Monster Fiction

No self-respecting bug sleeps at a slumber party. But there might not be a slumber party at all—Tabitha's house is crawling with monsters!

Sparky's father is worried about the new neighbors—they look different, they behave strangely, and he's heard bad things about them. He warns Sparky not to go near them, but Sparky can't resist. After all, he's never seen a human up close before.

The Hedley Beast was a terrible creature that hollered and screamed and was able to turn itself into all sorts of shapes.

I scented my mate and she disappeared before we could meet, leaving behind a forgotten piece of clothing. It’s driving me crazy. I’ve checked every unmated human female, asking if this mysterious red fabric is hers. Pissing off other males in the process, but what do I care? I’m on a quest to find my future bound, no matter what.

He sat behind me in Intergalactic High School, pulling on my braids with silver-tipped claws. Knocking my books to the ground and smoke-laughing at my dismay. He was always there, lurking around, scaring away all my possible dates.

The time has come! After discovering the true reason for the monster migration, Rowan is on an expedition to ultimately prove that she is worthy of the ebony monster-slaying sword on her back. She and her twin brother, Rhydd, their friends Dain and Alianor, as well as some other trusted advisors—and the ever-growing group of monstrous companions—are on a mission to help protect the dragon living in their homeland and are traveling to kingdoms beyond to make their case.

Malem has joined the forces of good and wages war against the vast host of Vorgon, the Balor who has come to destroy the world. Malem has four beautiful women fighting at his side, one of them a former general of Vorgon's army - a night elf tamed by his unique skill. He also has a few hill giants and other monsters ready to follow him to the gates of hell itself.

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.

Lenny Primrose is a puppet; a temptress sent to make my life bloody miserable. Adored by the public and used for her father’s benefit. Every man wants her, and every woman wants to be her. She’s good for my reputation. That’s the only reason I agree to the little devil’s proposal. I’m game. Willing to play pretend to get what I want. Until what I want is her. Now, there are no rules. I’ll wage a war against the world just to keep her. Even the deadliest men have their vices, and she happens to be mine.

As a witch in the walled city of Chernograd, Kosara has plenty of practice treating lycanthrope bites, bargaining with kikimoras, and slaying bloodsucking upirs. There’s only one monster she can’t defeat: her ex, the Zmey, known as the Tsar of Monsters. She’s defied him one too many times and now he’s hunting her. Betrayed by someone close to her, Kosara’s only choice is to trade her shadow—the source of her powers—for a quick escape.

Wounds is a confounding, strange, and utterly entrancing collection of six stories, including one new novella from Shirley Jackson Award-winning author Nathan Ballingrud. From the eerie dread descending upon a New Orleans dive bartender after a cell phone is left behind in a rollicking bar fight in The Visible Filth to the search for the map of hell in “The Butcher’s Table”, Ballingrud’s beautifully crafted stories are riveting in their quietly terrifying depictions of the murky line between the known and the unknown.

Tippy the triceratops was once a little girl's imaginary friend, a dinosaur detective who could help her make sense of the world. But when her father died, Tippy fell into the Stillreal, the underbelly of the Imagination, where discarded ideas go when they're too real to disappear. Now, he passes time doing detective work for other unwanted ideas - until Tippy runs into The Man in the Coat, a nightmare monster who can do the impossible: kill an idea permanently. Now Tippy must overcome his own trauma and solve the case, before there's nothing left but imaginary corpses.

Kaci and Abby are not BFFs. But when a joint family camping trip throws them together, the girls must make the best of it. Luckily, a rickety old amusement park down the road provides the perfect distraction—until Kaci mysteriously disappears for two hours in a fun house. Abby is furious—but then she experiences a bizarre time-lapse of her own.

My body is changing, and so is the power dynamic inside the bunker. With the chimera serum racing through my veins, I can barely believe in a future for myself, much less one that includes Atlan. He's trying, though. Trying to convince me that his love is unbreakable . . . while I can barely think past my need for revenge on the people who did this to me. They have to pay, and they need to be stopped before they do more damage to what's left of the human race.

As former police officer, his back broken in the line of duty, James' life hung by a thread. Securing treatment landed him deep in debt and working for a soldier of fortune company to pay for his recovery. When he learned just how dirty that company was, he had to decide if his conscience was worth becoming a lifelong paraplegic.

Cryptozoologist Richard Freeman has spent years researching and tracking down mythical monsters. In this book, he recounts riveting monster hunt stories, globetrotting adventures from the dense forests of Sumatra on the trail of a mystery ape known as the orang-pendek, to Tasmania in search of the thylacine or Tasmanian wolf. Every corner of Earth has its own monster—even the traceless Gobi Desert as he searches for the Mongolian death worm. The author provides excellent advice on how to carry out your own cryptozoological expeditions. Join the hunt for mythical animals!

Ethan Pitowski is afraid of everything. Luckily, his best friends don’t mind, and when their entire class gets invited to watch a long-buried horror movie at the most popular boy in school’s house, Ethan’s friends encourage him to join in the fun. But when the “scariest movie ever made” reveals itself to be not just a movie about a monster, but a movie that is a monster, only a terrified Ethan escapes its clutches. Now he must find a way to stop the monster and save his friends (and also, um, get their heads back).

Tess Snow has everything she ever wanted: one more semester before a career in property development, a loving boyfriend, and a future dazzling bright with possibility. For their two-year anniversary, Brax surprises Tess with a romantic trip to Mexico. Sandy beaches, delicious cocktails, and soul-connecting sex set the mood for a wonderful holiday. With a full heart, and looking forward to a passion filled week, Tess is on top of the world. But lusty paradise is shattered. Kidnapped. Drugged. Stolen.

Tess is Q's completely. Q is Tess's irrevocably. But now, they must learn the boundaries of their unconventional relationship, while Tess seeks vengeance on the men who sold her. Q made a blood-oath to deliver their corpses at Tess's feet, and that's just what he'll do.

In 1993, Fox debuted a strange new television show called The X-Files. Little did anyone suspect that the series would become one of the network's biggest hits - and change the landscape of television in the process. Now, on the occasion of the show's 25th anniversary, TV critics Zack Handlen and Todd VanDerWerff unpack exactly what made this haunting show so groundbreaking. Witty and insightful reviews of every episode of the series, revised and updated from the authors' popular A.V. Club recaps, leave no mystery unsolved and no monster unexplained.