Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground by Stu Horvath

(MIT Press, 2023)

Reviewed by Alex Bardy

Here’s a book that was always going to be ‘up my alley’, especially as it comprehensively covers the earliest generation of roleplaying games back when they really began to gain popularity and momentum here in the UK. This is what I’ve always considered ‘my RPG generation’, so to speak, and it’s a time in which magazines like White Dwarf, Imagine, Dragon, The Space Gamer, Different Worlds, Challenge, Travellers’ Digest, and untold fanzines flooded the market and helped inspire a generation of gamers and wordsmiths, myself included.

For those readers wondering just who Stu Horvath is, may I direct you to the www.vintagerpg.com website—it’s an extremely pleasant, tidy little corner of the internet in which Stu regularly talks about his massive collection of historic tabletop RPG goodies, alongside a thorough appreciation of classic comic/RPG art (mostly pre-millennial). It’s also the home of the Vintage RPG Podcast, a weekly podcast Stu hosts with John McGuire, and a great listen, too!

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Review from BSFA Review 23 - Download your copy here.