The Hickmans began work on Ravenloft in the late 1970s, intent on creating a frightening portrait of a vampire in a setting that combined Gothic horror with the D&D game system.

In 1984, it won the Strategists' Club Award for Outstanding Play Aid, and it appeared second in Dungeon magazine's list of the top 30 D&D adventures.

The story involves a party of player characters (PCs) who travel to the land of Barovia, a small nation surrounded by a deadly magical fog.

Example maps and sections include the Lands of Barovia, the Court of the Count, five entries for each level of the Spires of Ravenloft, and the Dungeons and Catacombs.

[6] When they began work on Ravenloft, they felt the vampire archetype had become overused, trite, and mundane, and decided to create a frightening version of the creature for the module.

[4] According to a Wizards of the Coast article, Strahd has become one of the most infamous and well-known villains in the Dungeons & Dragons game,[14] and he has appeared in a number of novels and rulebooks since his debut in Ravenloft.

[15] In an introduction to an online edition of Ravenloft II, author John D. Rateliff described Strahd as a then-unusual fusion of a monster with the abilities of a player character class; that is, a vampire magic-user.

[21] The module's plot features an artifact known as The Apparatus that switches a monster's personality with that of an ordinary townsperson; player characters, therefore, are uncertain about the true identity of the people they meet.

In the book, the reader plays the role of Jeren Sureblade, a paladin, who must defeat Count Strahd von Zarovich to save a young girl from becoming one of the undead.

[23] The Ravenloft: Realm of Terror boxed set was published as part of the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and, according to its back cover, it is "rooted in the Gothic tradition" and contains "tips for adding fear to your games".

The boxed set's version of Strahd is similar to character in the original adventure, but his abilities were increased and his background explained in more detail.

The module credits the original work by the Hickmans,[1] but was revised by Bruce Nesmith, who along with Andria Hayday created the Ravenloft campaign setting.

[11] Nesmith introduced new monsters, made further developments on Strahd's tactics, and added a Time-Track Table to help the Dungeon Master plan for the sunset.

[28] Expedition to Castle Ravenloft is designed to be played as a mini-campaign lasting about 20 game sessions, much longer than the original module, although it contains options for running long 8-session or short 4-session adventures.

The book also includes suggestions for incorporating the adventure into an existing generic setting, Forgotten Realms, Eberron or d20 Modern campaign.

[30] In 2016, Wizards of the Coast published Curse of Strahd,[31] an adaptation of the original Ravenloft module for the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons, which was generally well received, earning the 2016 ENnie Awards for Best Adventure and Best Art/Cover and runner up for Product of the Year.

[33] The editor of Dungeon praised the placement of treasure, and Strahd's motivation was described as "a brilliant way to let fate drive the plot and evoke the mystery and mystique of Barovia".

Bill Slavicsek, director of Wizards of the Coast's RPGs and Miniatures department, noted that it was the first adventure to "mix tone, story, and dungeon crawl" in a module, and game designer Andy Collins agreed.

The catacombs, where player characters were teleported away and replaced with undead wights, was singled out at as the adventure's "defining moment" by the magazine's editors.

It was likened to a Hammer horror production and praised as enjoyable, although the reviewer said the game's puns were tedious and detracted from the spooky atmosphere.

[35] White Dwarf reviewer Dave Morris said it "should be a lot of fun – 'light, relief' of a nerve-wracking and deadly sort" and concluded that Ravenloft is "full of clever touches", and "features some first-class illustration and graphics".

He singles out its use of common monsters in D&D, an abundance of traps, and frequent combat interludes as elements that detract from the adventure's spookiness by interrupting the module's flow.

[36] In a Polygon article from 2021, Charlie Hall wrote that the original Ravenloft "has been criticized as derivative–and for reinforcing harmful stereotypes," but that it had an interesting conflicted villain.

"[10] Scott Taylor for Black Gate in 2014 listed Ravnloft by Clyde Caldwell as #7 in The Top 10 TSR Cover Paintings of All Time.