I ran this scenario as a sidequest tied into the main plotline of my campaign, situated just after the gang had thought the horror was over for them and their lives could go back to normal. But of course, the dream team never stays separated for long, and I was very happy to see them immediately connect with my devastated Mr. Strong, the hunters and their young sons, the people they met on the way to the lake, and those poor, poor artists. No good hero can resist an innocent in trouble, right? They even connected with Sidney Harris and his sidekick Eugene, something that surprised the hell out of me. There's just so many likable people in this campaign and so few horrible ones - even the kidnapping assholes are better than the Gla'aki slaves, especially since they're just wrapped up in something they have no idea about. Playing the sympathetic characters or at least human characters as understandable really drives home the horror of the zombies, contrasting very well and reinforcing the difference between human and inhuman. And they want you to become one of them?! Ick!
I was disappointed with the lack of props given in the scenario proper. There was really only one - the letter found in the tomb. I ended up drawing three of the artist's drawings, creating a prop handout of the journal page smudged with green rot, and a prop Gla'aki spine for my props, something that really added to this otherwise simple campaign. On that prop spine... definitely make one! When they found the artists being converted, I forced my hemophobic Investigator's player to physically pull the spine "stabbed" through my chest using the common theater trick of tucking it under my arm. SAN loss through the roof, and the poor Investigator fainted outright after failing the roll! A simple stick painted metallic will suffice, the knobblier and more weird-looking the better! DO NOT miss the chance to engage your players head-on with tricks like this in any campaign, it really adds to the realism and makes them feel like they're there...
And another thing, I do not like how much this scenario holds the Keeper's hand throughout. Yes, I know it's meant for newer Keepers, but why put the dreams on slips of paper unless you're going to hit everyone hard with them and want them to be secret? I opted to read them out loud to my players. Why not share the spookiness with everyone? The players probably will, anyway. I usually do this for dreams and nightmares in my games anyway; doesn't make sense to hide anything that's not supposed to be kept secret from the others, after all! The same goes for character motives - let them decide their own together, unless you're playing this as an intro scenario, for why they even wanna help Mr. Strong to start with. Same also goes for danger - up the SAN loss, up the danger of the zombies, and make it a fight to remember at the quarry, and your players will love it! Don't force them to fight if they don't want to, of course, but the threat of majorly fucking up should be there to keep tensions high.
The plot's interesting if simple, Lovecraftian, and a fun exercise in toying around with SAN loss and human NPCs both. The relaxed pace of it is ideal for a one-night scenario, or longer if you stretch it with more encounters a bit. It's great as either a side-quest or start point because of this... or a return to form for battered Investigators who just cannot stay away after a break. The fact that it uses Gla'aki, a rarely-enough used critter in many CoC campaigns, is enough to intrigue, and the ideas behind it are fucking terrifying. I think, due to this scenario, Gla'aki might have just become a favorite GOO of mine, and I'll definitely need to find ways of using it and its minions more often! After all... why have plain boring brain-eating zombies when you can have zombies that masquerade as human and a giant sea slug that shoots HUGE FUCK-OFF METAL SPINES AT PEOPLE LIKE JAVELINS to make more minions? What's more badass and metal? Exactly.
All in all, "Amidst" is a solid tale, though experienced Keepers will not have need for its hand-holding and will want to expand the props for interest's sake. It's a good breather episode with a twist at the end, and it uses a little used GOO for its big bad. What's not to love? You will likely wanna tweak the danger up for investigators that have some firepower unless you're going pure pulp, and it's not for very experienced Investigators that know how to use magic or otherwise are heavily armed. Depower these guys first before you send them into the woods, and you'll have a much better time with it. Play it, you shouldn't be too disappointed! For its flaws and its strengths both, I give "Amidst the Ancient Trees" 7 out of 10 Gla'aki Spines stuck in your chest.