Monster Fiction

Sacrifice your soul? Check. Die to protect those you love? Check. Come back as something the world hasn't seen since the dawn of mankind? Check. Make those who hurt me wish the Gods had never created them? I'm still working on this one.... Are you ready to play? I'm coming back. I'm more, darker, deadlier, and I'm pissed.

Claire Peterson was born into an abusive, toxic family. Unwanted by her mother, wanted by her father in ways she could never imagine. She lives on a farm surrounded by pigs and assorted other animals and a lake used by fishermen regularly. Because of this, she is also taunted and bullied at school by the other kids. Until new neighbours move in just down the road; an opportunity to finally be loved and accepted by a real friend. But her luck isn’t going to change here, either. She soon outstays her welcome and once more is alone again in the world.

It's been three years since Aren seized the Ember Blade. Three years since they struck the spark they hoped would ignite the revolution. But the flame has failed to catch. The Krodans have crushed Ossia in an iron grip of terror. The revolution seems further away than ever. Far in the north, the Dawnwardens seek to unite the fractious clans of the Fell Folk and create a stronghold from which to retake their land. But even if they can overcome the danger of treachery from within, they still have to contend with the dreadknights.

What’s worse than waking up in the hospital with the mother of all concussions? Finding out the guy sent to care for me is the same too-sexy-for-his-own-good wizard who stole my flipping cruiser! Cocky, powerful, and a shameless flirt, Seth is everything I hate. So why do my knees turn to jelly every time he calls me a cutesy nickname? Ugh! Why, oh why, do I have a weakness for chiseled abs and piercings? It’s not like he’s even available! And to complicate things even more, I find Seth’s equally sexy and even sweeter demon lover, Liam, just as irresistible.

Traveling the country camping was supposed to be an escape from the strange and unusual that clings to my family. My family’s calling to fame terrifies me. The ghosts, the hauntings, the supernatural—I want nothing to do with it. Too bad it wants everything to do with me. Where did the trip first go wrong? Maybe when an old friend with dark secrets insisted on coming—a rising rock star whose fame is now putting me in the limelight. Then there is the West Virginia local legend.

The Banished Lands are engulfed in war and chaos. The cunning Queen Rhin has conquered the west and High King Nathair has the cauldron, most powerful of the seven treasures. At his back stands the scheming Calidus and a warband of the Kadoshim, dread demons of the Otherworld. They plan to bring...

The suspense is bone-chilling when you realize the monsters are real . . . Miles away from the hectic city, Reed and Rebecca hike into the beautiful Northwester woods. They are surrounded by gorgeous mountains, waterfalls, and hundreds of acres of unspoiled wilderness. During their first night...

Heidi Waters, CEO of billion-dollar startup Vitality+, is all the rage in Silicon Valley. Her company’s promises to roll out a neurochemical cure for caffeine-related anxiety are set to change the game, a godsend for anyone who’s ever got the jitters from upsizing their morning coffee order. There’s just one problem. There is no cure. The product doesn’t work.

It takes a survivor to know a madman. When the police need to crawl inside the mind of a monster, they call Caroline. As a child, Caroline was abducted along with her twin sister. Caroline escaped. Her sister didn’t...But there’s something different about her latest case. Something familiar. Teenage girls are being murdered, their organs removed. As the scope of horror widens, Caroline begins to experience blackouts of lost time and disturbing hallucinations that are leading her to one terrible, impossible conclusion.

Not too long ago, I was just Dominic Thompson, a former employee of an American marketing firm. I have Lilith, the goddess of the Infernal Realms, to thank for my new state in life. Now, she's returned to my dungeon, hoping to strip away what she gave to me. I won't simply roll over and let her take it. I like what I've built. Sure, she started me on my quest for domination, but where was she when I carved out my first dungeon room or built my first trap? Was she present when I enthralled my beautiful champions: the troll and the storm dungeon core?

The world is aware of Princess Raven Haley Scarlet Dragen—twin sister to her charismatic twin brother, Rook, the daughter of the Queen of the Unified Nations, and the offspring of a notorious dark dweller. Or so they think they know her. But she has been hiding a secret since she was born—the monsters within. She had to keep them locked away because one desires blood, and the other craves death. They are the reason the President of Russia seeks revenge and wants her dead. Now, the monsters are set free among a world of beasts and darkness.

An existence spent being forced to kill others to satiate a Monster. Where the only thing to look forward to was the blessed, if brief, period of time between paying that bribe. Except that very same Monster is and isn’t Rene. It just happened to live inside his own mind and force him to do what it wanted. Rather than being an actual Monster. That was Rene’s entire life until a fateful day changed that. A day that the career as a hitman for hire built on the Monster’s needs will end. Where Rene will be forced to atone for his actions. To be held accountable and judged.

When a known Komran outpost that has recently been upgraded shows signs of staging an invasion, there are only two options: commit to a full-force assault and lose many lives and ships to take the base, or send in a small, elite team to take on an entire base by themselves. The council believes the barbarian has done well so far. Why not risk his team’s necks first and see how it goes before scheduling that assault? Joe and his team must make their way to a planet that has been under Komran control for decades.

The Full Moon Resort in western Canada looks all but abandoned when Hunter, his twin sister, Maeve, and their parents arrive. The outdoor pool is in disrepair, and the cabins are overgrown with strange plants. What a dump! And to make matters worse, Hunter and Maeve’s aunt and uncle, as well as their two kids, fail to show up for the family vacation.

A little over four months has passed since Desmond McLaughlin was physically yanked from his home and thrown to the mercy of a conquering alien empire when they demanded he be handed over for training as he was an ‘Adept’, one of the few able to harness the power of magic in the universe. During that time, he has learned how to manipulate mana and made several friends amongst the aliens whose culture he was now immersed in. And one lover.

It's been nearly a millennium since wolves prowled the earth. They're only spoken of as mythical destroyers of life. But one solitary wolf, born a simple, primal beast, is becoming the very monster of legend feared by both humans and otherworldly creatures. A multilimbed shapeshifter, it slaughters anything that threatens it or the pack of allies it has sworn to protect, including Emhreeil; her human friend, Katherine; and a goblin known as Scruffy. All three are grateful for the wolf's guidance but frightened of its growing power.

Sorcha has spent her life helping raise her many siblings but now finally has the chance to seek her own adventures. At least, she did, before she was snatched from her horse and peddled by slavers. Taken far from home, she's brought to the worst place imaginable—the craggy western mountains infested with brutal, brutish orcs. All humans know to fear them and stay away, and now she's been sold to the cruelest clan chief of them all. But the first orc she meets is nothing like the stories. He's gentle. He frees her.

One hot chocolate crisis at a holiday dinner party, an unforgettable mistletoe kiss, and suddenly, I'm falling for one of the hottest goalies in the NMHL. Ehrokk is a sweet orc with hard muscles, a soft heart, and the kind of submissive eyes that draw me right in. As a vampire, I've been alive for centuries, but there's something about him that calls to me. After a New Year's Eve that changes us both, we wonder if we're fated to be together. But we lead such different lives that we aren't sure we can make it work. Can we give true love a shot?

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.

Veteran horror screenwriter and novelist Jamie Nash leads us into the shadows of Blake Snyder’s legendary Monster in the House genre—and sheds light over the secrets to crafting truly terrifying tales.