FlamesRising.com is pleased to present you with an exclusive look into the mind of Alex Bledsoe, an author who has published a series of horror novels with an unusual vampire character. Find out what Alex Bledsoe thinks about vampires, and why they are so meaningful to him as an author.

I’m a long-time fan of the vampire as a literary figure, and believe strongly that to realize its potential, that figure must function as a metaphor for something else. The standard tropes–blood drinking, aversion to sunlight and crosses, unending existence, irresistible sexual attraction–are simply gimmicks without the metaphor’s symbolic context to give them meaning. And what makes the vampire so special is that it can embody so many disparate things while remaining true to its essential nature.

First off, I’m going to tell you, do not read this book without reading the first book in this series – Sucks to Be Me: The All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire (maybe). Since I didn’t read the first book, I had to make some assumptions about what was previously written – hopefully most of my assumptions are correct. Although I tried not to divulge too many key points in the book in my review, there are some spoilers here, so reader beware.

This is a story about a teenage girl named Mina who, having just turned into a vampire, learns that her family has to move away from California. So, the Vampire Council (VC) plans the “death” of her entire family in a tragic accident, reinvents their family history…

Sharpen your fangs and lick your ruby red lips! It’s Vampire Week at FlamesRising.com! From now through Saturday, we’re going to introduce a broad range of vampires to you through reviews, articles, essays, and a fun contest, too!

While FlamesRising.com has always been a big fan of the vampire genre, this week is our chance to honor all the great vampire characters that are out there while exploring some new ones. To help you get started, here’s the Top 10 Most Popular Posts about vampires on FlamesRising.com.

DOJ Inc. is proud to announce that they have closed a deal to acquire a majority share of Indie Press Revolution, the industry’s leading direct-sales network of high-quality small press game publishers, and will be taking over administrative operations of the company beginning July 1st, 2010. The minority shareholders have all approved the sale and will be retaining their ownership shares in the company.

“I’m delighted to be taking over a sales organization with the brand strength and reputation for quality that IPR has built over the last several years,” says Darren Watts, President of DOJ Inc. “IPR has a very strong business model and has done an outstanding job representing its client creator-publishers, and we intend to carry forward with the same philosophy in order to bring great new games to the public from the cutting edge of game design.”

JScarred bounty hunter Jonah Hex is charged with tracking and hunting down his oldest enemy who is preparing to unleash Hell.

Catch Jonah Hex in theaters this weekend starring Josh Brolin and Megan Fox!

Check out the Movie Mayhem Sale at DriveThruComics.com!

Save on titles from Top Cow Productions, Archaia Entertainment, Caliber Comics, Moonstone Books, Dangerkett Creative and more!

Last week Eric posted his recent Interview with Joe R. Lansdale here at Flames Rising. One of the titles discussed in that interview was The Complete Drive-In published by Underland Press.

Flames Rising is pleased to present the introduction to this new collection. The Complete Drive-In is available now at Amazon.com.

In Random, Illinois, not much has changed in the last century. Things there move more slowly than they do in the city. At times, history seems to be moving in reverse. That’s how it seems; some folks would say that’s how it is.

For Jason, Frank, Ronnie and Lizzy, there are bits and pieces of the past that won’t go away. Not in the daylight world, and not in their dreams. They shared a secret, a bond of silence and guilt. They shared the memory of an old woman’s dry, crackling voice, the heat and sizzling terror of flames beyond their control, and the mesmerizing image of a handful of bones.

Roll Them Bones is now available in audio format at DriveThruFantasy.com.

Inside the June Alley Inn, located in the western mouse city of Barkstone, mice gather to tell tales, each trying to outdo the other. A competition, of sorts, begins. The game: Tell the best story, get your bar tab cleared! The rules: Every story must contain one truth, one lie and have never been told in that tavern before.

Legends of the Guard is a new Mouse Guard anthology series featuring the work of artists and storytellers handpicked by series creator David Petersen. Featured in this issue are stories by Jeremy Bastian (Cursed Pirate Girl), Alex Sheikman (Robotika) and Ted Naifeh (Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things).

Flames Rising is pleased to present several preview pages from this new comic published by Archaia Entertainment.

Flames Rising recently had the chance to talk to Editor & Developer Cam Banks from Margaret Weis Productions about the Supernatural RPG, as well as upcoming games like Leverage and Smallville. Cam told us about some of the recent products like Supernatural’s Guide to the Hunted and we talked a little about some of the more interested elements of working on licensed properties as RPGs.

INSYLUM, a role-playing-game by Dennis Detwiller, has players locked away in an asylum as Patients, with the gamesmaster playing the asylum Facilitator hoping to cure them. The Patients are all linked in a strange and vague way, all recollecting fragments of their past. At night they are able to escape their cells, venturing out into a surreal dreamscape beyond the walls of the asylum, known as The Night World.

I’d suggest the game is for experienced gamesmasters with some knowledge of the background material (see below). The Patients all begin the game with amnesia. They all have the same stats (and only three of those). The core premise is that that they have no memory of why they’ve been locked away, and their key motivation being to discover the truth that sent them there, by regaining first Lucidity and then Memory. Only by regaining Memory can the Patient hope to be cured.

Midnight Syndicate Films has announced plans to release a special edition of The Dead Matter DVD that will include two bonus CDs by gothic Halloween music artists Midnight Syndicate. It will be available at all Hot Topic stores nationwide on July 30th. The specially-priced set will include The Dead Matter DVD, the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD by Midnight Syndicate, and a new Midnight Syndicate 13th Anniversary greatest hits CD entitled Halloween Music Collection. Midnight Syndicate Films has also released a new official trailer for The Dead Matter movie which can be viewed at the film’s revamped website, TheDeadMatter.com and YouTube.

A romantic tale of vampires and magic from award-winning author L.D. Harkrader

Flanders Lane is tired of being protected by her Uncle Anatole. After years of studying magic in the back of his bookshop, she’s ready for an adventure of her own. Then one day, strange things start happening. A burglar breaks into the butcher’s shop, stealing nothing, but leaving the floors sparkling clean. Soon the seamstress’s apprentice vanishes on her way home, leaving behind only a shoe still laced at the top. And then worst of all, Uncle Anatole disappears. That night, a young vampire hunter named Pascoe knocks urgently on the bookshop door. Pascoe insists there is a vampire lurking in nearby Blakely Hall. Flanders looks deep into Pascoe’s gorgeous eyes and finds herself agreeing to help him. As Flanders tracks the vampire, her feelings for Pascoe grow until she stumbles upon a secret that turns everything she thought she knew about Pascoe–and herself–upside down.

Flames Rising is pleased to present a preview of this new novel from Mirrorstone, which is available for pre-order at Amazon.com.

CCP, one of the world’s leading independent game developers, today launched EVE Online: Tyrannis, the 13th free expansion for PC Gamer’s 2010 MMO of the year, EVE Online. Tyrannis will usher in new levels of player control as the pilots of EVE have turned their attention to the celestial bodies around them, casting surface inhabitants into the shadows of their powerful ships and exploiting the planets for the materials and profits they need to fuel countless ambitions. EVE Gate, the new web frontend and social networking platform for EVE Online, is a leap forward in extending the universe outside of the client, allowing access to in-game mail and features and bringing the community closer than ever before.

It’s 1954, and you’re a sailor or scientist aboard the USS Bairoko, an “escort carrier” detailed to support secret nuclear bomb tests in the Marshall Islands. The bomb goes off in the Bikini atoll, the ship gets a light dusting of radioactive fallout, and now the crew is acting crazy, distress calls are coming in from monitoring stations around the blast site, and strange blips are showing up on the radar screens. What do you do?

Castle Bravo is available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

The Return of Randy Queen’s Darkchylde!

A new armor for Jackie Estacado, the bearer of The Darkness, and a new beginning for Ariel Chylde, the girl who can become creatures from her nightmares! Jackie intercepts a physic plea for help, and frees Ariel from a self imposed, seven-year exile. But what happens when these fan favorite monster makers encounter a new threat that can create anything? Guest starring Witchblade!

Also includes a bonus 8 page never-before-seen preview of Starfall, the highly anticipated sci-fi horror title from Randy and Sarah Queen!

Happy 9th Birthday, Malhavoc Press!

Time to celebrate Malhavoc’s birthday and save!

It’s been NINE years since Malhavoc Press released The Book of Eldritch Might as a PDF. To celebrate, we’re discounting all of our eBooks 30% off or more for one week only, May 21 to 28, 2010. This is a great time to check out a book you passed on earlier or grab up the ones you’ve been meaning to get anyway – including big ticket titles like Ptolus or Arcana Evolved!

Time to stock up on those PDFs – for this week only you can buy many of our titles for less than five bucks each! Stop by and check them out on DriveThruRPG.com and RPGNow.com.

BOOM! Studios announced a brand new ongoing horror series, THE CALLING: CTHULHU CHRONICLES, debuting this July from writers Michael Alan Nelson (FALL OF CTHULHU, 28 DAYS LATER) and Johanna Stokes (DEATH VALLEY, SAVAGE BROTHERS.) An all-new ongoing Lovecraft-inspired supernatural horror series with a decidedly modern spin, THE CALLING: CTHULHU CHRONICLES marks the return to the Cthulhu mythos that BOOM! built its reputation on with bestselling titles like FALL OF CTHULHU and CTHULHU TALES.

“If you are a fan of Lovecraft, if you worship Cthulhu, if you love horror, don’t miss this book,” said BOOM! Studios Marketing Director Chip Mosher. “This is BOOM! at its best, returning to our horror roots with a great new title that is guaranteed to creep you out… and drive you mad!”

Living With The Vigil

For many hunters carrying the Vigil, the hunt is only one part of their lives. Many belong to hunter organizations-the more localized compacts, or the globe-spanning conspiracies.

Joining such a group comes with varying advantages-safety in numbers, a paycheck, access to unique weapons and critical information, and camaraderie. But it also comes replete with new problems: competition, cover-ups, and a rigorous set of rules to which one must adhere or face the always-unpleasant consequences.

Compacts and Conspiracies is available now at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

Jeffrey Wilson’s first novel, The Traiteur’s Ring, is a supernatural thriller that takes Navy Seal Ben Morvant from his home in the Louisiana Bayous to the Jungles of Africa and beyond. Along the way, Ben discovers he’s inherited his Grandmother’s ability to heal – a spiritual power with which he will struggle, both in coming to grips with it and in learning how to control it.

Flames Rising is pleased to present a portion of this new novel by Jeffrey Wilson…

Flames Rising is pleased to present you with this exclusive preview from the new The Dresden Files RPG from hobby game publisher Evil Hat Productions.

This new hobby game is based on The Dresden Files series of books by best-selling author Jim Butcher; the game’s setting and characters cover the first twelve books in the series along with some additionally published material. The Dresden Files RPG employs the Fate game mechanic, which was also used in The Spirit of the Century RPG and is offered in two volumes. Volume One, which is entitled Your Story, was designed around building the character that you want to play. Volume Two, which was dubbed Our World, offers you an extensive look into the creatures and characters within this setting.

***Spoiler Alert*** In this preview, the publisher offers us an inside look at Jenny Greenteeth. This character was in a short story entitled Something Borrowed, which was released in a short story anthology entitled My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding.***End Spoiler Alert***

For more information on how to order the e-book or the print edition of The Dresden Files RPG: Your Story and Our World, be sure to scroll down to the end of this post.