The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures

Written by Aaron Mahnke

Narrated by Aaron Mahnke

A fascinating, beautifully illustrated guide to the monsters that are part of our collective psyche, featuring stories from the Lore podcast—now a streaming television series—including “They Made a Tonic,” “Passed Notes,” and “Unboxed,” as well as rare material.

They live in shadows—deep in the forest, late in the night, in the dark recesses of our minds. They’re spoken of in stories and superstitions, relics of an unenlightened age, old wives’ tales, passed down through generations. Yet no matter how wary and jaded we have become, as individuals or as a society, a part of us remains vulnerable to them: werewolves and wendigos, poltergeists and vampires, angry elves and vengeful spirits. 

In this beautifully illustrated volume, the host of the hit podcast Lore serves as a guide on a fascinating journey through the history of these terrifying creatures, exploring not only the legends but what they tell us about ourselves. Aaron Mahnke invites us to the desolate Pine Barrens of New Jersey, where the notorious winged, red-eyed Jersey Devil dwells. He delves into harrowing accounts of cannibalism—some officially documented, others the stuff of speculation . . . perhaps. He visits the dimly lit rooms where séances take place, the European villages where gremlins make mischief, even Key West, Florida, home of a haunted doll named Robert.

In a world of “emotional vampires” and “zombie malls,” the monsters of folklore have become both a part of our language and a part of our collective psyche. Whether these beasts and bogeymen are real or just a reflection of our primal fears, we know, on some level, that not every mystery has been explained and that the unknown still holds the power to strike fear deep in our hearts and souls. As Aaron Mahnke reminds us, sometimes the truth is even scarier than the lore.

The World of Lore series includes:
MONSTROUS CREATURES • WICKED MORTALS • DREADFUL PLACES

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 10, 2017
• ISBN: 9780525595274

Aaron Mahnke

Aaron Mahnke is the writer, host, and producer of Lore, as well as the author of a number of supernatural thrillers. He has a deep love of the mysterious and frightening that began with Unsolved Mysteries and The X-Files-a love that continues to this day. Basically, he's a nerd for anything unexplainable or supernatural. Mahnke lives with his family in the historic Boston area, in the very heart of Lovecraft Country and the epicenter of the Salem witch trials. lorepodcast.com

Reviews for The World of Lore

[slmr4242 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing book. I love the larger picture it gives of lore--much more international. Must own!

[dgrachel · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was an enjoyable read of slightly spooky stories. I'm not a huge fan of podcasts in general, so I've only listened to an episode or two of the Lore podcast that inspired this book, and I also tend to have issues with short story collections. Aaron Mahnke narrates the audiobook, so when I found myself struggling with the tales in print, I switched over to audiobook and enjoyed that immensely.

I do like legends and folklore, as a general rule. I find superstitions to be fascinating and the tales included in this book were a lot of fun. Some seemed to really have clear cut non-supernatural causes, but others keep you thinking long after the chapter ends, as they don't seem to have a clear, logical, rational reason. I'm glad I saved this for October and I look forward to the other books in the series. I own them in print, but I think I will grab them on audio, because that format works better for me with these types of tales.

[bodagirl · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Just listen to the podcast. I think he just grouped episodes and published them as a collection.

[arkrayder · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Again Manke has produced a really interesting and well researched book. Even if you don’t believe in the paranormal the history behind the story is really just as absorbing. That’s mostly why I read ghost stories. You can learn a little bit of history of an area if you shift through the added drama.

[birdo82 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There's an unfortunate lack of new material, as most of the text is lifted word-for-word from the podcast, but it makes a wonderful entry point to the Lore franchise for those who are new, for those who simply enjoy the weird and spooky, or it can serve as a pleasant revisit for existing fans.

[jckphnx · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There's an unfortunate lack of new material, as most of the text is lifted word-for-word from the podcast, but it makes a wonderful entry point to the Lore franchise for those who are new, for those who simply enjoy the weird and spooky, or it can serve as a pleasant revisit for existing fans.

[aliceap-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I saw an ad for this in a subway station and it wasn't the title that caught my eye but the author. I had been an avid listener of his podcast (named Lore unsurprisingly) last year and then as is my way (especially with podcasts) I had totally forgotten about it. Once I started reading the book I realized that it was essentially composed of transcripts from his podcast episodes. (Guess it's a good thing I didn't listen to all of them.) The book is broken down into categories about different creatures from folklore. Two examples: vampires and zombies. Vampires could have been created because of a disease whereby people were pale, sensitive to sunlight, and craved blood. (And then there was Vlad the Impaler who is perhaps the most well-known nightwalker. (Quick note: Nightwalker is not a cool name for a vampire like I had originally thought but I'm gonna just pretend that it is cause it's better than repeating the word vampire ad nauseum.)) Zombies were most likely inspired by victims of tuberculosis (the living dead) and the large numbers of people who were pronounced dead then subsequently rose from their graves. (This is a real thing and will perhaps explain why more people choose cremation these days.) Mahnke also discusses the history of hauntings and the popularity of the spirtualist movement among many other topics of the supernatural. He has a way of simultaneously debunking these theories while giving the impression that we should still remain open-minded. It's an interesting read especially if you haven't really delved too deep into this subject area and you want to get the rundown. 8/10

Monstrous Creatures is the first in a planned trilogy and I think there's also a tv show in the works. I guess I'm not the only one interested in the supernatural. ;-)

[musecure · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Full disclosure, I am a huge fan of Mahnke's Lore podcast and I absolutely love the book version. Most of the material is directly from the podcast which, for me, was like re-reading an old favourite. Then, as a special treat, there's some new stuff thrown into the mix.

[meandmybooks-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A fun late-October book combining stories of uncanny events and encounters with breezy explorations of the folklore related to the various sorts of ghosts, beasties, and peculiar practices covered in each section. Prior to reading this, I was not aware of the “Lore” podcast (potential readers may want to note that some reviewers comment that the stories here are very similar to those presented in episodes of the podcast), and that originally oral presentation is very evident in the book, which is distinctly casual and conversational in style. The author maintains an attitude of friendly skepticism about the supernatural creatures featured in his tales – sea monsters, evil dolls, vampires, mothmen, etc. – but always with a wink and in the cheerful spirit of “Well, we can see that there is probably a perfectly rational explanation for this, but wouldn't it be delicious fun if it really were true that...” The book is not heavily illustrated, but the full page black and white drawings (I think there are ten of these) are marvelous, and the bibliography is also really nice.