From the introduction:
Dead of Night is a roleplaying game of campfire tales, slasher movies and b-movie horror. It is a game of tales told to scare the bejeezus out of your friends when sleeping out under the clear night sky; of tales of beasts and monsters and murderous psychopaths; of tales that might just turn out to be true.
In Dead of Night players take on the roles of characters within a horror movie - the screaming victims, the fearless monster hunters and sometimes even the slavering monsters themselves. They play the characters about to be thrust into whatever peril the games master has planned. Whilst the players play out their roles within the horror movie, the games master has no single role to play - instead he sets up the story, describes the locations, plays the rest of the cast and controls the monster.
Dead of Night is all about the monsters - the werewolves, the ghosts and the ghouls. It is meant to scare the players, to make them jump at their own shadows and the clatter of the dice. It is meant to unsettle and disturb, to make them think twice before turning off the lights. It is meant to be light hearted at times, when the horror movie clichés flow thicker than the blood. Above all, it is meant to be fun!
Dead of Night is designed to be quick and easy to play, with rules that help you tell horror stories without getting in the way of the fun. The rules are simple and straightforward to learn, yet offer a variety of options and depth to allow you to customise the game however you like.