FEATURED AUTHOR - Shilah Ferr grew up in Morristown, New Jersey with her brother and sister. We share treasured memories of high school, the Jersey shore, and skiing with cousins in Mt. Snow, Vermont, all of which became part of April's Heart. She went to college in Washington, DC, and became a teacher. Shilah lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia with my husband of thirty years. Her two boys are in their twenties making their own way in the world. She enjoys cooking (has done some catering), her daily power walks (…
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Answers
1. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness - This one is rather obvious, but also not because it says "monster" right there in the title, but the monster in this book is not a traditional one. No, you see, this monster is a massive humanoid shaped yew tree that visits the protagonist in the middle of the night and tells him stories. Although this description doesn't make the monster sound very frightening, it does threaten to eat the protagonist if he doesn't tell him a true story of his own after listening to the ones by the monster. It is a really good book and has also recently been turned into a really good movie. While it is perhaps not the type of "monster" story you may be looking for, I would still recommend it wholeheartedly because it is awesome.
2. Jaws by Peter Benchley - I don't know about you, but I'm scared to death of sharks and I think this book had a lot to do with it. Like most other people I saw the movie first, of course, but when I returned much later to the book, I still found it very enjoyable. I think this is probably one of the rare cases where the movie actually enhances your reading experience as you can already picture the characters and setting more vividly. The other reason to read the book is that it isn't exactly the same as the movie. There are some added elements that make things a bit more interesting, but I'm not going to spoil anything here. And, of course, the shark is still pretty terrifying and definitely qualifies as a monster.
3. It by Stephen King - Almost any book by Stephen King would probably fit here, but It is one of his best "monster" books in my opinion. There is just something about clowns that are inherently creepy and the way that the one in this book just preys on the phobias and fears of kids is downright scary. Just a word of caution, the book contains a couple of things that both the two-part miniseries and the recent movie did not want to touch with a ten-foot stick, so don't read it if you are easily shocked.
4. The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro - Vampires count as monsters right, but instead of the same old Dracula story, why not read this interesting take on a classic monster by Guillermo Del Toro. Even if you don't know the name, you'll have definitely watched one of his movies like Blade 2, Hellboy, Pacific Rim, Crimson Peak or The Shape of Water. If you enjoy The Strain, also be sure to read the sequels, The Fall as well as The Night Eternal. There is a television series based on the books as well, but as with most of these things, it doesn't really capture the essence of the story.
5. Red Dragon by Thomas Harris - Not all monsters have fangs and claws with Red Dragon by Thomas Harris being a good example. It is the novel that introduced the world to Dr. Hannibal Lecter, who is a talented psychiatrist, who also happens to be a serial killer with a penchant for eating his victims. The book also received two sequels in the form of Silence of The Lambs, which was released in 1988, and Hannibal, which came out much later in 1999. Most people know these books from their movie counterparts, but they are great works that stand on their own as well.
Next, I can recommend the novel Alien by Alan Dean Foster. If you have watched the original Ridley Scott movie, then you'll already know what to expect from the book as it is basically a novelization. However, it is still well written and the alien is one of the most terrifying monsters ever in my opinion.
But what about those monsters that you cannot fight off with bullets and bombs? Disease is arguably one of the scariest real "monsters" we can ever face and this theme is explored in a book called The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey. It features a type of disease that is busy infecting the minds of everyone on the planet and the only way to make a vaccine is to harvest it from children who are immune to the disease. It is a great book (I haven't seen the movie adaptation yet) and one that will make you wonder if the scariest monsters on the planet are not humans after all.
My last choice is Event Horizon by Steven E. McDonald. This is another novelization of a movie, so if you have already seen the film, there's not much in the book that is really new. I do know that if you are squeamish about seeing blood and gore on film, then the book is probably a better bet, depending on how vivid your imagination is. Anyway, the monster in this book is actually a massive, derelict space vessel that has literally been to hell and back. The way in which it offs the salvage crew that boards it is pretty much the stuff of nightmares.
The Tescara from "It Lives in The Basement" by Sahara Foley. In terms of monsters, this one from the book It Lives in The Basement is pretty unique. I'm not going to describe it here, because most of the book involves people trying to figure out what it is and how to stop it, but let's just say you would not want to run into it.
Zombies from "The Hand That Feeds" by Michael W. Garza. Yes, I know that zombies are a dime a dozen these days, but they are still monsters and The Hand That Feeds is one of my favorite books featuring them. If you are looking for a lot of action, then this isn't the best book for you, but if you can appreciate a well told story with plenty of human drama, then go grab it now. It is about a couple who lose their son, only to see him come back from the dead as a zombie. What happens next I will leave up to you to find out.
The Triffids from The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. Menacing, human eating monster plants are not new in literature, they've been around for years and years, but there's just something about the Triffids that terrifies me. Not only can they grow up to ten feet tall, but unlike other plants, these freaking things are mobile, so they can basically chase you down and kill you. Then there's their stingers, which can be up to ten feet long and is used to lash a person in the face to kill them. These plants also don't devour you like the one in Little Shop of Horrors, but simply take root besides your decaying corpse to feast.
The Woman in Black from The Woman in Black by Susan Hill. A lot of people will disagree with me here, but in my opinion, ghosts are monsters, especially the malevolent ones. The Woman in Black is one of my favorite ghosts as you can understand why she is haunting the Eel Marsh House. However, she also causes a lot of pain and suffering for many people, which makes her a monster. The book was written by Susan Hill in 1983, but ignore the sequel that came out in 2014 as it from a completely different author and comes nowhere close to the original.
The Horla from The Horla by Guy de Maupassant. I'll end things off with a bit of an obscure one, but it is an important one nonetheless. It first came out in 1887 and even managed to intrigue Lovecraft, with many claiming that it served as inspiration for his own book, The Call of Cthulhu. The Horla is basically a type of psychic vampire that drains the life force from its victims while they are sleeping. This obviously has an impact on their sanity as they can feel this malevolent presence around them dominating them.