Simply put, if you buy only one monster book for your OSR game, it should probably be this one. It has most of the monsters from 1e, as well as lots of new creatures and variations. And unlike so-called "modern" monster books, the stat blocks are not the length of the tax code with a raft of abilities, exceptions and conditions to keep track of. Plus, there's a picture for every monster as well as a mini encounter or adventure hook. These are great for inspiration, side quests, or even to use as interesting random encounters. And there are many clever pop culture references worked into the encounters.
The only real downsides are that the images varey somewhat in quality and because they try to keep it one monster per page, there's often a lot of white space. So they could have added a bit more fluff to the text. But in a book that already runs over 500 pages, perhaps less is more in that respect. And to be honest, this black and white artwork suits the book better than the color artwork they've used in supplements to Tome of Horrors Complete, which should be the second OSR monster book you buy. With those two massive tomes, it's hard to see you ever needing another monster book. My only regret is that I waited too long to buy this so I was only able to get the pdf. Still hoping to snag a hard copy somewhere.
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