I don't know when I'll learn that short story collections by multiple authors just aren't my jam. :-/ ( )

I was looking for something to shake up my reading habits of late, so I figured that a collection of short stories that fit into the Halloween season would be perfect. This collection promised an exploration of themes around monsters and how they interact with the "normal" world, and each of the stories definitely delivers. I hadn't been exposed to most of the authors heron as well, so it was nice getting a taste of new authors and a few of them I'll definitely be looking into further.

One of my favourite stories was Paolo Bacigalupi's "Moriabe's Children", which used humanity's preternatural fear of the sea and the creatures that dwell within to draw the reader in. The protagonist is a young girlwho feels a strange kinship with the kraken of the deep, even though they killed her father and are traditionally feared by her village. Yet unlike the villagers Aliane knows that worse monsters lurk within humanity - those who are cruel, self-serving, and violent against their own kind while masqerading as regular members of society. In a sense, this story sets the pace and tone for the whole collection, because it epitomizes the major theme that the collection explores: we may call supernatural creatures monsters, but maybe it is the flaws within humanity which makes us the real monsters. ( )

I picked this book up because it has a few authors I really enjoy. Of course it also has several authors I really struggle to read. That's okay, I always go into anthologies hoping that at least 50% hit me in my happy place. Lately that percentage has been more like 25, but I was optimistic. Turns out I put my optimism in the right place. Love it. Just absolutely love it. Every single story was fun. From the stories, to the placement of the stories within the book itself, it's all pretty amazing. Definitely recommended for those who like a little extra horror in their fantasy.

I will add that I think the description of this book just does not do the stories justice. It makes it sound far to campy and mostly it was fun and honestly sometimes devastatingly perfect. ( )

Monsters, mostly pretty monstrous but also, sometimes simultaneously, rescuers from even worse humans. Sarah Rees Brennan’s In Other Lands short from Luke’s POV is by far the lightest and brightest, while Patrick Ness’s “everybody has demonic aspects and we are in a band” and Cassandra Clare’s “young girl meets vampire and is of no interest to him” are the next closest. Paolo Bacigalupi (krakens and abusive parents), Holly Black (space monster), Nalo Hopkinson (ghosts), Kelly Link (ghosts), and Alice Sola Kim (something bad), are among the other contributors. The discovery for me was G. Carl Purcell, a grim but inventive dystopia in which the world is poisoned by mercury spirits. ( )

Had a blast with this and met some new literary friends. Anyone interested in overturning, inside-outing, or otherwise disassembling and re-forming your ideas about monsters should give this a try. No idea why this was marketed only to the young adult market when it was released, but in doing so they gave it a beautiful cover and a nice, heavy textbook format so I can't complain. Makes the reading experience even more magical. Curl up with some milk and cookies--or absinthe and candied ants, maybe--by the fire and prepare for the Link/Grant version of story time. ( )