THE BIG BOOK OF MONSTERS

A thrilling gallery of boojums drawn from the pages, scrolls, and clay tablets of literary classics.

Staying in the public domain aside from a few brief excursions, Johnson (Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods, 2015) selects 25 monsters and arranges them alphabetically from “Apep” and “Beatrice Rappaccini” to “Zahhak” (a cursed king from Persian literature with brain-eating snakes growing on his shoulders, woohoo!). For each he supplies a two- or three-page plot summary that incorporates occasional quotes and a basic fact box. Each main entry gets a “Fear Factor” rating designated with screaming-skull symbols (Dracula and Guy de Maupassant’s invisible Horla join Zahhak to lead the pack with five; the Jabberwock rates just two). In an often fascinating aftersection dubbed “Beyond the Book,” Johnson lays out literary or historical background, grants nods to similar tales (such as Rabelais’ Gargantua, “a philosophical work and a collection of toilet jokes”), or just takes up fascinating tangential topics. His range of interests and informal style (“ ‘Don’t worry, I got this,’ said Beowulf”) make him a particularly engaging tour guide, and at the end he not only lists more monsters that did not make the cut, but also conscientiously cites and discusses his classic sources and translations. Sievert goes for lurid effects in his illustrations, depicting menacing figures with glowing eyes, half-rotten undead, and toothy, slavering monsters.

Readers on the lookout for something wicked this way coming will be terrified, grossed out, delighted.