Monster Fiction

Not all monsters are fantasy. Some are very real, and they walk among us. They're our friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers. They're the people we're supposed to trust...and they know it. Contained within this anthology are 35 never-before-published works by supremely talented authors and best-selling novelists. Brace yourself for the unexpected and unimaginable horror of...human monsters.

Eighteen-year-old Eliza Mirk is the anonymous creator of the wildly popular webcomic Monstrous Sea, but when a new boy at school tempts her to live a life offline, everything she’s worked for begins to crumble. In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, and friendless. Online, Eliza is LadyConstellation, anonymous creator of a popular webcomic called Monstrous Sea. With millions of followers and fans throughout the world, Eliza’s persona is popular. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves her digital community.

It's been three years since Aren seized the Ember Blade. Three years since they struck the spark they hoped would ignite the revolution. But the flame has failed to catch. The Krodans have crushed Ossia in an iron grip of terror. The revolution seems further away than ever. Far in the north, the Dawnwardens seek to unite the fractious clans of the Fell Folk and create a stronghold from which to retake their land. But even if they can overcome the danger of treachery from within, they still have to contend with the dreadknights.

“Now, we become adventurers....” Von Dominus continues to build Zagorath into a lair worthy of an evil overlord. When a new item brings another realm to his fingertips, it’s time the dungeon did a little diving of his own.

My clients at my vet clinic have always called me an animal whisperer. I’ve never questioned it. Until I started hearing monsters, too. A man came in right at closing with a sick dog. The dog told me why he was sick, and I was able to treat him. I had no idea his owner would kidnap me. I had no idea his owner had an entire dungeon of monsters he wanted me to treat. I’ve met a minotaur, a mysterious kraken, a phoenix, and this really massive spider. I can hear them, too. If monsters are real and I can talk to them, then what am I?

An experimental ASI with a terminal case of curiosity reached out and tampered with the universe in a way that it should not have, and unleashed a torrent of energy we would call magic into our galaxy. Humans, and every other intelligent lifeform for that matter, were ill-prepared, physically and mentally, for such an eventuality. In an effort to save itself, the ASI hastily created something it called the Framework to shape and codify this magical energy, and usher in a new world. A world of classes, levels, and extraordinary power. But also a world of monsters.

When a strange woman shows up outside our camp in the Wastes with monsters chained up to her RV, it feels like I’m the only one who actually wants to help them. That big, grey-skinned monster with the cage on his head and the chain hanging from his back—something is telling me I need to help him. I need to free him. But I have absolutely no idea how I’m supposed to do that, especially when he can’t even talk to me to tell me how. Collector Mary is finally leaving our camp to head back to her monster menagerie, so I do the only thing I can think of to help him: I go with her.

For nearly a century, Victorian London relied on "climbing boys" - orphans owned by chimney sweeps - to clean flues and protect homes from fire. The work was hard, thankless and brutally dangerous. Eleven-year-old Nan Sparrow is quite possibly the best climber who ever lived. With her wits and will, she's managed to beat the deadly odds time and again. But when Nan gets stuck in a deadly chimney fire, she fears her time has come. Instead, she wakes to find herself in an abandoned attic - and not alone. Huddled in the corner is a mysterious creature - a golem - made from ash and coal.

Celestine is a land of beauty and horror where the heroic souls of men are tempted to fall from heights mere mortals were never meant to attain. Terrence Mack has managed to survive in this brutal world, gathering bonds of great power and ability, passing trials and tribulations that would crush lesser men. Yet his own unwillingness to let others share his burdens may be his undoing, and his greatest challenges are yet to come. To even reach his destiny, Terry must once again cross the Wildervast, a dream world where desires rule fate.

Linda is a good witch. Sadly, most witches aren't like Linda, including her scheming sisters. They have created a new evil potion and are ready to use it on innocent pets. Can Linda and her friends stop her evil sisters? Find out in this bewitching early chapter book.

Rome Armanelli is supposed to be a monster—an enforcer for the strongest family in the Italian Mafia. Yet, when I saw him take a man’s life, he did it to save mine. Since then, Rome doesn't want me anywhere near him. Sparks may fly when we're in the same room, but his famiglia is all he cares about. He tells me to leave, but he, of all people, should know—the Mafia doesn't let anyone go. Blood, ties, and partnerships sink their claws in. And when we find out exactly why his family kept me around, there's no turning back.

For an athlete like Matt Daniels, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It's also the most dangerous. That's because somebody is about to pull a mean prank. The recipe is simple: Just add Monster Blood. As if Matt's problems weren't big and slimy enough, a surprise invitation will lead to even more trouble. How long can Matt survive inside a terrifying theme park? Not very long if his friends keep disappearing!

Follow Luke as he's transported to a world of magic and monsters. A mysterious goddess has tasked the Earthly game warden with protecting an all-female tribe with strange animal features. Cast off from civilization, he must help this isolated jungle people fortify their village against the rapacious Rakhasa, confound a wicked witch, and breed the next generation of monster children.

Earth as Riven knew it has merged with Zazir and Elhisterii to form the post-apocalyptic creation of the Elysium known as Panu. Here, errant goblins and vulnerable elves battle it out, ungodly monsters spawn like crazy, suicide zombies run wild, and the streets are strewn with human remains. On a mission to find his sister, Allie—out there somewhere battling her own demons—Riven quickly learns that every time he kills his bloodlust only increases, bringing him ever closer to becoming a full-blown harbinger of doom. But maybe a vampiric hero is just what this mad new world needs.

Thomas Ward is the apprentice for the local Spook, who captures witches and drives away ghosts. As the weather gets colder and the nights draw in, the Spook receives an unexpected visitor. Tom doesn't know who the stranger is or what he wants, but the Spook suddenly decides it's time to travel to his winter house, Anglezarke. Tom has heard it will be a bleak, forbidding place, and that menacing creatures are starting to stir somewhere on the moors nearby.

When my father died and I stepped into his shoes as leader of Enigma, I vowed to protect the gang he’d built. And I won’t break that promise—no matter what I have to do to keep it.

When Mike Radley offered to battle a minotaur to retrieve a pair of magical goggles for his goblin wife, he thought he knew what to expect. He didn't expect to meet a lonely centaur hiding in his greenhouse. He really didn't expect an encounter with a powerful naga in the labyrinth under his home. And he definitely didn't expect a secret society of witches to camp out in his front yard, hellbent on revenge for killing one of their own and stealing their leader's succubus.

As Kelvin, the battle junkie Summoner hailing from another world, continues his extraordinary exploits, Goddess Melfina finally returns to his side, finally having completed her artificial body. When she grants him her blessing, he gains the power to summon a Hero of his own . . . who wants to become his stepsister?! As Kelvin and his party grow stronger by the day, he receives a summons for his Rank S promotion exam. The contents of the exam involve saving an elven settlement from the threat of a terrible monster, but just how much is the militaristic nation of Trycen involved?

All Esma Siban wants this summer is to stay out of her stepmother's way. When her stepsister, Morgan, suggests a road trip to Oregon to visit a friend from high school, Esma jumps on the idea. A camping trip sounds like the perfect way to help Esma recover from breaking up with her boyfriend. But when Esma and Morgan encounter a stalker, Esma's fangs come out. The death of a Sasquatch hunter wasn't on their itinerary. A terrified Esma is unsure what to do next, so she texts her ex-boyfriend for help.

Sure, Dracula can live forever, but he really just wants to hit the beach! To catch some waves, the blood-sucking bat will need a little help. That’s why he’s captured the brainy Buzz Beaker. Now, this wacky whiz kid must turn the Lord of the Vampires into the King of the Beach, or he could be the monster’s next meal.