Old monsters, carefully inspected.
Monster Man treats Dungeons & Dragons monsters as small historical problems with teeth. James Holloway moves from old gaming books and Dragonlance entries into mythology, imagery, archaeology, and playable judgment.
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Monster Man is a creature-by-creature reading project with the habits of a folklore seminar and the instincts of a game table. James Holloway works through older gaming books, especially Dungeons & Dragons material, and treats each monster as an artifact worth turning over slowly. The show asks where a creature comes from. Then it asks what the imagery, rules, mythology, ecology, and implied use all seem to think that creature is for. Recent episodes follow the Dragonlance Monsters Compendium Appendix for AD&D 2nd Edition, a source he approaches with both curiosity and stated skepticism. That tension gives the season its shape. A Fire Minion is not merely a fire-themed opponent; it becomes a way to talk about how much a monster entry needs beyond a basic concept. A Fetch is not only a dangerous reflection-creature from the Abyss; it opens onto Irish folklore, death omens, mirrors, level drain, and the difficulty of translating fatal prophecy into a game where players expect choices to matter. A haunted knight carries an old code past death, which sounds grand until the rules reveal a more awkward mix of honor, target selection, and inherited prejudice. The show notices that awkwardness. It also notices when an idea is better in concept than in use. Special episodes broaden the field without losing the same method. Bog bodies lead into archaeology, ritual killing, modern projection, Seamus Heaney, and the uncomfortable intimacy of preserved faces. Treasure without money turns toward gift exchange, feasting, object biographies, Icelandic sagas, and the social weight of who gave an object and how it was acquired. Bugbears become a case study in style, old Monster Manual art, fantasy humanoids, and why attitude can make one otherwise familiar monster last. There are occasional guest conversations, including a My Favorite Monster episode with Stephen Fleetwood about spirits of things and The War of Naming. Most of the appeal, though, lies in the patient monologue form. The show can be dry, careful, and funny within the same paragraph. It does not sell monsters as cool by assertion. It earns interest through exact oddities, caveats, source comparisons, and the practical question of what any of this does in play.
Made for: For tabletop gamers, game masters, RPG designers, folklore readers, and Dungeons & Dragons fans who enjoy slow, source-aware criticism. It especially suits listeners who like old books, strange monster logic, and practical game implications.
What sets it apart: Monster Man connects monster design to folklore, archaeology, imagery, edition details, and actual play without turning the material into hype. Its strength is the patient movement from textual oddity to usable judgment.
A show about monsters, because monsters are great.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
James Holloway makes old monsters legible by connecting their cultural origins, visual character, and practical possibilities at the gaming table.
Monster Man takes a monster-by-monster route through older gaming books. James Holloway traces each creature's origins and visual treatment, then asks how it functions at the table.
A 1977 bugbear illustration can win you over before its stats get a vote.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A feast, an axe, and an arm ring turn treasure into social texture.
Monster Man treats treasure as a way to think about status, memory, and friction, starting with Connor's question about prime directive themes and moving from shared food at a feast to object biographies in archaeology and then to Icelandic sagas.
Bog bodies, Heaney, and the uneasy line between preservation, projection, and ritual.
Monster Man turns to bog bodies, and James Holloway treats them less as curiosities than as problems of history, preservation, and projection.
A compact look at why bugbears still work.
Monster Man's bugbear special opens with the word itself, then works back through older usage and the 1977 Monster Manual before landing on a simple point: bugbears endure because they are all attitude. It is not just a taxonomy lesson.
A Fifth Element monster tour that tracks how each figure works, from Right Arm and Zorg to Mr. Shadow.
Monster Man treats The Fifth Element as a layered ladder of menace, moving from Right Arm to Zorg to Mr. Shadow and showing how each one works inside the film.
A measured Spelljammer farewell, focused on the strange, useful, and weaker monsters left in its wake.
Monster Man's Spelljammer finale works as a post-voyage reckoning, with James Holloway testing the setting's monsters against the expectations he brought to Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition. The strongest yardstick is practical use.
A king's cloak and a cracked axe show how gifts turn objects into social history.
Monster Man's "Treasure Without Money" follows James Holloway as he considers what makes a gift valuable when its real weight sits in the relationship around it.
Crunchy Pathfinder chaos with table-side rules insight.
Actual-play chaos with real table momentum.
Old-school RPG talk from the messy table.
Rules text turned into table advantage.
Actual play with sharp, chaotic table talk.
Kiwi fantasy chaos with heart and dice.
James Holloway concludes Monster Man's season on Spelljammer, the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition science fantasy setting.
This special episode explores the fantasy setting of Glorantha, discussing its unique characteristics, appeal to certain audiences, and why it differs from other settings like Middle-Earth.
Treasure does not have to mean money.
The host interviews game creator Phoevos Kraniotakis about his background in game design and his favorite monster, the Wendigo.
James Holloway examines why Sesame Street calls Cookie Monster, Grover, Elmo, Telly, Rosita, and Harry monsters while excluding characters such as Oscar the Grouch, Kermit, Big Bird, and the Count.
This episode explores two monsters from the Dragonlance Monsters Compendium Appendix for AD&D 2nd Edition, starting with the Hattori, a large predatory reptile adapted to desert environments.
James Holloway opens a special episode brought to you by the generosity and public spirit of Patreon backer Connor about cultures meeting with very different assumptions about money.
This episode explores monsters from the Dragonlance Monsters Compendium Appendix for AD&D 2nd edition, focusing on their history, mythology, and use in games.
James Holloway interviews RPG game designer Stephen Fleetwood about his favorite monster, his background in games, and his upcoming project The War of Naming.
The host explores two fire-themed monsters from the Dragonlance Monsters Compendium for AD&D 2nd Edition, examining their history and gameplay applications.
James Holloway opens a special Monster Man episode by thanking Patreon backer Jesse and making clear that the request is about bog bodies and non-traditionalism.
Christopher has asked for a special episode on bugbears, and the host takes the request as both a correction and a reason to dig in.
James Holloway opens by thanking Lori for the special episode and also thanks the new patron, Arcane Flame.
This special episode explores monsters with cosmic roles in gaming and mythology, focusing on examples like devils fighting demons in D&D and Wintercourt fairies battling Lovecraftian horrors in Harry Dresden novels.
Host James Holloway interviews author Jess Zafarris about monsters and etymology, exploring her background in gaming and word origins.
This episode features an interview with game designer Dean Cain discussing his favorite monster, Medusa, exploring its mythology, history, and applications in tabletop gaming.