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A bold, unsettling, and sinister collection of stories that asks what monster means.
What is a monster? The word encompasses the grotesque, the immoral, or the merely wondrous. Mythical creatures, corrupt executives, and cruel exes are all monsters. Monsters live among us. Sometimes the monster is us.
What do monsters mean to writers? Here is a literary grab-bag: fourteen writers from diverse genres — literary, mystery, horror, the experimental — interpret monsters either literal or metaphorical. The result is a snapshot of contemporary fiction.
Stories from: Sifton Tracey Anipare, Steve Burrows, Brenda Chapman, Chinenye Emezie, Barbara Fradkin, Zsuzsi Gartner, Liz Harmer, Babak Lakghomi, Pasha Malla, Andrew Pyper, Naben Ruthnum, Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson, Andrew Sullivan, and Emily A. Weedon.
What is a monster? The word encompasses the grotesque, the immoral, or the merely wondrous. Mythical creatures, corrupt executives, and cruel exes are all monsters. Monsters live among us. Sometimes the monster is us.
What do monsters mean to writers? Here is a literary grab-bag: fourteen writers from diverse genres — literary, mystery, horror, the experimental — interpret monsters either literal or metaphorical. The result is a snapshot of contemporary fiction.
Stories from: Sifton Tracey Anipare, Steve Burrows, Brenda Chapman, Chinenye Emezie, Barbara Fradkin, Zsuzsi Gartner, Liz Harmer, Babak Lakghomi, Pasha Malla, Andrew Pyper, Naben Ruthnum, Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson, Andrew Sullivan, and Emily A. Weedon.
Price: $19.99
Pages: 208
Publisher: Dundurn Press
Imprint: Rare Machines
Publication Date:
October 13, 2026
Trim Size: 8.50 X 5.50 in
ISBN: 9781459757424
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
FICTION / Horror / Collections & Anthologies, Short stories, FICTION / Anthologies (multiple authors), FICTION / Gothic, FICTION / Literary, FICTION / World Literature / Canada / 21st Century, Contemporary horror, ghost stories and supernatural fiction
Smith and all the contributors have created something special with this anthology. Because of the breadth of topics and styles, readers will likely find different favourites among the list, but there is definitely something for anyone with darker taste, whether their interest runs to crime fiction, morally complex literary pieces, or out-and-out horror.
Filled to the brim with phenomenal stories, this anthology curated by Russell Smith will undoubtedly have something for every reader. Taking the simple idea of 'what is a monster,' the authors of each story really outdid themselves with the variety of subject matter we get.
Filled to the brim with phenomenal stories, this anthology curated by Russell Smith will undoubtedly have something for every reader. Taking the simple idea of 'what is a monster,' the authors of each story really outdid themselves with the variety of subject matter we get.
Smith and all the contributors have created something special with this anthology. Because of the breadth of topics and styles, readers will likely find different favourites among the list, but there is definitely something for anyone with darker taste, whether their interest runs to crime fiction, morally complex literary pieces, or out-and-out horror.
Russell Smith is a novelist and acquiring editor at Dundurn Press. His most recent novel is Self Care. He lives in Toronto.
- Introduction: On Monsters — Russell Smith
- In Good Hands — Babak Lakghomi
- The Lair — Naben Ruthnum
- The Third Thing — Liz Harmer
- The Undreamed — Pasha Malla
- The Guilty One — Brenda Chapman
- The Meek — Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson
- Miss Hino — Sifton Tracey Anipare
- Throne — Andrew F. Sullivan
- Waking the Monster — Steve Burrows
- The Golem Suit — Emily A .Weedon