The Book of Secrets (1999)

User summary:

The Book of Secrets was the seventh Ravenloft Netbook published by the Kargatane, a group of Ravenloft fans who went on to run the official fan site for many years. The Book of Secrets is a collection of articles about the people, places and monsters of the Ravenloft and Masque of the Red Death settings. It also contains some new rules, and articles on running games in those two settings.

From the preface of the book:
The first step towards vice is to shroud innocent actions in mystery, and whoever likes to conceal something sooner or later has reason to conceal it. - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Secrets by their very nature are an effectual contrivance of horror. Ever since Horace Walpole first penned The Castle of Otranto, the secret has been a cornerstone of the Gothic genre that has grown into the horror literature we know and love today. Secrets can be extremely dangerous, whether they remain hidden or are inopportunely revealed. It should be no surprise that the Demiplane of Dread is a land of many secrets.

The Kargatane are pleased to present the third annual Ravenloft Netbook, The Book of Secrets. Herein lie the secrets of many talented Ravenloft® and Masque of the Red Death® fans. We have dutifully collected their secrets for several months, and now choose to reveal them to you on this darkest of nights.

In the pages that follow, you will find many secrets of the Demiplane of Dread and Gothic Earth revealed. Now you must ask yourself, "are these secrets I keep, or secrets I reveal?" If you are truly fortunate, the Dark Powers and the Red Death will not take notice of your choice.