Monster Fiction

Marie is a young girl who has decided she doesn’t need anyone. And, that includes God. Thrust into positions of responsibility no child should endure, she faces abuse and loss; from all the monsters in her life; until she feels she can no longer trust, anyone. But, is it possible that God has been beside her all the while? Can a chance meeting with an angel, on a near fatal day, change her mind and give her the hope she’ll need to make it through?

The New York Times best-selling series is coming to an epic conclusion—witness the beginning of the end! Written by one of the original High Republic story architects and the #1 New York Times best-selling author of Star Wars: The High Republic: Into the Dark, Star Wars: Lost Stars, and the...

Who answers the call when the mundane police dial 911? Matt Bordelon—former Silver Griffin, wizard, and the Big Easy Bounty Hunter. Matt has a good thing going. Deliver justice to magicals? Check. Keep the world safe from threats? Check. Make good money doing it? Cha-ching. Unless his bounty ends up dead when the paperwork specifies alive, that is. Good thing he’s a pro at avoiding that. Then he stumbles across a dark witch embroiled in a vicious spell battle with a dark wizard and feels compelled to aid her.

In this striking and bleak, yet luminous debut collection, Nathan Ballingrud, winner of the inaugural Shirley Jackson Award, uses the trappings of the Gothic and the uncanny to investigate a distinctly American landscape: The loneliest and darkest corners of contemporary life. Ballingrud’s stories are love stories. They’re also monster stories. Sometimes the monsters collected here are vampires or werewolves.

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.

For the past century, I have served, defending my crops in solitude, baring my scythe as an omen. But when the crops aren't seeded, I find myself standing over a field of dirt and weeds. It is her fault. The female who has inherited the farm. She might be the new queen of these lands, but in her wake, she brings only ruin. So, I will scare her away. I will claim these fields, and she will learn to fear me! Until one evening, she is attacked by the crows. She cowers behind me for protection, begging them to spare her life.

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.

Despite her hard butch exterior, filthy mouth and hatred of almost everyone and everything, Pat has always been there for Lisa. Every new boyfriend, every breakup, every inappropriate question first thing in the morning. And Lisa has a massive crush on her. But Lisa doesn't know everything. Pat's a monster. Worse, she's got her hands full dealing with the girl she bit in her small town high-school suddenly showing up without her memory. Now, bodies are piling up a little too close to home, threatening to expose Pat and put Lisa in danger. Forget what you know about sparkles and sunburns.

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.

What could possibly be the most infuriating thing to a vampire disgusted by the internet? A twenty-six-year-old social media influencer who just ran out on her cheating ex-fiancé and insists on staying in Vlad's quiet castle. But he needs money to repair his ancestral home, and Aubrey needs a place to lick her wounds after getting her heart broken. He is ready to have humans invading his space. He is not, however, ready for her.

It’s the best time of the year in the mountain village I call home, known for its Krampus lore and festive enthusiasm during the holidays. From the outside looking in, my life is perfect. I live in a winter wonderland, I’m engaged to the town’s beloved “honied ham man” and I run the town’s most precious flower shop. No one would ever know my fiancé is an abusive psychopath who’s threatened to kill me if I ever try to leave him. It’s a secret I’ve always kept hidden, my burden to bear. The only person who sees right through the mask I wear is my Christmas tree vendor. He follows me, watches me.

When I—along with my best friend and his big purple monster boyfriend—come across a fortress-like raider camp while journeying across the monster-infested Wastes, we stop to deliver a message. Somehow, that simple pit stop turns into a seemingly impossible quest to get this camp's missing leader out of the prison where he's being held and forced to fight monsters and other humans. I know exactly where it is because I've been there. Problem is, I'm making this journey with the prickliest and most arrogant guy I've ever met, who seems to hate me on sight. Oh, and he's also half-monster.

Aemilius thought he would die heroically in battle like his forefathers, mourned by a loving wife and many children, but he’s barely a man when a harpy flies down out of the old myths and knocks him from his horse. Stunned and helpless, he waits for his end … and is saved. Formed on the bloody battlefield of Teutoburg, the Hidden Legion are an order of soldiers, magicians, and rogues so secret that the Empire itself would hunt them down if they were exposed. And now Aemilius is one of them.

Three sexy-but-psycho monsters. The witch they're determined to protect. And a high-stakes heist about to go very wrong… I've made some pretty questionable choices in my life, but summoning the dark goddess to save my sisters? That was just plain stupid. Now I’m in her debt, and goddesses don’t exactly do payment plans. She wants the blood of the dark fae warlord of Midnight, a realm of exiles where the sun never rises and torture is a competitive sport. It’s a death trap only three men have ever escaped—my newly appointed escorts.

I gave Braxton Smalls everything. I sacrificed myself and all I ended up with was a broken heart and a shattered soul. Now, I’ve got bigger things to worry about than an angry Eastpoint Heir hot on my trail. Brax may be the psycho who kidnapped me–but he’s nothing compared to the organization my brother works for. And me? I’m the monster ready to wreck them all.

Varian Farm—a place shrouded in mystery. Led by an iron-fisted noble, its fields bear endless fruit. Its animals produce the finest wools, milks, and cheeses. But prosperity comes at a price. Deep beneath the manor house, a secret slumbers. For hundreds of years, it’s sat dormant, controlled by the noble House of Varian. The world is changing though. A recent earthquake has unearthed treasure in the valley. Hidden from view, a chain reaction is underway. The valley is evolving. Life will never be the same.

Sam Ryder's life already sucks, and it's about to get worse when he's fired from his dead-end job as a programmer. He's about to head home to escape into his favorite RPG, Alien Civilization, when he's offered a thrill ride on a death machine by a gorgeous woman straight out of one of his games. Before Sam can say "WTF?", he's been whisked away to a dark world of monsters and goddesses, his body transformed from Outcast to Warrior, the second level on a ladder that may eventually carry him all the way to Demigod.

Isolated in the northern wilderness, Hawkin—an adventurer turned hermit—is fulfilled by the small joys of his simple life. He hunts and forages for food, tends to a small garden, maintains his humble cabin, and patrols the meandering trail that leads down to the sea. After celebrating ten years alone in his woods, visitors begin to arrive. First an ancient monster, then a trio of monks with a peculiar set of skills.

From the second I saw her, I knew she’d be my ruin. Sitting all alone at the bar, she looked like an angel. Eurydice in human form; her beauty eclipsed by demons. Now, I’m one of them. The ghost she’s tried for years to escape. Thinking I wouldn’t be able to find her. But I never stopped trying, and now that I have, her past sins should be the least of her worries.

My role as Moric—ruler of a small and prosperous fiefdom in a quiet corner of the world—has always been painfully dull and stifling. Until a beautiful, otherworldly creature with pink skin and a mane of golden hair falls through a strange void that has appeared in my guestroom. I am instantly captivated by him. I have never seen anything like him. I have no idea where he came from, and what else is through that unsettling void—another world filled with soft-skinned, defenseless creatures like him? No tails, no horns, no claws, no sharp teeth. Tiny clothing, rounded ears, bright blue eyes.