Monster Fiction

Hemlock Falls isn't like other towns. You won't find it on a map, your phone won't work here, and the forest outside town might just kill you. Winnie Wednesday wants nothing more than to join the Luminaries, the ancient order that protects Winnie's town—and the rest of humanity—from the monsters and nightmares that rise in the forest of Hemlock Falls every night. Ever since her father was exposed as a witch and a traitor, Winnie and her family have been shunned. But on her sixteenth birthday, she can take the deadly Luminary hunter trials and prove herself true and loyal.

"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.

Working with kids is totally my jam, and I'm damn good at what I do. Just call me Maxy Frickin' Poppins! When a new job prospect comes my way, I'm intrigued. A chance to move to Mystic Hollow (aka Monsters Hollow) to be a well-paid manny for two adorable orclings? Talk about a dream position. Sold! But when I lock eyes with the seriously sexy orc who's their guardian—and my new de facto boss—for the first time, I'm a goner. Big, muscular, and green all over–he's giving me full-on Hulk meets stern professor vibes—and I like it.

Kacey is the new girl in Broken Falls. When she moved in with her father, she stepped into a brand-new life. A life with a stepbrother, a stepmother, and, strangest of all, an adoring younger half sister. Kacey's new life is eerily charming compared with the wild highs and lows of the old one she lived with her volatile mother. And everyone is so nice in Broken Falls - she's even been welcomed into a tight new circle of friends. Bailey and Jade invite her to do everything with them.

Learn all about ancient Norse mythology - for kids, teenagers and even adults - a must read! Prepare to be whisked away on an extraordinary adventure to ancient world of the Vikings! Perfect for young readers, this captivating book guides readers through the spectacular tales of gods, goddesses, heroes, and monsters that have inspired generations. We’ll uncover a rich tapestry of stories: • Discover Odin, the All-Father and king of the gods, ruler of Asgard. • Hear the BOOM! of Thor’s mighty hammer, Mjolnir, as he battles giants and monsters to protect Asgard and the human world. ...

After finding my apartment ransacked for the third time, I'm done being stalked. I'm just some nameless orphan who's only trying to survive in this broken city. I shouldn't matter. I shouldn't be a target. I shouldn't have to live on the run. But here I am, trying to find a hideout when living beyond the city without a permit is punishable by death. I'm desperate. But I'm scrappy too, and soon I'm surviving off the land with only the rodents for company. Everything's fine. Until he shows up.

What if love itself is the greatest threat? Welcome to Blackwood Manor—where even the shadows whisper secrets you may not survive to uncover. I thought I was taking just another caretaker job in a sprawling English estate. How wrong I was. The Blackwood manor harbors secrets, wrapped in whispers and tragic romance. My unique gift lets me speak to spirits, and I find myself in a love that transcends life and death. But there's more than just love and loss in these walls—a sinister force is out to claim us all. As I plunge deeper into a world of spectral love and mortal danger, it's clear...

Bubba’s back from Fairyland, and sometimes it feels like they shoulda just stayed there! Man, coming back to the real world sucks. Bubba and his whole team have been fired on account of going MIA for a year and a half (yeah, time moves differently in Fairyland - yay), and now they’ve got to…get jobs? Oh, this is going to go well.

This Science Fiction Collection brings together 20 iconic works from some of the genre's most influential authors. Featuring Ray Bradbury's atmospheric The Monster Maker and Rocket Summer, Isaac Asimov's thought-provoking Youth, E.M. Forster's dystopian The Machine Stops, and H.G. Wells' timeless masterpiece The Time Machine, the anthology explores a wide range of speculative themes. From futuristic worlds and artificial intelligence to time travel and human survival, this collection delves into the challenges and possibilities of the future.

Thrust into a battle royale with the best of the best, Tyson has to rely on his cunning to not only survive a fantasy world filled with over-the-top powers and violence, but to look good doing it. Hey, a guy’s got to impress a harem of busty babes and monster girls somehow. Tyson, the greatest thief on Earth, makes is a habit to always have a plan, but this was something he never could have prepared for. Brought to a fantasy world, gifted the power to steal extraordinary abilities, he finds himself competing in a contest of survival against the hundred most capable men on Earth. The ...

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.

A psychologically twisted story of the escape of a lifelong prisoner.

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.

A forbidden love. A rising darkness. A coven of witches who may be her only hope. After escaping the High Council’s clutches, thanks to the rescue led by vampire Adrian de Lanier, Charlotte returns to Blackthorn Manor changed—her bloodline awakened, her magic stronger, and her connection to the Devourers trapped beneath the manor growing dangerously unstable. But as she struggles to control her newfound power, threats gather from every side. Victoria Blackwood-DuBois is preparing for war, the Supreme Council of Vampires is circling, and an ancient coven of seven formidable Salem witches...

Death comes to us all. When he came to Mort, he offered him a job. Death is the Grim Reaper of the Discworld, a black-robed skeleton with a scythe who ushers souls into the next world. He is also fond of cats and endlessly baffled by humanity. Soon Death is yearning to experience what humanity really has to offer, but to do that, he'll need to hire some help. It's an offer Mort can't refuse. As Death's apprentice he'll have free board, use of the company horse—and being dead isn't compulsory. It's a dream job—until Mort falls in love with Death's daughter, Ysabell.

Lost in the wilderness, I thought the handsome stranger was my salvation—until I looked into the eyes of a beast. They say not to bargain with the fae, but there was no other choice. The deadly prince of Stag Court claims I belong to him. I only have a year and a day to convince him to let me go before I'm his forever. He's without mercy, known as a ruthless killer. Yet he protects me. Defends me. Tells me his secrets. In front of the Court, he's the Beast, but behind closed doors he gives me the chance to choose him, or not.

The path to godhood has been revealed. After befriending a new Primordial Spirit and learning of the secrets of power, Amber returns to the outside world. However, things aren’t peaceful, the encampment of knights is awaiting her, Oracle is making his move to destroy the capital, and another Primordial Spirit beckons her in the Great Desert. The world is in chaos, from a deadly plague to warring nations, and Amber will go through it all in pursuit of her goal.

Axel Hunter Radcliff has trained his whole life to be a hero. Once every generation, someone in his family is called upon to be a Chosen One, and Axel’s prepared himself extensively, just in case it’s him. He just wasn't prepared for the portal. Now he's in another world brimming with dangerous monsters beneath a sky full of magic portals ... and with no idea what he's been summoned to do. All he knows is that every Chosen Radcliff has been aided by a support staff of skilled women.

Two years after the Unravelling revealed monsters and their hidden realm to the world, garden designer Ellie Harding seems to have her life together, living out her cottagecore dreams on the picturesque island of Motuwai, New Zealand. What she never expected was for Van Livingston, the wealthy American she grew up with every summer, to walk back into her life nine years after a tragic event destroyed their romantic relationship. What's more, it turns out Van is a wolf—a hybrid werewolf/wolf-shifter, to be exact—with two wolves and two wolf forms.

When a missing person case lands in the lap of Black Knight Investigations, Jimmy Black and his partner, Greg Knightwood, jump back into action - until their missing person rises as an uncontrollable vampire and all signs point to a supernatural coup orchestrated by an unknown vampire of immense power. With the case going sideways, more missing girls, and a new cop in town way too curious about Jimmy's perennial youth, life in Charlotte is about to get interesting again.