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.
Flash Fire Mini-Reviews (Scary Short Stories)
By Matt-M-McElroy | March 14, 2008
Last week we talked about the most well-known vampire in the world, Dracula. The Dark Prince will probably return for another round of Mini-Reviews at a later date, since we only had the chance to check out a few of the products featuring Dracula and there are certainly many more available.
This week we are going to take a look at some great collections of scary stories. There are fiction anthologies on every subject imaginable. Fans of Horror & Dark Fantasy have many authors and publishers to choose from. Some of the authors featured in this week’s mini-reviews include Jim Butcher, Laurell K. Hamilton, Kelley Armstrong, David Wellington, C.J. Henderson, Tanith Lee and Patricia A. McKillip…just to name a few.
Here are a few anthologies that I’ve had the chance to check out recently…
Topics: Flash Fire Mini-Reviews | 1 Comment »
Reviews Wanted!
By Matt-M-McElroy | February 26, 2008
The new Review Guidelines have been posted on the Flames Rising website. We are currently seeking a few good reviewers to help us expand our collection of horror and dark fantasy reviews. RPGs, fiction, movies, video games and more are all welcome on the site…
What do you get out of it?
Beyond helping out fellow Flames Rising readers by letting them know what you think of these products, we’re giving away some pretty cool stuff. Regular Reviewers can earn free products to review, which is their to keep after the review is submitted to the site.
Be sure to check out John Walsh’s “How to Write Reviews of Role Playing Games Books” and Monica Valentinelli’s “On Reviewing Fiction” Essays for some helpful advice on writing Reviews for the Flames Rising website.
Use the Contact Page to submit reviews or let us know if you have any questions.
Topics: Flames Rising | No Comments »
Flash Fire Mini-Reviews! (Second Attempt)
By Matt-M-McElroy | February 1, 2008
Welcome to the second installment of the Flash Fire Mini-Reviews series on Flames Rising!
This week we’re talking about ghosts, werewolves, alien slugs and fantasy kingdoms in a mix of books, games and even a movie. Some of these are brand-new releases and others are items that caught my eye for one reason or another this week.
Topics: Flash Fire Mini-Reviews | No Comments »
Flash Fire Mini-Reviews!
By Matt-M-McElroy | January 25, 2008
Welcome to the first installment of the Flash Fire series of mini-reviews on the new Flames Rising website!
Every Friday (hopefully) we’re going to post a series of short reviews of new-to-me Horror & Dark Fantasy products. These will usually be one or two paragraph highlights of whatever caught our eye that particular week. Basically…stuff we think is cool and want to share. We will try to keep it a mix of stuff, but you never really know just what we will be up to in a given week.
This week we’ve got some Changeling, a few zombies, a conspiracy, Cthulhu and something unnatural…
Topics: Flash Fire Mini-Reviews | No Comments »
Cloverfield…monsters and movies.
By Matt-M-McElroy | January 24, 2008
Derek C. F. Pegritz really enjoyed the new Cloverfield movie from J. J. Abrams. The movie has done really well in theaters and is getting some pretty good feedback on various forums. Instead of writing up a review, Derek gives us:
Modern Monsters and Modern Humanity
This is a great look at monster movies over the years and Derek tells us his thoughts on why Cloverfield is so much fun. Whether you enjoyed the movie or not, Derek’s essay is worth reading.
Topics: Resources | No Comments »
New Reviews at Flames Rising!
By Matt-M-McElroy | January 21, 2008
We are still working on a few of the details behind-the scenes on the new site. However, here are a bunch of new Reviews to dig into!
Neil Gaiman’s “Two Plays for Voices” Audiobook
Doctor Strange Animated Movie
Changeling: the Lost RPG
In the Serpent’s Coils Novel
30 Days of Night Movie
Kitty and the Midnight Hour Novel
Dresden Files Season One
Serenity Novel
Ironside Novel
AEternal Legends RPG
There are several more Reviews on the way, including Dread: the First book of Pandemonium, Blood of Angels, Vampire Academy, Small Favor and more! If you are interested in submitting Horror and Dark Fantasy Reviews, e-mail flamesrising01@yahoo.com
Topics: Flames Rising | No Comments »
Welcome to the New Flames Rising!
By Matt-M-McElroy | January 17, 2008
Welcome to the redesign of Flames Rising! The last, few months has been an exciting time for us and we hope you’ll stick around.
Over the next, few days we will be working behind-the-scenes to ensure all technical issues are resolved from transferring to this new site. So please, pardon our soot.
We’re happy to announce that all interviews, reviews and fiction were successfully transferred from the old site and we’ve added a ton of new reviews for your reading pleasure. We invite you to sign up for our RSS feed, for those of you enjoy your Flames in your Inbox.
Stay tuned for more fiery updates as we push to bring you the content you want to read.
E-Mail flamesrising01@yahoo.com with questions/feedback or leave a comment.
Topics: Flames Rising | 2 Comments »
Neil Gaiman’s “Two Plays for Voices” Audiobook Review
By Monica Valentinelli | January 2, 2008
If you’re in your car on the way to work, you might do as I do and invest in audiobooks. This particular audiobook was a rare find; I managed to get my hands on a copy of two plays for voices without ever knowing it existed. In fact, when I picked this up I had no idea what it was about, I just bought it on blind faith, hoping that Gaiman’s work would not disappoint me. I was pleasantly surprised.
Topics: Fiction Reviews | No Comments »
Changeling: the Lost Review
By Matt-M-McElroy | December 28, 2007
Changeling: the Lost is a very different game than Changeling: the Dreaming. Some of the terminology may be similar but each book explores fairy tales in a different way and offer up very different types of games. Some fans will want to compare the two games, others will look at Lost as something new and original. I’m a fan of both games. Changeling: the Lost is an amazing book, full of great writing and tons of story elements.
Topics: Reviews, Roleplaying Game Reviews | 1 Comment »
In the Serpents Coils Review
By Flames | December 10, 2007
The first in a series of ten novels for Mirrorstone, the young adult imprint of Wizards of the Coast, In the Serpent’s Coils launches readers straight into the larger story. Corrine’s father disappeared during the Civil War, and her mother died while she had the swamp fever. She finds herself alone in the world except for an uncle who would rather not be responsible for her wellfare. Until, that is, she discovers people living in the hawthorn tree who promise to cure her in exchange for a small stone.
Topics: Fiction Reviews | No Comments »
Devils Rejects Movie Review
By Flames | October 9, 2007
The Devil’s Rejects is Rob Zombie’s follow up to his House of 1,000 Corpses though most of it is so different to House of 1,000 Corpses, despite being a sequel, that you wonder if it really is a sequel in spirit. The Devil’s Rejects feels more like a remake than a sequel per se, a sequel made by someone who has come off the fun psychedelics and sobered up.
Topics: Reviews, TV Series and Movie Reviews | No Comments »
Scar Night Review
By Flames | September 29, 2007
Scar Night is the debut novel from Alan Campbell who, previously, has worked as a designer and coder on the Grand Theft Auto games. It forms, apparently, the first novel in a series to come called The Deepgate Codex. A good, even great first effort Scar Night would seem to (hopefully) establish Campbell as another of the active British fantasists and SF authors that seem to be keeping the innovative side of those genres bubbling along a bit
Topics: Fiction Reviews | No Comments »
In the Darkness Review
By Flames | September 27, 2007
Basically, what the game world is, is part of a lower, demonic plane of existence, beneath the other spiritual and other worlds, a place of demons and death and devilry and Tim Burtonesque twisted landscapes where the various demonic races and beasts vie with each other for power and control. A theme which has been explored more than just a little in many other products for many other game lines.
Topics: Roleplaying Game Reviews | No Comments »
Departure Review
By Flames | September 15, 2007
Departure is the second book in the Redemption Trilogy set in the world of the Chronicles of Ramlar Role Playing Game, which is also known as Eranon. This book picks up where Into the Reach left off, continuing the adventures of Kennerly, Lydia, Nara and Taru as they build new lives for themselves away from their homes and events in their individual pasts that brought them to the Reach.
Topics: Fiction Reviews | No Comments »
Monster Island Review
By Flames | September 13, 2007
Monster Island opens sometime after the rise of zombies across the world. Most of the civilized nations have already been overrun and there are only a few survivors left. Not surprisingly, larger population centers are early victims of the zombie menace and, as a result, the more developed countries fall more quickly. For example, the sheer population size of a city like New York makes the epidemic difficult to contain. Too many people, coupled with poor “epidemic” containment, prove to be the city’s downfall in Monster Island.
Topics: Fiction Reviews | No Comments »
Cthulhu Live 3rd Edition Review
By Flames | September 8, 2007
Having been a fan of the Cthulhu Mythos and Live Action games for years, I was thrilled when I came across a book that merged the two. I first discovered Cthulhu Live years ago in its 2nd Edition format and had a blast running the game, creating characters and designing plot hooks for players. I had a lot of fun with the game and was really excited when I heard there was a 3rd Edition in the works.
Topics: Roleplaying Game Reviews | No Comments »
Hell to Pay Review
By Flames | June 4, 2007
The Nightside novels are Simon Green’s homage to the classic “hardboiled” detective fiction of the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. The strengths of these novels are the endlessly-varied settings and characters. In Hell to Pay, Simon’s signature Nightside hero, John Taylor, tackles a missing-persons case. Taylor finds himself at odds with militant nuns; cross-dressers with a strong sense of solidarity; and the usual array of angels, devils, and demigods.
Topics: Fiction Reviews | No Comments »
Seraphs Review
By Flames | May 7, 2007
Within the realm of post-apocalyptic novels and settings, there are books that inject religion into fire and brimstone and then there are those that fast-forward into a totalitarian, bleak, hungry future where hope is a luxury. In the realm of Seraphs, the main character, Thorn St. Croix, lives in a world that is somewhere in between. Angels, demons, neo-mages (advanced humans that lack souls), and biology are all at play in an ice age following a biblically-inspired apocalypse.
Topics: Fiction Reviews | No Comments »
Season of the Witch Review
By Flames | May 7, 2007
Billed as an erotic thriller, Season of the Witch is a mentally-seductive tale of tragedy that delves deep into the occult. Before I go any further, I’d like to say that there are a lot of books within the spectrum of supernatural romance that are not soft-core. This is one of those books; personally didn’t think that it was “erotic” in the physical sense; hidden far deep beneath the layers of the plot is a subtle message that will make you stop and think, as if the alchemy in this tale has worked its magic on you.
Topics: Fiction Reviews | No Comments »