I think that this volume has lost focus. The monsters seem completely uninspired (come on - a brain in a jar! ) and most hark from other, better sources. The black-and-white art seems to be low-grade and threatens to rub off on contact (on further examination the suspicion proved true). The saddest part is that all creatures are accompanied with background stories a la Rogues Gallery, but infinitely poorer, barely even scraping the surface of Ravenloft's nature. It really hurts to see this sort of thing from TSR.