Review And Commentary On Teratic Tome From Neoplastic Press

 Introduction
A DM can never have to many monsters. There are to many occasions where something special is needed especially for a science fantasy style game where Lovecraftian nastiness is the rule and not the exception.
That's where this book comes in ' The Teratic Tome' is geared straight up for Osric and most retroclones but there are a myriad of reasons to spend the 6.66 dollars for it. 

The truth is that the book is an excellent bargain for those with particular needs for their Dungeon mastering such as myself. 
The book is well laid out with a ton of old school style artwork and monsters that have tendrils in nasty places, claws in more, and breasts galore!
Reviewer Timothy B brings up a very solid point about this book as well. According to him, "What do you get? Well a lot. Let's start with some of the things that others have not all mentioned first. This book is 100% OGC. So if you want to use one of these horrors in one of your products go right ahead. Just abide by the OGL. There are a lot of reasons why you might want to use these monsters too. They are some of the most original horrors I have seen outside of indie horror games. "
That's right the book is 100% OGC and your free to plunder its contents to your heart's consent as long as you site the author and book! That's reason enough to get deep into this one! 
 You can get this book for OSRIC Right Over
HERE
However there's much, much more!

The Description From DriveThruRpg :

This enchiridion of entities should only be used by DMs inclined towards malfeasance, sadism, and base wrongdoing.

Torn from the pages of the Books of Pandemonium, these horrific fiends -- including the grotesquely talented Curhadac, the sadistic Eremite, and the death-singing Acronical -- will test the mettle of any adventuring party.

Teratic Tome is an OSRIC-compatible bestiary featuring:

* Strange variants: Brine orc, gelatinous pyramid, and azure slime

* Undead: Ivory banshee, demimondaine, ash ghast, and verminated zombie

* New threats: Remnants, karkinoi, pontiffs, craanoi, and ingenues

* Unique entities: Baskra, Lunamic, Malchior, Pantagruel, and the Seamstress
The fact is that many of these monsters are incredibly nasty, very dangerous, and incredibly epic! The author does a really nice job of laying out some flavor that is very 80's AD&D and that's one of this book's strengths!

Because these are laid out in Osric these beauties will work with many retroclones on the market with little to some modification! That means this book has plug and play Lovecraftian monsters for your adventures. The layout makes this book a bargain and easy to navigate on a variety of formats.
 All in all I'm pretty pleased with the book! That's because it does exactly what it sets out to do. Gives some really nasty monsters in a very specific way and does it with style.

The Science Fantasy Angle
 
Because of the nature of this beastie your going to want to understand that many of these Lovecraftian horror  shows share more of a linage with Clive Barker's ilk then the traditional. There's lots and lots of nasty 'body horror' style monsters here.
That means that with a bit of modification these beasts can crawl through your local space wreck as well as your local dungeon temple.
There are two real stand out areas of monsters here. The demons and the dragons are incredibly well done. They can fit a variety of environments that seem to drip with slime or worse. Think Dagoba from Empire Strikes back as one possible setting for these types. They might not be out of place in a Carcosa game setting as well. 
Some of the other monsters might fit into an alien city ala some of the OSR modules of recent memory. Then if your to need a something special this might be just the book for you. 

Ten reasons To Use The Teratic Tome

1. There's always that one smarmy players who thinks he knows each and every creature. Time to pull this bad boy out and give him a slime covered surprise. 
2. Some of these  beasts are truly deserving and could fit a horror game very easily. Suddenly AD&D first edition 'Silent Hill' is a possibility.
3. Because of the nature of these monsters they make perfect fodder for both a post apocalypse world, or a failed colony with a mutation variation to throw in. 
4. These monsters make perfect guardians for technologically based treasures especially of a bio mechanical nature. Some might also serve as unuasual summoned monsters for your latest evil overlord. 
5. As I said because of their retroclone nature of the book these guys make perfect pawns for the Lords of Order or Chaos. 
6. This book packs quite a bit in for the buck every page of the one hundred and twenty pages offers all kinds of 'body horror' goodness. 
7. Its well written and offers several variations on the classics of the Monster Manual. Hell even the gnomes are evil. 
8. DM shouldn't take this book lightly. This is a total party killer if not used carefully .The challenge levels are easy to deal with. 
9. With some work these can be used with a wide array of retroclone games on the market. They allow one to add a bit of the 'Thing' , 'Body horror' flare to many tradition settings. 
10. This isn't a kid friendly book. These monsters are horrid, dangerous, and some are downright disturbing. This makes this book a perfect adult horror OSR resource without the bull associated with 'Vile book' sort of product.