Consumer alert: There’s a dynamic image of two daikaiju beasts on the cover of this new horror anthology. Be forewarned, however. There are no corresponding stories of Godzilla-like monsters included in the volume. That’s too bad. 

But in all other ways, The Horror Collection: Monster Edition includes a terrific sampling of all sorts of monstrous creatures—spiders, more spiders, water nymphs, shapechangers, more shapechangers, asynjur, aliens from outer space, mummies, bogeymen, giant gila monsters and sneaky demons. 

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde even show up in a story by Mark Young called “Beneath the Lunar Light.” A man named Blakeman who is suffering from a monthly shapeshifting curse travels to London to consult with Henry Jekyll about his affliction. The collegial conversation ends abruptly when Edward Hyde shows up and reveals his dastardly plan to Blakeman. “My intention is to create a world ruled by monsters,” he says. “Using the blood of you and I, we will be agents of chaos and disorder!”

Will Hyde succeed in his mad plan? Maybe. Maybe not. But either way, I’m all for it. Another story that speculates on “a world ruled by monsters” is “Gone Witness” by Chris Panatier. The only difference is this: the author’s “extinction logic” is more cruel and apocalyptic than anything Mr. Hyde could ever hope to execute. 

The closest thing to a kaiju story in this collection is “Salvia Sunset” by Brennan LaFaro. His giant gila monster (dubbed “Big Mama” by the locals) is as big as an 18-foot-long Conestoga wagon with fangs longer than a revolver barrel and “talons so sharp they could cut grains of sand in two.” The story takes place in Buzzard’s Edge, Arizona, and the author does a first-rate job of capturing the Sonoran Desert and the Arizona heat. As a former Zonie, I can confirm that summers in the Southwest are brutal, with or without gigantic venomous lizards. 

Heather Miller revisits an old 18th century English fairytale in her story called “In the Arms of the Annis.” The titular bogeywoman is creepy as hell, and her influence on a particular child is chilling. Here’s how the horror begins: “We made a kind of peace between us,” says the young village girl kept hostage by the monster. “I looked away when she brought in children captured from the hills and made meals of them. I shared the sheep with her when she brought them instead, cooking my meat over the fire, less and less over the years until I could eat mine almost as raw and bloody as she ate hers.” 

And finally, I enjoyed Veronica Smith’s story “Kill it With Fire” because of its offbeat humor. A woman wakes up to discover the insides of her home covered in massive webs. It’s “like a psychotic white winter wonderland in Hell,” writes Smith. A turf war immediately ensures between the woman and the spider-bat that’s responsible for the webbing. It’s like a goofball Silver Age Spider-Man comic book—trippy in all the right ways. 

[ KJK Publishing Presents the Horror Collection: Monster Edition / Edited by Ann Keeran and Kevin J. Kennedy / First Printing: January 2024 / ISBN: 9798877018709 ]