User summary:
The Book of Souls was the first 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 Souls is a compendium of shorter Ravenloft and Masque of the Red Death articles covering the people, places and creatures of the setting, as well as a handful of new rules, and advice on running games in the Domains of Dread.
From the front of the book:
Fear In a Handful of Dust
Welcome to the Book of Souls. Brought to you by fellow devotees of the dark lands of Ravenloft, this netbook is a gift to all who find themselves drawn into the Demiplane of Dread.
In his poem The Wastelands, T.S. Eliot said, “I will show you fear in a handful of dust.” He was right, of course. Something as simple as a handful of dust can hold fear... and horror. Dust is the poison slipped into the wine of a politician’s rival. Dust is the ashes of the woman who immolates herself when her lover turns to an other. Dust is the remains of the vampire scattering on the winds. Dust is that which drifts from the cerements of the dead. Dust is soil without life promising famine.
The worlds of Ravenloft are our handfuls of dust. Ever since the first handful the Kargat brought, we came and added our own dust. An island of dust, a continent, a world, two worlds built of the dusts that bear fear and horror. As the Demiplane of Dread and the Gothic Earth grow, we add more and more to our wasteland of dust.
This is our handful of dust. Let us show you fear within it.