I’ll let you in on a little secret: Monster Book Club isn’t a horror fiction review site. Even though monsters are a sub-genre of horror, I try to keep my blog tightly focused. I’m not interested in reading demonic, paranormal or psychological novels about ghosts, witches or crazy men with big knives.

For me it’s all about the monsters. Any novel I review has to feature a colossal lizard, a swamp thing, a kraken and/or something else fantastical and otherworldly. In fact, the books I read don’t have to be scary at all. I’m totally open to reading romance, comedy and detective stories as long as there’s a giant ape involved.  

You may not realize it, but there’s been a bump of interest in monster fiction lately. Some of these new books are good, but many of them are bad. To help sort things out, here’s a list of my top-five favorite novels of the past year. I’m not particularly interested in producing a comprehensive consumer guide, but I wholeheartedly recommend the following titles as the best monster books of 2023.

1) From the Depths edited by Mark Bilsborough / Amazing Monsters Tales, Issue 4: Into the Briny Deep edited by DeAnna Knippling and Jamie Ferguson. Taken together, these anthologies are my two favorite monster books published in 2023. The relationship between sea and land has never been more profound. 

2) Project Vampire Killer by Jonathan Raab. According to author Raab, vampires are monsters and filmmakers are sorcerers. When the two meet, the spiritual axis of conflict will remake the world forever.  

3) The Last Night to Kill Nazis by David Agranoff. For war crimes committed during WWII, the Nazis were found guilty by Heaven and Hell. Not so for a 400-year-old vampire named Count Reiter. When he tore into a group of Nazi refugees, there were no gods or devils to punish him. 

4) Pulp: Monsters by Brad D. Sibbersen. Someone famously once said: “If you battle monsters, you don’t always become a monster. But you aren’t entirely human anymore, either.” That’s a perfect way to describe Sibbersen’s terrific collection. You’ve been warned. 

5) Deep Dark by Judith Sonnet. Who knew that giant gastropods could be so compelling? And who knew that Sonnet, the doyenne of splatterpunk, could engage readers so effectively by tamping down the extreme horror? 

The start of a new year always brings the promise of more exciting monster fiction to come. Now that 2023 has been bottled and capped, here’s an ongoing list of books that I’ll be perusing in the next 12 months.

2024 Monster Book Club Reading List

A Cut Below by Scott Drebit. All the Hearts You Eat by Hailey Piper. A Mayhem of Monsters by Mark Onspaugh. A Misfortune of Lake Monsters by Nicole M. Wolverton. Apex Apocalypse by John Lee Schneider. A Werewolf’s Guide to Seducing a Vampire by Sarah Hawley Backwaters by Lee Rozelle. Bering Sea Terror by Matthew Nefferdorf. Beyond Here Be Monsters by Gregory Frost. Bless Your Heart by Lindy Ryan. Boar War by R. Gualtieri. Bored Gay Werewolf by Tony Santorella. Bottoms and Bloodsuckers by D.A. Holmes. Bride by Ali Hazelwood. Cabaret of the Dead by Staci Layne Wilson. Dead Detective Society edited by James Aquilone. Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton. Doctor Strange: Dimension War by James Lovegrove. Eynhallow by Tim McGregor. Frankenstein Enterprises by Max D. Stanton. Frankenstein’s Monster by J.S. Barnes. French Tales of Vampires, Vol. 1 edited by Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier. Full Metal Octopus by Carlton Mellick III. Giant Freakin’ Robots edited by James Young. Gigawoman x Iguanos by Harper Able Kite. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire by Greg Keyes. Good Dogs by Brian Asman. Hell Pig by Anthony Engebretson. Her Frankenstein by Norikazu Kawashima. How to Help a Hungry Werewolf by Charlotte Stein. Immortal Pleasures by V. Castro. It Came from the Lake by Glenn Rolfe. It Watches in the Dark by Jeff Strand. Izzy’s Cursed Cabaret by Loretta Kendall. Kaiju Cataclysm by Sam M. Phillips. Kaiju: Deadfall by J.E. Gurley. Lucy Undying by Kiersten White. Love Vs. the Scarecrow by Cassandra Gannon. Monster by G.W. Thomas. Monster of Monsters, Tiamat by Constantine Furman. Monsters Among Us by J.H. Moncrieff. My Funny Frankenstein by Ward Parker. My Vampire Vs. Your Werewolf by Paul Tobin. Night of the Bubbies by Damien Casey. Prey of War by Brian Gatto. Redhead Town by Deborah Sheldon. Ruby’s Bite Me Bakery by Loretta Kendall. Russells in Time: Land Squids vs. Dinosaurs by Keven Shamel. Savage Prey by Gustavo Bondoni. Screams from the Ocean Floor edited by Heather Ann Larson. Silent Mine by C.M. Saunders. Solarpunk Creatures by Various. Somewhere in the Deep by Tanvi Berwah. So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison. Task Force E: The Reservation by Jason Rubis. Terrible Lizards edited by Kyle J. Durrant. The Horror Collection: Monster Edition edited by Kevin J. Kennedy. The Horror Zine’s Book of Monster Stories edited by Jeani Rector and Dean H. Wild. The Locust Bride by Ellis Goodson. The Old Gods Awaken by Donald Tyson. The Shriek-A-Rama Spook Show Experience by Judith Sonnet. The Z Word by Lindsay King-Miller. This Is Totally Normal by Tim Meyer. Tricksters by N.L. McLaughlin. Valentine’s Day with a Vampire by Tabitha Lovelace. Vigilante Sasquatch by Frank Cole. War of the Sea Monsters by Neil Riebe. We Mostly Come Out at Night edited by Bob Costello. Werewolf Art Thou by Ward Parker. We’re Not Ourselves Today by Jill Girardi and Lydia Prime.