Welcome to the sixth of the 13 Doors: an exclusive look behind the door at the upcoming Little Fears Nightmare Edition – The Game of Childhood Terror.

Door #6: Keys to the World

World-building can be an incredibly fun part of the game creation process. It’s also what makes working on a game set in modern day, such as Little Fears Nightmare Edition, a strange creature. I mean, I’m not going to reinvent suburbia here. No one needs a detailed explanation of an apartment building or the function of an elementary school (I’ll leave that debate for another time and place). Cell phones, remote controls, video games, heelies, and strip malls are all part of modern American culture. While players can easily set a game in 1970s Africa or in a Victorian boarding house, that’s not something that I’ll be covering in the mainbook. You can set the game in their hometown (or their home country) where they will provide the detaiils. My job as the designer is to give folks the tools to take whatever reality they decide and twist it just the right amount for their game.

Welcome to the fifth of the 13 Doors: an exclusive look behind the door at the upcoming Little Fears Nightmare Edition – The Game of Childhood Terror.

Door #5: Rebuilding Closetland

I knew from the beginning that I wanted Little Fears Nightmare Edition to be different than its predecessor. The original Little Fears was great, and I love it warts and all, but simply remaking the game held little interest for me. I figured, the original is out there, people have it and are playing it. I don’t need to do it again.

So when it came to creating Little Fears Nightmare Edition, I decided to go back to basics. The core premise of Little Fears is simple. My elevator pitch is, “It’s a game about kids fighting monsters.” Which it is. But that premise is open to a lot of interpretation. I took a long hard look at what that meant to me. I had an inkling already and as I pushed and pulled at it, it started to take shape. I knew I was going to have to kill a lot of darlings in order to give the Nightmare Edition its own identity and, frankly, to make the type of game I wanted it to be this time around.

Written by J.C. Hutchins, Personal Effects: Dark Arts is a multi-media thriller that was released in June 2009 through St. Martin’s Press. Created by game mogul Jordan Weisman, this book is a one-of-a-kind experience where you — the reader — can interact with the clues and the storyline through voicemail messages, ID cards and photos, additional websites, etc. Featured here below are two chapters from this unique, thrilling experience.

Chapter One

If by some miracle I survive my twenties, I am certain I’ll look back on today and think, This was the day I began to lose my mind.

Welcome to the fourth of the 13 Doors: an exclusive look behind the door at the upcoming Little Fears Nightmare Edition – The Game of Childhood Terror.

Door #4: Creatures in the Library

If you’ve been following the updates on littlefears.com, you’ve seen that I’ve been talking about some of the books and movies that inspired Little Fears Nightmare Edition. I want to expand on that and not just talk about the things that inspired me—which I will continue to do on the website—but talk about what I was looking for in that inspiration.

Since before I was in its target audience, I’ve been drawn to that nebulous category called Young Adult Fiction. Throughout my childhood and teenage years, I soaked up all I could, reading such books at Jane Yolen’s Pit Dragon Trilogy, the Not Quite Human series, Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary, and Piers Anthony’s Xanth novels.

FlamesRising.com is proud to offer you a preview for the book The Magicians by Lev Grossman.

Quentin Coldwater is brilliant but miserable. A senior in high school, he’s still secretly preoccupied with a series of fantasy novels he read as a child, set in a magical land called Fillory. Imagine his surprise when he finds himself unexpectedly admitted to a very secret, very exclusive college of magic in upstate New York, where he receives a thorough and rigorous education in the craft of modern sorcery.

He also discovers all the other things people learn in college: friendship, love, sex, booze, and boredom. Something is missing, though. Magic doesn’t bring Quentin the happiness and adventure he dreamed it would. After graduation he and his friends make a stunning discovery: Fillory is real. But the land of Quentin’s fantasies turns out to be much darker and more dangerous than he could have imagined. His childhood dream becomes a nightmare with a shocking truth at its heart.

Welcome to the third of the 13 Doors: an exclusive look behind the door at the upcoming Little Fears Nightmare Edition – The Game of Childhood Terror.

Door #3: Monster Factory

Little Fears Nightmare Edition is a game about kids fighting monsters. We already know about the kids, so what about the monsters?

The monsters in Little Fears Nightmare Edition can come from anywhere, that’s part of what makes them so much fun. Monsters can come from your own bad dreams, the fears of the players, urban legends, myths, cryptozoology, regular old zoology, a movie, literature—anywhere. Monsters in Little Fears are anything people fear. Fear is what gives them life, shape, form, power. Without people fearing them, they’re not really monsters at all.

We continue the 13 Doors series today. 13 Doors is an exclusive look behind the door at the upcoming Little Fears Nightmare Edition – The Game of Childhood Terror.

Door #2: Kids These Days

Let’s face it: the thing that sets Little Fears apart from other horror games isn’t the setting. Or the Bogeyman or the monster under the bed. Sure, the fiction of Little Fears helps differentiate it from other games but the main difference, what really makes it unique, are the characters.

FlamesRising.com is proud to offer you a chapter preview for the book Demon Mistress by New York Times bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn. When we asked Yasmine about this new book in her Otherworld series, she mentioned that:

When I was writing Demon Mistress, it quickly became apparent that my tag line for it was going to be both awesome and bizarre. I told my editor that it was going to be, “Revenge of the Nerds meets Hell Boy, meets Lovecraft.” There wasn’t much she could say to that until it arrived on her desk and she read it. Then, she understood, and she loved it. I had a lot of fun with this book, and so far reviews are backing up my feeling that my readers will also love it, too. — Yasmine Galenorn

We hope you enjoy this preview of Demon Mistress, the sixth book in the Otherworld Series.

Meet Mel: Business owner. Dedicated mom. Natural-born Amazon.

It’s been ten years since Melanippe Saka left the Amazon tribe in order to create a normal life for her daughter, Harmony. True, running a tattoo parlor in Madison, Wisconsin while living with your Amazon warrior mother and priestess grandmother is not everyone’s idea of normal, but Mel thinks she’s succeeded at blending in as human.

Turns out she’s wrong. Someone knows all about her, someone who’s targeting young Amazon girls, and no way is Mel is going to let Harmony become tangled in this deadly web…

Flames Rising is proud to present the first chapter of Amazon Ink written by Lori Devoti. Lori wanted to express that she’s very excited about the debut of Amazon Ink and wanted to thank her readers for their support. When we asked Lori about what readers can look forward to, she said that you’ll read about “the story of a woman coming to grips with who she is while battling an unknown and deadly adversary. Plus magic and action and some truly tough chicks of all ages.”

We hope you enjoy the first chapter of Amazon Ink!

Twenty souls for his brother’s life is a price that seductively beautiful Samson is willing to pay. Twenty souls drenched in blood, powdered with cocaine and more than one kind of ecstasy. A fair trade for the life of a brother. A fair trade for the life of a priest. And everyone he meets seems so willing to give theirs away. Samuel’s faith often wavers. Diagnosed with HIV and in rapid decline, he hides his disillusionment in the rituals of the priesthood. But when Samson brings him the first blood-signed contract for a young woman’s immortal soul, the steamy world of high fashion male models and the quiet decay of a sickly priest begin to writhe against the realities of life, death, and otherworldly power. Brotherly love is a deadly seduction, beauty a dangerous game. Come worship in the brutal temple of Orgy of Souls. Your faith will never be the same again.

Apex Publications has sent us the first chapter of Wrath James White and Maurice Broaddus’ Orgy of Souls novel to preview for free here at Flames Rising. In January Maurice Broaddus wrote a design essay for us called Religion and Horror about working on this book, be sure to check it out once you’ve read the preview.

Flames Rising has been offered the chance to bring you a preview of Alex Bledsoe’s new vampire novel Blood Groove.

When centuries-old vampire Baron Rudolfo Zginski was staked in Wales in 1915, the last thing he expected was to reawaken in Memphis, Tennessee, sixty years later. Reborn into a new world of simmering racial tensions, the cunning nosferatu realizes he must adapt quickly if he is to survive.

Forming an uneasy alliance with the young vampires, Zginski begins to teach them the truth about their powers. They must learn quickly, for there’s a new drug on the street—a drug created to specifically target and destroy vampires. As Zginski and his allies track the drug to its source, they may unwittingly be stepping into a fifty-year-old trap that can destroy them all . . .

To celebrate the arrival of Alara Reborn for Magic: the Gathering, Wizards of the Coast provided Flames Rising with an exclusive look at a brand new card for this series. According to the official page for Alara Reborn, it “is the third and final set in the Shards of Alara block. It is a 145 card expansion with randomly inserted premium cards. It will be available in booster packs, intro packs, and fat packs.”

The deck is artistically unique to the Magic: the Gathering series, because the entire Alara Reborn set is printed in full color with gold accents. Based on the plane of existence Alara setting, the cards were constructed around a story, the machinations of a single signature character, the evil planeswalker Nicol Bolas. Nicol is a iconic character, an ancient dragon with an epic thirst for power in all shapes and form who has been featured in fiction as well.

A modern take on the classic “apocalyptic” novel, Hater is similar in tone to the seminal works of H.G. Wells, and also the recent films 28 Days Later and I Am Legend. Hater tells the story of Danny McCoyne, an everyman forced to contend with a world gone mad, as vast numbers of the human population suddenly become irrationally violent, killing all who cross their path.

Flames Rising is pleased to bring you the first chapter of David Moody’s Hater, which is currently available at Amazon.com.

The Buried Tales anthology of horror and supernatural fiction transports you to the rural town of Pinebox, Texas, where secrets are buried but the dead don’t always stay that way. Join us for a dozen killer stories by David Wellington, Shane Hensley, Jess Hartley, J.D. Wiker, Monica Valentinelli, Charles Rice, and more.

Buried Tales of Pinebox, TX
Published by: 12 to Midnight
Edited by: Matt M McElroy
Retail Price: $11.99
Stock#: TWL6001

Buried Tales of Pinebox will arrive summer 2009! Stay tuned for more previews here at Flames Rising!

We have an early preview of an upcoming Apocalypse Prevention, Inc. sourcebook from Third Eye Games.

API Worldwide: Canada Preview

Gabriel gritted his teeth and pulled the belt tight. Pain flared up in his shattered leg as the tough leather bit down, but soon settled back into a dull throb. He positioned his makeshift crutch under one shoulder to keep as much weight off the limb as possible, fixed the rubberized part against the snow and levered himself upright. The leg positively shrieked with agony as he rose, but the splint held. He’d have thought himself lucky to have found it if it hadn’t come from the twisted wreckage of his snowmobile.

Wearily, Gabriel produced a cigar. The heavy tar did nothing to dull the pain, but it gave him something to do while he thought. At least he was partially mobile again and he could turn his attentions to more pressing matters. The massive glistening bulk behind the vehicular remains shifted slightly, reminding Gabriel of the first order of business. The abominable snowman – it almost sounded jolly, for heaven’s sake! Strange how people forgot the true meanings of words over time. He’d smashed into its face at top speed and still did little more than stun the brute and write off his ride home. But he knew a better way.

A powerful and infinitely sinister force is conspiring to reunite the Shards of Alara. This reunification will come with a deadly price – sheer chaos, as realities begin to overlap. Thus begins the Conflux.

Wizards of the Coast is releasing a new expansion to their popular Magic: the Gathering game. In addition to Puzzles, Launch Parties and other events, the company has handed out a few preview cards to show off.

Here at Flames Rising we are happy to reveal this new card:

Flames Rising got a sneak peak at an upcoming Halloween surprise release from one of our small press publisher fiends, but we’re not going to tell you what the game is…yet. We have uncovered a few teaser images from artist extraordinaire Jeff Preston hinting at this new, spooky RPG product just in time to scare your friends.

In the true spirit of trick-or-treating, this small press publisher has a copy of this brand new horror RPG sitting on their desk for one of you, our loyal fans and followers of Flames Rising to celebrate the product’s release.

Update! – Its seems she just couldn’t wait for Halloween, The Death-Mother has emerged from the Shroud to spread a little more evil into the world…

The Contest has ended and the winner has been sent a free copy of the Horrors of the Shroud: The Death-Mother from the folks at One Bad Egg.

We have an early look at horror author Derek Gunn’s new Vampire Apocalypse novel Descent into Chaos. This is the sequel to A World Torn Asunder.

Here on Flames Rising today we have the Prologue of the new book.

Vampire Apocalypse: Descent into Chaos

Two Years Ago: Boston

It was still early evening but the relentless advance of the dark was already heralding its dominion as the sun began to slip slowly below the horizon. In places, patches of light still flared valiantly—though, ineluctably, they too began to give ground with each passing moment. Harris grinned wryly as he thought how fitting their predicament was as he and his fellow survivors defended themselves against the oncoming hoard in their last remaining stronghold. He rated their chances no better than the light that, even now, was relinquishing its last tenuous grip on the cityscape.

There are two other Shadowrealm Previews (Riven & Cael and Abelar Corrinthal) here on Flames Rising. We also have an interview with Paul S. Kemp that tells us a bit about the novel. Shadowrealm is book three of the Twilight War and is available for pre-order at Amazon.com.

Today we have another snippet from Paul Kemp for our readers to explore. This snippet Cale, Riven, Mags, and…someone else…