“A Delightful Southern vampire detective series” is how this book was described. Outward appearances give it a sort of adult Harry Potter look to it, making it a very outwardly appearing book. This story is only part for the main character in a series, though you don’t need to read those in order to follow this book, everything is explained.

For what it’s worth, it was definitely a good read.

The fictional universe represented by Warhammer 40,000 is intricate and full of no small amount of intrigue. There are hundreds of factions at work and in motion, set against one another. Plans within plans, mechanizations and motivations that prop up the grim darkness of the war without end in the 41st Century of the Imperium of Mankind. Within the pages of the Horus Heresy, a trilogy-in-progress, what can be described as the single most important chain of events in the history of humanity are brought to light and out into the open in colored detail rather than objective narration from the Imperial point of view; the civil war that befell the Imperium after the spiritual corruption of the Warmaster Horus, mightiest of the Primarchs.

“Monsters are Real!” claims the ad copy of this collection of horror stories from Crypto-American Press. Mad Marv tells us about zombies and other monsters created by science and technology throughout the book. Five short stories and a mix of “Recipes” featuring how-to guides for creating golems and other creatures from myth and legend (each with a short story of its own) make up this book.

The fourth in a series, Prince of Lies flirts with horror, magic and mystery. Cyric, lord over the realm of the dead and god of murder, desperately seeks the soul of Kelemvor Lyonsbane who was once lover and companion to Mystra, the goddess of magic. In his zeal for vengeance, Cyric traps several humans into his mad design as easily as if they were pawns on a chessboard. Not only does Cyric search for Lyonsbane’s soul, he also entraps a human female, Rinda, to write his notorious book in an effort to bend the entire world to his will, erasing the gods in all their might.

Available at Amazon.com Written By Joseph Nassise An action filled mystery into the depths of the modern Knights Templar (hidden from the world that thinks they were wiped out long ago); Heretic focuses on Cade Williams and his team. Cade is known as the Heretic because of his strange abilities and personal quest against the […]

The intro track had set a wonderful feeling for the soundtrack, giving a nice intro and everything. As the CD got going though, I found my self increasingly tuning it out. Not because the music was boring, but because besides the first intro track, every track is well over 5 minutes a piece, most being 7-9 minutes in length. Now, this isn’t some mainstream CD, so track lengths aren’t really applicable here. But over 7 minutes of non-developed musical ideas makes for a very boring CD to listen to.

For those who weren’t aware, Masters of Horror is a show that debuted on Showtime in October of 2005. The premise of the show was to round up some of the best horror directors in the genre, and get each of them to make a one-hour movie. The directors were pretty much given free reign to tell whatever story they wanted, however they wanted (blood, guts and all). The only real limitation that was put upon the directors was they had to complete their movie in ten days.

When USA Network’s limited series The 4400 premiered in the summer of 2004, the opening teaser said a lot. A little girl abducted; a soldier in Korea disappears; 4,400 abductees get dropped off by a comety ball of light. The Seattle branch of Homeland Security had its hands full, and over 7 million fans tuned in-setting records as the highest-rated and most-watched original cable series premiere to date.

Need some old-fashioned special effects in your sc-fi? Forget that opus opening to Independence Day, today’s genre filmmakers grew up V. The groundbreaking four hour 1983 miniseries may look hokey today, but the story, characters, and drama are top-notch. The all-star cast helps, too.

Weighing in at a hefty ninety-five pages (excluding an appendix of various maps and player handouts) and retailing for a reasonable $18.99 (US), What Lurks Beyond is a fantasy horror adventure module published by Cutter’s Guild Games (best known for their Deathstalkers RPG). So, what are you getting for that investment? First the good news….

Billed as an adventure module, the product reminds more of a mini campaign, due largely to its scope and length – it is heavy on the meat. The basic plot of What Lurks Beyond is both well thought out and engaging, if somewhat hampered by the product’s presentation. And that’s it for the good news. Now for the bad news….

Even though I’ve seen the Firefly series, I don’t think you need to have a background in this part of the ‘verse because of the way the film was constructed. This is a well done balls-on space western that has a tight storyline that keeps you entertained. For the people not familiar with the ‘verse, the film has a great visual introduction into this stark future. Overpopulation used up the earth, so humans sought life elsewhere. Through the miracle of terraforming, we humans pioneered the great unknown into something manageable and majestic. Just like a true Western, there are places that are “civilized” beyond belief, and there are those that are the last of the space cowboys—won’t adhere to Alliance rule, so they’re outlaws.

Written by Jason Vey, with additional material by Ross A. Isaacs, Dungeons and Zombies introduces high fantasy to the already impressive line-up of AFMBE (All Flesh Must Be Eaten) supplements. This book offers up plenty of new material for survival horror fans.

The book starts off with a short story and introduction. This sets the mood for the book and offers up some useful information on the how and why of the text. Moving right into character creation, D&Z offers a lot of new material for AFMBE fans. New Character Types, new Qualities & Drawbacks, new (and modified) Skills and more…

Available at Amazon.com As the Mask of Humanity slips, the kindred of Chicago now have to deal with the inevitable Indulgence that is rumored to happen. Not only has that come up, but the infamous Solomon Birch, Bishop of the Lancea Sanctum, faced a possible coup from inside his own church because of his forced […]

I’ve been picking up various motion picture scores (not soundtracks) and King Diamond albums (no kidding) for years to use as background music in my campaigns, but I’ve never been very impressed with any self-produced albums meant specifically to serve as roleplaying campaign scores. For the most part, I’ve found such efforts to be of an amateurish quality at best, often sounding more like a funhouse sound reel than a musical composition. Nox Arcana changed this by delivering a polished, professional and purely enjoyable product in Darklore Manor.

Most of us who love the horror genre have at least heard of H.P. Lovecraft. His influence spreads out like the tentacles of the beings that populate his stories–into movies, comics and role-playing games, as well as the works of today’s great horror writers.

Once again a horror movie was on tap for the evening. When in doubt, should you always go to the movies and see a horror film? Based on the title alone, We picked An American Haunting.

The introduction explained the film was based on actual events in Tennessee around 1820, but the action opens in 2006. The modern frame is a weak connection geared at today’s teens. I was not surprised to find out the movie is PG-13. Unfortunately, I don’t think you can make a quality horror movie today without an R rating.

Desecrated Ashes was the full release of the EP Consecrated Ashes. The release year was 2003, and the band has continued to do well. URN is based out of Chicago, but has toured in many cities. They have even had airplay of their music in Canada and Mexico, not to mention the United States.

On first listen, Desecrated Ashes was a little hard to get into. Honestly, I felt very indifferent about the album. After more listening, I really started to warm up to the music.

Welcome To Silent Hill.

Director Christophe Gans (Brotherhood of the Wolf) has once again tackled a visually rich project and taken a challenge. Anytime a film is derived from a video game, skeptical thoughts cross my mind. Gans delivers with a mind-blowing product, but contacts a few aspects, which caused me to ask questions.

Review by Jeff Jacobs

Available at RPGNow.com Blood In, Blood Out is the second part in the trilogy for Vampire the Requiem. It takes you out of Elysium and into the streets of Chicago, where it is even colder. A different type of law exists out there, one where civility isn’t found. It still incorporates the same characters, but […]

Epic Role Playing is a fantasy role playing game system published by Dark Matter Studios and presented in three separate volumes (the Rules Manual, Bestiary, and Book of the Arcane, respectively). Additionally, a setting designed for use with the Epic system is also available in the form of the supplementary Atlas of Eslin (Volume 1). This review deals specifically with the Epic Role Playing Besitary, while other reviews discuss other Epic core books, as well as the Atlas of Eslin setting supplement.