Horror Fiction Monsters

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.

31 Brand-New Dark Fantasy Horror Stories. Bloody corridors of ancient rock. A castle surrounded by poisonous thorns. A lost temple of traps and corpses. A subaqueous cave at the bottom of a cursed lake. These are the places where secrets are buried, where ancient evils are summoned, where beasts are imprisoned, where the insane lie in wait. These are tombs of darkness and nightmare, where if you stare into the abyss, the abyss will stare back. Heed the warnings of your elders and return from whence you came. Ahead lie monster lairs.

New research has uncovered deeply buried military secrets—both the Allied and Axis special operations during WWII included monsters. Did the Soviets use a dragon to win the Battle of Kursk? Did a vampire fight for the Canadians in Holland? Did the US drop the second atomic bomb on a kaiju? This collection takes real events from World War II and injects them with fantastical creatures that mirror the “unreality” of war itself. Each story—and two poems—feature mythical, mystical, and otherwise unexplainable beings that change the course of history.

Guy is about to finish writing his breakthrough online article. He overheard the story by chance in a pub and it’s guaranteed to go viral - all he needs to do is persuade the World’s Unluckiest Man to talk to him. His best friend Larry’s quest for killer clickbait material has led him to a recently appeared shanty town in Glasgow, where he finds some kind of urban voodoo cult. Ex-cop Sam has already come face-to-face with the terrifying force behind both these phenomena, but he’s been trying to put it out of his mind.

26 terrifying tales from the bestselling author of Dead Meat and Cadaver. Werewolves. Ghosts. Vampires. Psycho killers. This huge horror collection delivers relentless scares, chilling twists, and a dark imagination you won’t forget. Perfect for fans of Stephen King, Darcy Coates, Jeremy Bates, and Iain Rob Wright.

Adrian's dark past left him with a twisted imagination that takes him deep into the forest where he does unspeakable things. Kendra is new to town. She has a dark secret of her own—and an unhealthy obsession with a boy she hasn't even met yet.

This 7,100 word stand-alone tale of adventure, romance, and action was originally included in New York Times bestselling author Mike Stackpole's Chain Story Project. Each of the stories in the series begins with a scene set in The Wanderers' Club in London, where patrons take turns telling stories of their adventures and derring-do. Though the plots and characters of the various tales differ and each adventure is self-contained and independent, every story-teller starts out by referencing the story before his in some fashion before telling his own tale.

Five days after Owen Zastava Pitt pushed his insufferable boss out of a 14th story window, he woke up in the hospital with a scarred face, an unbelievable memory, and a job offer. It turns out that monsters are real. All the things from myth, legend, and B-movies are out there, waiting in the shadows. Some of them are evil, and some are just hungry. Monster Hunter International is the premier eradication company in the business. And now Owen is their newest recruit.

As the daughter of Dracula, you would think I’d be born the perfect monster. You couldn’t be more wrong. As far as monsters go, I’m a screw up—if I’m not tripping over my own feet, I’m accidentally murdering someone (it’s a real issue, guys). Left with no choice, Dad decides to send me to Prodigium—otherwise known as Monster Academy—to train me on how to be a better monster. When bodies turn up on campus, I’m the prime suspect (not that I can blame them).

Stories of famous monsters in a new horror anthology featuring Joe R. Lansdale, F. Paul Wilson, Jonathan Maberry, Ramsey Campbell, and many others.

The Monster series. Based on the most disturbing true cases! A killer stalks the streets of Belton. Targeting young kids, their bodies found mutilated, the actions of a savage. The task force hunting him have no clues, no witnesses, nothing. Yet impossibly, kids are still allowed to roam the streets alone at night making it easier for the killer. Or could he be doing the unthinkable; taking them from their own beds while they sleep? Then, as if this wasn’t bad enough, kids start to disappear, kidnapped, unlike the previous deaths. Meaning another copycat killer may be at work too.

Demeter just wants to do her job: shuttling humans between Earth and Alpha Centauri. Unfortunately, her passengers keep dying—and not from equipment failures, as her AI medical system, Steward, would have her believe. These are paranormal murders, and they began when one nasty, ancient vampire decided to board Demeter and kill all her humans. To keep from getting decommissioned, Demeter must join forces with her own team of monsters. Together, this motley crew will face down the ultimate evil—Dracula.

In the backwoods of the Miskatonic River valley, an unspeakable creature seeks to come through the veil into our world.

One October morning, Laina gets the news that her brother has been shot and killed by Boston cops. But what looks like a case of police brutality soon reveals something much stranger. Monsters are real. And they want everyone to know it. As creatures from myth and legend come out of the shadows, seeking safety through visibility, their emergence sets off a chain of seemingly unrelated events. Members of a local werewolf pack are threatened into silence.

"Perfect deadpan marks the opening of Ali Simpson’s The Monster'" writes Susan Merrell of The Southampton Review in her introduction to this issue of Recommended Reading.

A fantasy/horror novella, Our Monsters Are Real takes place in the summer of a small, Midwestern town called Edlund. Daryl, the farm boy hero, is soon to graduate high school and uses an unknown source of magic against a morbid family. Teenage adolescence, desire, and rock and roll all play their part in discovering secrets that affect the lives of the Carters as they settle into their new life.

As the heir to the Halliday name and fortune, Win's entire life has been carefully orchestrated from the moment he came into the world. He's never been allowed to aspire for anything outside that plan, including love. After the tragedy that followed his younger brother chasing his foolish heart, the Halliday Matriarch insists on picking a bride that's up to her outrageously high standards. Unfortunately, the only woman Win would ever consider marrying isn't found anywhere on his mother's list.

Prepare to meet the wicked progeny of the master of modern horror. In Lovecraft's Monsters, H. P. Lovecraft's most famous creations--Cthulhu, Shoggoths, Deep Ones, Elder Things, Yog-Sothoth, and more--appear in all their terrifying glory. Each story is a gripping new take on a classic Lovecraftian creature. Contributors include such literary luminaries as Neil Gaiman, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Karl Edward Wagner, Elizabeth Bear, and Nick Mamatas.

Between the blood of gods and monsters, I am both killer and healer. The Darkhavens were once my obstacle. Now, they may be the only safe haven I have left. The Gods are lying to us all. They are not Gods at all, but creatures that came from another world to rule over ours.

John Coal is the town oddball. Old, crotchety, pungent, and solitary, he lives in a house just as run-down as he. The neighborhood kids take great delight in plaguing him morning, noon, and night, but they’ve chosen the wrong old coot to trifle with this time. He knows where the bodies are buried. He’s been to the outer limits. He is the keeper of dark secrets. Murders, monsters, demons, and vampires: He has seen them all and lived to tell the tale.