Strange and Terrible Things: A Guide to Creatures That Haunt Our Dreams

A chilling collection of terrifying creatures from around the world, perfect for readers who want to know what lurks in the shadows

A Romanian Strigoi rising from its grave. The Boogeyman’s claws scraping beneath the bed. A Banshee’s wail echoing through Ireland. The glowing eyes of the Mothman staring from a West Virginia tree line. Krampus arriving to punish naughty children in the Yuletide season.

In Strange and Terrible Things: A Guide to Creatures that Haunt Our Dreams, author and artist Devin Forst takes you on a global tour of nightmares. Packed with eerie folklore, monstrous myths, and creepy tales from every corner of the world, this thoroughly researched guide uncovers nearly 80 sinister beings that live in the heart of humanity’s oldest fears.

Perfect for fans of horror and role-playing games, this illustration-heavy older middle–grade book explores the stories we tell about monsters―and what those stories say about us.

Creatures include those from classical mythology and contemporary folklore, and from diverse cultural traditions, including African, Aztec, British, Chinese, Egyptian, Filipino, Greek, Indian, Irish, Japanese, Mesopotamian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Nordic, Native American and North American, Slavic, and South American.

Chapters include:
Heinous Hags
Unnatural Undead
Sinister Spirits
Horrifying Humanoids
Creepy Cryptids
Menacing Monsters
Fiendish Faeries
Dark Divinities

Open the book if you dare. But beware . . . sometimes the creatures are known to bite.

• Publication date: 3 September 2026
• Page count: 208
• Dimensions: Height 203 mm; Width 152 mm; Thickness 22 mm
• Publisher: Abrams
• Format: Hardback
• ISBN-13: 9781419780615