hopes for the Bohemian Gothic though.
I agree. I waited for a couple pages before posting. Some folks love the Archeon and call it dark – I call it cheesy. Some folks like the Vargo, I used to. I no longer even look at it. Some folks love the Vertigo – I’ve tried – it’s boring rather than dark. But folks should understand that opinions can vary between users. It's okay! Just cuz person A likes deck B doesn't mean anything to person C. Otherwise there'd only be one deck. However expressing how we feel should be good. You feel about deck B one way. I feel about deck B another - Now person C has information - perhaps enough to inspire more than a brief look.

Expressing opinion is important.

Bohemian Gothic – Yummmmm…

caridwen said:
It bears no relation whatsoever to eighties Goth and shouldn't be confused with that at all. The Vargo is Byronic Goth, the stuff of dark, Romantic fantasy. The artwork is nowhere close to the quality of decent Japanese anime.

Well said!

caridwen said:
The concept of 'dark' depends on the person - you can do shadow readings with the Hello Kitty Tarot.

Noooooooo Say it ain’t sooooo!!!

rebecca-smiles said:
I really want the vertigo deck, but i'm in two minds about it (since i can't afford to buy an expenseive deck i won't use) but there seems to be mixed opinion on how good it is. is it very 'readable'?

Once again – this is my opinion – don’t get excited…the pips suck. They had a good idea with the Majors but then kinda lost it.

Ya know…a Swiss 1JJ has a real subtle darkness that’s difficult to match, as does a Lasenikuv Tarot, a Dussere Dodal, or a Soprafino varient.

Ya don’t have to be scenic to create atmosphere.
 

Silaria

Wow!

I'm not usually one for "Dark" decks, but Bohemian Gothic's artwork is VERY STRIKING.

I'll have to keep an eye on this deck as it develops to see if I'd be interested in adding it to my collection.
 

WolfyJames

I have both the Gothic and the Archeon and while I find them many similarities I think the Gothic is more Romantic (Romantic period) and the Archeon more Symbolist (Symbolist period). Both are atmospheric, mysterious, gritty and dark, both have textures. Both have darkness that reveals the light in the art: with the Gothic, the black makes the white and red come out more and with the Archeon, the dark palette makes the colors and gold come out more. It's true that with the imagerie of the Gothic (vampires, ghosts, gargoyles, etc.), it surely can't please everyone while the Archeon I'm sure pleases more people, but the amount of nakedness though in the Archeon may put off some. I have both and I love them both. They are both dark but their art style is completely different.
 

Sidhe-Ra

rebecca-smiles said:
I really want the vertigo deck, but i'm in two minds about it (since i can't afford to buy an expenseive deck i won't use) but there seems to be mixed opinion on how good it is. is it very 'readable'?

Well, as Umbrae said, opinions and effectiveness of decks vary from user to user- thank goodness! We're all individuals! We ARE all different! Welease Wodewick!

Ahem.

Well, I like it- a LOT. I don't find the minors dissapointing at all- really, truly, honestly! I get a LOT out of them. In fact I was amazed by how much I got.

Plus they're REALLY scrumptious- I have the first edition, which I was lucky enough to get for about £25, and its the best quality deck and presentation I own.

Blessings,

Em xx