OK, so, Torg is about the Possibility Wars, in which realities other than our own invade and overlay the existing reality, and impose new rules. The invasion was led by the Gaunt Man, who is powered by fear, and his reality, Orrorsh (an anagram of “horrors”) beshadowed South East Asia, mixing the original reality with that of a Hammer horror film full of gaslit streets, heroic Englishmen and lots and lots of monsters. You see, Mr. Man has a habit of invading and eventually ruining realities, that is, until he found a British Empire-dominated reality where he learned how to implement an efficient system of extractive colonial imperialism. I can’t decide if this is a commentary on colonial imperialism or not, though. Probably not, I don’t think it is wise to give Torg quite that much credit.

Let’s focus on the monsters, though. This is Creatures of Orrorsh (1992). Cover painting is by David English and puts me in the mind of Les Edward’s many horror portraits mix with a little bit of Metallica’s Jump in the Fire single cover (also by Les, for the record). I don’t know why I saw this cover a lot back in the day, but I did, so it resonates for me as a bit of a classic of the time. No idea if that notion has actual merit.

The selection of monsters is wild. I think, especially in the ’90s, there are many attempts at monster books full of entirely new monsters, and they generally fall flat, because it is hard to fill a book with that many new things without them seeming A. familiar or derivative or B. Trying to hide the fact that they are familiar or derivative. Not so here! These monsters are fucking bizarre. There is a coffin full of black goo, an ambulatory circulatory system, a killer lawnmower (!), a mask that turns the wearer into a murder, a fur coat that turns the wearer into a giant killer bear. There are a surprising number of kangaroo monsters! What a selection. Well worth picking up for ideas for your own horror games, though it is unlikely many games that aren’t Torg can handle such a wide spectrum of silly and horrific monsters.

Interior art (no clear credits) by Marshall Andrews, Paul Daly, Tom Dow and Daniel Gelon. All suitably dark and grimy.