Three Shades of Night offers a look into each of the “big three” supernatural races of the World of Darkness; all three novellas in this book take place in Chicago, and all of them also involve a supernatural virus that is killing innocents throughout the city.

SLA (read ‘Slay’) Industries was a landmark game when I first bought it many years ago and I rather regret the series of events that saw my copy deposited on the bed of the River Han in Seoul. It is with considerable joy, therefore, that I found that the original is now available as a free PDF download. Once again there is the chance to become immersed in the nasty doings of the Planet Mort, where 900 years of deception have led to the exploitation of just about everyone by the infamous SLA Industries itself and, above all, where it always seems to be gloomy and raining. This is the future as a Glasgow tenement, or at least so it always was in my imagination.

Review by John Walsh

Myriad is described a universal role-playing system and is released under a Creative Commons License which permits readers to make such use of its material as they may wish in their own games and books, so long as various fair use provisions are followed. It would be wrong to describe it as a complete game, as the author declares in the foreword, “Myriad is not a complete RPG in its own right; some assembly is required.

Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd. has reached an agreement with Warner Bros. Television and DC Comics to produce role playing game products based on the hit television series, Supernatural.

“We like role playing games that feature a great mix of character, action, and story,” says Margaret Weis, New York Times best-selling author and game publisher. “Supernatural delivers on all three, and the show’s premise is perfect for games. The show is like a new horror movie each week, and now we’ll be bringing that experience to the game table.”

Dying To live is not only an intricate novel, but it also makes the reader think. Paffenroth is very intelligent in the way he tells a story, especially how he uses the way people think and react to a situation to make the characters seem more real. He does this by creating Jonah Caine, and by telling his story in first-person.

The prequel to this book did itself good by creating a story that made itself stand out, but with the sequel, the book seems to jut out on the bookshelf with a bloody and violent cover, one that official says, ‘Do not be alarmed, everything is under control . . .’

Dracula has held our fascination for centuries, and yet his life, and his death remain a mystery to us. So it is only natural for him to star in many novels and games, making the hunt for him a focal point in the plot. The novel The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova, features the history of Dracula. The fear and danger of searching for him are wonderfully depicted in this novel, keeping the reader glued to its pages.

I can’t remember the last time I was as entertained by the audience’s reaction to a movie as I was the movie itself. People laughed hysterically, burst out in fits of applause, and “ewe-ed” and “ah-ed” their ways through all 3 hours and 11 minutes of Grindhouse. The movie-going experience for me was outstanding, more so than the movie itself. Here’s the thing, though: The movie is pretty darn good too, which makes writing this review a bit less of a daunting task than it could’ve been. And for that I say, “Thanks, Robert. Thanks, Quentin.”