Forest of Doom Holidays

For other uses of Forest of Doom, see The Forest of Doom

The Forest of Doom Holidays were run by Dolphin and Colony Holidays in 1985, offering real life adventures in the forests of Oxford and Edinburgh based on the book of the same name.

Mention is given to the Dolphin and Colony Holidays package in issue 5 of Warlock. This said that it offered a week of Fighting Fantasy real-life adventures in either Edinburgh or Oxford: "Players are formed into teams and must immerse themselves totally in the world of monsters and magic. A full range of modern stage and drama equipment will be made available, along with video, lighting, sound, make-up and costume."

The quality of the holiday experience was reportedly disappointing. Despite being given a substantial amount of text space in issue 5, a special message was posted in issue 10, signed by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, disassociating themselves from these holidays. Entitled "Holiday of Doom?" The message read:

“

Last summer, advertisements appeared for a 'Forest of Doom' holiday run by Colony Holidays. These holidays were offered without our approval. Although advertising material promised personal visits from both of us, Colony had not made any such arrangements. When we finally did visit one of the centres, we were very disappointed in the lack of props and makeshift costumes (shields made out of cardboard boxes, tunics made out of rubbish sacks, etc). Only one of the staff seemed to know much about role-playing games and Fighting Fantasy. We were not proud to be associated with this holiday, and we have since spoken to several visitors who were very disappointed. This year a similar holiday 'Phantom Forest' is being offered by Dolphin Holidays, who appear to operate from the same building as Colony Holidays. Advertising literature claims that Phantom Forest is "Developed from last year's successful Forest of Doom holiday". The Forest of Doom holiday may well have been successful in sales terms, but we would advise all interested readers to obtain full details in writing before booking. Phantom Forest has nothing to do with either of us, Fighting Fantasy, Penguin Books or Games Workshop Ltd."

”

It appears from the above that "Colony Holidays" was a separate operational name as "Dolphin Holidays". However, a full year before the above message was printed in issue 10, the company was referred to as Dolphin and Colony Holidays in issue 5.