Horror Reviews on Flames Rising
From role-playing games to television series, Flames Rising horror webzine offers hundreds of reviews on products from every world of horror imaginable. We feature nationally-distributed and licensed products like Hellboy, to small press ventures like the game InSpectres from Memento Mori.
Our philosophy on reviews is simple: we encourage our horror reviewers to channel their inner Poe to write reviews that are easy-to-read and provide you, the horror fan, with the best information possible.
Whether you enjoy paranormal romance or post-apocalyptic horror, this list has a little something for the monster in all of us. If you would like to be a horror reviewer for Flames Rising, we encourage you to visit our submission guidelines. We go out of our way to reward our regular horror reviewers, and encourage you to add your voice to our choir.
Our reviews are listed in alphabetical order by type of review category (click on the “Read more…” link just below this paragraph). For an alternative means of navigation, feel free to take advantage of the search box on our site to find what you’re hunting for.
The Man With the Golden Torc Review
By Flames | July 25, 2008
Simon R Green is the author of the Deathstalker books, a rollicking romp of space opera insanity that makes a good pulpy read and keeps you enjoyably engaged all the way through. This book, the first in a Shaman Bond series is set in the present day, sort of, amongst a madness of the occult and conspiracy theories and within the greatest conspiracy theory of all. This book was the launch of the new series which continues in the obvious vein with Deamons are Forever. I wonder if we’ll also see Doctor Om, Chandraball and On Her Majesty’s Occult Service before the series is out…
Review by James ‘Grim’ Desborough
Topics: Fiction Reviews | No Comments »
Frontier Cthulhu Fiction Review
By Matt-M-McElroy | July 23, 2008
I’ve been reading a lot of Mythos fiction lately. It started with my review of Cthulhu Live 3rd Edition, which was a lot of fun and renewed my interest in the genre once more. Since then I’ve picked up several books and was blown away by the Trail of Cthulhu RPG from Pelgrane Press. So I started digging into the fiction collections even more…
Frontier Cthulhu is a bit different, having characters explore the “frontier” throughout the ages and encountering dark, twisted horrors along the way.
Topics: Fiction Reviews | 2 Comments »
Donar’s Hammer (Godlike) RPG Review
By Flames | July 22, 2008
“Donar’s Hammer” is the first of the smaller supplements for “Godlike” RPG, and provides an introductory scenarios as well as optional rules for your “Godlike” game.
Set in Sicily in 1943, players take on the role of a group of Allied Talents that come face to face with a group of Axis Overmen protecting a talent called Mjollnir, the name of the norse god Thor’s mythic hammer. What begins as a simple seek-and-destroy mission instead becomes a fight for survival and the soul of a small town.
Review by Michale Erb
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Scion Companion (Manifestations of Ichor) Review
By Flames | July 21, 2008
Review by James ‘Grim’ Desborough
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Zorcerer of Zo RPG Review
By Flames | July 18, 2008
“The Zantabulous Zorceror of Zo,” by Chad Underkoffler and Atomic Sock Monkey Press, is a game of adventure and wonder set in a world of fairy tales. But the land of Zo is more than just pixies and knights. The game includes classic story elements from almost every childhood fantasy, from “The Wizard of Oz” and “Alice in Wonderland” to “Peter Pan” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
The game uses Underkoffler’s Prose Descriptive Qualities (PDQ) system, which is also used in the super-hero RPG “Truth & Justice” and the manic “Monkey, Ninja, Pirate, Robot: the Roleplaying Game.” In PDQ, characters use Qualities to represent their abilities. Qualities can be anything from skills to beliefs to personality quirks.
Review by Michael Erb
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Razor Kid Comic Book Review
By Flames | July 16, 2008
After reading the first two issues of Marcus Almand’s comic book, Razor Kid, I’m left feeling surprisingly compelled to read more. Razor Kid is as indie as it gets, but this does not belie the effort that Almand and his revolving crew of artists have put forth in giving readers a superior product.
Issue one introduces us to 15-year-old Alexander Tanaka, AKA Razor Kid, as he fights Kevin Michaels in an exercise of initiation into the C.A.P.E. (Citizens Authorized for Protection and Enforcement) program. Alexander is a boy genius who’s developed an armored super suit equipped with an assortment of blades and devices including cybernetic arms that replace his own which have been amputated. Kevin, 18, provides quite a test as he appears to be a full-blown martial arts badass.
Review by Jason Thorson
Topics: Comic Book/Graphic Novel Reviews | No Comments »
Heroes Adrift Fiction Review
By Flames | July 15, 2008
Normally I don’t like to read books in a series out of order–the exception being when I’m reviewing them. I’ve got a couple of second novels that I picked up still lingering on my bookshelves, waiting for me to pick up book one. So it always impresses me when a second or third entry in a series can pick up the story without making you feel like you’re adrift (if you’ll excuse the pun). Heroes Adrift does it incredibly successfully, and though our heroes spend the whole book out of their element, the reader catches up to the action in the first few pages.
Review by Alana Abbott
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Weapons of the Gods RPG Review
By Flames | July 14, 2008
The book is a massive one, totalling out to nearly four hundred pages interspersed with illustrations that are mostly small, so that’s an intimidating amount of text, though most of it is background and plots, and thus optional. It includes the general rules, combat rules, character creation, kung fu, secret techniques and powers and an enormous section of plot and background providing a great many hooks and ideas to players and Games Masters alike. The game is complete in one book but be aware that the PDF I am reviewing from lacked the front cover image, this does make a file smaller but I would have liked it to be there. I have also read the hardcopy version.
Review by James ‘Grim’ Desborough
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DragonMech RPG Review
By Flames | July 12, 2008
Lunar rains cascade down upon the blasted landscape of Highpoint. Lunar demons raze the ruins of once-great civilizations and assault the under-realms harboring the last of dying races. Across the surface of this once-great world, only the giant City Mechs hold sway, lumbering across charred and corrupted lands, seeking truth, beauty and a new beginning.
The world of “DragonMech” by Goodman Games is a post-apocalyptic fantasy setting where humans, dwarves, elves and other races have turned to technology to protect them in their final days.
Review by Michael Erb
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Cursed Empire RPG Review
By Flames | July 11, 2008
This is a review of the second edition of the game with the name altered from Crimson Empire, which the earlier edition was titled, due to a dispute with Lucasarts. Cursed Empire is a small, independent press game written by Chris Loizou and presented enthusiastically and comprehensively at many UK conventions. This is a weighty book and obviously a labour of love for the creator whose enthusiasm for the game is obvious and infectious. This makes me feel bad about criticizing the game given that it’s such an obvious and singular labour of love, but there are significant problems with it.
Review by James ‘Grim’ Desborough
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Don’t Rest Your Head RPG Review
By Flames | July 10, 2008
In this strange land between waking and sleep, you can wield strange and wondrous powers, but your talents make you a target. Push too hard and you’ll fall asleep. That’s when the Nightmares come to feed. Stray too far from reality and you go insane, eventually becoming one of Nightmares that hunt you. Fight for what you believe and remember who you are, but whatever you do, don’t rest your head.
“Don’t Rest Your Head,” is a roleplaying game of insomnia, madness and super powers written by Fred Hicks and published by Evil Hat Productions.
Review by Michael Erb
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Anita Blake: The First Death Graphic Novel Review
By Monica Valentinelli | July 9, 2008
In this hardcover edition of Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: The First Death, fans will get both issues in the series, as well as the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures Handbook. Published by Marvel with a retail price of $19.99, the book is a prequel to Laurell K Hamilton’s best-selling novel Guilty Pleasures, which is the first in the Anita Blake series.
Adapting a comic book from a novel series isn’t an easy thing to do, because of the novel’s rich format, rife with details and setting descriptions. Additionally, the Anita Blake series is told from the first person point-of-view, which can be challenging to display visually in a graphic novel. Stray too far from the point-of-view, and you may encounter oddities–things that the main character (Anita Blake) may be describing but hasn’t seen yet. A nod to the writing team of Laurell K Hamilton and Jonathon Green, each scene was pointed and specific to Anita’s character.
Topics: Comic Book/Graphic Novel Reviews | No Comments »
The Shab-al-Hiri Roach RPG Review
By Flames | July 8, 2008
“The Shab-al-Hiri Roach” by Jason Morningstar and Bully Pulpit Games is a storytelling game about academic life, the pursuit of tenure and the lengths people will go to for success, even if that means swallowing an ancient Sumerian bug and burning down the campus. Billed as a Lovecraftian dark comedy of manners, players take on the roles of assistant- or full-proffesors at the ficticious Pemberton University in the fall of 1919.
Players choose an Expertise for their character, an area of learning such as History or Geology, and two Enthusiams, areas in which they excel and delight, such as Creativity, Manipulation or Debauchery.
Review by Michael Erb
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Blood Price Review
By Flames | July 7, 2008
Private investigator Vicki Nelson, like most everyone in Toronto, doesn’t believe in the paranormal, but when it appears that the latest serial killer could be a vampire, she’s out of her depth. Retinitis pigmentosa has already cost Vicki her former life as a homicide detective, and she needs specialised help with this case. Enter historical romance writer Elizabeth Fitzroy, or known about town as Henry Fitzroy, the bastard son of Henry VIII. He’s also a vampire, and as he and Vicki investigate, they realise that a vampire may not be to blame – but a demon and a screwed up college kid are.
Review by Tez Miller
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Call of Cthulhu 6th Edition RPG Review
By Flames | July 4, 2008
In the early 1900s, horror writer H.P. Lovecraft created a series of books and short stories set in a dark world beset by cultist, monsters and unfathomable “things” from space and other dimensions. These works collectively became known as the “Cthulhu Mythos,” named for one of the Great Old Ones that slumbered in the lost city of Rályeh, awaiting the end of the world.
Chaosium’s “Call of Cthulhu” horror roleplaying game captures the feel of Lovecraft’s writings and puts players in the roles of investigators bent on uncovering, and surviving, the dark lore of the Cthulhu Mythos.
Review by Michael Erb
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Death Walks the Streets Comic Book Review
By Monica Valentinelli | July 3, 2008
In this prequel issue, the story is about the contrast between the harm people cause to other people, and the harm that comes from evil beyond our understanding. Told in a very cinematic style with artwork to match, we first meet Danielle, a strong female character who works with Malcolm and Michael for the Organization.
Sent to “take care of business,” they hunt down a man named Peter Moore. In a typical suspense-filled mob movie, you might expect that Peter had already met an untimely death.
Topics: Comic Book/Graphic Novel Reviews | No Comments »
Daughter of Nexus RPG Review
By Flames | July 1, 2008
Daughter of Nexus is an adventure offering for White Wolf’s fantasy RPG, Exalted. This adventure is published in PDF form and is another prong in White Wolf’s fairly aggressive and welcome acceptance of the PDF medium as a way to do business. This is particularly desirable for Adventures, I think, as the production costs and the sale price can be kept low though, at nearly seven dollars - for which you can get PDFs two and a half times as big and with more content - I still don’t think they’re getting the price point right for their electronic offerings, after all, adventures are pretty much disposable products, with little in the way of replay value and few elements that can be effectively reused.
Review by James ‘Grim’ Desborough
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Wanted Movie Review
By Flames | July 1, 2008
“And what have you done lately?” So ends a fast-paced, winner-take-all honey of a comic book brought to life. Wanted builds from a nicely sardonic character study through a romp of an action film into a colossal final fight built around a twist that suddenly catapults the movie from a fun night out into an edge-of-the-seat thrill ride. It may start out slowly, but this movie ends with a bang so big, it will leave you grinning with malicious glee. All nice words aside, don’t go to this movie looking for high drama and a soaring intellectual quotient—although the movie does, at times, make witty, ironic jokes worthy of a wry smile. But if you enjoy a dark comic book writ large and riddled with as much wordplay as bullets, then this is the movie for you.
Review by Dana Hagengruber
Topics: TV Series and Movie Reviews | No Comments »
Godlike RPG Review
By Flames | June 30, 2008
“Godlike” is a role-playing game about super heroes during World War II. But “Godlike” isn’t your normal super-powered game. The heroes, called Talents, are normal people with extraordinary powers, but who ultimately are still very human.
The Talents in “Godlike” don’t dress in spandex and capes while soaring into war. That’s like wearing a giant target on your back. Instead Talents tend to work in small groups, just like a regular military unit, and conceal their extraordinary abilities when possible. The Talents have great power, but ultimately are tools in the war, and a player character’s ability to affect the course of the war is limited and dependant more upon the success of missions rather than just on personal actions.
Review by Michael Erb
Topics: Roleplaying Game Reviews | 2 Comments »