Breverton’s
Phantasmagoria by Terry Breverton. Quercus £9.99
Reviewed
by Peter Coleborn
The tag line is “A compendium of monsters,
myths and legends”, and the book is just that. Terry Breverton has brought
together a galaxy of the weird, the paranormal, the strange creatures and
beliefs that our ancestors once believed. Unlike many such books, this one is
not simply an A-Z of beasties. Instead, we have eight chapters dealing with
specific themes, such as “Mysterious, Magical and Weird People”, “Mysteries of
the Deep” and “Tales of Secret Treasures”. Each chapter is, then, arranged with
A-Z entries, so we end up with bite-sized snippets of information on, for
example, The Babushka Lady, William Lilly, Teothihucan, Mother Carey’s Chickens
and the Loch Ness Monster. Because the book covers so much ground in its 380
pages, the individual articles do not go into much depth. However, if you are
looking for a brief explanation or description, Phantasmagoria is a good book with which to start off.
Okay, yes, of course one may Google the
Amphisbaena Tortoise or Chessie … but that’s not the point with this book. You
can browse its pages, stopping at an article when something catches your eyes,
and maybe discovering something you didn’t know, or something that you can use
in your next story.
Breverton’s
Phantasmagoria is a beautifully designed
publication. The two-column pages are printed in a brown ink, embellished with
many sepia-tinted illustrations. Maybe it’s not as filled out as the Element encyclopaedias,
but Phantasmagoria will make a fine
gift for anyone with an interest in monsters, myths and legends.
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