Press Information

Press Release
9/29/2006

Tomb of the Mummy - A Brain-Twisting Horror Puzzle from Candlelight Stories

Los Angeles, September 29-- Candlelight Stories (www.CandlelightStories.com) has published an online Flash puzzle game called 'Tomb of the Mummy.' The game is an extraordinarily difficult puzzle in which players attempt to open an ancient tomb in order to release the mummy from inside. The game offers no hints or help beyond a difficult-to-decipher curse that can be viewed. An average of 3% of all players manage to open the tomb and finish the puzzle.

The puzzle, launched on September 22, went overnight from 600 players to 14,000. During the next three days, the game attracted 60,000 players and its traffic continues to grow.

"There are now lots of blogs in England, France, Italy, Germany, China, Russia, and the U.S. that are tracking players of the puzzle. They are losing their minds over it," says the puzzle's designer, Alessandro Cima. "I cannot keep up with the players and the bloggers insisting on more clues."

The puzzle is available for solution attempts here:
http://www.candlelightstories.com/Games/MummyGameIntro.htm

Web site: http://www.CandlelightStories.com
Press contact: info@candlelightstories.com

Press Release
8/7/2006

Undersea ABC - An Alphabet Learning Game from Candlelight Stories

Los Angeles, August 7-- Candlelight Stories (www.CandlelightStories.com) has published an online Flash game called 'Undersea ABC.' The game allows kids to play and learn their ABCs in an undersea cartoon environment. A cartoon lobster asks kids to pick letters out of randomly generated letter sets that float in bubbles from the bottom of the ocean. Players attempt to get a perfect alphabet score in order to save a submarine that is trapped by a giant octopus.

The game offers continual visual and audio feedback, 'sounds like' words accompanying each letter, extremely simple point-and-click control, upper and lowercase alphabets, and a full report on how the player scored on each letter of the alphabet.

Candlelight Stories offers the game as part of its online Sound Story Club which allows members to play and download children's audio stories for a fee of $9.95 a year.

An online demo version of the ABC game is available at http://www. candlelightstories.com/Games/UnderseaABCDemo.htm.

Web site: http://www.CandlelightStories.com
Press contact: info@candlelightstories.com

Press Release
3/7/2006

Robinson Crusoe Podcast

Los Angeles, March 7-- Candlelight Stories (www.CandlelightStories.com) has begun podcasting the Daniel Defoe novel, 'Robinson Crusoe.' Listeners can access the free podcast by subscribing via a service like iTunes, or downloading the MP3 chapters directly from the Candlelight Stories Robinson Crusoe page (candlelightstories.com/stories/RobinsonCrusoePodcast.php).

The 1719 novel is a classic of English literature that is considered to mark the beginning of English novel-writing. It chronicles the adventures of a shipwrecked sailor struggling to survive alone on an island. Much more than a novel of survival, 'Robinson Crusoe' examines the relationship of the individual to society and the world.

The podcast will continue on a weekly basis for the next several months.

Web site: http://www.CandlelightStories.com
Press contact: info@candlelightstories.com

Press Release
1/25/2006

Machinima Film of 'Dracula's Guest' Draws Press Attention

Los Angeles, January 25 -- Candlelight Stories (www.CandlelightStories.com) has produced a seven minute machinima animation of Bram Stoker's short story, 'Dracula's Guest.' The film by Alessandro Cima is based on the Stoker short story that was published posthumously in 1914 and is said to be a missing chapter from the famous novel.

The film has received positive notices in the press from BoingBoing.net and from Wired.com. The Wired article is available at: http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70058-1.html?tw=wn_story_page_next1.

The BoingBoing.net article is available at: http://www.boingboing.net/2006/01/15/machinima_dracula_sh.html

Machinima animation is a technique wherein one uses a computer game's 3D graphics engine to create movies. For 'Dracula's Guest,' director Alessandro Cima used a new game called 'The Movies,' from Lionhead Studios. The game was designed with a toolset specifically for movie makers to create machinima films.

"I see this machinima toolset approach as the wave of the future in computer animation,' says 'Dracula's Guest' director, Alessandro Cima.

"The first company that can separate the machinima-making tools from the game mentality and simply build a powerful movie-making application for machinima 3D will have something revolutionary on their hands. Currently, the tools are much too locked in with the games and present awkward limitations for the serious filmmaker. These limitations are about to go away in a hurry as companies recognize what a phenomenon has been started."

The Candlelight Stories web site is now offering three of the Dracula films in a continuing series of machinima films that take the story in a new direction.

"I think people are very excited about this form of movie-making right now," says Cima, "and they are looking for serious, high-quality examples of it. If they can draw some inspiration from the films we are making, then that's great. There's something incredible about being able to write, design, shoot and score your own movie without horribly expensive software and equipment. I will continue to keep my hand in this medium, using and experimenting with new tools as they arrive."

Web site: http://www.CandlelightStories.com
Press contact: info@candlelightstories.com

Press Release
9/6/2005

Los Angeles, September 6 -- In preparation for its 10th anniversary, Candlelight Stories (www.CandlelightStories.com) has opened a redesigned web site which includes new free podcast content.

The podcast, called 'Pirate Jack : A Podcast Novel' is available via the Candlelight Stories web site. It is being offered in weekly chapters that are in MP3 format. Anyone with iTunes or any other type of podcast software can subscribe to the feed and get automatic updates each time a new chapter is released. They can listen on their computer, iPod, or MP3 player.

"Podcasting is a good way for writers to get their work in front of eager listeners, many of whom will offer commentary on what they enjoy or detest about a story," says 'Pirate Jack' author, Alessandro Cima.

"There is something exciting and rewarding about preparing your weekly audio chapter and releasing out into the big world right on schedule. It's like an old time radio serial. It's a performance."

The podcast fits in with Candlelight's Sound Story Club which has been offering quality audio stories for download since 1998. Those stories are available for a $9.95 yearly membership fee.

Since 1995, Candlelight Stories has been offering educational entertainment for kids of all ages. Begun as a small web site with one illustrated story by the site's founder for his daughter, Candlelight Stories was quickly recognized by USA Today as a prime destination for families. The site grew rapidly and built a loyal audience of families, teachers, writers and artists in the U.S., Canada, England, Australia and even India.

Candlelight Stories has been featured in USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, Yahoo Internet Life, Child Magazine, Dallas Morning News, Access Magazine, the BBC, PCMagazine.com, and many others. The site was featured along with the Disney site in a special learning to read stick-on booklet on McDonald’s Happy Meal bags.

Web site: http://www.CandlelightStories.com
Press contact: info@candlelightstories.com

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