So, unlike the Lone Wolf books, I cannot remember how I came by Dungeon of Dread. It was earlier than the Lone Wolf books, for sure, but the circumstances are simply lost to time and memory. I lived in Japan, the book came my way, I purchased it new, and that's all I can say on the matter.

I do remember it wasn't my first of this series of books (that was number 13, Dragon of Doom—I'll probably talk about that one later). I never did things in their proper order. Anyway, this was probably my earliest introduction to the art of Jim Holloway (who did all of the internal artwork) and I've remained a fan of his work ever since. I don't believe I was any stranger to the work of Larry Elmore (who did the cover of the book) at this point. I found the illustrations and the cover quite striking.

The book itself was aimed at an audience a bit younger than I was at the time. Nevertheless, I found it sufficiently entertaining enough to hold onto my copy for 40 years.

During the course of reading the book, I was fascinated by the water weird monster in the text, at a time before I encountered the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual.

A brief synopsis and some general background can be found here.

Estes, Rose. Dungeon of Dread. TSR, 1982.