The most recommended Monster movie books

Haywood starts out on day one and the action rarely slows down. Howie and Dave are some of the best characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading about and what sets this series apart is the location. Haywood is British and the series is set in England naturally. The challenges are different, the landscape is different and the undead are definitely different. Over the 25-book series, and still going strong, the undead evolve and change and it’s a fascinating tale to follow.

Pierce writes intelligent military zompoc because he’d been in the thick of things during the Rhodesian war. He knows a thing or two about writing battle scenes because he’s done a thing or two in real life. This story is different because it isn’t about a tiny group of survivors trying to make through the apocalypse. It’s bigger in scope and encompasses one governor and the national guard doing all they can to hold the line against the undead hordes. Intelligent writing and “believable” scenarios set this military thriller apart from many of the rest.

I have used this book many times in courses on the history of monsters and on monster movies. Carrol is a philosopher, and the book is written with exacting clarity. It is primarily about the genre of horror, but as Carrol writes, “monsters are central to horror.” Therefore, the author sets out both to define the generally indefinable category of “monster” and to analyze how we respond to them when they appear in fictional narratives. If you’ve ever wondered why a werewolf is a monster but Chewbacca isn’t, this is the book to read!

Another heavy hitter in the realm of Horror Comedy, Rick Gualtieri is a skillful wordsmith who knows how to build tension with chuckles sprinkled throughout. I met him recently at a book signing and we traded books. Naturally, I grabbed one of his with “Bigfoot” in the title.

Filled with action and humor, Bigfoot Hunters is a roller-coaster rampage when a troop of enraged Sasquatch cut loose, racking up an impressive body count. I don’t often laugh out loud when I read, but this one pulled quite a few giggles out of me.

Shelman is one of the Godfathers of indie zompoc. He was an early adaptor to the Amazon self-publishing model and his series, Dead Hunger, was one of the first I read. It starts at the beginning of the outbreak and covers the ups and downs over decades in the 10-book series. Great characters, compelling science, and heartfelt situations kept me reading. The villains were unique, the heroes were likable and funny and the story moves along quickly. There is lots of action and some over-the-top situations as the band of survivors try to stay alive and rebuild a life for themselves. Shelman narrates his own books (and many others) and is one of the absolute best voice actors I’ve listened to.

I’m a big fan of Horror Comedy, and one name I kept seeing over and over in that category was Jeff Strand. I saw that he had a Bigfoot book and I grabbed it. It wasn’t at all what I expected! Strand’s books are often filled with zany humor, but this story was something quite different.

Dweller follows the friendship between a boy… and a monster. There are plenty of thrills and chills, but if you don’t come away from this novel with a tear in your eye, you’re made of sturdier stuff than I. Poignant and powerful, this book has a lot of heart.

This is a gem of a novel and one that should not ever be skipped over. The author’s humor bleeds through every page. This novel, and the entire series, literally had me in tears of laughter at many points. Even though the comedic aspect does tend to be the overarching theme, it does not detract from the horror of the situations the main characters find themselves in. The main character is obviously based on the author himself, as well as his family and his dog. This is fascinating because many authors may take certain aspects of themselves or loved ones and create characters with a trait or two, but Tufo goes all out and just makes himself a (hopefully!) exaggerated character in his own novel. The series starts small and centralized and builds itself into an entire world (or ten) of horrific and hilarious zombie craziness. You love many of… show more.

The arrival on her doorstep of an impossible book sends horror screenwriter River Black in search of answers to the Japan she’d fled two decades earlier. 

The story of that trip—and of the life she’d lived there before—is compelling, with convincing, beautifully drawn characters and precise, spellbindingly intricate settings. This is a very engaging and wonderfully crafted tale.

Man makes monster; monster kills people; man destroys monster, that’s how these stories usually go, right? Well, not for Chesler in my experience. At least with Hotel Megalodon, that is. I say this because of the story’s unique resolution. As always, I won’t ruin it for you.

What I will say, is that this book manages to steer clear of the archetypal motif. Instead, it gave me something new and refreshing to enjoy. This is why I think it’s a standout in the creature feature subgenre. Enjoy!

Jaime is a newcomer in the writing world but you wouldn’t know that by reading her books. Her Chronicles of the Undead series starts out on day one and captures all of the chaos and uncertainty and violence of a zombie outbreak. The book centers on two men caught up in the chaos at their construction jobs in downtown Cleveland. It’s a classic tale of finding safety, finding their families, and doing what needs to be done. As of summer 2020, there are two books in the series but she is writing more and I can’t wait to read the next one.