Walk through the ages…

As a companion to Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras this anthology reveals secrets of the mystics, whispers rumors of the dead, and shines a light into the darkest corners of the world.

This collection includes historical stories based within the shadowed past of Vampire: the Requiem, Mage: the Awakening, Werewolf: the Forsaken, Changeling: the Lost, and other Chronicles of Darkness settings.

In the Chronicles of Darkness…

I’ve always enjoyed reading “how to” guides on a variety of topics. Even if I’ve read a similar subject before I’ll read them to see the different thoughts, beliefs and takes that particular writer has to say about the subject. Such was the case with Writing Monsters: How to Craft Believably Terrifying Creatures to Enhance Your Horror, Fantasy, and Science Fiction. I’ve read a few guides on writing monsters, but it’s been awhile so this was a good refresher while learning Mr. Athans take on monsters and writing about them.
Being a fan of H.P. Lovecraft’s works myself, this book was off to a good start as the forward was written by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society. “While Mr. Athans draws from an extremely impressive array of monstrous sources, we are, of course, particularly delighted to see the works of H.P. Lovecraft cited so frequently and so appropriately in this discussion. Lovecraft was indeed, as Athans states, a master of the monster.”

Every one of us is weak: mere ants against the stalking giants that have brought us to our knees. Even when we work together, the Unknown is bigger than us, better armed, and better prepared for what’s to come. We have no real advantage, and our greatest victories have been nothing but the monsters toying with us before they descend to feast. Our fight is hopeless.

This is how we’re going to win.

—Hayat Nejem, “How to SAVE the World”

The uneasy feeling that creeps up your spine as you walk down a darkened hallway. The way your footsteps echo oddly on a deserted street at night, as though there was someone walking somewhere behind you. The shape you see out of the corner of your eye when you’re home alone.

Thinking of running a game of Geist: the Sin-Eaters?

Players unsure of what to play? Looking for a fast way to dive into a ghost story?

Ready-Made Player Characters (Geist: the Sin-Eaters) includes the Crossroads Drifters krewe, who perform for the living and the dead. Characters designed to for instant use in your Geist: the Sin-Eaters game.

A collection of characters for Geist: the Sin-Eaters

In the 1980s, a moral panic swept the United States. Rumors swirled of a vast underground network of devil worshippers, and claims of Satanic Ritual Abuse flooded the airwaves. Role-playing games were gateways to black magic, and backwards messages, hidden in heavy metal music, spurred teenagers to Satanism or suicide. The devil was everywhere and something needed to be done. In response to growing public fears, the FBI assembled a taskforce to investigate occult activity.

Seattle is a fractured city, split between history and modernity.

The Unchained can stumble through rifts in time and space and wind up decades in the past. Why Some failed experiment of the God-Machine? A side effect of human ingenuity? Or are the splinter timelines in the City of Flowers a deliberate design, leading up to something greater still?

Splintered City: Seattle includes more detail on the alternate timelines described in Demon: The Descent, as well as a host of story hooks and characters for use in your chronicles. Also presented are brief suggestions on what Seattle might hold for the other denizens of the World of Darkness.

A full-length, 10-adventure campaign for BETTER ANGELS, the tabletop RPG of demon-possessed supervillainy.

Better Angels is a tabletop roleplaying game where you play a supervillain who got powers from being possessed by a demon — and you play the demon who’s possessing the supervillain of the player to your right.

As a supervillain, you use your superpowers to do … well, whatever you want. You’re a supervillain. As the other player’s demon, you tempt that supervillain with more power in exchange for greater and greater acts of evil. But beware! If you’re TOO evil, your demon can drag you kicking and screaming right to Hell. It’s sort of like the Legion of Doom crossed with the Lucifer-centric parts of Sandman. (And maybe The Exorcist if you’re not careful.)

Better Angels was published in 2013 after a great Kickstarter campaign. A standalone adventure is available, too, plus a ton of free online resources.

Now we have the first full-size campaign book for it: No Soul Left Behind.

US Roleplaying Game Publisher Brings Back Classic Horror Game

Growling Door Games, Inc. is proud to announce that they have entered into a licensing agreement with Martin Caron, the owner of the Chill RPG. The agreement gives Growling Door Games the English-language rights to publish the Chill RPG core book and supplementary materials for that game, setting the stage for a new release of a classic property that helped make horror gaming a staple of the RPG landscape.

Matthew McFarland, President of Growling Door Games, said, “We’re thrilled to bring such a classic of horror gaming back to print. Chill has a great history of success in the market. There’s been a lot of enthusiasm for the game even during its long stint out of print, and we hope both those fans and new ones will enjoy our revival of Chill.”

Max Brooks and Avatar Press have announced Legendary Television and Digital optioned the New York Times Bestselling Author Brooks’ Extinction Parade as an original property for development as a new television series. Brooks is closely tied to the development of the project and will be writing the Pilot episode.

“I only brought the idea to one company, Legendary, because they do the kind of quality work of which any writer would be proud.” stated Brooks.

“Max Brooks is a visionary with an incredible ability to tell stories that deliver a fresh approach to the horrors that haunt our nightmares. His work on Extinction Parade has been a stunningly rich tapestry of cultures in decline and a biting indictment of the perils of privilege. It will make the perfect television series to appeal to fans who have until now settled for thinly veiled soap operas parading as horror.” said William Christensen, Publisher of Avatar Press.

Since 2003, FlamesRising.com has supported first-time novelists and veteran authors through our interviews, reviews, and excerpts. Our chapter previews, which are hosted with permission, are one of the most popular features of our website.

If you’re an author (or publisher) seeking an outlet to host your horror, dark fantasy, or dark science fiction excerpt, we invite you to join FlamesRising.com. Since we are a website, it’d would be helpful if you saved your excerpt in a format conducive to the web. To add your preview to this feature on our site, please review our Submission Guidelines and use the Contact Us page.

Monsterhearts should come with two warning stickers. The first is “Warning: This is a game for mature gamers and deals with adult themes.” It doesn’t have this because that sort of warning fits the Book of Erotic Fantasy rather than a genuinely mature take on the subject matter. It has lead to some of the most intense and immersive experiences I’ve ever had roleplaying, but I refuse to play it with my main tabletop roleplaying group.

The second is “Warning: This game can go into uncomfortable territory. Discuss expectations and respect boundaries.” It doesn’t have this, and Monsterhearts is the only game I’ve played that’s imploded when it has become clear that one player doesn’t know the meaning of the word “consent”. Better there than in real life.

So what is Monsterhearts? Monsterhearts is based on the Apocalypse World rules and claims to be about “The messy lives of teenage monsters”.

The third and final book in Tim Hawken’s Hellbound Trilogy is set for release this December, amid development of a film franchise for the series. Titled Deicide, the novel concludes the epic story, which depicts a world of Hell never seen before.

Early critical acclaim and a strong cult following for Hellbound meant Hawken’s work captured the attention of Hollywood right from the start. The author has recently signed partnerships with both Luber Roklin Entertainment and Savela/Kabatoff Productions to help bring his vision to the silver screen. In addition, actor Charlie Bewley (Twilight, Vampire Diaries, Hammer of the Gods) has been attached to play the lead character of Michael in the films.

What is the fascination with Nazis and their pursuit of occult knowledge? The popularity of Raiders of the Lost Ark offers some evidence that we as a culture find the concepts intriguing to say the least. Perhaps, deep down, even the most cynical skeptic wants to believe that supernatural magic is real.

Ellen Datlow is one of the world’s best, most awarded, and most well-known editors. She has showcased the talents of hundreds – probably thousands – of writers over the years. Her anthologies are legendary.

Now, Ms. Datlow has teamed up with ChiZine Publications to bring a new anthology of horror into the world. According to the new Kickstarter page, Fearful Symmetries is set to be a work that brings forth “both veteran talent and new voices.” See more at Kickstarter.com.

James Herbert is a horror writer who hails from the U.K. He’s been compared to Steven King and, for the first time, his work is available stateside. The novel I read, ASH, is a reprint through Tor Books.

Herbert is a multi-novelist with almost two dozen books out in the wild. (Sadly, the author does not have an official website, or I’d link to it for you so you could see his bibliography of published works.) This is the first time I’ve read Herbert’s work; this type of story is more my fare than a continual stream of blood, guts, and gore. ASH begins with a mystery and a haunted castle. The main character, David Ash, is a ghost hunter and parapsychologist who works for the Psychical Research Institute. His abilities give him an edge and we, the reader, find out more about them as the story progresses.

Edison T. Crux is an author whose first novel, “Tale of the Wisconsin Werewolf” debuts on December 15. The author will be attending an event at Pegasus Games

In the labyrinthian maze of endless corridors, annexes, and wings of the enormous medical complex known as the Castle prowls a grief-stricken man determined to redeem himself and bring justice for those victims incapable of doing it for themselves.

During the four months that his son lay dying, ex-con Kasteel lost his job, his wife, and nearly his mind. He became a fixture at the Castle, a phantom prowling the halls in the deep night, a shadow of his former self until he faded from sight and was forgotten altogether.

Now, without any life to return to, he takes it upon himself to become the Castle’s guardian. He lives off the grid hiding among the hundreds of miles of twisting passages, rooms, offices, and underground parking structures. Despair, confusion, and terror are the natural state and trade of any hospital: Not only must the patients endure disease and infirmity, but others are victims of physical and sexual abuse from the outside world or from cruel security guards.

It’s no secret we, at FR Press, love a good ghost story. Not only did we publish Haunted: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror last year, but we also enjoying playing games like Wraith: the Oblivion or watching films like The Others, Sixth Sense, and The Haunting in Connecticut.

If you like ghosts as much as we do, then you’ll want to float over to Tor Books today. From now through midnight on Halloween, you can enter to win not one, but ten books, ranging from anthologies to novels.

I like writing about beautiful, horrible things. The Village by the Sea is a beautiful, horrible place. And I want to take you there.

The Guide covers neighborhoods, families and coverups and over a hundred years of history, for a town that exists outside of time and place. This could be the town you stopped in as a child on your way to see family. It might be your hometown. This could even be the town just down the road from yours.

The Village by the Sea was founded on the coast in 1850. Its founding families still exert force on the course of Village history, its borders have crept over devoured nearby settlements, and its piers are washed in blood. The monuments to dead sailors cast shadows in the park. There are always new missing posters outside the market.

Last Sunday, I started writing for the Clarion Write-A-Thon to raise funds for their workshop. I have pledged to write 50,000 words by August 4th. So why am I doing this? Well, it’s like I said in this blog post: It’s a rough publishing world out there, I know, but part of what Clarion and […]