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BOOKS OF HORRIBLE BEAUTY
There are unimaginable horrors in the Cthulhu Mythos, and Malleus Monstrorum has all of them. In a tidy slipcover, rests two hard cover books. The first is Cthulhu Mythos Bestiary Volume 1, which contains all the monsters you might need for a Call of Cthulhu Campaign The second book is the Volume 2 which has all the deities of the mythos. It is a collection any Call of Cthulhu keeper would find immeasurably useful. To be fair, it probably isn’t a necessity, but it is a delight to own. This book was put together by Mike Mason, Scott David Aniolowski, Loic Muzy and Paul Fricker through Chaosium.
THE MYTHOS
So many authors wrote in the Cthulhu Mythos, bringing in their own monsters, their own gods and incorporating them into this amalgamation of different voices throughout the last century. The writers of this book, went through all the Call of Cthulhu source books since it’s creation, and delved into the original source material and compiled it all in the Malleus Monstrorum. These books not only have the stat blocks for each of the monsters and gods, but it also includes detailed descriptions. This set of books also include tips on how to create your own monsters using the established mythos which I find very much in the spirit of weird fiction.
THE ARTWORK
In deep horrifying detail the artwork is enough to spawn nightmares. You get the feeling that this book was written in the blood of victims, there is an overall red tone to the pages which I absolutely adore. The books contain several full-page artworks. Each of them terrifying in their own way. So much love was put into each of the creature designs and the scenes enclosed within. The Malleus Monstrorum is a veritable gallery of cosmic horror.
FAVOURITE MONSTERS AND GODS
Rat Thing: A simple monster with a simple concept. It bites, it rakes with claws, and it’s essentially a rat with a human face. Good
Hounds of Tindalos: One of my favourite mythos creatures. They are hounds with serrated teeth, and as they move through the angles of space and time, according to the book they look like a cubist’s nightmare.
Nyarlathotep, the crawling chaos: A shape shifting God that can take on human form, and sometimes imperfectly which is where you can build the horror for your players.
THINGS I LIKE
What really works is the red text, giving the effect of the book written in blood. I love the inclusion of actual mythos text. Also the helpful tips at the beginning to help you add your own flavour to your campaigns.
THINGS I DISLIKE
The cover of Volume 2 is a bit busy, but other than that, perfection.
OVERALL
When I purchased this book set, I did give serious thought to whether or not I needed it. I do not think the Malleus Monstrorum is required reading for running Call of Cthulhu campaigns, however it is helpful. The artwork, and attention to detail is immaculate and this book has a lot of possibilities built into every page.
