Monstrous: 20 Tales of Giant Creature Terror [Paperback]

Ryan C. Thomas (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2009

Move over King Kong, there are new monsters in town! Giant beetles, towering crustaceans, gargantuan felines and massive underwater beasts, to name just a few. Think you've got what it takes to survive their attacks? Then open this baby up, and join today's hottest authors as they show us the true power of Mother Nature's creatures. With enough fangs, pincers and blood to keep you up all night, we promise you won't look at creepy crawlies the same way again.

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Permuted Press; 1st edition (January 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 193486112X
• ISBN-13: 978-1934861127
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #909,178 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A pleasant surprise, March 31, 2009

By 

Kathleen Shaban (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Monstrous: 20 Tales of Giant Creature Terror (Paperback)

Can you say "pleasant" about a book where people get eaten by giant bugs? Not sure.

Anyway, I got this for my kid because he is a typical teenage boy who likes all monsters and gross stuff. Being the good parent that I am, I thought I should browse through it through first to make sure it wasn't too violent or, with a story titled "Attack of the 500 Foot Porn Star", too graphic. I'm not adverse to horror, but my tastes run more along the lines of Stephen King, Dean Koontz and the like. I didn't expect to find anything all that enjoyable in this anthology. Shame on me.

There are some really good stories in here. Stories that make you melancholy they they are over so quickly, because you'd really like to read more. My three favorites were "Savage", "Keeping Watch", and "Scales". If you don't buy the anthology for any other reason these three are worth it. I won't give too much away, but "Savage" is a hunter/hunted tale on a alien world with a brave girl and a very big cat-thing. "Keeping Watch" is about something nasty lurking underwater and after reading it I will not put foot in another lake unless I can see the bottom. "Scales" is a man-vs-giant-lizard tale that has pretty clever, if somewhat squirm-inducing, solution to the hungry critter problem.

You read stories like these and you wonder why the heck you don't see good stuff like this on TV or in the movies. We watch a lot of those Sci-Fi channel specials and I wonder who comes up with some of that mess. Anyway, I thought there were a couple of clunkers in the anthology, so it doesn't quite make a 5 star rating for me, but no accounting for taste, right? Oh, and I wouldn't suggest this for younger kids. Mine is 13-going-on-30 and that was skating about the edge of how young I'd recommend.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Big, bad, weird, wild!, February 15, 2009

By 

Patrick S. Dorazio "Author of The Dark Trilogy" (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Monstrous: 20 Tales of Giant Creature Terror (Paperback)

I must admit there has always been a place in my heart for the old creature features I used to watch as a kid, before the days of cable TV, that the networks would show sometimes on Friday Nights, Saturday Afternoons, and once a year, weekday afternoons (the Japanese monster collection-Godzilla, Gidorah, Monster X, etc). Before VCRs and cable movies saturated us with a constant flow of these old flicks it was a treat to discover a rare old gem with some soggy monster or genetically enhanced or nuclear radiated ant or rat or lizard that had decided to inact revenge on humanity.
This book brought me back to those memories...and twisted and swirled them up as well. We get a whole platoon of the weird and freaky here, from the giant crabs we see on the cover, to giant ants, maggots, giant vampires...and yes, even giant porn stars!
Each story is fairly short and a quick bit of fun, with the emotional content ranging from the terror-inducing, to the gut wrenching, to the ridiculously hilarious (Attack of the 500-Foot Porn Star is a prime example).
It would be hard for me to cite which story was my favorite because I appreciated most of them for what they were worth. Sure, a few fell flat for me but they all had something to offer. From nuclear accidents, scientific experiments, natures revenge, a Twilight Zone type twist (Six-Legged Shadows), to even what HAD to be a author on a wild mind trip (The Island of Dr. Otaku) there is plenty here for the fan of monster madness.
This book is like a classic monster film festival where you spend your entire Saturday with friends having a blast watching monster after monster chew, tear, and rip into every human being that crosses your path. Lots of fun.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A most enjoyable read!, March 18, 2009

By 

Michelle McCrary (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Monstrous: 20 Tales of Giant Creature Terror (Paperback)

I have to say, I REALLY enjoyed this book! I had an awful hard time putting it down! Each story was good in its own way - some better than others - but I can say I was entertained by each and every one. "Whatever Happened to Randy" may blow your mind, while "Crabs" just might gross you out! Whatever the case, I don't think anyone who is a fan of this type of "giant-creature" fiction will be let down. Permuted Press has done it again with bringing together some of the best independent authors - and even a mainstream one - Steve Alten - to open the book and add his own story to the mix. I totally recommend this book!