“Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.”
Monsters have been a staple of the horror genre for centuries, capturing our deepest fears and darkest imaginations. From ancient myths to modern masterpieces, monster horror books capture the true terror of the unknown by bringing into the light the creatures that lurk in the shadows, plague our nightmares and challenge the essence of humanity. Whether it’s in the eerie tranquillity of the wilderness or the grotesque appearance of a towering beast, monster horror invites readers to feed on their primal instincts to survive against the unimaginable. Which is why we here at What We Reading thought we would pull together some of our favourite monster horror books that have terrified readers for generations and introduced some of the most iconic creatures in literary history.
What Is Monster Horror?
Monster horror is a specific subgenre of horror fiction that centres around creatures, beings or entities that defy the natural order. These monsters strike fear into readers through their physical form, behaviour or supernatural origins. Creatures in monster horror books can be anything from mythical beasts, grotesque mutations and alien invaders to more supernatural entities such as vampires, werewolves and zombies.
What helps set monster horror apart from other aspects of the genre is its ability to tap into instinctive fears that have, and will always, existed. These creatures are so often shown to be more than just physical threats; they are also real dangers to society or even existence itself.
Monster horror relies heavily on the confrontation between humans and these creatures. Often, the creatures in question symbolise more than just physical terror, but also deeper fears on the unknown, the uncontrollable and the more monstrous aspects of humanity itself.
Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
One of the first monster horror books ever published and still considered the birth of contemporary science fiction, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a tale of scientific ambition, and creation and warns of the dangers of unchecked power. The story follows scientist Victor Frankenstein whose obsession with defying the natural order of life and death leads to him creating a living made up of different body parts. Grotesque and terrifying, the monster is rejected by both society and its creator, which results in a series of tragic consequences as it sets out for revenge.
What makes Frankenstein one of the best monster horror novels is it exploration of human ambition and the disastrous consequences that can arise from playing God, both of which are just as striking today in our technologically-advanced society.
Check Out The Best Books Like Frankenstein
The Wolf’s Hour (Michael Gallatin #1) – Robert McCammon
Michael Gallatin is a skilled spy, a lover, and a werewolf. With the ability to change in an instant, he can kill silently or savagely with snarling fury and has already shown mastery of his abilities against General Erwin Rommel in North Africa. Now, as the Second World War reaches its climax, he faces his most delicate and dangerous mission: unravelling the top-secret Nazi plan known as Iron Fist.
From a parachute jump into occupied France to the sprawling corruption rife across the city of Berlin, from the tender arms of a beautiful spy to the cold embrace of a madman’s death machine, Gallatin soon finds himself drawing closer and closer to the truth behind Iron Fist, just as Operation D-Day prepares to get underway in Robert McCammon’s iconic creature horror novel, The Wolf’s Hour.
The Only Good Indians – Stephen Graham Jones
One of the best monster horror books that blends classic horror with a dramatic narrative brimming with sharp social commentary, The Only Good Indians follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their pasts lands them in a desperately dire struggle for their lives.
Tracked by an eerie entity hellbent on revenge, these childhood friends are soon at the mercy of the culture and traditions they had left behind in the past catching up to them with violent effect. Suspenseful, atmospheric and creepy, The Only Good Indians is a dark novel of revenge, cultural identity and the costs associated with breaking from tradition.
Cujo – Stephen King
Throughout his life, Cujo had been a good dog; a big, peaceful, playful Saint Bernard who loved children. He truly appeared to be the perfect family companion. That is until something happens to him that led to his brain becoming covered in a darkness that demanded blood.
Now, he has become a brutal killing machine whose true identity is still hidden behind his former goodness. Still one of the great monster horror novels and one of the most iconic Stephen King books, Cujo is the story of a rabid dog becoming a terrifying creature, trapping a mother and her son in their car in a tense, claustrophobic tale.
The Descent (The Descent #1) – Jeff Long
In a cave in the Himalayan mountains, a guide discovers a self-mutilated body with the ominous warning: ‘Satan exists’. In the Kalahari Desert, a nun unearths evidence of a proto-human species and a deity known as ‘Older-than-Old’. In Bosnia, something has been feasting on the dead buried in a mass grave.
These three occurrences are what kickstarts humankind’s shocking discover that the underworld is a vast geological labyrinth inhabited by another race of beings. Some call them ‘devils’ or ‘demons’. Regardless, they are real. They are down there. And they are waiting to be discovered. Jeff Long’s The Descent is an intense underground horror novel about a monstrous species living deep below the Earth’s surface.
The Ritual – Adam Nevill
Four old university friends reunite for a hiking trip in the remote Scandinavian wilderness of the Arctic Circle. Having grown older and further apart from each other over the years, they no longer have much in common and old tensions soon arise as they struggle to reconnect. Frustrated and tired, they opt to take a shortcut through a forest that soon descends into a hellish nightmare that could soon cost them their lives.
Lost, hungry and surrounded on all sides by a forest untouched for millennia, they come across an abandoned house. Inside, the discover the remains of old rites and pagan sacrifices, ancient artefacts and unidentifiable bones. This house is soon revealed to be the home of a bestial predator that is still alive in the ancient forest, and the friends have unknowingly walked themselves into being its prey.
Check Out The Best Books Like The Ritual
The Girl With All The Gifts (The Girl With All The Gifts #1) – M.R. Carey
Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for her class. When they arrive for her, Sergeant Parks keeps a gun pointed at her whilst two of his people strap her into a wheelchair. She thinks they don’t like her. She jokes that she won’t bite. They never laugh. Melanie loves school, learning about spelling, sums and the world outside the children’s cells. She tells Miss Justineau, about all the things she wants to do when she grows up. She doesn’t know why this always makes her favourite teacher so sad.
M.R. Carey’s The Girl with All the Gifts is one of the best monster horror books, offering a fresh take on the zombie subgenre where a disastrous plague turns humans into ‘hungries’.
The Troop – Nick Cutter
Once a year, scoutmaster Tim Riggs leads a troop of boys into the Canadian wilderness on a camping trip for the weekend. But, when an unexpected intruder – shockingly thin, disturbingly pale and impossibly hungry – staggers into their campsite, Tim and the boys find themselves exposed to something far more sinister than any ghost story they could have conjured up around the fire: the human carrier of a bioengineered nightmare.
Nick Cutter’s Goodreads Choice Award-nominated monster horror book, The Troop, is a stomach-churning tale of a monstrous parasite that infects a group of scouts, and their harrowing struggle to survive the infection, the elements, and each other.
Check Out The Best Books Like The Troop
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
