and similar games, such as those promulgated by Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons, an anti-RPG advocacy group. This negative media climate, combined with the dramatic fictional events portrayed in Jaffe's book, led CBS to contract for the television rights to the novel. The movie adaptation premiered on the network in 1982, and starred 26-year-old Tom Hanks as a gamer whose obsession prevents him from being able to tell what is real and what is fantasy. See also The Dungeon Master (book on the Egbert incident by William Dear), published three years later, depicting the events whose initial incorrect reportage inspired Mazes and Monsters History of role-playing games Media circus Moral panic Sensationalism References External links "The Disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III" by Shaun Hately "The Attacks on Role-Playing Games" by Paul Cardwell Jr. 1981 American novels American novels adapted into films American novels adapted into television shows History of role-playing games Jewish American novels