Years ago, as an editor for a leading manga publisher in the U.S., I pushed to acquire the four out-of-print Godzilla novels by Marc Cerasini. The books probably didn’t sell well back in the 90s, but publishing is a funny business. Maybe a publisher with a substantial Japanese pedigree could reach an audience that a homegrown publisher couldn’t? After all, Godzilla is an iconic Japanese export in the same way that Pokémon, Dragon Ball, Naruto and Sailor Moon are. It made sense to me that Godzilla would be a valuable license to acquire.

If I were still living in San Francisco and working as a manga editor, I’d try one more time to acquire those Godzilla books. That’s because I sense an uptick of interest in daikaiju fiction. The genre is definitely gaining momentum, and that momentum is reflected in my annual genre recap. Below is my list of the best books of 2025. 

1) Attack of the Kaiju, Vol. 3: Giants on the Rampage and Reign of the Titans, Vol. 1: Ragnarok … Now! edited by Christofer Nigro. Honestly, in any other year, I probably wouldn’t put these two anthologies at the top of my year-end list. But in 2025, they clearly represent a tipping point. Interest in daikaiju fiction is growing. If you’re curious about the genre, start here. 

2) Flesh-Eating Turtles! by Nora B. Peevy. An outrageous and funny critique of scientific hubris with a nod toward Japan’s “Guardian of the Universe”—Gamera, the kaiju-kame. Without question, my favorite novel of 2025. 

3) Combat Monsters edited by Henry Herz. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: War and monsters go together like love and marriage. You can’t have one without the other. As proof, check out this excellent monster-in-arms collection. 

4) Modern Mummies: A Horror Anthology edited by A.C. Bauer. All good mummy stories, like the ones in this volume, present a window into humanity, both ancient and modern. But that’s no surprise. The dead have always told us the truth about the living. 

5) Janitors vs. the Living Dead by Melissa Lason and Michelle Garza. Authors Lason and Garza call their shambling zombies “walking shit bags, shitter-monsters and unstoppable shit machines.” Their description is apt—Janitors vs. the Living Dead is good shit.

What follows is an ongoing list of novels that are on my radar for 2026. I’ll update the list throughout the year as books become available.

Blood Sick by Adam Cesare. Boy, with Accidental Dinosaur by Ian McDonald. Brokeula by Michael J. Seidlinger. Cryptid by Annah Browning. Escape from Skull Island by Simon Furman. Fabulous Bodies by Chuck Tingle. Giant Killer Kaiju published by Raconteur Press. He’s the Devil by Tobi Coventry. Maria the Wanted by V. Castro. Meat Bees by Dane Erbach. Nest of Tongues by Randy Ribay. Pet Monsters edited by David Badurina. Pinupocalypse by Andrew Tarusov. Plasma Pulp: Lost Worlds published by Raconteur Press. Reliquary by Hannah F. Whitten. Return of the Ancients edited by Katy Soar. Scorpion Deep by C.G. Drews. Serial Chillers: The Monster in the Mines by Jennifer Killick. Shadows Over Innsmouth edited by Stephen Jones. Shampe by Anthony Kincaid. The Big Bad Book of Kaiju edited by Jonathan Maberry and Henry Herz. The Book of Blood & Roses by Annie Summerlee. The Fate of Finnegan Quick by Larry Hayes. The Haunted House that Swallowed the Universe/Mummies and Sorcerers in South Boston by Christoph Paul. The Jellyfish Problem by Tessa Yang. Them by W.H. Chizmar. Tooth and Claw by Michael Cole. Under a Carnivore Sky by Brianna Jett. Vampire Missionaries by Kathleen Rhodes. We Call Them Witches by India-Rose Bower. Wretch by Jeremy Wagner. Zombie Joe and the Multiverse Lizards by Robert Charles.