Hundreds of books featuring monsters are published every year and there’s no way to read them all. If you’re a regular visitor to this site, you’ve undoubtedly noticed that a lot of high-profile, well-received efforts from 2024 never cracked my reading list—books such as Bored Gay Werewolf by Tony Santorella, Bless Your Heart by Lindy Ryan, The Z Word by Lindsay King-Miller and So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison. 

But so what? Like I’ve said before, I’m not trying to assemble some kind of A+ shopping list of reputable fiction. Rather, I’m doing my best to establish a monster novel aesthetic borrowed loosely from a 40-year-old Japanese fine art style called Heta-Uma.

At first blush, the books I read might appear to be awful (heta), but upon closer inspection they actually turn out to be terrific (uma). To me, the unstoppable urge to write a zany monster novel is valued more than any literary craft taught to MFA students. If someone has an idea to write a story featuring a giant pink blob, a mutant Spinosaurus and a sexy mummy, I encourage them to do so. I’d love to read it. In the meantime, here’s a list of my favorite books of 2024.

1) Knocks and Howls edited by Jim Beard / Attack on Sasquatch Valley by Jason White. Who says all bigfoot stories are the same? Not me. These two books prove the genre has plenty of nuance. Congratulations to everyone involved.  

2) To Hell You Ride by Carissa Hardcastle. Is this a science fiction novel or a mid-century giant monster throwback? Tomayto Tomahto. It doesn’t really matter. It’s an awesome creature feature either way.  

3) A Mayhem of Monsters by Mark Onspaugh. A variety of monsters fill this bountiful anthology—including redteeth, black dogs, burnt men and weeping women. Added bonus: most of the stories end with an unexpected EC Comics-like twist. 

4) KJK Publishing Presents the Horror Collection: Monster Edition edited by Ann Keeran and Kevin J. Kennedy. KJK Publishing has been releasing top-notch horror anthologies for years. This, I believe, is its first volume dedicated solely to monsters. I hope there’s a second volume coming soon.

5) Beyond Here Be Monsters by Gregory Frost. Consumer alert: not all the stories in this collection feature monsters. But that’s cool. It’s always a treat to get a newly curated batch of stories from Mr. Frost. And don’t worry—the monster stuff is pretty dang terrific.

I look forward to more “awful but amazing” monster novels in the future. Below is an ongoing list of books that are already on my radar.  

2025 Monster Book Club Reading List

Aflockapocalypse! by Tory Favro. Bestia Secretum: Further Explorations into Classic Cryptozoological Fiction edited by Chad Arment. Beasts by Ingvild Bjerkeland. Blood on Her Tongue by Johanna Van Veen. Blood Slaves by Markus Redmond. Bloodsucker County by Jeff Strand. But Not Too Bold by Hache Pueyo. Coffin Moon by Keith Rosson. Cone by Michael Cole. Combat Monsters: Untold Tales of World War II edited by Henry Herz. Cosmic Dyke Patrol by Lor Gislason. Count Quackula, the Duck Who Sucked by Dustin Gross. Creature by Amy Weldon. Cryptid Collector by Sam M. Phillips. Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff. Dog Fight by Lucas Pederson. Down Came the Spiders by Ally Russell. Dropshipped by Stephanie Sanders-Jacob. Fossil Sci-Fi by Allen A. Debus. Frankenstein Lives by Paul Ruditis. Frankenstein’s Monster by J.S. Barnes. Gator by J.A. Johnson. Girls, Robots and Monsters by Clea and Tallis Salar. Gore vs. the Cryptid Kaiju by Zach Cole and Cody Bratsch. Harlow’s Haute Horrors by Loretta Kendall. Hell Below Zero by K.G. McAbee. Hive Rod McLaughlin. Holy Water Hurts by Gabryel Grimm-Goretez. Howler: Terror in the Ozarks by Edward J. McFadden III. Howl: An Anthology of Werewolves from Women-In-Horror edited by Stephanie M. Wytovich and Lindy Ryan. Hungerstone by Kat Dunn. Loch Ness Awakens by K.T. Tomb. Lost Souls and Restless Spirits by Adrian Lopez. Lupus in Fabula by Briar Ripley Page. Lured by the Luska by Henry Scott. Mademoiselle Frankenstein by Robin Solit. Mega Freak: Bloody Paradise by Mike Maclean Melinda West and the Gremlin Queen by K.C. Grifant. Mistaken Mummy by K.P. Maloy. Monster Bones edited by Stephanie Ellis & Noel Osualdini. Monsters of War by G.L. Newman. Monsters, Zombies and Mad Science by Brad Sibbersen. Monstrous by Ty Alexander. My Mummy vs. Your Ghost by Paul Tobin. My Zombie vs. Your Closet Monster by Paul Tobin. Nereus:1: Attack From the Depths by J.A. Johnson and K.G. Mcabee. Night of the Mosquitoes by Brian G. Berry. Noro by William F. Gray. Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove. One Yellow Eye by Leigh Radford. Our Winter Monster by Dennis Mahoney. Over Growth by Mira Grant. Prehistoric Nightmare: The Graveyard Shift by Sean P. Gibson. Prehistoric Nightmare: Zero Gravity by Sean P. Gibson. Primordial Soup: The Second Batch by Dustin Dreyling. Reef Mind by Matt Blairstone. Ristenoff by Jeremy Billingsley. Rokko by Christofer NIgro. Searching for Death by Rick Wood. She Was Monstress by various. Splitter: A Deep Sea Thriller by Stu Croskell. Strange Stones by Edward Lee and Mary SanGiovanni. Tales of Cryptid Chaos edited by R.e. Sargent and Steven Pajak. Tantrum by Rachel Eve Moulton. Terra Jurassic: The Time Rift by Elliot Thornbridge. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones. The Contest by David Golemon. The Midnight Shift by Cheon Seon-Ran. The Monster Clean Up Crew by Austin Colton. The Night Crew by Brad Ricks. The Portlock Sasquatch Massacre by K.T. Tomb. The Summer I Ate the Rich by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite. The Unkillable Frank Lightning by Josh Rountree. The Vampires of York Tower by Kirsten McKenzie. The Xixen by Bruce Bennett. Trample the Weak by Erik Testerman. Trapped! Again! by Richard D. Bailey. Trapped! Finale! by Richard D. Bailey. Trog by Zachary Ashford. Undead and Unwed by Sam Tschida. Vampire Rites by D.A. Holmes. Vampires at Sea by Lindsay Merbaum. Vampire Slave by Tony Heywood. Webbed by Christian Wallis. Weddings and Witchcraft by A.L. Brody. What Dances in the Dark by Shawn Brooks. Where Monsters Hide: Tales of the Uncanny edited by Scott Dyson. Zomromcom by Olivia Dade. 

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.