Author | Flames

Flames Rising is an online resource for fans of Horror and Dark Fantasy entertainment. This horror fanzine offers reviews of Games, Fiction, Movies and more ranging from Top-Selling authors to the coolest Small Press and “indie” publishers. The popular Interviews at Flames Rising include Horror authors, artists and other creators of dark entertainment. Stay tuned to the Flames Rising news feed for the latest news on upcoming products, genre conventions and industry developments.

Flames Rising continues to add new Features and expand the Fiction and Articles sections of the site with topics of interest to Horror and Dark Fantasy fans the world over.


Interview with artist and author Keith Senkowski

Posted on February 4, 2005 by

How did you get into gaming? Well my first experience was with a choose your own adventure type book which had a character sheet and everything. All I remember about it was that it had a crazy looking snake-man on the cover with a scimitar and a black cover. Then in high school I met […]

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Interview with artist Shane Coppage

Posted on January 18, 2005 by

How did you get into gaming? Well, when I graduated from college in late 2000 I wanted to do concept art for the movie industry, but I quickly came to realize that my abilities were far too underdeveloped for that to occur; so I began searching the internet for companies that hired freelance artists hoping […]

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Exalted RPG Review

Posted on January 12, 2005 by

The cover is beautiful, the main figure is of a night caste called Harmonious Jade, in the background you might be able to see the faces or other exalted, each one of them as a life and a personality of it’s own.

White wolf’s favorite theme is transformation, and here is not the exception, but the world of exalted is much more than that.

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Interview with CJ Carella

Posted on January 10, 2005 by

How did you get into gaming? I started roleplaying in college, mainly GURPS. I had been trying my hand at writing fiction for a while, and amassed a nice collection of rejection letters; my girlfriend suggested I tried submitting a gaming article, and next thing I knew I was writing GURPS Martial Arts for Steve […]

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The Shark | Lacuna Part I Fiction

Posted on January 6, 2005 by

I woke up before sunrise this morning and could not get back to sleep, no matter how much I tossed and turned. The sky was changing from black to grey when I left the house. It was so early that almost nothing was open save for the newspaper kiosk by Cafe Station (I am sure you are laughing hard right now at the image of me waking before dawn!). Because the weather was pleasant for this time of year and because I felt like doing so I was dressed in a light coat and simple leather shoes. This is not important to the story but I feel compelled to discuss these kinds of details.

Written by Jared Sorensen

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Interview with Stuart Renton

Posted on January 6, 2005 by

JW: Will you please summarise the Darkness Rising setting? What makes it particularly interesting and exciting? SR: The Darkness Rising setting is an old story: evil fighting evil with the PCs caught in between. It’s interesting because it focuses exclusively on a number of warring factions: the minions of the Void, the forces of Creation, […]

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Interview with Derek Stoelting

Posted on January 2, 2005 by

Derek tells us about his work on All Flesh Must Be Eaten, Eden Studios Presents gives us a break-down on good vs. bad conventions.

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Rapture: The Second Coming Review

Posted on December 29, 2004 by

In recent years a host of post-apocalyptic games have flung themselves at the mercy of the gaming market. Rapture: The Second Coming is a setting created by William Spencer-Hale. Its post-apocalyptic echoes have strong religious overtones. While some games with a religious feel have lent themselves to popular Christian theology, Rapture flies in the face of such traditions through its conspiracy and depiction of the Vatican as the basis for all evil. The writers of Rapture are aware of its controversy, “Rapture does not attempt to embrace a religious ideal or promote one form of theology over another. On the contrary, in the context of the game, all religions have their truth, no matter what their view of God may be.” (Page 24) The game is no less controversial for having the explanation, however. Its character classes span the realm of modern-day religion and stereotypes.

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Posioncraft: The Dark Art

Posted on December 22, 2004 by

Normally I’m not one who likes many D20 products on the market, as I am not a regular user of that system. Also due to the fact that many of the products out there are not of the highest quality that they should be, more of an attempt to make a few dollars off of the D20 logo with a halfway thought out ideas done with shoddy writing.

However this particular book does not fall among the ranks of those.

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Vampire: the Requiem Review

Posted on December 18, 2004 by

Without even reading a word of text, this book is gorgeous. Crimson red cover, portraying a hand dipping into blood, with red rose petals drifting atop; it’s easily one of White Wolf’s best. Internally, the art is the usual Gothic fair. Some of the art is more mature in nature, which is becoming a trend, even in mainstream Wizards of the Coast books.

The book is mostly black and white, with a touch of red here and there, which technically makes this a full-color book. That being the case, $34.95 for 302 color pages is not a bad deal. The presentation for this book is great, and I could recommend it on a completely separate aesthetic level.

Review by David Akers

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Interview with Richard Lee Byers

Posted on December 17, 2004 by

In this interview we discuss Wraith: the Oblivion and Forgotten Realms fiction. Richard also hands out a little advice for up-and-coming authors and tells us about some of his other work.

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28 Days Later Movie Review

Posted on December 15, 2004 by

Public synopsis: A powerful virus escapes from a British research facility. Transmitted in a drop of blood and devastating within seconds, the virus locks those infected into a permanent state of murderous rage. Within 28 days the country is overwhelmed and a handful of survivors begin their attempts to salvage a future, little realizing that the deadly virus is not the only thing that threatens them.

Well that’s just the blurb that is given to the general audience via the back of the video box. But this movie amounts to so much more than most people could have anticipated. A very finely crafted movie with a cast that delivers some top-notch performances and a story that’s sure to keep you in your seat. I’ll try not to give away too much in the way of spoilers but I’m sure a few will leak their way in.

Review by Peter Amthor

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Interview with Ken Meyer Jr.

Posted on December 13, 2004 by

In this interview we talk to artist Ken Meyer Jr. about his work on a vareity or projects throughout the gaming industry. He also tells us a bit about working with comic books and calendars.

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Initiates of The Art Review

Posted on December 12, 2004 by

If you are looking for tens of new rotes and tons of cool rules for initiates you are looking for the wrong place. Initiates of the art consist of stories and dialogs as if It has been written by a group of mage. You can also trace two characters from Initiates of The Art to Masters of The Art, Lee Ann and the kid called Kyle. Other character of notice is Sir Lawrence.

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Kult: Beyond the Veil 3rd Edition Review

Posted on December 12, 2004 by

Beyond the Veil is the second English book released from Seventh Circle for the Kult RPG line. The first was a players guide called Rumours that came out over a year ago. Originally this book was to be the GMs guide but with the delay of its release it appears that they have instead turned it into a core rulebook for the game. Which is fine by me.

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Interview with Andrew Bates

Posted on December 10, 2004 by

Andrew describes his job as Managing Editor of Sword & Sorcery Studios in this interview. We also talk about his work on several World of Darkness RPGs, Ravenloft and writing the Year of the Scarab trilogy.

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How to Write Reviews of Role Playing Game Books

Posted on December 7, 2004 by

The purpose of a review is to provide readers with enough information to decide whether they would like to spend their time or money on reading the book, watching the film or, in our case, playing the game. Whether or not the reviewer enjoys or is enthused by the game is of less importance. The reader must come first.

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Interview with Melissa Uran

Posted on December 6, 2004 by

How did you get into gaming? Waaay back when they still did Ian Livingston’s Fighting Fantasy books and the start of the Lone Wolf series — I considered those gaming, since they used dice and a character sheet. I never got into D&D, had a brief run-in with Palladium Fantasy RP, and Warhammer, then I […]

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Interview with Veronica V. Jones

Posted on December 6, 2004 by

How did you get into gaming? Way back when, my dad got me interested in comic books. This was back in grade school. He’d pick them up for me or let me read the ones he got for himself and then I’d pore over them. Eventually I graduated to fantasy and science fiction novels.I made […]

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Interview with Scott Mitchell

Posted on December 5, 2004 by

How did you get into gaming? I began my roleplaying game journey in 1979 when a friend from high school introduced me to a game called Dungeons & Dragons. The game allowed me to use my vivid imagination to create characters and explore worlds where I could carry out deeds similar to heroes from comic […]

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11 Tales of Ghostly Horror

    Reviews Wanted!

    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...

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    The Devil’s Night WoD SAS

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