14 Comments
User's avatar
Karris's avatar

looks like a must have for both my collection for multiple reasons, as well as for someone who is quite dear to me. Will be neat to compare what we like best from it.

Expand full comment
J.Q. Graziano's avatar

Sorry I missed your comment, Karris. Did you ever wind up adding this to your collection?

Expand full comment
Margaret's avatar

Condolences to Mr Greenburgs family and friends lost an amazing RPG created. Also i Must find this book

Expand full comment
J.Q. Graziano's avatar

Sorry for missing your comment, Margaret! Hope you were able to get a copy and enjoy this book.

Expand full comment
Lee's avatar

I am so happy to see someone post about this book! This is one of my go-to books for inspiration. I did a bunch of world building on a story idea that included a society of angels. A lot of the research started with this book!

Expand full comment
J.Q. Graziano's avatar

That's so cool, Lee! I buy so many books to have as reference/inspiration and this is definitely one of the best.

Expand full comment
Lee's avatar

There’s Breverton’s Nautical Adventures too. It doesn’t quite hit the same notes as Phantasmagoria, but is still interesting.

Hope you and everyone here had a nice weekend.

Expand full comment
J.Q. Graziano's avatar

Oh cool. I'll keep an eye out for that one the next time I'm at my local bookstore. Great weekend out here for me - had the best weather of the year - 70s and sunny. Have a great week, Lee!

Expand full comment
Kveto's avatar

Quite a cool looking book. I checked out something similar from the library as a kid. I remember it used classical illustrations which just made the monsters feel more "real". I always remembered the "blemayees", the race of men who carried their own heads, or had heads in their chests.

I think this is one of the reasons Ive always prefered fantasy that uses actual legendary creatures,they feel more authentic. In my d&d days, I strayed away from the obviously created creatures like gelitous cubes or rust monsters, because they had no mythology behind them.

Expand full comment
J.Q. Graziano's avatar

I'm a fan of Bestiaries that have some deep history & lore to them as well. I believe (if I remember correctly) Gygax created certain D&D monsters (like the Rust Monster and Mimic) for the sole purpose of balancing the game and keeping adventuring parties from getting too powerful and becoming complacent and cocky. Still fun and iconic, though.

Expand full comment
Daniel O’Donnell's avatar

You’re right J.Q. That looks an excellent source of inspiration for fantasy stories! It’s added to my list.

Also, I had a chuckle with you saying blood and horror wasn’t really your thing apart from The Evil Dead. That’s a pretty significant exception! 😁

Expand full comment
J.Q. Graziano's avatar

LOL - I guess I've realized I can like certain campy-style horror stuff that has a sense of humor about itself or is parodying other movies. Thanks for forcing that insight upon me, Dan!

Expand full comment
Eric Green's avatar

Will definitely be putting this one my wish/gift list

Expand full comment
J.Q. Graziano's avatar

Hope you like it, Eric!

Expand full comment