CGP 11: Gary Gygax
by John Sakkis by John Sakkis (28 pp. Saddle-stapled.) $7 ppd.





 

The tradition of the Bestiarum vocabulum goes back to the 12th century; the tradition of Dungeons & Dragons, that cross between improvisational theater and light bondage, goes back to the 1970’s when it was invented by this chapbook’s eponymous hero. If you grew up in the 70s or 80’s you played D&D, knew someone who played D&D, or stuffed someone into a locker who played D&D. Whatever your feelings about game, there is no question that in their earliest incarnations, its rulebooks were celebrations of bizarre language and bizarre ideas, which undoubtedly had their influence upon poets-to-be who indulged in them. In Gary Gygax, John Sakkis brings bohemia back to its roots in its parents’ basement in this monster manual of beings malevolent and benign. Like an umber hulk, this book is a strange hybrid of disparate parts—snippets of language pulled from the game, from popular culture and from Sakkis’ subconscious. Like an umber hulk, this book will hold you rapt with its four terrible eyes.

Lycanthrope
by John Sakkis


sometimes known as ratmen
this lurker
is able to take three forms
human, human-sized ratman, and giant rat

belladonna, if eaten
within the hour
will generate a powerful charm

granting slam dunk powers
a Varsity Jacket and
your own sitcom on NBC

Scott Howard in the closet
punch-drunk and groaning
undetectable in melee,

typical of the Pleistocene Epoch
a horrid carnivore
his pelt worth 5,000 gold pieces