H.P. Lovecraft is known as the father of modern horror. His short fiction has inspired well-known writers like Stephen King to game designers like Pagan Publishing and Chaosium. In the spirit of Cthulhu and the Necronomicon, we’d like to provide you with a few, haunting places to visit and learn more about the writer who […]

Over the past five years, we at Flames Rising have fed our fires, bringing you news, reviews and interviews for the horror, dark fantasy and dark sci fi genres. We started with gaming and (as our flames got bigger) we quickly expanded into music, TV/film, comics and books. As our content shifted, so did our […]

Novelist Z. A. Recht, the author of Morningstar Strain: Plague of the Dead and Morningstar Strain: Thunder and Ashes, likes playing god in a world of shamblers (slow moving zombies), sprinters (fast-moving ones), and rotting, stinking corpses (unmoving).

“No, really,” said Recht of playing god. “If the Morningstar Strain universe actually existed, I would be the Great Spirit of it, and that’s the beauty of writing. It allows you to create and destroy entire worlds on a whim.”

“This is not just idle banter, either,” he added. “I actually mean create and destroy whole worlds.”

It doesn’t take much to get hooked by one of Recht’s novels, just a few short paragraphs or pages. His zombies, the viral by-product of the dread Morningstar Strain, are hungry for flesh and his humans are survivors with enough character and enough ammunition to live another day. Except, of course, when they get killed, eaten, or infected.

Recht and I spoke in mid-July, while he was hard at work on Survivor, his third Morningstar Strain novel due out from Permuted Press sometime in 2009.

Interview by Jeremy Jones

Super Genius Games (SGG) is proud to announce that Murder of Crows will be available for purchase as a PDF beginning Wednesday, August 13.

“This is the first Call of Cthulhu product published under our license with Chaosium, Inc.,” said Hyrum Savage, President of SGG, “and we couldn’t be happier or more excited. We’ve been working on this and other Call of Cthulhu products for months, and it’s great to see them start to reach the audience at large.”

A Candle in the Darkness The scales have fallen from your eyes. A fire is lit: is it a lamp perched over the inscription upon an ancient blade? Or a roaring conflagration consuming the house in which the howling fiends wait? Things will never be the same after this. You’ve set forth on a damning […]

Writer and editor Jess Hartley had just finished the novel Exalted: In Northern Twilight when she got the call from White Wolf to help write what would become the game supplement Predators.

Hartley will tell you that she got the gaming gig because she knew werewolves from the as of yet-unpublished novel she’d been hired to write. But, certainly, it had as much to do with her clear, straightforward prose, her professionalism, and her eye for evil.

Since White Wolf’s invitation, Hartley’s continued to diversify, writing fiction, developing and editing games, and doing magazine work.

Interview by Jeremy Jones

Solomon Kane: Traveler’s Tales

An adventure book for the Savage World of Solomon Kane RPG. Beware traveler, for many roads lead to Hell! Evil cloaked in many forms holds sway across the world. Facing it is a small group of stout-hearted men and women, wanderers all, called by a powerful shaman to follow the Path of Kane.

Traveler’s Tales comprises three short adventures for the Savage World of Solomon Kane RPG. Each tale of horror is standalone, allowing it be easily inserted into any campaign.

Abandon Interactive Entertainment invites families, gamers and Gen Con Indy attendees to catch a sneak peek of their upcoming family-friendly, cross-platform MMO video game Freaky Creatures at the Indiana Convention Center – from Thursday, August 14th to Sunday, August 17th in Indianapolis, IN. Attendees will have the unique opportunity to play the new online game and battle each other with fully customizable creatures prior to the game’s release this fall. Freaky Creatures representatives will be on-hand to demonstrate the game and guide players through its various features.

It is the year 1867, and it is a time of revolution.

The new science has done more than bring incredible technologies into the homes of everyday people. It has brought with it a new way of looking at the world. A way based on observation and logic that threatens the ancient dogma of Aluminat church teachings.

New political ideas are sweeping across Europe. Bismark ‘The Iron Chancellor’ is uniting the might of Prussia and the social order of Europe is threatened by talk of Communism and Bolshevism. The industrial revolution seems unstoppable. New technology appears at terrifying speed. Machines are being crafted that seem capable of impossible feats. Many worry that mankind is becoming enslaved to the vast industrial machines that belch smoke into the streets of London.

Can You Prevent Another Great Fire?

Something disturbs the slumber of a quiet, rural town. Sixty years ago, this monster scarred the town in a terrible inferno. Now nearly rebuilt, the sightings have returned. The monster, known locally as Moth, was considered nothing more than a boogeyman to scare children. But those older folk who lived through his first visit know better. They know that Moth brings trouble.

To the Flame is available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

The Dictionary of Mu, a pulp setting for The Sorceror RPG, was published in 2006 and became and instant hit among the indie games community for its blending of pulp, horror, low-fantasy and science fiction.

I recently contacted author and game designer Judd Karlman about the Dictionary, and he graciously agreed to answer my questions about this unique and imaginative book.

-Interview by Michael Erb

Screenwriter Rick Loverd weaves a tale of superheroes, Norse mythology and bone-crushing action.

Top Cow Productions Inc. announced at San Diego Comic-Con they will partner with Milo Ventimiglia and Russ Cundiff of DiVide Pictures to publish Berserker, a new comic book series created by Rick Loverd.

“Berserker is about people discovering they have superhuman ancient Norse powers as they’re pulled into an underground war that’s been raging for a thousand years,” explained Loverd. But the writer pointed out there are bigger themes. “It’s about people dealing with all the curves the world throws, accepting yourself,” he said. “It’s about not feeling helpless in the face of new challenges and, when someone builds a wall in front of you, smashing right through it with your bare hands. And, of course, it’s about bone-popping bloodlust, spine-crushing action, and saving the world from total destruction!”

So far our horror design essays have featured creators of horror role-playing games talking about the development of new projects and the systems that went into those projects. We have more horror game design essays on the way over the next few weeks as well as other creators.

Today we are going to feature our first horror novel essay. Author A.W. Gryphon tells us about her novel, Blood Moon, as well as the challenges that went into writing that elusive first page.

Exquisite Replicas is the latest game from Abstract Nova, who specialise in surreal off-the-beaten-track games such as Heaven and Earth 3rd edition, Aletheia, and Noumenon. ER shares this surreal quality, but couples it with horror. This is not the gore-laden horror of zombie films (though there are creatures in the game which you wouldn’t want to come across on a dark night), but the horror of losing your mind, or a distinctly unsettling feeling that you know something’s wrong, but can’t explain (even to yourself) why, and you feel powerless to do something about it.

Yes, at Gen Con Indy 08, we’re back!

The Play Collective returns for its second year, a juggernaut of gaming goodness, enthusiasm and energy! And this time, we’ve brought a friend…

This year the Play Collective and the bold adventure that is the Ashcan Front have joined forces to grow our space together. You’ll be able to browse the fine works on display in our half of the booth, then simply stroll a few feet to finger through the assembled ashcans offered by the Front.

The members of the Play Collective are brought together by our passion for independent publishing, creation and design. We want to share our enthusiasm, inspiration and practical advice. If you have a great idea for a game and wonder how to shepherd it through design, presentation, marketing and sales then you need to be right there at our booth, talking to us.

Last week I posted the first in a series of horror design essays. That essay, Degrees of Horror from Preston Dubose, told us about the work on an upcoming project for the Savage Worlds system.

The essay project continues today with Clash Bowley of Flying Mice LLC telling us about the history of the Blood Games RPG. In this essay Clash tells us how the original Blood Games came about and fills us in on some of the design goals, changes and other work that went into the development of the new Blood Games II that was released last year.

Only the brave men and women of The Century Club stand between villainy and humanity, and they’re not going down without a fight.

‘‘Spirit of the Century: A Pulp Pickup Roleplaying Game’’ by Evil Hat Productions is a fast-paced, character-driven RPG that seeks to capture the feel of the old, over-the-top dime-store novels where the pulp genre first flourished.

Characters can range from machine-gun wielding dilettantes to two-fisted mystery men to brilliant (or mad) scientists or spiritual seekers of truth.

Review by Michael Erb

2008 ENnie Awards

The ENnies voting server is up and running, and the virtual booth will be open from July 28th until Wednesday, August 6th.

White Wolf encourages everyone to take a few moments and participate in the awards process. Voters are tracked by IP address, and limited to one vote per individual, tracked by IP. To cast your vote, please click on the Ennies link below.

Dark Matter Studios, producer of the well-received fantasy rpg Epic Role Playing, has released its latest offering, the Quick Start Guide in PDF format. A sleek and maneuverable 100 pages, the QSG is a perfect intro for players wanting to know more about the ENnie Award nominated ruleset.

This PDF guide is a down-and-dirty primer to the Epic Role Playing game system. Easily accessible in electronic format, the Quick Start Guide is ready to introduce interested players to the game. As much information as possible has been compressed into this introductory guide book: core rules, character creation process, skills and experience, arcane magic, treasure, teasers from the full game system and more.

Ennies voting is live!

In order for indie and small/micro press games to have a chance and a voice at the Ennies, we need every single one of you reading this to get on over there and vote. Please participate! Earlier is better, of course, but you have a week. And please don’t try to vote multiple times. We’d rather have your honest support!

Here’s the “indie-focused” ballot, as posted on the Summer Revolution last week. Show your support! Become a hero of the Revolution!