Magic: The Gathering followed its fuzzy animal set with one based on slasher movies and horror novels, a juxtaposition that was ‘both a coincidence and deliberate’

Each Magic: The Gathering set has a theme to differentiate it, but it’s rare to see a contrast as stark as that between the adorable birds and bunnies of Bloomburrow on one hand and the modern horror of Duskmourn on the other. This is a Magic set about a haunted mansion that fills an entire dimension that references dead teenager movies and killer clowns. It’s like filing your A. A. Milne next to your Stephen King.

Mike Turian, a former professional Magic player who is now one of its developer/designers, calls the incongruity “both a coincidence and deliberate,” saying that, “While we don’t necessarily aim for such huge momentum swings in tonality between sets, we definitely try to hit upon multiple themes per year. This is to ensure there’s a little bit of something for everyone. Cute critters to creepy horrors is certainly the extreme end of that scale but as we explore more and more settings and themes for Magic, that’s bound to happen.” This was the perfect time to launch Duskmourn, he explains, meaning the set could be out in time for Halloween.