Got a favorite monster story that was published within the last 30 years? Then tell us about it in the comments. We won’t make fun of you, or take away your night-light. We promise.
Got a favorite monster story that was published within the last 30 years? Then tell us about it in the comments. We won’t make fun of you, or take away your night-light. We promise.
There are so many good ones to choose from, but what’s coming to mind first is “The Yattering and Jack” by Clive Barker. Oh, and also “Godzilla’s Twelve Step Program” by Joe R. Lansdale.
I’m a Matt Stover fanboy so I’ll recommend “Precursor” originally published in the 1999 Weis/Hickman anthology Legends: Tales from the Eternal Archive.
But what I recommend kind of depends on how widely or narrowly we’re defining creatures and monsters. Do minotaurs count, for instance?
If I know these guys at all, they’ll cast a wide net. I love Barker’s “Rawhead Rex.” The monster bites off half of a kid’s head!
We have 150K words to play with, and we’re definitely looking to throw a wide net (though no vampires, zombies, etc). Thanks for the suggestions, all!
Although it’s probably too long to be considered, T. E. D. Klein’s novella “Petey” is one of the creepiest monster stories I know.
There are two stories that I think were overlooked that I’d like to recommend: “The Restoration Man” by Jon-Michael Emory and “The Great Blind God Passed Through Us” by Adam Golaski. I read the former a while ago and don’t remember where I read it, but Golaski’s story was in Strange Tales III from Tartarus Press. The scene at the end when the monster finally emerges is powerful. Oh! And not so overlooked but great is “Walking the Dog” by Terry Lamsley.