Monster Fiction

Monster Hunter International may have had its roots in the United States of America, but there are plenty of monsters in the big old world. And wherever there are monsters, humans will need monster hunters. Here then, stories of the things that go bump in the night and the men and women who bump back—focusing on the myths, legends, and folklore of Czechia, by Czech authors. Includes a new short story by Larry Correia.

The most important thing I’d ever read was scribbled on the door of a portable restroom, engraved into plastic at a carnival on the outskirts of Boston. Lust lingers, love stays. Lust is impatient, love waits. Lust burns, love warms. Lust destroys, but love? Love kills. Maybe it was always my destiny to fall in love with a monster. When other kids stayed awake at night fearing the pointy-toothed beast hiding in their closet, I longed to see mine.

Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom of Blunder—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets. But nothing comes for free, especially magic. When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure Blunder from the dark magic infecting it.

Betrayed by goblins, attacked by ogres, vampires and the undead, they survived everything the Hangsane mountains could throw at them. But can Josh and his Misfits go all the way? Can they defeat the dread Grillons that followed him through spacetime? Will they fall at the last hurdle? And what is Vella’s true purpose?

He says his name is Malphas, that he’s something called a Sombra demon, and I’m his mate. Monster, demon…whatever he is, his muscles are bigger than my head, and that club between his legs…. I don’t know if mate means the same thing to him as it does me, but he’s gotta be kidding.

Blaze and Starla discover a map that leads to a bouncing bull racetrack, and race through the desert to find it!

Light years from home, an off-the-books corporate mission beyond the boundary goes horribly wrong, and the crew’s starship crashes onto an alien world that shouldn’t exist. To make matters worse, they trigger an ominous light that appears in the sky, and provoke the native wildlife. Though saved from disaster, the survivors learn they’ve moved out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Naughty girls need love too. A beautiful monster, that’s what I am. My packaging is just a little nicer than the creatures you hear about dwelling in your closet. With three baddies for my mates, things are definitely getting interesting. I think I’ve even convinced them not to kill each other. But I have a new purpose, someone is hurting our kind. Stealing Charmed magic in arcane rituals that leave my friends drained and dead, and I won’t allow it. It’s time for them to find out why even the Monsters fear me. I am the bad guy.

The devil has blue eyes, an Irish accent, and a hatred for me that runs deep. He blames me for starting a war. Consorting with his enemies. Getting his men killed. Though I’m innocent on all charges, he wants his pound of flesh. With an eye on revenge, he makes me his captive. But as we'll both soon discover, there are more powerful urges than that for revenge. When the devil meets his match but she’s his sworn enemy, that’s when the real war begins.

A virus tears across the globe, transforming its victims in nightmarish ways. As the world collapses, dark forces pull a small group of women together. Erin, once quiet and closeted, acquires an appetite for a woman and her brain. Why does forbidden fruit taste so good? Savannah, a professional BDSM switch, discovers a new turn-on: committing brutal murders for her eldritch masters. Mareva, plagued with chronic tumors, is too horrified to acknowledge her divine role in the coming apocalypse, and as her growths multiply, so too does her desperation.

When Rowe Branning sets off with her faithful wolfhound, Tris, on a quest to visit a grandmother she hasn't seen in fifteen years, her arrival in Hartford Cove is far less welcoming than she hoped for. Her reason for coming is put into question, and the way the sheriff looks at her makes her feel like prey even as she's drawn to him. Then ghosts from her past return in the flesh, making Rowe question what she remembers of her last visit to this hidden town, when she watched her mother and her best friend be brutally mauled by a monster out of nightmares.

When Owen Pitt and the rest of the Monster Hunter International crew are called away to mount a month’s-long rescue mission in a monster-infested nightmare dimension, Julie Shackleford - Owen’s wife and descendant of MHI founder Bubba Shackleford - is left behind. Her task: hold down the fort and take care of her new baby son Ray. The slow pace of office work and maternity leave are starting to get to her. But when a routine field call brings her face-to-face with an unspeakable evil calling itself Brother Death, she’ll get more excitement than she ever hoped for.

It's 1890 and the citizens of Boston are beginning to go missing in the fog. The police are confounded. The public is frightened. The city is on the edge of hysteria. It's up to the mysterious Smith, inventor and adventurer, to figure out what's going on with the help of his assistant, April Malone. They'll have to face off against a secret society, corrupt policemen, and a mad psychologist hell-bent on dissecting Smith, in order to solve the mystery of what's going on and to save the city from an even more sinister threat.

The Empire's plans have come to fruition. Duran has fallen, and with it the other city-states of Nehatra. Only the dungeon town remains safe, but for how long? While the leadership struggle to deal with the crisis, the dungeon dwellers watch on. As Doc continues to unlock new slime evolutions, Rowen deepens his bond with Milly, and the two experience much together. When the final attack begins, will Rowen and Doc stand with the townspeople? Why has Doc been framed for murder? Who is the traitor lurking in the shadows?

If this arrogant Irish mobster my brother sold my niece to thinks I’m going to play nice over this arranged marriage BS, he should think again. I don’t care if this match with the Mob will make my brother capo of the Five Families. I don’t care how much money, territory, or power it will gain us. I especially don’t care that the Irishman is the sexiest man I’ve ever seen. I won’t allow my innocent niece to suffer the same way I did. Even if I have to kill him.

Agent Franks of the U.S. Monster Control Bureau is a man of many parts - parts from other people, that is. Franks is nearly seven feet tall and all muscle. He's nearly indestructible. Plus he’s animated by a powerful alchemical substance and inhabited by a super-intelligent spirit more ancient than humanity itself. Good thing he’s on our side. More or less.

When an Arachne ships herself to Mike Radley's home, he doesn't know what to expect. He didn't expect to get caught in an intricate trap laid by the Jersey Devil. He really didn't expect an angel to steal his home and lock it away in Purgatory.

Savage (adjective): 1) Not domesticated; wild and untamed 2) A brutal or vicious person 3) Malek Antonov. He’s a myth. A ghost. A legend. A Bratva assassin so feared, some won’t even dare to speak his name. He comes in search of vengeance for the death of his brother, but what he finds instead is me.

In Monsters, Inc., join monsters Mike and Sulley on a wild adventure that takes them from the Scare Floor at Monsters, Inc., all the way to the dangerous human world. Joined by the human child, Boo, the best friends must return the little girl before an evil plot prevents her from ever going home.

Zeg leads a dinosaur parade through Axle City. But when some of the dinosaurs get lost, it’s up to Blaze and his truck friends to save the day!