Weirder Xenomorphs: Strepsipteran Insects
You know the alien from the movie Alien? The creepy, scary one with the shiny black carapace and the chest-bursting larval form and the well-regarded RPG by Free League? If you’re like me, you want to put that monster (the ‘xenomorph’) in your ongoing campaign, but you don’t want to use exactly that same monster; […]
Cotton Mather’s American Ghosts
The Puritan clergyman Cotton Mather (1663-1728) is one of the boogeymen of early American history. Among his many sins, he helped fuel the Salem witch trials that executed 20 people for witchcraft. In the trials he successfully argued that the contents of magical visions should be considered legally admissible evidence. Mather was a prolific writer. […]
Outer Space Adventures from Ancient Rome
Lucian of Samosata was a second-century author writing in Roman Turkey. He’s best-known in modern geek circles for his novel A True History, which some hold out as the earliest known work of science fiction. Last week we looked at some fantastical islands from this very silly story, but this week we’re going to dive […]
Fantastical Islands from a Roman Novel
Lucian of Samosata was a second-century author writing in Roman Turkey. His best-known work is A True History, a satire of ancient historians who breathlessly repeated whatever half-baked tall tales they’d been told about foreign lands. Much as it pains me to see my beloved Herodotus so ill-treated, A True History is both funny and […]
A Wedding to Remember: Three Lais by Marie de France
This week we’re going to look at three lais: courtly Medieval short tales of love and adventure. Their author is a mysterious and engaging figure, and their contents are perfect for the gaming table: secret twins, secret parents, schemes, adultery, murder, and werewolves! This post is brought to you by beloved Patreon backer Robert Nichols. […]
The Olympic Spirits of Arbatel’s Grimoire
Arbatel de Magia Veterum (Arbatel: Of the Magic of the Ancients) is a 16th-century Swiss grimoire: a book of magic. It purports to be the revelations of an angel named Arbatel “concerning the greatest secrets which are lawful for man to know, and to use them without offense unto God”. It may contain the earliest […]
The Puzzling Genesis of the Piasa Bird
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The Capitalist Cannibal Butthole Bird
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Weird Japanese Monsters
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The Mos Teutonicus and the Excarnates
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The Alecton Encounter
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The Flatland Multiverse
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The Agate House
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Folkloric Villains
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The Turu Lion-Men
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