Want to read a horror review before you buy? Read over 225 full-length reviews of books, games, DVDs, music and more from Flames Rising horror and dark fantasy!
Posted on by Flames
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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Posted on by Flames
The Haunting House: a Twisted Strategy Board Game for 2 to 6 players is just one of several products offered from Twilight Creations, Inc. The object of this game, to get to the exit, sounds easy enough. Trap doors and sneaky opponents stand in your way from winning the game.
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Posted on by Monica Valentinelli
The .pdf is written extremely well, Tresca’s experiences within the gaming industry definitely shine through in his writing. The language has a conversational tone, and is written in the second person. While the intended audience is “zombie hunter,” the .pdf’s focus shifts back and forth from player to GM back to player again. Writing for a dual audience is no doubt challenging, however some information would have been easier to read only if it was organized differently.
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Posted on by Flames
On the surface it’s pretty interesting. Thirteen novels, each exploring one of the clans in detail. A few plotlines streaming from book to book, some great characters – hell this could have been something really special. Heck, the Dark Ages clan novel series is everything this series should have been. Each novel features an in-depth exploration into a different clan, along with well-written characters. And while there are plots that go from book to book and connect the series, each book stands on its own.
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Posted on by Monica Valentinelli
What is “LARP?” How do I design a “LARP?” As a GM, how is this different from tabletop gaming? The book of LARP, written by a team of writers, sets out to answer those and several other questions. Written for the novice or beginner LARPer, the book sets out to direct interested players on all aspects of a LARP game.
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Give me the brain, my pants are on fire! Your pants burning up is just one of the many reasons why you, a fast-food zombie worker, need a brain. Sadly enough, there is only one brain for you and your three to eight friends to share. The “brain”, represented by a six-sided die, can get tossed around faster than yesterday’s side salad.
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Posted on by Flames
The plot of this game revolves around a pretty little English schoolgirl named Alyssa. During a stay at boarding school she receives an unsettling message from her mother, which prompts her to run home only to discover a creepy old man and a challenging destiny. Alyssa soon finds herself traveling through different decades in time to solve various mysteries, confront deranged serial killers, and eventually discover the truth behind her family’s unique history.
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Posted on by Flames
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Available at Noble Knight Games
The Orion Corporation had only good intentions. However, when it sent the relays into the wastelands to explore and record the hostile territories, unspeakable horrors were uncovered and legendary secrets revealed…
Legends: the Orion Project is a supplement fiction to Obsidian: Age of Judgment. It introduces several new characters, as well as showing ways to have characters be multiple Ethos. Further then character information, they also have several new Daemon types, abilities, and convocations, new Mystic Rituals, and Kultist Convokations and weapons. The story itself is the first of a promised series of supplements about the Orion Corporation and of Callarius Montague, a Spiritual Essence Kultist.
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Available at Lulu.com Conspiracy of Shadows Written by Keith Senkowski How far are you willing to go to learn the truth? Combining elements of horror and fantasy, Conspiracy of Shadows is a game with a lot of possibility. It delves deep into a medieval world full of intrigue, corruption and mystery. This medieval world is […]
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Starring: Fountain Yount, William Sanderson, Kurt Hargan, Marco St. John, Rachel Mellendorf, Rick Dial and Tom Savini. Directed/Written by: Barret J. Leigh and Thom Maurer,. Based on original short story by: H.P. Lovecraft., Music Composed by: Kaveh Cohen. Columbia Picture, 2004, 84 min. Rated R., Reviewed by Jeff Jacobs
As an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story, “Beyond the Wall of Sleep” is riveting horror film, filled with a deep, dark emphasis of mystery. The film emphasizes on early 20th century psychiatric research, combined with inexplicable evidence of the occult.
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Waking up Screaming is an anthology of tales written by H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft today is considered to be the father of modern horror. Before picking up the work, I read some accounts of his background through the Flames Rising links. Entranced with the trappings of a colonial life, Lovecraft lived in the early 1900s casting out all things modern. He frequently wore older styles of clothing, and made his home in Providence. Upon his death, his work was posthumously published by two of his friends. Lovecraft enjoyed some success during his lifetime, however, it wasn’t until World War II that his work gained in popularity.
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Chaos Bleeds is a story based on the second Buffy computer game, written by Christopher Golden and Thomas J. Sniegoski. Buffy fans will recognize the telltale attributes of the Buffy universe in this book, written by James A. Moore.
Hands down, this book is the best gaming fiction I’ve read in a long time. Moore brilliantly use third person narration to accurately depict the Chaos Bleeds’ team of Xander, Willow, Spike, Anya, Faith and Buffy. While the combat was hard to follow due to the fast pace of the book, the material reads well. So well in fact, that you quickly lose yourself in the story.
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Posted on by Flames
This is one of the prettiest and best written game books I’ve ever had the pleasure to come across. The book is full-color, and chock full of pictures and quotes from the series. What truly makes the book stand out is the writing style. CJ Carella and his crew have written something that looks less like a rulebook, and more like a transcript of someone talking about the TV show, and how a game system for Buffy would work if he could just design one. The book is almost as funny and irreverent as the show it draws from, making this book an easy read.
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The structure of the book is surprising, in that the prose is heavily footnoted. Told from a vampiric scholar’s point of view, the research for the book is both entertaining and curious. One can almost feel Aristotle’s frustration as he cross-references words from crumbling parchments. One can also hear the voices of the ancients, as they live again through prophetic parables and historic prose. The footnotes are written in character and contain curious references to other characters in the game. This adds to the potential for the book to be used as a prop or a mood-setting item.
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To play within the Zone, players must first understand the design of the setting. Inside the Zone does a great job of describing its highly efficient structure. But the book does more than describe its physical setting. Layers of religions, Kults and politics intertwine with one another throughout the book. It is almost as if you are a god watching the inner workings of Zone society. The book is a must-read for anyone who wishes to play in the Zone.
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Are you a fan of “teen-slasher” movies such as Scream or Nightmare on Elm Street? Or are you more partial to flicks with psycho doll killers or strange trees hunting you at a cabin in the woods? Looking for a quick game with little to no rules and ridiculously fun? Enough with the questions and let’s get to the meat of the topic: Squeam 3.
Review by Jeff Jacobs
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Posted on by Flames
So in my opinion “Dark Ages: Tremere” is a brilliant book full of surprises with only a handful of boring pages. A great way to approach the Tremere. Absolutely recommendable, maybe the best of the Dark Ages Clan Novels.
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“The Age of Romance and Gothic Elegance” proclaims the first line on the back of Vampire by Gaslight, and the Victorian era certainly seems tailored to be the Age of the Vampire. No other period in human history seems to suit the proclivities of the Kindred more than the end of the nineteenth century, and so the expansion of White Wolf’s Minds Eye Theatre into this complex and rich historical period is both welcome and daunting.
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Jürgens armies under the sign of the Black Cross march out to conquer the east. Against them stand the vile Tzimisce ruled by the Voivode of all Voivodes: Count Vladimir Rustovitch.
But not only those stand in the way of Jürgens men, between their home and the Voivodat lies Livonia, a fierce, primal territory ruled by Quarakh the Untamed and his horde of Gangrel. By his side there is Deverra, High-Priest of Telyavel and Tremere renegade.
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What do ten strangers sitting in a bar have in common? They’d all make delicious entrees for a few hungry zombies about to attack the bar. That’s right, in this newest installation of Resident Evil Raccoon City is being rampaged by a plague of zombies. It’s up to you to pick one of ten characters and fight for survival.
The game is set up in different sections called scenarios, each with their own theme and unique location. After you complete a scenario, a new one is unlocked and you are given points for your game play. The better you are the more points you get allowing you to trade them in to unlock bonuses such as CG art and cut scenes.
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