Interesting Monsters

Interesting Monsters
Author: Aldo Alvarez
Publisher:
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2001-08
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

What does your soul sound like? Mark, a has-been pop star at 40, converts his mother's attic into a recording studio to find out. Dean, who has AIDS, moves to his native Puerto Rico with his partner to enjoy his last few months of life, only to find himself battling a scheming, homophobic real estate agent who is ultimately trapped by her own wicked plans. With a playful intelligence, Alvarez shows that the real monsters in these stories are the prejudices that keep us silent and invisible. Here, the living visit the dead, lovers and friends endure catastrophic first dates and heartbreaking good-byes, and the lucky ones, sometimes, find true love.

Writing Monsters

Writing Monsters
Author: Philip Athans
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2014-09-18
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1599638088

Monsters are more than things that go bump in the night... Monsters are lurking in the woods, beneath the waves, and within our favorite books, films, and games--and there are good reasons why they appear so often. Monsters are manifestations of our fears and symbols of our society--not to mention they're a lot of fun--but each should serve a purpose and enhance the themes and tension in your fiction. In Writing Monsters, best-selling author Philip Athans uses classic examples from books, films, and the world around us to explore what makes monsters memorable--and terrifying. You'll learn what monsters can (and should) represent in your story and how to create monsters from the ground up. Writing Monsters includes: • In-depth discussions of where monsters come from, what they symbolize, and how to best portray them in fiction • Informative overviews of famous monsters, archetypes, and legendary creatures • A Monster Creation Form to help you create your monster from scratch • An annotated version of H.P. Lovecraft's chilling story "The Unnamable" Whether you write fantasy, science fiction, or horror, your vampires, ghouls, aliens, and trolls need to be both compelling and meaningful. With Writing Monsters, you can craft creatures that will wreak havoc in your stories and haunt your readers' imaginations--and nightmares.

Live to Tell the Tale

Live to Tell the Tale
Author: Keith Ammann
Publisher: Gallery / Saga Press
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2020-07-07
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 1982122692

From the author of The Monsters Know What They’re Doing comes an introduction to combat tactics for Dungeons & Dragons players. In his first book, The Monsters Know What They’re Doing (based on his popular blog), Keith Ammann unleashed upon the D&D world a wave of clever, highly evolved monster tactics. Now it’s only fair that he gives players the tools they need to fight back…and prevail! An introduction to combat tactics for fifth-edition Dungeons & Dragons players, Live to Tell the Tale evens the score. It examines the fundamentals of D&D battles: combat roles, party composition, attacking combos, advantage and disadvantage, Stealth and Perception, and more…including the ever-important consideration of how to run away! Don’t worry about creating a mathematically perfect character from square one. Survival isn’t about stats—it’s about behavior! With four turn-by-turn, roll-by-roll, blow-by-blow sample battles, Live to Tell the Tale breaks down how to make the best choices for your cherished characters so that they can survive their adventures, retire upon their accumulated riches, and tell stories about the old days that nobody will ever believe.

You Can Count on Monsters

You Can Count on Monsters
Author: Richard Evan Schwartz
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2015-03-19
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1470422093

This book is a unique teaching tool that takes math lovers on a journey designed to motivate kids (and kids at heart) to learn the fun of factoring and prime numbers. This volume visually explores the concepts of factoring and the role of prime and composite numbers. The playful and colorful monsters are designed to give children (and even older audiences) an intuitive understanding of the building blocks of numbers and the basics of multiplication. The introduction and appendices can also help adult readers answer questions about factoring from their young audience. The artwork is crisp and creative and the colors are bright and engaging, making this volume a welcome deviation from standard math texts. Any person, regardless of age, can profit from reading this book. Readers will find themselves returning to its pages for a very long time, continually learning from and getting to know the monsters as their knowledge expands. You Can Count on Monsters is a magnificent addition for any math education program and is enthusiastically recommended to every teacher, parent and grandparent, student, child, or other individual interested in exploring the visually fascinating world of the numbers 1 through 100.

Creatures from Fairy-Tale and Myth (5e): 5e Lore Book

Creatures from Fairy-Tale and Myth (5e): 5e Lore Book
Author: Andrew Valkauskas
Publisher:
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2019-11-25
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 9781988051239

Bring your 5e game to new lands and explore the wonders of Creatures from Fairy-Tale and Myth. Rediscover monsters you thought you knew, brought forth from their fairy-tale origins. Learn about strange new monsters drawn from Scandinavian, Baltic, Slavic and Celtic myth. This is more than just a series of stat blocks. Every creature is presented with beautiful art and a detailed breakdown, including an innovative, easy-prep look at 5e rules; a detailed backstory on the creature from the researchers that brought you Fate of the Norns: Ragnarok--the most Viking of roleplaying games; and supplementary text on the creature bursting with enough ideas to light a fire under any game master. Each creature is designed not as an encounter, but as a whole session, or with a whole campaign of possibilities. Creatures from Fairy-Tale and Myth 5e brings you a deep dive into historical myth and high fantasy to ignite your fascination and set your 5e game ablaze. Your game table may never be the same again. This book includes: - Brand new creatures compatible with the 5e game system - Brand new class for players - A comprehensive crafting system for all manner of magical and exotic items - Expansions for the 5e game system rules (social combat, dynamic power dice, etc...)

Unusual Creatures

Unusual Creatures
Author: Michael Hearst
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Total Pages: 111
Release: 2012-09-26
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1452104670

"Introduces the reader to a wealth of extraordinary life forms"-- P. [4] of cover.

The Monsters Know What They're Doing

The Monsters Know What They're Doing
Author: Keith Ammann
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 560
Release: 2019-10-29
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 1982122684

From the creator of the popular blog The Monsters Know What They’re Doing comes a compilation of villainous battle plans for Dungeon Masters. In the course of a Dungeons & Dragons game, a Dungeon Master has to make one decision after another in response to player behavior—and the better the players, the more unpredictable their behavior! It’s easy for even an experienced DM to get bogged down in on-the-spot decision-making or to let combat devolve into a boring slugfest, with enemies running directly at the player characters and biting, bashing, and slashing away. In The Monsters Know What They’re Doing, Keith Ammann lightens the DM’s burden by helping you understand your monsters’ abilities and develop battle plans before your fifth edition D&D game session begins. Just as soldiers don’t whip out their field manuals for the first time when they’re already under fire, a DM shouldn’t wait until the PCs have just encountered a dozen bullywugs to figure out how they advance, fight, and retreat. Easy to read and apply, The Monsters Know What They're Doing is essential reading for every DM.

No Place for Monsters

No Place for Monsters
Author: Kory Merritt
Publisher: HMH Books For Young Readers
Total Pages: 387
Release: 2020-09-15
Genre: JUVENILE FICTION
ISBN: 0358128536

Cowslip Grove seems like the perfect place to raise a family until the children start disappearing. Nobody looks for the children because nobody can remember them. Nobody except Levi and Kat. Now they must figure out what terrible presence is taking the chilren and fight it to save the missing kids, before the whole town disappears.

Songkeeper

Songkeeper
Author: Gillian Bronte Adams
Publisher: Songkeeper Chronicles
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016-04-15
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 9781621840695

War ravages Leira and the Song has fallen silentFreed from the hold of a slave ship, Birdie, the young Songkeeper, and Ky, a street-wise thief, emerge to a world at war. Hordes of dark soldiers march across Leira, shadowed by whispers of plague and massacres, prompting Ky to return to his besieged home city in hopes of leading his fellow runners to safety.Desperate to end the fighting, Birdie embarks on a dangerous mission into the heart of the Takhran's fortress. Legend speaks of a mythical spring buried within and the Songkeeper who will one day unleash it to achieve victory. Everyone believes Birdie is the one, but the elusive nature of the Song and rumors of other gifted individuals lead her to doubt her role. Unleashing the spring could defeat the Takhran once and for all, but can she truly be the Songkeeper when the Song no longer answers her call?Book two of the Songkeeper Chronicles.

The Book of Mythical Beasts and Magical Creatures

The Book of Mythical Beasts and Magical Creatures
Author: DK
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 162
Release: 2020-10-13
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0744037433

Meet your favourite monsters, fairies, heroes, and tricksters from all around the world! Enter the enchanting world of mythical creatures and explore the history behind them in this beautifully-illustrated Greek mythology book for children aged 5-9. You’ll meet an incredible cast of mind-boggling fictional animals from all around the world. Say hello to Bigfoot in the forests of North America and learn about the Native American traditions that inspired its story. Voyage to Japan to meet kitsune, supernatural nine-tailed foxes that can turn into humans. Then jump onboard an ancient storm-battered ship to learn why mermaids were the last thing a sailor wanted to see! Learn about the societies that spawned these legendary creatures, from Ancient Greece to the indigenous tribes of Australia, and find out what the beasts tell us about the people who created them. With magic and mystery in every page, your child can discover: - Facts behind the myths - Insights into cultures from around the world and their creation stories - Stunning full-colour illustrations by Pham Quang Phuc Mythical Beasts and Magical Creatures tells you everything you need to know about supernatural animals great and small. Perfect for fans of Harry Potter and other fantasy tales, this mythology book for children is the only kids’ guide to magical creatures that explores the history behind the mythology in both an engaging and educational way. A must-have volume for children aged 5-9 with an interes in fantasy tale, Mythical Beasts and Magical Creatures is filled with supernatural stories that brings the history of mythology and magical creatures to life, and explores the societies that birthed these legendary creatures found in narratives from Ancient Greek mythology, Australian and Native American folktales. From narwhal tusks inspiring the legend of unicorns, to dinosaur bones creating rumours of dragons, there is an interesting story behind every magical beast. This beautifully-illustrated fantasy book for kids is wonderful for children who like to delve into enchanting stories and magical creatures.