A pop-culture and imagination-infused catalog of fantastical beasts, monsters, and creatures of myth and legend from around the world—complete with “things to watch & read”, a map, and delightful illustration. Welcome to Monsterpedia! Welcome young readers to this codex of monsters that you should know before you venture out into the world. These are creatures from myth, legend, and popular culture, they exist, and you should be prepared to encounter them. Each monster’s description details strengths, weaknesses, cultural background, tips and tricks for spotting and eluding the monsters, and often a suggestion for further reading. The illustrations helpfully show how horrible and frightening the creature would be should you bump into one, and the map indicates where in the world monsters and creatures from mythology and folklore might be found should you decide to go looking for them . . . This is a gorgeously illustrated and comprehensive catalog of monsters, beasts, and mythical creatures from around the globe, with an entertaining, easy-to-read text and incredible colour illustrations throughout. Monstrous beasts love nothing more than a good old-fashioned fright, but one of them will realize there are more ways than one to have their fearful fun . . . SEBASTIANO BARCAROLI Born in Rome, where he still lives, Sebastiano founded the two art magazines Stirato Poster Magazine and Bang Art. Since 2009 he has been the driving force behind the film and illustration site chickenbroccoli.it. He has published Il grande libro dei quiz sul cinema and, with Federica Lippi, Keep Calm e guarda un film and 101 film per ragazze e ragazzi eccezionali, all books that speak of his passion for cinema, including horror movies. He’s afraid of zombies and coats on hangers that pretend to be Babau the Bogeyman in the dark. Sebastiano collected information for: harpies, Baba Yaga, banshees, Blob, El Chupacabra, Frankenstein’s Monster, Davy Jones, ghosts, gargoyles, ghouls, golems, gremlins, huli jings, kappas, Madremonte, Medusa, Creature of the Black Lagoon, The Mummy, sirens, witches, taniwhas, Invisible Man, werewolves, yetis, zombies.  ANDREA FONTANA Born in Genoa, where he still lives, Andrea is an essayist, author, and screenwriter. He works with Fumettologica and Segnocinema. He edited and wrote Studio Ghibli, La Bomba e l’onda and the more recent Satoshi Kon. He wrote the graphic novel Clara e le ombre (Editrice Il Castoro), illustrated by Claudia Petrazzi, translated into Spanish and French. He’s afraid of vampires, and to overcome this fear he married one. Andrea collected information for: Aicha Kandicha, Mongolian Death Worm, Babau, bunyips, Headless Horseman, dragons, El Cuero, El Hombre Caimán, elementals, homunculi, hydras, impundulus, kaijūs, Kraken, Krampus, leprechauns, Loch Ness Monster, nians, onis, man-eating plants, sigbins, squonks, trolls, Mothman, vampires. CLAUDIA PETRAZZI Born in 1985 in Arezzo, where she still lives and works, Claudia is an illustrator and cartoonist of children’s books. She is published in Italy and France. She illustrated the Nazar Malik books, a series written by Olivia Corio and translated into five languages. Clara e le ombre is her first graphic novel, written by Andrea Fontana and published in 2020 by Editrice Il Castoro. She often moves house, always hoping she won’t bump into the ghosts that haunt them. She has founded a witch club that meets on Saturday evenings to knit. Claudia did all the monster portraits! A WORD TO THE WISE It’s important to be prepared these days. Especially if you were to bump into a monster. What was that? No such thing as monsters? Sorry, we beg to differ. After getting our heads together and doing some brainstorming, the undersigned Sebastiano Barcaroli, Andrea Fontana, and Claudia Petrazzi, eminent monsterologists, decided to pack their bags, with a complete monster-seeker kit, of course, and set off to collect all the information needed to give the world Monsterpedia, the first illustrated monster encyclopedia. Fifty monsters are described in this illustrious illustrated guide. Of course, these aren’t the only ones that exist. There are many more monsters in the world. We selected a few, choosing some very famous monsters and others we know almost nothing about. But every one of them, absolutely every single one, is a creature with a thousand secrets, oddities, and incredible stories! On our monster journey we took no photos. Far too risky! What if they turned out blurry? What if the camera click scared the creature we were watching? No! We decided it was better to get Claudia to draw their portraits. Sketchbook in hand, she filled each page with all the strange, funny, and sometimes just plain weird creatures we bumped into. We’ll let you in on a secret . . . for any self-respecting monster-seeker, the best strategy is to start with myths and legends.