Written in 1967 by Joan Lindsay, Picnic at Hanging Rock is a historical fiction novel and ghost story set in a girls’ boarding school located in Australia. A critically-acclaimed movie based on the book was made in 1975 by Peter Weir. Now, this literary classic slated to be a reimagining of Picnic at Hanging Rock. In 2018, it will be released as an Amazon mini-series starring Natalie Dormer from HBO’s Game of Thrones.

Penguin Classics has just released a new edition of Picnic at Hanging Rock, with an introduction by novelist Maile Meloy. The story was Joan Lindsay’s debut as a novelist at age 70, and is considered to be one of Australia’s greatest literary works. Set in a Victorian 1900, the plot circles around the disappearance of three girls who attended Appleyard College for Young Ladies. The mystery, deftly told, is only the beginning of the story behind this book, however. Lindsay, who wrote the novel in less than two weeks, blurs the line between fantasy and reality, never revealing whether or not these young ladies were real people who disappeared or if they were figments of her imagination.

Return now to dying Mars in its last age of glory. A planet of flashing swords and choking sands, of winking courtesans and lantern-lit canal cities.

Mars, where fortune and heartbreak are two sides of the same obsidian chit, where lost cities and dry oceans stretch between the last bastions of civilization. Where the First Martians, the monument-builders, are but a haunted memory. Where the Red Martians become decadent and reckless in their last days. Where the Pale Martians rule the wastes, remembering a history whose weight would crush a lesser people.

For over twenty-five years, World of Darkness fans have aspired to bring their own unique creations to the masses. Today, White Wolf Entertainment announced, in conjunction with DriveThruRPG, the debut of a new creator content program called Storytellers Vault. Beginning with Vampire: The Masquerade, writers, artists, and game designers can publish their non-canonical tabletop RPG […]

Today, FlamesRising.com is pleased to share a preview of Dagger of Spiragos for Scarred Lands. Artifacts from the fallen titan Spiragos have been recovered, and forces are at work that would see them used for ill. The Dagger of Spiragos and the Ring of Spiragos are now in the player characters’ hands — and they […]

Wildside Press has many excellent Cthulhu Mythos collections as well as a number of Weird Tales offerings. Today they launched H. P. Lovecraft: The Decline of the West by Mythos scholar S. T. Joshi in eBook formats at DriveThruFiction.com.

The author writes:

This book began as an expansion of my essay, “H. P. Lovecraft: The Decline of the West,” in The Weird Tale, but very quickly became something quite different, to the degree that the two works have little save the title in common. I have always been interested in Lovecraft the philosopher, and in my Starmont Reader’s Guide to Lovecraft (1982) I attempted a very compressed account of his philosophical views.

We have shared the world with monsters for millennia…

Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras 2 starts out presenting a chapter for each of six historical eras; each of which features two Chronicles of Darkness game lines which include Vampire: The Requiem, Mage: The Awakening, Hunter: The Vigil, Changeling: The Lost, and more! The rules in this book are compatible with second edition Chronicles of Darkness.

It’s difficult to imagine a fresh take on Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Over the years there have been radio and stage plays, movies, comics, collectible and illustrated editions. These transformative works are both a testimony to the power of the original story and its form as an epistolary novel. Now, because Dracula is the public domain, […]

FlamesRising.com contributor, Monica Valentinelli, dropped by WisCon 41 recently and spoke with Bill Campbell from Rosarium Publishing to learn about an upcoming anthology called TROUBLE THE WATERS: Tales from the Deep Blue. This collection of water-themed short stories spans a range of genres–including horror–and is planned to incorporate deities such as Mami Wata, Sedna, Coventina, […]

Torg Eternity is a table-top roleplaying game based on the original 1990 version of Torg created by West End Games. It has been re-imagined and updated for the Near Now. Now, you can play a Storm Knight in this RPG published by Ulisses Spiele in today’s setting. The Torg Eternity Kickstarter has already funded! Now, […]

FlamesRising.com is pleased to present an excerpt from Haven, Kansas. This YA horror novel, written by Aletheia Kontis, takes place in the spooky town of Haven filled with secrets, mystery, and dread. Interested in this latest novel from Kontis? Here’s more information about the book, to help set the mood as you read chapter one. […]

A new edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay will be launched by Cubicle 7 Entertainment later this year. The new edition will return players to Warhammer’s grim world of perilous adventure, and takes its direction from the first and second editions of the game.

Cubicle 7 CEO Dominic McDowall said, “Like so many gamers I grew up on Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. It’s an iconic setting and I’m thrilled to be working on this new edition of the game. Our team have a huge breadth of experience with Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, and I’m excited to be able to bring the Cubicle 7 approach to the Old World. We’ll be revealing more of our plans in the coming months, so subscribe to our newsletter and keep an eye on our website!”

Today, FlamesRising.com is pleased to host a special preview from Monarchies of Mau, an upcoming game published by Pugsteady and Onyx Path Publishing. Monarchies of Mau uses a customized version of the 5th Edition rules from the world’s most popular fantasy RPG. It’s been redesigned for streamlined play, with an emphasis on cooperation and action […]

FlamesRising.com is pleased to present an interview with twice-nominated BAFTA writer Lucien Soulban, who works for Ubisoft Montreal. Fans of tabletop RPGs will remember Lucien from his contributions to games like Vampire: The Masquerade and Dungeons & Dragons. Additionally, he’s also written novels for Warhammer 40K and Dragonlance, as well as short stories for various […]

The Dungeons & Dragons team drops by FlamesRising.com today with a special announcement for D&D fans. Check it out! Dungeons & Dragons loves the amazing video streams produced by our fans. This community-generated live-play highlights what’s fantastic about D&D—sitting down together with your friends to tell a grand story! To celebrate, we’ve invited a bunch […]

One of the signs that settings can go beyond their original purpose, is the ability to take a world and dive into a new medium The Fae Noir setting is one such property; in addition to the RPG, Justin Bow is funding a comic on Kickstarter. Set in the world of the Fae Noir RPG, […]

FlamesRising.com contributor Crystal Mazur recently sat down with Christopher Mihm to ask him a few questions about his films. Enjoy this fun interview with a B-movie aficionado! Christopher Mihm is the writer, director, and producer of a series of 1950’s B-horror movies that all take place in the “Mihmiverse”. He has won several awards and […]

Always Another Secret

The Chronicles of Darkness stretch back to the beginning of human civilization, and perhaps further. When people fearfully peered into the darkness past their campfires, the Begotten were looking back. When they opened their mouths and spoke, attaching sound to meaning, the Awakened bound those words in power and light. When humanity was forming tribes, werewolves were communing with their totem spirits. When the first cities arose, the undead licked their lips in hunger.

And through it all, forces larger and more dangerous than the whole of humanity worked their dire machinations. Even these forces, though, are subject to the tides of history.

The Clans are not the only vampires that strut, if I might steal from the Bard, upon this great stage of fools. There are the errant Kindred inaccurately collected under the sobriquet of “bloodlines.” While their role in the eternal conflict between the childer of Caine is small, it is often incredibly impactful.

As such, I provide this corollary to my original study. It would be the work of several lifetimes to find and document every tiny aberration or fleeting dead end that constitutes a variation from one of the thirteen. Instead, I have focused on nine that I know for certain have an impact in our little culture war of the dead. From the brain-washed abominations of Tremere magic to vampires twisted by demonic will to the remnants of Clans long thought dead, each of these so-called “bloodlines” have their place in society. There is no larger picture for them — for us — to be a part of. Here on the fringes, each vampire’s experience is unique.

We are free to create our own truths amidst the lies.

Catalyst Game Labs—publisher of the seminal BattleTech and Shadowrun games—is exceptionally excited and honored to publish Dragonfire, a cooperative deckbuilder game based on the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.

Dragonfire combines the vast lore of the D&D universe with the fast play of a deckbuilding game. Players choose from several classic fantasy races, from dwarf to elf, half-orc to human, and assume one of the quintessential roles of cleric, rogue, fighter, or wizard. Equipped with weapons, spells, and magic items, players begin their adventure along the famed Sword Coast, then journey to other Forgotten Realms locales, such as Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter, and Waterdeep, in future expansions. Along the way, they can level up their characters, find additional equipment, learn new feats, and much more

Holmes and Watson are introduced to an impossible crime; a killing by a mythological creature; the dreaded Chimera, part lion, part scorpion, part goat!

But even if the death is some sort of sick hoax, it still means a hideous murder has taken place, which Holmes must solve. However dark forces swirl about the case, and an unsuspecting Holmes, besieged by doubts, has yet to contend directly with the most dramatic of those forces: Professor James Moriarty! A must for any Sherlock Holmes fan’s library collection. Released on newsstands in Australia, this will be the first time it is available outside of the country.

Described by writer Christopher Sequeira as Hammer Horror meets Holmes, the Dark Detective series has received numerous accolades from many Holmesian followers.