As a long-time lover of all things giant and monstrous, I can think of nothing better than kicking back with a gripping and exciting novel and reading about some sort of man-eating (or woman-eating) creature wreaking havoc. You know, the kind of story that makes you think twice about going into the ocean or wandering off into the foggy forest. And in that spirit, please find below my top five best monster novels, all personal favourites and hopefully ones you will enjoy checking out, if you haven’t already.
This is the first and most obvious man-eating monster novel. The movies were amazing, but the book was perfection. And I believe that is why it is so gripping. Michael Crichton’s attention to detail regarding what was then cutting-edge science, combined with his directorial eye for action (remember, he also directed Westworld and six other films), made for an un-put-downable experience which I still remember devouring to this day. I mean, you just can’t go wrong with genetically modified dinosaurs on a remote island eating people left and right. And one man’s hubris over nature and subsequent reckoning by creatures of his own creation is quite a satisfying tale. If you haven’t read Jurassic Park yet, I’d suggest you do so as soon as you finish the rest of my article.
'Crichton's most compulsive novel' Sunday Telegraph 'Crichton's dinosaurs are genuinely frightening' Chicago Sun-Times 'Breathtaking adventure. . . a book that is as hard to put down as it is to forget' Time Out
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The international bestseller that inspired the Jurassic Park film franchise.
On a remote jungle island, genetic engineers have created a dinosaur game park.
An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now one of mankind's most thrilling fantasies has come true and the first dinosaurs that the Earth has seen in the time of man emerge.
This fantastic story is another must-read, in my opinion, so add it to your list right now. As I am sure you know, it went on to be an equally terrifying movie directed by the same man who directed Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg, and was one that launched his career. Sadly, I was too young to see the movie in the theatre and so experienced it first as a novel and then later on home video. As an aside, if I know a novel has a movie adaptation, I usually try to read the novel first to experience what the author intended before seeing the movie, since as you know, they can vary greatly. However, Benchley’s well-developed and relatable characters, Chief Brody’s conflict between the mayor and city council, and the insatiable great white shark make Jaws a classic of man-eating monster tales both on the silver screen and in print. Whichever way you go with this one, you’ll have a good time. This was Peter Benchley’s debut and it experienced phenomenal success upon its release, going on to sell over twenty million copies, and something of which most authors can only dream.
Peter Benchley's Jaws first appeared in 1974. As well as Steven Spielberg's film adaptation, the novel has sold over twenty million copies around the world, creating a legend that refuses to die.
It's never safe to go back in the water . . .
It was just another day in the life of a small Atlantic resort until the terror from the deep came to prey on unwary holiday makers. The first sign of trouble - a warning of what was to come - took the form of a young woman's body, or what was left of it, washed up…
A thoroughly enjoyable romp that is still relevant today, Prophecy is a story of mankind’s decimation of the environment and the disasters that can result from this neglect. It can be a little draggy at times, but with a monster mutant bear chowing down on everyone, it makes for an entertaining novel to while away the time on a camping trip, if you dare. I saw this first as a movie, starring Robert Foxworth and Armand Assante, and then read the novel shortly thereafter. It’s definitely worth checking out if you’re a monster completist like me, and as always, great fun to see the film adaption of a story you’ve enjoyed and how it compares to what you imagined.
This one goes back a century or so, but no man-eating monster list would be complete without it. The Lost World is one of my favourites from when I first read it many years ago (not in 1912, however, I’m not that old), and it has stuck with me since. Interestingly, The Lost World is also the title to Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park sequel and was also noted as being Merian C. Cooper’s favourite novel. Cooper, as you may or may not know, co-directed King Kong with Ernest B. Schoedsack in 1933. Written by Arthur Conan Doyle, who was also the creator of the immortal Sherlock Holmes series, The Lost World was one of his biggest hits, and it’s still a great read today.
Following a similar plotline to King Kong, a group of South American explorers encounter an unknown world and bring back a creature from beyond time to the modern day, in this case, a pterodactyl. And, of course, it escapes and wreaks havoc upon London, England (in the Willis O’Brien movie adaptation from 1925, it was a brontosaurus). It’s a little hokey and dated, sure, but it evokes a time and place that no one will ever see again and one I suggest you check out to ensure you get a well-balanced diet of monster shenanigans.
Originally published serially in 1912, “The Lost World” is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic tale of discovery and adventure. The story begins with the narrator, the curious and intrepid reporter Edward Malone, meeting Professor Challenger, a strange and brilliant paleontologist who insists that he has found dinosaurs still alive deep in the Amazon. Malone agrees to accompany Challenger, as well as Challenger’s unconvinced colleague Professor Summerlee, and the adventurer Lord John Roxton, into the wilds of South America and the Amazon in search of Challenger’s fantastical beasts. There, cut off from the rest of civilization and high atop an isolated…
And this brings us to the final of my little top five man-eating monsters list. It’s another one of which you may have heard, and after all, who doesn’t love killer clowns? And I am sure you’ll agree that Pennywise qualifies as a man-eating (and kid-eating) monster worthy of this list. Sporting a mouthful of teeth that any orthodontist would kill for, he has a voracious appetite and can alter his size to accommodate it. It is a masterpiece of terror about the past coming back to haunt you (and eat you) and how one’s fear of something can sometimes be greater than the fear itself. I would set aside a few days to read the novel since it's a long one. But despite its length, it’s a story you don’t want to come to an end, as King’s characterizations and scares are second to none.
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TIE IN TO A NEW MAJOR MOTION PICTURE, IT: CHAPTER 2, ADAPTED FROM KING'S TERRIFYING CLASSIC
27 years later, the Losers Club have grown up and moved away, until a devastating phone call brings them back...
Derry, Maine was just an ordinary town: familiar, well-ordered for the most part, a good place to live.
It was a group of children who saw- and felt- what made Derry so horribly different. In the storm drains, in the sewers, IT lurked, taking on the shape of every nightmare, each one's deepest dread. Sometimes…
Lawless, British Columbia is on edge after a powerful earthquake jolts the region, quickly followed by a string of savage animal attacks. Newly stationed in the area after her predecessor mysteriously disappears, Conservation Officer Christine Moon needs to calm the jangled nerves of the small mountain town.
Awakened from ancient slumber, a horror from the past stalks the swirling, grey mists that surround Lawless. A beast with a gnawing hunger that grows stronger by the minute—its only thought, to satisfy its ravenous appetite. Rampant corruption at the highest level in Lawless has targeted Christine to be the next mysterious disappearance. Now, she's in a fight for her life while trying to track and contain the creature threatening to decimate the local population.
I'm an Englishman who fell in love with a 300-year-old former sausage curing hut on the side of a Slovenian mountain in 2007. After years of visits spent renovating the place, I moved to Slovenia, where I lived and worked for many years, exploring the country, customs, and culture, learning some of the language, and visiting its most beautiful places. I continue to be enamored with Slovenia, and you will regularly find me at my cabin, making repairs and splitting firewood.
When two brothers discover a 300-year-old sausage-curing cabin on the side of a Slovenian mountain, it's love at first sight. But 300-year-old cabins come with 300 problems.
Dormice & Moonshine is the true story of an Englishman seduced by Slovenia. In the wake of a breakup, he seeks temporary refuge in his hinterland house, but what was meant as a pitstop becomes life-changing when he decides to stay. Along the way, he meets a colourful cross-section of Slovene society: from dormouse hunters, moonshine makers, beekeepers, and bitcoin miners, to a man who swam the Amazon, and a hilltop matriarch who…
'Charming, funny, insightful, and moving. The perfect book for any Slovenophile' - Noah Charney, BBC presenter
'A rollicking and very affectionate tour' - Steve Fallon, author of Lonely Planet Slovenia
'Delivers discovery and adventure...captivating!' - Bartosz Stefaniak, editor, 3 Seas Europe
When two brothers discover a 300-year-old sausage-curing cabin on the side of a Slovenian mountain, it's love at first sight. But 300-year-old cabins come with 300 problems.
Dormice & Moonshine is the true story of an Englishman seduced by Slovenia. In the wake of a breakup, he seeks temporary refuge in his hinterland house but what was meant as…