Mazes and Monsters

Mazes and Monsters is a made-for-TV movie about a group of college students and their interest in the eponymous role-playing game (RPG). It was adapted from a novel by Rona Jaffe. She based her 1981 novel on newspaper stories about the disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III from Michigan State University in 1979. The real life story of Egbert was told by William Dear in his 1984 book Dungeon Master. Jaffe wrote her novel at a breakneck pace in a matter of days because of a fear that another author might also be fictionalizing the Egbert investigation.

Related Topics:
Made-for-TV movie - College - Role-playing game - Novel - Rona Jaffe

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The film premiered on CBS in 1982. It stars Tom Hanks, Wendy Crewson, David Wallace and Chris Makepeace. The movie is currently available on VHS tape.

Related Topics:
CBS - 1982 - Tom Hanks - Wendy Crewson - David Wallace - Chris Makepeace - VHS tape

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Mazes and Monsters came out in the heyday of the RPG Dungeons & Dragons (the movie's title is a thinly veiled reference to the game) and was seen by some as a warning to parents about the dangers of RPGs. It came out at a time when Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) was starting to be attacked by Christian groups who alleged that it promoted Satanism and other forms of occult activities (much like video games and the Harry Potter series of books are being attacked today).

Related Topics:
Dungeons & Dragons - Christian - Satanism - Occult - Video game - Harry Potter

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